Royals notebook: Pitcher Lewis claimed on waivers from A’s

Royals notebook: Pitcher claimed on waivers from A’s
By BOB DUTTON
The Kansas City Star

The Royals moved to bolster their pitching depth Friday by claiming right-hander Colby Lewis on waivers from Oakland.

Lewis, 28, was 0-2 with a 6.45 ERA as a reliever last season in 26 games for the A’s. He also went 8-3 with a 1.88 ERA in 15 starts for Class AAA Sacramento.

The Royals view Lewis primarily as a bullpen candidate.

“He’s started before,” general manager Dayton Moore said, “but, the way our club is set up, he’s more of a bullpen option. His Triple-A numbers match up against anybody. When he went to the big leagues, he stumbled a little bit.”

Lewis is 12-15 with a 6.71 ERA in 72 games, including 34 starts, in parts of five big-league seasons with the Rangers, Tigers and A’s. He spent a brief time in the Nationals’ organization last year before joining Oakland.

“He’s still relatively young,” Moore said. “He’s got a terrific arm and great stuff — a power breaking ball. We’ll see.”

Lewis, 6 feet 4 and 214 pounds, was picked by the Rangers with the 38th overall pick in the 1999 draft.

He reached the big leagues in 2002 and spent two-plus years with Texas before undergoing reconstructive elbow surgery and missing much of the 2004 and 2005 seasons.

Two promotions

Moore also promoted two of his top lieutenants.

Louie Medina will now concentrate on major-league operations as special assistant to the general manager for player personnel. Donnie Williams shifts from a special assistant to a senior adviser.

“I wanted to get Louie more involved in what we’re doing from a player-personnel standpoint,” Moore said. “He’ll spend the majority of his time scouting the major leagues. In the past, he had a lot of minor-league work.”

Medina will be entering his eighth year in the organization. His scouting successes include finding Joakim Soria last winter in the Mexican Pacific League.

Williams joined the Royals from Tampa Bay shortly after Moore’s arrival in June 2006.

“This change keeps Donnie a little closer to the major-league team,” Moore said. “That’s what I wanted to do — have him spend more time with me on our major-league side.”