Robinson made dumb deal - KC star Article
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Robinson made dumb deal
By JOE POSNANSKI - Columnist
Date: 12/11/98 21:00
Many times in this column we defend Royals general manager Herk
Robinson on the basis that, on the whole, he's a pretty nice guy. It's
no fun to rip nice guys. It's fun to rip Bob Knight or Don King or
Albert Belle, but really you want to lay off the good people, the guys
who don't kick scorer's tables, and Robinson, for the most part, seems
to be one of the good people.
But the ripping will begin now, begin in force, because what Herk
Robinson did this week is so monumentally stupid, so phenomenally
foolish, so amazingly dumb, that, well, you have to wonder whether or
not the Royals can even survive the few months Robinson has left
before Miles Prentice comes in and sends him back to gardening or
whatever.
Look, it's never been easy to understand Robinson. It's hard to
believe that Robinson did not stand behind 25-year radio announcer
Fred White, hard to believe he did not draft megaphenom J.D. Drew
(because his agent is the intolerable Scott Boras) and instead drafted
and failed to sign a pitcher named Jeff Austin (whose agent is the
intolerable Scott Boras), hard to believe that with the limited funds
the Royals have they spent such a huge chunk of it to re-sign Jeff
Montgomery, who frankly, is a luxury the Royals simply cannot afford.
Yeah, all that's strange, but this week Herk Robinson traded a
21-year-old power hitter named Juan LeBron for a 29-year-old
journeyman named Joe Randa (whom Robinson already traded away once),
and there's simply no defense for this, none whatsoever. Herk Robinson
has sat across a desk at least a dozen times and compared Juan LeBron
to Juan Gonzalez, one of the great sluggers in baseball.
"He has so many of the same skills," he has said over and over and
over again, and he said it with that faraway look, as if he could just
imagine Juan LeBron crushing home runs into the fountains in front of
45,000 people at Kauffman Stadium, in the middle of a pennant race, in
the middle of a Kansas City dream.
Over and over, Herk Robinson said these things, and he believed them,
and doggone it, we wanted to believe him, too. Never mind that he
compared Michael Tucker to George Brett (or was it Barry Bonds?) and
then traded him, or that when he watched outfielder Jermaine Dye he
actually saw Dave Winfield ("Doesn't he look like Winfield?" he asked.
"No," we said. Robinson was too much in love to hear). Robinson
deserved a little luck, and maybe Juan LeBron would be that superstar
the Royals so desperately needed.
On Thursday, Robinson traded LeBron for Randa, and there's nothing
much left to say. When you make a trade this dumb, it's clear you no
longer understand the basic concept of baseball anymore. This is not a
knock on Randa, who loves Kansas City, who is a decent fielder, who
hits with no power but plays hard and smart.
Thing is, if the Royals really wanted Randa, they could have waited
for the New York Mets to cut him. Understand? The Mets had little use
for Randa, who hit .250 last season. They signed a much better third
baseman, Robin Ventura, and they just wanted something small for him,
a middle reliever, a good bat boy, a rack of Arthur Bryant's ribs.
Randa is a guy that Robinson himself spent an hour downplaying after
trading him two years ago ("He's a nice player, but certainly not one
of our young prospects."). Randa is a guy Pittsburgh did not even
protect in last year's expansion draft. Randa is a guy the Mets got as
a bonus when they dumped pitcher Willie Blair's enormous salary. The
Royals could have gotten Randa by just asking very nicely.
Instead, they gave the Mets Juan LeBron, the guy Robinson tabbed just
nine months ago as the Royals' best power prospect. Now Robinson yaps
about how LeBron was not developing as quickly as they would have
liked. Geez, the guy's 21 years old ("Right now he's got a hole in his
swing," Mets general manager Steve Phillips says. "But most good young
players start out that way.") You know, Herk Robinson likes to tend
his garden. You have to wonder whether he plants a tree one day and
then the next day is angry because there are no oranges to pick.
You want to know where Herk Robinson stands on this stuff? Listen to
this quote he made after the trade: "When you have King, Febles,
Sanchez and Randa, that's about as good a defense as you're going to
get."
Talk about delusional. Can you even put the first names on the four
guys Robinson mentioned? (Incidentally, those four guys -- Jeff,
Carlos, Rey and Joe -- will also combine for fewer home runs than Dean
Palmer last year).
Nobody knows how good Juan LeBron will become. All we know is this:
He's young, he has power, speed, a strong arm, and there are people
with the New York Mets who are laughing right now, laughing their
heads off. They're giddy, because they stole a big-time prospect, a
potential superstar, from some rube in Kansas City.
Joe Posnanski's column normally appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday,
Saturday and Sunday. To reach him, call 234-4361 or send e-mail to
jposn...@kcstar.com
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