Signing Ervin Santana Should Be Kansas City Royals’ Top Offseason Priority
By Doug LaCerte
@DLaC67
Getty Images
The first franchise-changing moment of the 2014 offseason for the Kansas City Royals came on Wednesday, and more will soon follow. Every free agency move alters countless other possible dealings in the future, and the latest big news regarding Billy Butler will be no different. Now that Butler’s career with the Royals is over, KC has one less financial priority to worry about this offseason. Now that the Atlanta Braves let go of Jason Heyward to bring in Shelby Miller, they have enough flexibility to let Ervin Santana sign elsewhere.
Since the Royals haven’t penned any deals that are financially significant yet, they can still make waves with one serious expenditure. Santana’s 3.95 ERA with Atlanta last season could easily be improved upon while starting half of his games at Kauffman and all of his games with the league’s best defense behind him.
Anyone pricier than Santana likely wouldn’t be feasible for KC, and anyone less effective could limit KC’s chances for success in upcoming seasons. Signing Francisco Liriano or Brandon McCarthy means overpaying for a mediocre, aging starter instead of letting one of several enticing prospects earn the job in Spring Training.
If Santana isn’t the answer, the Royals may use other resources to acquire a worthy starter for the 2015 roster. It wouldn’t be the first time that KC GM Dayton Moore found a novel and worthwhile trade that took the experts by surprise. Several good-not-great (yet) Royals will get some attention in trade talks around MLB. Trading someone as valuable as Alex Gordon or Eric Hosmer should guarantee a starter better than Santana in return, but deciding whether or not this would be worthwhile is a whole different debate.
Doug LaCerte is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DLaC67, “like” him on Facebook and add him to your network on Google.
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