Prospects in the Wilson Betemit Trade

The Kansas City Royals traded Wilson Betemit to the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday, July 20th. Here is a look at the prospects the Royals received in return.

Antonio Cruz, LHP: Cruz is a 19-year-old pitcher from the Dominican Republic, signed by the Tigers in 2009. Short and stocky at 5-11, 200, he has a 3.11 ERA this year for Low-A West Michigan in the Midwest League, with a 58/28 K/BB in 75 innings, 68 hits allowed,  and a 1.25 GO/AO. He works in the low 90s and flashes a promising curveball and changeup, and his control is reasonable, but his K/IP ratio is unimpressive at this point. He's quite young and lefties with potential are valuable commodities.

Julio Rodriguez, C: Rodriguez was signed by the Tigers out of the Dominican Republic in 2006. He was hitting .283/.325/.354 for High-A Lakeland before the trade, with 10 walks and 28 strikeouts in 226 at-bats. Rodriguez has thrown out 34% of runners this year and 36% in his career, but he's mistake-prone and has committed 14 errors in 66 defensive games this year. He has tools and is just 21 years old, but has a serious lack of power at the plate and needs more work with the glove.

SUMMARY: The Royals flipped Wilson Betemit for a Grade C/C+ pitching prospect and an extra catcher. Given that they picked Betemit off the minor league free agent scrapheap, getting an arm with potential in return is a successful outcome.