Finally, what all analysts have been waiting for, the Kansas City Royals trade one of their many prospects, Wil Myers, to the Tampa Bay Rays for James Shields.
These two guys were among seven players moved Sunday evening. The Royals bolster their pitching rotation, which was one of their goals entering the offseason and the Rays get younger, which always seems to be this team's goal every season.
Along with Shields, the Royals get Wade Davis who is major league ready and a player to be named later.
The Rays get the highly touted outfield prospect Myers along with right-handed pitcher Jake Odozzi, left-hander Mike Montgomery and third baseman Patrick Leonard.
When analyzing this trade, both teams pretty much get what they are looking for. The Rays are always conscious about their future, most noticeable after extending their third baseman Evan Longoria.
The Royals have a win now mentality as they already have a stock of young players in the majors who have proven to be hitters and performers. Their issue was their pitching and without a doubt they just got twice as good with James and Davis.
Shields pitching lines year after year are impressive and more importantly, the Royals get a guy who can pitch beyond 200 innings and remains healthy. Simply put, he has pitched seven seasons in the majors and his rookie year is the only season Shields didn't throw 200 innings, he threw 124 in 2006..
Davis was relegated to a relief pitcher role this past season, but without a doubt, this right-hander is a starter. In 64 career starts, Davis is 25-22 with a 4.22 ERA and 388.1 innings pitched with 254 strikeouts.
As for the Rays, they get the best hitter in the minors in Myers. He popped 37 homers and drove in 109 runs in 134 games this past season as he split the year in Double-A and Triple-A ball. He is 22 and the Rays just gave Longoria some pop to protect him in the lineup.
The other guys, Montgomery is a young lefty who is 23 and has already five seasons in the minors. He's started 104 games and has a 25-33 record with a 4.15 ERA, Leonard hit 14 homers in 62 games played and Odorizzi has MLB experience starting two games going 7.1 innings giving up four earned runs and posting an 0-1 record.
Both clubs are looking to compete in 2013 and after this move, it will be interesting to see if the Royals can put defense, hitting and pitching together to compete in the AL Central.
