The Kansas City Royals gambled their future Sunday night for a chance to win right now. The Royals acquired former All-Star James Shields and fellow right-hander Wade Davis from Tampa Bay in a six-player deal that sent top prospects Wil Myers and Jake Odorizzi along with two other minor leaguers to the Rays. The swap immediately bolsters the Royals' starting rotation and should make them a contender in the relatively weak American League Central. "We have to start winning games at the major league level, and the way you develop a winning culture is by winning major league games," Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. "It's time for us to start winning at the major league level." Kansas City, which hasn't had a winning season since 2003, has long had one of the best farm systems in baseball, and slowly the cream has risen to the big league level. But there has remained a dearth of starting pitching that has hampered the Royals' chances for success for years, and Moore wanted to solve that problem this offseason. He's already re-signed Jeremy Guthrie to a $25 million, three-year deal, and took on former All-Star Ervin Santana and $12 million of his contract from the Angels. But the trade for Shields and Davis is Moore's most aggressive move yet, giving Kansas City the ace it has been lacking since trading away Zack Greinke, along with another piece that could fit in the rotation or the bullpen. Source: ESPN
for rays fans, you probably got the best outfield prospect in all of the baseball (myers), one of the top starting pitching prospects out there (Odirizzi), and a guy with all the talent in the world but who just hasn't been able to get his crap together so maybe a chance in scenery will help him (montgomery). With what the royals have done completely revamping their starting rotation, they are probably now a .500 team and with some good bounces could be playing meaningful baseball in august and september for the first time in MANY years.
