Royals acquire catcher Jason LaRue from Reds

[tk13]

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/baseball/mlb/kansas_city_royals/16060941.htm

Royals trade with Reds for catcher
By BOB DUTTON
The Kansas City Star

The Royals bolstered their catching depth Monday by acquiring veteran Jason LaRue from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for a minor-league player to be named later.

The move came just hours before the deadline for clubs to set their rosters in advance of the winter meetings.

LaRue, 32, will make $5.45 million next year in completing a two-year, $9.1 million deal signed last December. His salary includes a $250,000 bonus clause triggered by the trade.

The acquisition would seem to end the Royals’ interest in reacquiring free-agent catcher Gregg Zaun.

LaRue batted just .194 last season with eight homers and 21 RBIs in 72 games but batted .260 the previous year with 14 homers and 60 RBIs in 110 games. He has a .239 career average in eight seasons and had at least 12 homers in five straight seasons from 2001-05.

The Royals filled out their 40-man roster by adding three minor-league pitchers: left-handers Danny Christiansen and Neal Musser and Carlos Rosa. They cleared space by designating second baseman Donnie Murphy and left-hander Juan Cedeno for assignment.

The moves leave the Royals with no space, barring a trade or another roster move, on their 40-man roster for further signings or a selection in the Rule 5 draft.

[Hootie]

he's good

[Stewie]

Isn't .194 below the Mendoza line?

[ChiTown]

$5.45MM for a backup catcher?

Allard, is that you?

;)

[Archie Bunker]

He is very good defensively and has decent pop in his bat. That's about all you can ask for in a backup catcher.

[ChiTown]

He is very good defensively and has decent pop in his bat. That's about all you can ask for in a backup catcher.

$5.45MM for a backup Catcher?? Are you sure that's all we can ask for?

Seems to me we better be finding some starting pitching that can throw the ball more than 4 innings (before getting blown up) to that "backup".

[tk13]

The Reds have to be picking up some of that salary... you'd think.

[siberian khatru]

Are we sure he's gonna be the backup? Or has Dayton seen enough of Buck as a starter?

[Imon Yourside]

I think Buck is a little better and much cheaper, surely we could have found a backup catcher for less than a mil a year that's good defensively and blows like biancalana at the plate.

[tk13]

Are we sure he's gonna be the backup? Or has Dayton seen enough of Buck as a starter?
And that might not be out of the question either. Although I don't think LaRue's hitting nearly as many homers in the K as in GABP. Joe Randa went from an 8-10 homer guy to a 20-25 homer guy in GABP.

[L.A. Chieffan]

damn, throw a party

[FringeNC]

He's an interesting read about LaRue's struggles last year:

http://jinaz-reds.blogspot.com/2006/07/is-jason-larue-just-victim-of-bad-luck.html

[Imon Yourside]

And that might not be out of the question either. Although I don't think LaRue's hitting nearly as many homers in the K as in GABP. Joe Randa went from an 8-10 homer guy to a 20-25 homer guy in GABP.


Unless it's the Royals pitchers then Homers actually increase over those hit in other stadiums. :banghead: :cuss:

[DJ's left nut]

As a Cardinals fan, let me say that I could not possibly be more upset by this deal.

I loved the prospect of this schmuck sucking up $5 million of the Reds payroll space and using valuable ABs. As bad as his statistics are, he's actually an even worse player. His 'pop' was a result of a cushy lineup and an easy park to hit in.

LaRue is awful...and expensive.

Screw you Dayton Moore, the Reds might actually put that money to good use now.


I would also remind you that catchers age in dog years. Anyone beyond 30 is rapidly closing in on the 'liability' stage as a catcher.

Before dismissing LaRue's poor 2006 as an anomoly, you would be wise to take a look at his birthday (hint: There's nothing to like about a 33 yr. old catcher coming off a season with a .640 OPS in a hitters park)

[edit: typo]

[Imon Yourside]

As a Cardinals fan, let me say that I could not possibly me more upset by this deal.

I loved the prospect of this schmuck sucking up $5 million of the Reds payroll space and using valuable ABs. As bad as his statistics are, he's actually an even worse player. His 'pop' was a result of a cushy lineup and an easy park to hit in.

LaRue is awful...and expensive.

Screw you Dayton Moore, the Reds might actually put that money to good use now.

yeah cuz we know everything revolves around st. loueeze. :rolleyes:

[DJ's left nut]

Methinks you missed the point:

Now YOU have this very same schmuck, a year older, sucking up your payroll and doing a poor job for your team.

Get indignant all you want, but the Royals took a step backwards with this deal.

[ChiTown]

$5.45MM for a backup Catcher?? Are you sure that's all we can ask for?

Seems to me we better be finding some starting pitching that can throw the ball more than 4 innings (before getting blown up) to that "backup".

Just read that the Red's are sending nearly $3MM in cash to cover his one year $5.45MM deal. $2.5MM for LaRue is not bad at all, especially if he can make some offensive contributions as well.

[Eleazar]

Just read that the Red's are sending nearly $3MM in cash to cover his one year $5.45MM deal. $2.5MM for LaRue is not bad at all, especially if he can make some offensive contributions as well.

A decent glove to fill out the catcher position. Some salary covered by the team he's coming from. Sounds like we gave up nothing for him. Why not?

This sounds like a snoozer that we gave up zero for, not like we got boned like some people here are saying. Zzzzz