KC Royals Send Scott Podsednik to Los Angeles Dodgers for Minor Leaguers

With the Major League Baseball trade deadline just three days away, we are starting to see the trades pick up.

Early last night, we saw the Cleveland Indians trade Jhonny Peralta to the Detroit Tigers and later in the night, we had another trade.

The Kansas City Royals sent OF Scott Podsednik to the Los Angeles Dodgers for two minor leaguers, catcher Lucas May and pitcher Elisaul Pimentel. The Dodgers will also assume the remaining $650,000 left on Podsednik’s contract.

I like this trade for the Dodgers for two reasons:

1. Podsednik gives them outfield depth for the remainder of the season. Believe it or not, Podsednik was one of the best free-agent acquisitions of the offseason.

Signed by the Royals for one year and $1.75 million, Podsednik was hitting .309 with a .352 OBP and 30 steals in 42 attempts for KC in 2010. According to Fangraphs, Podsednik was worth $4.8 million in value to the Royals in 2010. That is a very good signing at the end of the day.

With Manny Ramirez and Reed Johnson currently on the DL, Podsednik can be a more-than-serviceable fill-in for those two while they are out. When Ramirez comes back, Podsednik will be a valuable pinch-runner off the bench for Joe Torre’s club.

2. This trade keeps Podsednik away from the Dodgers’ rivals. The Dodgers really didn’t need to have Podsednik, but in getting him from the Royals, they keep him away from the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres, who were both searching for outfield help.

I am not saying Podsednik is a HUGE difference maker, but any advantage the Dodgers can get over their division rivals is certainly a plus.

In return, the Royals get two fringe prospects, according to Baseball America’s Ben Badler (if you are not following him on Twitter, you most definitely should).

May is a 25-year-old catcher who is a career .260 minor league hitter. He does have some pop in his bat (25 HRs in High Single A in 2007), but only projects as a decent-at-best backup catcher in the majors, according to Badler.

Pimentel is a 22-year-old, right-handed pitcher, who has a career 3.68 ERA and 8.1 Ks/9 in four minor league seasons. He is a fringe prospect that throws 89-93 mph, but has an inconsistent slider and change, according to Badler.

Podsednik should be in a Dodgers uniform tonight when they take on the first-place Padres in San Diego.

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