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Royals Rumors: Greg Holland Is Not On The Trading Block

By Joel Wagler

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Kansas City Royals rumors indicate the Royals have no interest in trading Greg Holland, maybe their biggest trading chip this off-season. Evidently, General Manager Dayton Moore isn’t looking to move relievers  Kelvin Herrera or Wade Davis either.

Andy McCullough, who covers the Kansas City Royals for the Kansas City Star, reported this via Twitter.

Of course, this could just be a negotiating tactic for Moore and the Royals. In all reality, the Royals have a lot of money locked up in these relievers. Davis had his option picked up for $7 million, Herrera is arbitration eligible, and may make around $2 million in 2015.

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Holland, maybe the best closer in baseball over the past two seasons, is also eligible for arbitration, but he may be due a raise in 2015 for a salary of $9 to $10 million.

Throw in the fact the Royals recently re-signed reliever Luke Hochevar. This being the Royals, the term “reliever” may be used loosely here. Kansas City evidently has not discounted the possibility that Hochevar might return to the rotation.

Let’s assume for a moment that Hochevar cannot get himself back into the rotation (a hope many of us may share), the Royals could spend as much as $22 to $23 million on Holland, Davis, Herrera, and Hochevar. This seems incredibly unfeasible for the Royals to spend that much of their budget on four bullpen arms.

The Royals have some holes. They have no one to play right field every day. A rotating designated hitter by committee is fantastically unexciting and risky. Despite the section of Hochevar’s contract that will bump his salary if he does return to the rotation, Kansas City still needs to replace James Shields. 

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Let’s face facts – as great as Greg Holland has been these past two seasons, the Royals have incredible depth at the back of their bullpen, and Holland may be expendable at this point.

In 2013 and 2014, Holland has an ERA of 1.32, a WHIP of .889, 93 saves, 193 strikeouts, and 13. 4 Strikeouts per 9 Innings, in just 129.1 innings. He has a Wins Against Replacement of 5.6 (thanks Baseball-Reference for all your greats stats).

If the Royals spend what may end up being more than 20% of their total 2015 salary on four bullpen arms, that will not be considered spending money wisely.

Again, these Royals rumors may just be a negotiating ploy. Maybe the Royals are playing hard to get. It is hard to believe any major general  manager would go into the season with such a big percentage of their  payroll wrapped up in their bullpen, no matter how good they are.

If the Royals can’t get to the bullpen with a lead, or the offense can’t score runs, it won’t matter much how good, or how deep, the bullpen is. Kansas City must find a couple of bats to improve their offense. They need to find another starting pitcher. As the off-season progresses, the options are quickly dwindling.

The Indians, the Twins, and the White Sox have already improved their rosters while the Royals have done nothing but lost key players from their 2014 World Series roster. Billy Butler is gone. James Shields is  free agent and will be gone. Nori Aoki is a free agent.

Greg Holland potentially could bring the Royals the most immediate help, if a legitimate trading partner can be found. Hopefully, Moore is just posturing, trying to stir up interest for Greg Holland. If he isn’t, this could be a very poor decision on how to use their available resources.

That would mean the Hochevar contract could be an even bigger mistake than it already appears to be. That money could (should) have been used to pursue players that would have been more help overall than another middle reliever.

Next: Are The Royals Interested In Asdrubal Cabrera

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