SB Nation - Ryan Shealy

Tampa Bay Rays Sign 1B Ryan Shealy to Minor League Deal

R.J. Anderson — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:21:06 -0000

Shealy is a 30-year-old right-handed first baseman. He stands 6'5" and weighs around 240 pounds. In 591 career Major League plate appearances he has a .334 wOBA and pretty good defense (11.3 UZR career), which is a bit surprising given his size. In 1,431 Triple-A plate appearances - mostly in the PCL - he's crushed to the line of .300/.380/.540. Given his contact rates through those ~600 MLB PA it seems unlikely he could hit .300, but if nothing else, Shealy is a better insurance policy for Carlos Pena than Chris Richard and he's closer to Eric Hinske than Morgan Ensberg.

Shealy was formerly a prospect in the Colorado Rockies system and in 2006 was dealt alongside former Ray Scott Dohmann to the Kansas City Royals.

All Assumptions-Are-Dangerous Minor League Free Agent Team

Jeff — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:07:19 -0000

Dave at Fangraphs passed along a link to this year's crop of minor league free agents. A popular thing to do with this information is pick out a handful of guys that would make interesting and potentially worthwhile pick-ups. This is not that. This is a full team made up of guys who, years ago, were supposed to go on to do some big big things, only to end up on the fall 2009 list of mlFA's. Consider this just another reminder that you should never ever ever take a prospect's future for granted.*

C: JR House
1B: Ryan Shealy
2B: Josh Barfield
SS: Antonio Perez
3B: Dallas McPherson
LF: Wes Bankston
CF: Joe Borchard
RF: John-Ford Griffin
DH: Josh Phelps

BENCH-C: JD Closser (does Ben Davis still count?)
BENCH-INF: Eric Duncan
BENCH-OF: Dave Krynzel
BENCH-UTIL: Donnie Murphy

SP: Jerome Williams
SP: Greg Miller
SP: Kenny Baugh
SP: Humberto Sanchez
SP: Bobby Brownlie

RP: Jose Capellan
RP: Wes Littleton
RP: Casey Fossum
RP: John Van Benschoten
RP: Chad Orvella
RP: Clint Everts
RP: Andrew Brown

If there were a 26th spot, I'd give it to Dee Brown, but it would just be so damn easy to include him that I had to find an alternative. Also among the free agents are formerly established Major Leaguers like Chris Capuano and Chad Cordero, along with the astonishingly driven Jolbert Cabrera. Jolbert just wants to win. Come on, Yankees. Take the plunge. Win one for Jolbert.

If there were a 27th spot, I'd give it to Mark McGonigle, because, really? McGonigle?

* never take any player's future for granted

Tuesday Rockpile: Has Dan O'Dowd forged MLB's best small market model?

Poseidon's Fist — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:25:26 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

We are told Hawpe isn't going anywhere. Should we be surprised? "Dealin" Dan O'Dowd doesn't like dealin' his homegrown talent very much

Browse more photos »

Locking down leading men

Yesterday, Patrick Saunders suggested the Rockies would ink GM Dan O'Dowd and manager Jim Tracy to multi-year deals this week. This morning, the Denver Post strengthened their wording on the issue a bit. Now, a "major league source close to the situation" said the Rockies will sign both leading men to long-term deals, per Saunders and Troy Renck. Okay so that's not a shocker. They do mention the entirety of the MLB coaching staff will return in their current roles, again not surprising after the best regular season in franchise history.

But oh yeah - Tracy Ringolsby already reported that Sunday night.

Dan O'Clown or Bozo Beane?

There's room to argue the sense in giving an MLB contract, but there can be no legitimate beef with Dan O'Dowd. At the time of the Holliday trade in November, some exhibited worry that O'Dowd was playing with fire (Beane) and would likely get burned (Encarnacion/Ortiz/Belitz). It looks like Beane ought to be worried about O'Dowd now.

To further illustrate this point, I'll point you to Fangraphs, where RJ Anderson writes of the Problem with Oakland. Quite frankly, the Athletics just haven't drafted well, and their top prospects haven't panned out since Moneyball. Anderson identified the Rays and Rockies as two teams taking the torch in the small-market-internal-development game, so he compared the three clubs' top 10 prospects (from Baseball America) from 2004-07:

"The Rockies have an extraordinarily high retention rate* of 72.5% while the Rays/A's are equal with 42.5%."

*Retention rate is defined as percentage of prospects still within the organization at the start of 2009.

Moreover, all ten of the Rockies' top ten prospects from 2007 were within the organization this past March, while Oakland and Tampa only had five. That could be part of why the Rockies have two playoff appearances since 2007 to Tampa and Oakland's combined one...

Now time for commentary: Jason Hirsh and Jeff Baker were traded for scraps this season and no one is calling Dan O'Dowd late at night in hopes a brandy-filled evening will allow him to loosen his grip on Greg Reynolds or Chaz Roe. Those four represent an issue with representing small market success by retention rate. Retaining dud or uninspiring prospects isn't really worth rewarding. The Rays lost their top prospect from 2005-2007, but flipping him for Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett was unquestionably the right move. Then again, after a decade drafting in the top five, they had the best prospects at their disposal for a long time, and the Rockies were drafting higher than Oakland in the time frame.

So what does this all tell us? The Rockies indeed develop players well, though mostly, it tells us Dan O'Dowd likes holding onto his prospects. That's all. The only top prospects from those four years that were traded prior to 2009 were Matt Holliday and Ryan Shealy (unanimously good trades). It tells us the Rockies seem to hold more firm to the developmental segment of the organization than their peers, which is partly why we fans latch onto our players so much. It also tells me that Dan O'Dowd would really have to break the mold to bring in a Brian Roberts.

Last cold links

Rox look to build on strong second half | ColoradoRockies.com: News
Thomas Harding breaks down the roster position-by-position. Included is the contract issues to keep an eye on. It's a good reference point if you haven't been reading the Row every day.

Mopping Up in 2009 | FanGraphs Baseball
Josh Fogg was mop up man in 2009 - his "MOP score" placed him second in MLB behind Luis Perdomo, who allowed Clint Barmes' inside-the-park home run last month.

Meet: Justin Huber

Jesse — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:45:54 -0000

It's always fun watching new guys.

If you check out the page with the Twins' active roster page, you'll find the latest addition: one Justin Huber, infielder, number 19. Welcome back to the bigs, Mr. Huber.

Huber was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Mets back in 2000, as a catcher. He made his professional debut the following summer, playing 47 of his 52 games for Kingsport, New York's rookie league squad. Just 18, he batted an impressive .314/.415/.528 with 17 walks against 42 strikeouts.

The next summer, 2002, the Mets started him in A-ball. He complimented good power for a guy his age (and at his position) with good strike zone judgement and more than a adequate penchant for taking a walk, and he followed up a brilliant rookie year with a .291/.408/.470 campaign. After 95 games there he was promoted to high-A ball, where his numbers weren't as impressive but still showed a lot of promise for a 19-year old kid: .270/.370/.400 in 28 games. The power had disappeared, but it was only an outage, not a cut.

Starting at high-A St. Lucie in '03 he picked up where he left off, and was promoted to double-A halfway through the season after posting an .884 OPS. A good but unimpressive stint there meant he would start a second cosecutive season in St. Lucie in '04, but that lasted all of 13 games. By July of 2004 the 21-year old Huber (22 by the time he got there) was getting his first taste of triple-A. That stint lastest three games, as he was traded to the Royals at the deadline (for Jose Bautista of all people). Unfortunately for Huber (and the Royals), torn cartilage in his knee ended his summer. He went under the knife, and as a result his career as a catcher came to an end.

If there were any adverse effects the following year, Huber didn't show them. Starting in double-A for the Royals, the 22-year old now-first baseman raked. The patience was there, as were his raw hitting skills, but the best news was that he displayed the power that he'd shown throughout his first few years in the minors. It was exactly how you'd want a guy like Huber to perform following a surgery. Over 88 games he belted a .343/.432/.570 line in 335 at-bats, notching 16 homers, 22 doubles and 51 walks. It couldn't get much better than that, and he was promoted to Kansas City's triple-A squad (.274/.374/.531) before getting called up to the majors for the first time.

In his age-22 season, Justin was 23 by the time he saw his first plate appearance for the Royals, but he was exactly on-track for where a hitter of his abilities should have been. Sadly, back in 2005 professional softball player Matt Stairs was getting most of the time at first base for the Royals. Stairs wasn't exactly an offensive threat, but with Mike Sweeney in the midst of his last productive year of his career to date, Stairs actually led the team's qualifying hitters with a .373 OBP. I can understand how the Royals wanted him in the lineup, but he was 37. For whatever reason, Huber was only awarded 85 plate appearances that year, and he struggled.

Over the next two seasons, Huber's OPS at triple-A would be solid (.838 in '06, .853 in '07), but he only saw 21 plate appearances with the Royals in that span. Doug Mientkiewicz and newly-acquired slugging pospect Ryan Shealy saw most of the time at first base in the former, while Shealy and Ross Gload bogarted the time in the latter. So as for the reason why Huber never had a chance, I have no answer.

In March of 2008 the Padres purchased the contract of Huber, where he managed to hit his first major league career home run off of Randy Johnson. He was granted free agency following the season, and joined the Twins.

It's been another typical season for Huber at triple-A, hitting a "pedestrian" .273/.354/.483 with 22 homers, 22 doubles and 49 walks in 439 at-bats. His wOBA? An impressive .361. In his age-26 season, Huber is about to see time with his fourth franchise and should get another opportunity to get his long overdue major league career off the ground.

Since 2006 Huber has been shifted between first base and the outfield defensively, while maintaining very good power numbers. His isolated power has consistently scored out higher than .200 in the minor leagues with few aberrations, including this summer with Rochester (.209).

There's a lot of raw hitting talent about to be sitting on Minnesota's bench tonight, and although he hasn't really shown anything at the major league level so far, he hasn't really been given a decent chance. Huber could be seen as just "another one of those guys", in the mold of a Garrett Jones or Randy Ruiz, and I wouldn't blame you for thinking that. But his potential for plate discipline and ability to consistently adapt to better competition as he came up through the minors gives me hope for something better.

Welcome to the Twins, Mr. Huber.

Tea Leaves: Ryan Shealy & Ross Gload

royalsreview — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 04:24:51 -0000

I had a brief moment of happiness last week when Dutton reported that Gload was battling for a roster spot. Sure, it had only taken the current leadership team two full years to realize that Gload was wasted space on the roster, but my life is sufficiently pathetic enough to overlook this emotionally. The Royals have done enough for Gload: they gave him the biggest contract of his career, and even threw a few extra hundred thousand his way when Hillman's constant playing of him snagged Rossy some bonus money. Down the road, the Royals have likely played Gload enough to make him "established" enough to earn another Major League gig as a bench guy, and a handful of future Spring Training invites.

Only I'm far from certain that we've seen the last of Gload. Instead, the only guaranteed thing looks to be Ryan Shealy not making the team. As for Gload, if Mark Teahen gets traded, just who do you think will slide into the fourth outfielder role?

Although spring training stats should be considered meaningless, playing time is another matter. Playing time and usage can be indicative of what the team is at least thinking about. Gload has played a lot this spring. As of Monday night, Gload had appeared in 10 games, snagging a pretty high for ST total of 24 plate appearances. Hillman is still sending Gload out there. Sometimes Gload's at first, sometimes he's in left, sometimes he's in right. All that matters is that Gload gets his regular burn. Because, because, well... nobody's ever really been able to figure that out. To date, Gload's earned more plate appearances than any Royals outfielder not named DeJesus or Crisp, while also eating into Shealy and Kila's playing time at first. What a great guy to have around! That's versatility, baby!

Look, I know a portion of Shane Costa's or Jose Duarte's or D-Rob's or heaven forbid Lubanski's playing time in early March is not a top of the page issue, but it is an issue that should at least be considered. Isn't the biggest benefit of livin' la vida Gloada that he's a known quantity? A venerable veteran of the highest grittiness and integrity that already knows how to do everything the right way ('cept hit)? So essentially, Hillman's continued playing of Gload is either just entirely pointless and without any upside (yay!) or it's worse, it's a sign of Gload-on-roster creep and something that's taking away from 1-2% of somebody else's development/practice/letting the guys in the sunglasses see him more time. Apparently, although Moore has realized that Gload is not a starting first-baseman, he may be part of the outfield. If Mark Teahen actually is traded, Gload's chances increase further.

(The decision to jettison German just keeps getting better, doesn't it?)

Meanwhile, despite some mid-winter delusions that a) Ryan Shealy could be a cheap and useful player and b) the Royals might have a place for him in some convoluted Jacobs/Butler/Shealy menage, it's now increasingly clear that Shealy -- who does not have an option left -- will be apartment hunting again soon. It's the last turn in the bizarre Royals career of Shealy, who went from supposedly brilliant pickup, to one of the worst players in baseball, to someone who didn't look so bad, to someone who was finally passed over for a more expensive and only marginally better player. Odd. In retrospect, the whole idea, which never really reached a coherent expression, but just bubbled under in the comments people would make and things we would wonder about, seems fairly insane. What's even more insane is that you could create a context in which Shealy is your defensive-sub guy at first and have it be borderline palatable. So, to those of us who sorta half-way thought about this possibility, when we consider how ultimately non-good Shealy really is (or is he?) we have to ask, is the joke on the Royals, or is it on us?

So in sum: Shealy is gone, Kila is headed to AAA, and Mike Jacobs will get to lead the team in outs made and doubles created for the opposition between his legs.I feel like the stupidest blogger in the world for even halfway thinking there was something to sort out. There wasn't. Ever.

Remember earlier in this post when I said I was pathetic? Well, in the face of eye-bleeding tedium, I went through every spring box score and noted how Shealy and Gload were used.

For your viewing pleasure:

	Gload - Position (PAs)	Shealy - Position (PAs)
2/25	LF (3)	DH (1)
2/26	1B (1)	- (1)
2/27	DNP	1B (3)
2/28	LF/1B (2)	DH (2)
3/1	1B (2)	DNP
3/2	DNP	1B (5)
3/3	RF (3)	DH (2)
3/4	1B (3)	DH (1)
3/6	1B (3)	1B (2)
3/7	RF (3)	1B (2)
3/8	DNP	DH (4)
3/9	RF (2)	1B (0)

Look, I live in Washington D.C. I am a blogger and a middling one at that. The extent of my access is a few emails I've exchanged with guys that have it. So read more into something that Dutton or Kaegel seems to be hinting at regarding this sort of thing than anything I might say. That being said, I can't really understand where there's a clear line of evidence suggesting that Gload is on his way out.

The fanbase of the 29th most popular team in the sport anxiously awaits the fate of Rossy...

1B/DH Madness Update, or Shealy Now!

royalsreview — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:36:55 -0000

With the annual September privilege of expanded rosters, the Royals promoted forgotten savior Ryan Shealy and internet hero Kila Ka'aihue. With supposed prospect Billy Butler and Everyday Ross Gload (who started something like 400 consecutive games for Hillman) the most impotent team of the decade suddenly found itself with four options at 1B/DH.

Lets take a look at how Hillman has divided the playing time thus far.

	1B	DH	In-Game Subs
9/2	Shealy	Butler
9/4	Shealy	Butler
9/4	Butler	Guillen	Gload 2 innings, 0 PAs; Kila PR for Guillen
9/5	Ka'aihue	Butler
9/6	Shealy	Butler
9/7	Butler	Guillen

Sigh.

Although Hillman has somewhat surprisingly relegated Gload to the bench -- though he did start in left on 9/5 -- he's seemingly undermined that partial solution by introducing Guillen into the DH mix. Given the viccisitudes of the Hillman-Guillen relationship, it's impossible for this uinformed outsider to say exactly why this is happening, however the simplest explanation is that Hillman is loath to remove Citizen Hoagy from the lineup for fear of clubhouse eruption #117 of 2008.

Dayton Moore deserves these two, since he brought them together.

With Guillen sliding into semi-regular DH mode, a wider playing time philosophy may be exposing itself:

	PAs since 9/2
Butler	24
Guillen	24
Shealy	11
Gload	4
Ka'aihue	4

Now, I know what you're expecting: an impassioned cry of Kila Now! and 2-4 Huber anecdotes. To do so would be to do a disservice to Huber's legacy however. This is still Kila's first callup, not his third or fourth, and we are still dealing with a player who has only seen something like 140 PAs above AA. A large part of Kila's callup is to acclimate him to the off-the-field side of professional baseball and to reward him, emotionally and financially, for his tremendous performance this season. We're stil two years from Kila reaching true Huber status, and unlike, say, Huber v. Minky years ago, there's still some definite upside potential ($1 dollar to Simmons) in Ryan Shealy. It's in the best interests of the franchise to get Shealy more at bats than Kila this month.

The problem is that Shealy isn't playing enough, and may never, given Hillman's desire to keep Guillen and Butler in the lineup every... single... day. Guillen, granted, is possibly a seperate issue, and only a partial member of the 1B/DH club. Yes, he shouldn't be playing, but maybe it's just easier for everyone if he does, even with the cascade effects this creates.

Butler however, as weird as it seems to say this, should not be playing everyday anymore. The Royals have been remarkably patient with Billy this season, on the heels of handig him an everyday role from late June of his rookie year. Yes, Butler remains light years ahead of the other candidates, and indeed of everyone else on the roster, in terms of his potential ceiling. (Light years, ceiling? Yay mixed metaphors.) Nevertheless, the blogosphere is nothing if not the exploration of minor issues in major detail, and Butler's development -- which has been towards Ken Harvey this season -- is not going to be curtailed if he loses 20 September PAs to Ryan Shealy. He's still 22, and to date, he's the owner of 796 Big League PAs. Hillman can take the pedal off the Butler accelerator over the next three weeks. I'm no Shealy fan at this point, but you could make a case that there still might be something there, especially given his injury issues last season. He's certainly not in the Gload zone yet.

The Royals have twenty games left and roughly 180 1B/DH PAs to play with. Trey's been something of a dullard thus far in terms of sneaking guys PAs late in games (Kila in as a PR, wow, that was Buddy-esque) and I'd love to see that change. Overall, here's how I'd like to see those final 180 PAs distributed:

Shealy	90
Butler	55
Ka'aihue	30
Gload	5
Guillen	0

Shealy Now!