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Kansas City Royals: Garin Cecchini is Good Addition to Royals

By Leigh Oleszczak

Mar 7, 2015; Sarasota, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox third baseman Garin Cecchini (70) against the Baltimore Orioles at a spring training baseball game at Ed Smith Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 7, 2015; Sarasota, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox third baseman Garin Cecchini (70) against the Baltimore Orioles at a spring training baseball game at Ed Smith Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Kansas City Royals have added another name to their organization and it’s former top prospect Garin Cecchini. Cecchini is the perfect type of signing for this team, as he’s a low risk/high reward type of player.

Dayton Moore strikes again in free agency, this time inking former top prospect Garin Cecchini to a minor league deal with the Kansas City Royals. A common MLB fan might think, “So what? He’s on a minor league deal”, but let it be known that this is a fantastic move by Dayton Moore.

Cecchini, a former fourth round pick by the Boston Red Sox in the 2010 MLB Draft, has seen limited time in the majors. A large part of that was due to his struggles in AAA with the Red Sox where he was batting a measly .213 in 117 games in 2015.

He looked just fine when he was called up by Boston, appearing in 11 games in 2014 and just two games in 2015. The 2014 season saw Cecchini batting .258, which isn’t bad for the lack of plate appearances he saw.

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The former top prospect really shone bright in Milwaukee’s minor league system in 2016. In 126 games with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox (AAA), Cecchini was slashing .271/.325/.380 with five home runs and 52 RBI.

While Cecchini has mostly been a third baseman during his career, he jumped between first base and second base with the Sky Sox. We all know how much the KC Royals have struggled to find a second baseman during the last few years and there’s a teensy chance that Cecchini could eventually fill that role.

The reason I like this move is because, like I mentioned above, it’s a low risk/high reward situation for Kansas City. The worst thing that can happen here is that Cecchini doesn’t pan out and then the club can simply just move on from him.

The best possible scenario is that Cecchini finds his groove at the plate and on the diamond and can become that doubles crushing type of hitter he was supposed to be when entering the majors.

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David Hill of Call to the Pen said it best,

"This is the ultimate lottery ticket. If Cecchini does not pan out, then the Royals can move on without any real costs. However, if he can perform once again, and show the ability that made him a top prospect, then Kansas City has a potentially solid player for little in the way of expense. There is still upside there; it is just a matter of whether or not he can tap into it."

Cecchini is only 25 years old and still has time to figure things out. If he can do that while donning a Royals uniform (or Storm Chaser – You get the idea), then this could end up being yet another genius move by Dayton Moore and the Kansas City Royals.

In Dayton we trust!

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