AP News, December 12th, 2006
The manager and new closer of the Kansas City Royals both say they're fully healed from surgery and ready to go to work.
Octavio Dotel, who signed a one-year contract last week, insisted Tuesday that he's completely well after a procedure on his right elbow 18 months ago.
Royals manager Buddy Bell, sitting right next to the pitcher, also said he is feeling better than he has felt in several years. In September, doctors removed a cancerous tumor from Bell's left tonsil.
"I'm ready to go," the 55-year-old Bell said. "If spring training was today, I'd be fine. My energy still isn't great, but it's getting close to where I want it to be."
A flurry of offseason acquisitions during the winter meetings have certainly helped re-energize Bell.
Dotel, who missed most of the last 1 1/2 seasons because of an elbow injury, signed a one-year, $5 million contract and will be asked to shore up one of the weakest bullpens in the majors. While losing 100 games last season for the fourth time in five seasons, the Royals blew a major league-high 31 saves.
"I'm really happy to be here. Happy to get my role back, happy to be a closer," said Dotel, 33. "It will be nice to be the closer guy for the Kansas City Royals. I'm really proud to be here and I'm really proud to be a Kansas City Royals player."
Dotel has a 37-31 record with 71 saves and a 3.75 ERA with the New York Mets, Houston Astros, Oakland A's and Yankees. He underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2005.
"I'm feeling good. I'm feeling in good shape," he said. "I want to be a closer again because the way I'm feeling now. The elbow is fine. Everything looks great."
Dotel said several other teams expressed interest.
"But I think the Royals ... showed more interest in me," he said. "Those teams were trying to. But the thing sold me, the team that showed me more love was the Royals. I appreciate that and that's why I'm here now.
"Now I've got to show them why they were trying to get me here, because they feel I can show them and all the fans here in Kansas City that I'm the right guy to be here."
Bell said it took almost a month to regain his voice, but now he's finally ready to start an argument with an umpire.
"That would be nice, as a matter of fact," he said.
The tumor was cancerous and larger than doctors had anticipated, he said. He is no longer undergoing treatment.
"They got all the margins and everything looks clear," he said. "I'm thankful I had a pretty good doctor."
He first noticed a problem last February when he took a big drink of cold water. But he didn't see a doctor until the condition seemed to worsen in August and September.
"I probably should have gone in sooner than I did," he said. "I really feel better now than I have in three or four years. I don't know if it's because of what I went through and I'm grateful for it, or I just see things a little clearer, friends and organization mean that much more to me. They've always meant something to me."
