Royals - Signed Bale, Dotel

Kansas City Royals - Signed P John Bale to a 2-year contract; signed P Octavio Dotel to a 1-year contract.

I’m going to give the Royals a lot of credit here.  With more and more “Ken Phelps All-Stars” going to Japan, there should be an increasing market for bringing some of them back once they demonstrate the ability to play in a slightly higher than AAA league with the pressure of playing in a foreign culture.  A guy like John Bale can be a pretty impressive bargain in a market that thinks that Jamie Walker is worth $4 million a year.  Bale’s making half that ($2 million a year if reports are correct).  Dotel’s a little risky in that he costs $5 million, but it’s hard to forget what a great reliever Dotel was back with the Astros.  I rather take a risky flier on excellence than a guaranteed mediocre investment.  The Royals, now that they have a GM that has a higher IQ than a crème brülée, can find their own non-horrible relievers if they bother to look - sign the upside guy.

2007 ZiPS Projections 
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Player      W   L   G  GS   IP    H   ER  HR  BB  SO   ERA
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Bale        2   1  38   0   45   47   21   7  12  39  4.20

Dotel       3   2  64   0   69   61   32  11  28  84  4.17
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