http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/1564411-p2.html

The part of this article that interests me:

Rumors suggest the Royals are seeking to swing a deal with the Dodgers to acquire catcher A.J. Ellis for second baseman Alberto Callaspo. If true, financial benefits would be down the road. Callaspo should reach arbitration eligibility after next season, but Ellis not until after 2011 at the earliest.

If those talks stall, the Royals seem determined to unload Callaspo in hopes of selling high after a season in which he batted .300 with a .356 on-base percentage, 11 homers and 73 RBIs.

Well, you can't say Dayton Moore doesn't evolve.  He's gone from his "look at the wrong things and buy high" strategy to a modified version of "sell high" that has led him to the conclusion that after batting .300 in his age-26 season and failing to qualify for super-2 status Alberto Callaspo has to go.  Wow.  Callaspo is coming off a 2.8 WAR season where he maintained his excellent contact rate (8.9K%) and nearly tripled his career .ISO.  Yes, he's not great on defense and a lot of his value lies in his batting average, but with his ability to make contact there's good reason to believe he isn't due for major regression, and his .315 BABIP this year doesn't exactly scream fluke.  The return Moore appears to be looking at?  A 28 year old slap-hitting catcher who failed to hit a single home run in the Albuquerqe band box.

Callaspo failed to qualify as a super-2, so he's near league minimum for another year.  He's bad at 2B, but he's not a total butcher and he's shown some ability to play 3B in the past.  He's also under club control for his age 27-30 seasons, and he's coming off a .352 wOBA this year.  He's a switch-hitter whose value shouldn't be undermined too much by the Safeco effect, and as a guy with a good bat who doesn't steal bases or put up gaudy HR totals, he's likely to get undervalued a bit in arbitration, keeping his price tag low through his prime.  In short, I'm a fan.

This looks like a great opportunity to add a couple wins to the 2010 roster for virtually no cost.  If the rumors are true and AJ Ellis is the kind of return that Moore's looking for, I have to believe the Mariners are capable of stepping in and offering more.  We already know Moore overvalues scrappy Mariner castoffs.

Thoughts?