What Exactly Is Going On Around Here?

Between games on Wednesday, the Royals promoted Whit Merrifield and demoted….Christian Colon. Raise your hand if you predicted that!

And if you just raised your hand, I call bull.

After all, Colon had started five of seven games on a recent road trip and gone 7 for 21 over that span. He was playing in place of Omar Infante who is slashing .245/.276/.309 and is a shell of whatever you thought he might once have been in the field. While I doubt anyone saw the second coming of, well, anyone who you might wish to see the second coming of, in Christian Colon, I would think there was enough shown to think Colon was at least a viable alternative to Infante.

With the ability to play third and backup at short, keeping Colon around to share time with Infante and be the backup utility infielder seemed an almost certainty.

Yet, here we are.

By no means is this an indictment on the promotion of Merrifield, who brings versatility and athleticism to the table and, quite frankly, I advocating being promoted a week ago, anyway. My thought at the time of that writing was that Omar Infante would be the one to go.

Yet, here we are.

Has Paulo Orlando’s recent hot streak (really just a few good games strung together) persuaded the Royals to ponder using Dyson more often as a pinch runner? Under that scenario, the versatility of Merrifield to pair with a Dyson pinch running appearance would be an asset. Still, Colon instead of Infante?

Well, one could very astutely point out there are $16 million reasons to keep Omar around.  Even in an era where the Royals spend real money, that is still a ton of money to just cast away. Truthfully, I think it might well be, even after all that has happened the last three seasons, very simply be the reason.

Of course, we could play the inventory card as well.  The Royals can move Colon down and not lose him. If or when the time comes to get Infante off the roster, it is good-bye for good. One wonders, however, why make the move at all if that is the case (unless I’m a genius and Dyson is going to pinch-run five times a week for just about anyone not named Escobar or Cain). While Merrifield has played well in Omaha, he has not played to the level of ‘we can’t keep this guy down there anymore.’

Yet, here we are.

Do the Royals truly believe there is a resurgence somewhere in Omar Infante? Is he so beloved in the clubhouse that the organization is worried about the impact of a DFA? Is Colon so disliked? Does Dayton Moore have some shred of hope of trading Infante to someone for anything?

Maybe it is all about the money and, if so, I thought maybe the Kansas City Royals had grown out of that.