Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Gload traded, Peralta cut

Some Royals fans are rejoicing today after the club cut reliever Joel Peralta and traded veteran utility man Ross Gload to the Florida Marlins.

Gload, who many Royals fans respected but hated when he was in the starting lineup, was sent to the fish along with cash for a player to be named later at an unspecified date. In an expected move, the club also sent starter Brian Bannister to Triple-A Omaha to begin the season.

Pitchers Sidney Ponson and Horacio Ramirez will fill the final two slots of the starting rotation, though Ramirez will start the season in the bullpen until the team incorporates the fifth starter into the rotation a few weeks into the season.

Gload figured to be the odd man out anyways this season, with Billy Butler, Ryan Shealy and Mike Jacobs all vying for the starting job at first base. The Royals, with 32 men remaining on their spring roster, will need to trim seven players from the roster within the next couple of days to meet the leagues 25-man requirement by April 6th.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shane Costa is out of options and still on the roster. I'm guessing they're holding him until the last minute before waiving him in hopes he'll clear and they can sign him to a minor league deal.

Unknown said...

HOW can you not like them dropping dead weight like Gload. This is a good sign when teams drop bad hitters for better ones.