Kansas City Royals Add Scott Podsednik

I love when fans of teams throw a hissy fit over a player signing for no apparent reason. They take a minor signing and turn it into the world’s greatest travesty.

Case in point: The Scott Podsednik signing by the Kansas City Royals.

The Royals signed Podsednik on Friday to a one-year, $1.75 million contract. There is also a club option for 2011 for $2 million.

This is such a nothing with nothing signing, but for some reason Royals fans are acting like GM Dayton Moore signed Podsednik to a six-year, $100 million deal. I really don’t get it.

Perhaps the real reason is that Royal fans are so frustrated with Moore, they figure any move he makes is probably a stupid one. Maybe they are right, but like I said before, this move is no big deal.

Podsednik signed for one year, so it’s not like he is taking the spot of a top Royals’ prospect in 2010. As a matter of fact, the Royals don’t have any outfield prospects ready for the major leagues.

Who is he taking of the place of? Mitch Maier? Maier is nothing special. He was a former first-round pick in 2003, but hasn’t proven he can be an everyday player at the major league level.

Podsednik does give the Royals speed at the top of their lineup, which was something they were hoping Coco Crisp could do last year. Last year, he stole 30 bases in 43 attempts with the Chicago White Sox.

Has Podsednik declined defensively over the years? Yes he has. But the difference between Podsednik and Maier isn’t so great, where the Royals are making a catastrophic decision.

Unfortunately for Royals fans (the few they have left), these are the type of players the Royals are going to sign until they learn how to develop their own players and develop players they receive in trades.

Podsednik isn’t going to make the Royals a contender in 2010. At this point, no single player can—not even Albert Pujols. But he isn’t going to crumble the franchise either.

Moore has taken care of that.

Podsednik will be entering his ninth year in the major leagues and has a career .277 average with a .340 OBP with 266 steals in 353 attempts with the Seattle Mariners, Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies, and White Sox.

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