This is a complete no-brainer. Orlando Hudson should absolutely be a Kansas City Royals by week's end. I know the Royals just signed Mike Jacobs and Mark Teahan to arbitration deals, but those deals should be terminated immediately and Orlando Hudson should be in Kansas City.
The Royals don't have a single player on their roster, with the exception of Mike Aviles, that touched a .366 OBP, with Hudson has averaged the past three years. He's good for a .275 average, .375 OBP, he's athletic, good on defense, and he'll hit around 12 HR's and get you 50 RBI's.
The Royals would look at a lineup of Crisp CF, Aviles SS, DeJesus LF, Guillen RF, Jacobs 1B, Gordon 3B, Olivo C, Butler DH, Hudson 2B. The significance of this would be incredible: a .275 AVG/.370 OBP/15HR/50 RBI hitter would be NINETH in the Royals lineup. Plus, he would be a good enough hitter to move up in the case of emergency.
Buck is going to be gone anyways, Olivo is the starter and they have too much money rolled up into the catcher position. Plus, we've got players in the ranks who can take Olivo's place if needed. The departure of either Buck, Teahan, Jacobs, or maybe sprinkling in German would free us up to get Hudson. I understand that the team doesn't want to get rid of Teahan or Jacobs. Teahan can play four positions and is a solid hitter. Jacobs has some "slug" as Hillman likes to put it.
Orlando Hudson stabilizing second base for the Royals would have much more of an impact than the contributions of those four combined. We already have Butler and Shealy at first base, German/Teahan/Bloomquist all fulfill the same role. There are two positions that do not have stability in the starting lineup right now, and one of which has little in the name of promising depth: second base.
The Royals should do us all a favor and do what it takes to bring Orlando Hudson to Kansas City. He wants to be here, the fans would love for him to be here, and it makes too much sense just to let him slip through the cracks.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
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