Royals eyeing 1B Jacobs

The Royals and Florida Marlins were in serious discussions this week about a trade involving first baseman Mike Jacobs - a player I have openly been lobbying for the past few months.

The Marlins have 16 players eligible for arbitration this year and Jacobs is one of them. For a team who is planning on going into 2009 with a payroll not exceeding $36MM you see why they are trying to trade him and starting pitcher Scott Olsen.

Look, I understand we already have a logjam at first and a lot of you guys think it would be a wise decision to not do anything and see what we have with Butler, Ka'aihue and Ryan Shealy. I respect those opinions and can certainly see why there is some optimism that at least one of those guys will pan out.

Here's my dilemma. With Jacobs you know what you already have. A big left handed swinging first sacker who will hit .255 and smack 30 homers a year. This year the 28 year old hit .249 with 32 homers in just his third full season in the big leagues.

A lot of people were lobbying to sign Adam Dunn - isn't this a similar player you can get on the cheap????

To be quite honest, we're still waiting on Shealy and Butler to produce. This organization can't bank too much confidence in Ka'aihue's one STELLAR year in the minors. Though I think all three have an opportunity to really hit, you just can't cross your fingers and risk losing a year of progress if you can get better TODAY.

If this team is going to move forward and compete for the playoffs, they can't wait on players to hit or miss anymore. That's what this organization has done for way too long, and that's why it was in such shambles when Moore's regime took over.

For now, any deal the teams had in place appears to have fallen apart. It went as far as trading medical charts and there were injury concerns to a young Royals pitching prospect that would have been in the deal. Understandably, the Marlins backed out. It is my belief that pitcher was Carlos Rosa.

Still, you can't knock Moore for making a strong push to add power to this lineup. Suddenly, with a guy who has pop like Jacobs possesses in the lineup, this team may strike some fear when they step to the plate.

Look for the Royals to re-visit this deal and work hard to get something done.