Gil Meche and Octavio Dotel, Ps, Kansas City Royals

January 4, 2007 @ 16:00:00

By Chris Kolb
Edited by Nicholas Minnix

On back-to-back days in early December 2006, the Kansas City Royals made two key acquisitions to bolster their much-maligned pitching staff. In reaching agreements with starting pitcher Gil Meche and relief pitcher Octavio Dotel, the Royals gave their pitching staff a little more validity, although question marks still abound.

The Royals hired general manager Dayton Moore in May 2006. He went into the offseason making it abundantly clear to anyone who was listening that the Royals were not going to sit by and watch while other teams snapped up the big free agents. By signing Meche and Dotel, Moore proved that he wasn't joking. The signings may help in reestablishing the dwindling fan base in Kansas City.

In Meche, the Royals got a young, solid pitcher with a strong arm to anchor their rotation and take some of the stress off the young pitchers already on the team. With Dotel, the Royals got a relief pitcher that many teams, including the Florida Marlins, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians and Tampa Bay Devil Rays, wanted to sign because of his ability to come into difficult situations and close out tough ballgames. He has also had his share of troubles in such pressure situations, though.

Meche has only pitched for one other team, the Seattle Mariners, and while he is gifted, many teams saw him as a risk because of his past injury concerns. Meche experienced arm and shoulder troubles in 2000. In February 2001 he had rotator cuff surgery, followed by exploratory surgery on his right AC joint in October 2001. He missed the entire 2001 and 2002 seasons, although he did pitch in the minors for a large portion of 2002. To his credit, he was named The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year in 2003, becoming the first pitcher since 1956 to win at least 14 games after missing two straight seasons. He also made a trip to the disabled list in 2005.

Despite that, Meche has put up solid numbers during his time with the Mariners and has the ability to be better in Kansas City. Meche features a lively fastball that can hit in the mid-90s, along with a knuckle curve and changeup. He will be backed up by a young but flawed lineup both in the field and in the batter's box.

Table: Gil Meche - Career Statistics

Year	GS	IP	Wins	Losses	ERA	WHIP	SO	BB	CG
1999	15	85.2	8	4	4.73	1.52	47	57	0
2000	15	85.2	4	4	3.78	1.34	60	40	1
2003	32	186.1	15	13	4.59	1.34	130	63	1
2004	23	127.2	7	7	5.01	1.46	99	47	1
2005	29	143.1	10	8	5.09	1.57	83	72	0
2006	32	186.2	11	8	4.48	1.43	156	84	1

Meche brings the ability to put up big strikeout numbers. He has had trouble limiting his number of walks, which could prove detrimental to his success in Kansas City, as the Royals are in dire need of a pitcher with the ability to throw the ball with control. Meche has also proven to be very hittable, as evidenced by his career .260 batting average against.

The Royals are counting on Meche to put up similar if not better numbers in the coming seasons. He has the talent and intelligence to pitch against American League hitters. The difficulty lies in getting Meche to stay healthy enough to produce those kinds of numbers on a consistent basis.

In five career starts at Kauffman Stadium, Meche is 2-3 with a 6.48 ERA, 1.60 WHIP and 16 strikeouts in 25 innings. He has success versus the Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins, but the Cleveland Indians have given him a lot of trouble.

On the other hand, Dotel has pitched for several teams over the course of his eight seasons, and has been unable to stick with any of them for a long period of time. Like Meche, Dotel has had injury concerns of his own. He missed most of 2005 and 2006 with elbow problems; he had Tommy John surgery in June 2005. However, he has produced substantial numbers when he has been healthy, so the Royals felt like he was another risk worth taking.

Table: Octavio Dotel - Career Statistics

Year	Team	IP	Wins	Losses	ERA	WHIP	SO	BB	SV
1999	NYM	85.1	8	3	5.38	1.38	85	49	0
2000	HOU	125	3	7	5.40	1.50	142	61	16
2001	HOU	105	7	5	2.66	1.20	145	47	2
2002	HOU	97.1	6	4	1.85	0.87	118	27	6
2003	HOU	87	6	4	2.48	0.97	97	31	4
2004	HOU/OAK	85.1	6	6	3.69	1.18	122	33	36
2005	OAK	15.1	1	2	3.52	1.37	16	11	7
2006	NYY	10	0	0	10.80	2.90	7	11	0

Like Meche, Dotel also has the ability to put up big numbers in his strikeout column, but he has had control issues at times too. Part of Dotel's problems in the recent past have been attributed to injuries and the instability of jumping from team to team. Given a stable situation, the Royals feel that he has the ability to take care of their most pressing need from last season: closing out games and preserving wins.

In terms of their potential fantasy production with their new team, Meche and Dotel could struggle to put up numbers similar to their previous career-best seasons, as the Royals lack the resources right now to provide them with ample opportunity. They seem to have put their injury problems behind them, and are looking to prove that they can be at the top of their game on a more consistent basis. With Dotel's injury still fresh in fantasy owners' minds, though, he presents extreme risk. Both players have limited fantasy potential because of the team they're on.

All in all, both signings may make sense for the Royals and for the individual players as well. The Royals were in need of a quality starting pitcher along with a quality relief pitcher with the ability to be a closer. They may end up getting both in Meche and Dotel, although only time will tell. The Royals franchise is incredibly young and has some talent, so both players could produce in the years to come. That bodes well for the Royals as well as their fans, which definitely deserve to have an opportunity to watch a competitive team play baseball in Kansas City once again.

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Chris Kolb
Chris Kolb has been a KFFL contributor since 2006.

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