Royals Kingdom

Comparing the Royals to the 2012 Presidential candidates

2012-01-03T13:46:00.004-06:00

I am probably going to ruffle a few feathers on this one and it's very possible that I'm going to receive death threats or something crazy like that. But screw that, I'm here to exercise my first amendment rights as a tax-paying citizen of the US of A. So go grab your double Whopper, chicken fries and large Dr. Pepper, America, let's get weird!

Rick Perry is Jeff Francouer - I'll be honest, Rick Perry seems like a dude. A guy you would want to have a beer with and a guy who seemingly does some things very well. But he fumbles on occasion, missing some details in a debate or buying a ranch in Texas that was once named "N--gerhead". You know, little stuff.

Much like Rick Perry, Frenchy brings a big stick to the table and can hit a few out of the park. He's a likeable guy, but much like Perry, he has his shortcomings. Like when Perry forgot the third department he would eliminate from the Federal Government, Frenchy sometimes forgets where the strikezone is on the third strike.

Michele Bachmann is Brayan Pena - Loved by a niche group, but for all the wrong reasons. Brayan and Michele are energetic and both have the propensity for crazy eyes. But what most people can see past the bubbly personalities and general likeability on the surface, they see deep down that both of them are vastly underqualified and more than likely absolutely crazy.

Rick Santorum is Yuniesky Betancourt - Overvalued by the media, while most people with half of a brain can tell you that both are god awful. Santorum was viewed as a viable candidate for awhile until he opened his mouth at the debates. And most people saw Yuni as a viable five-tool player in the majors, until they saw him play.

John Huntsman is Nathan Adcock - Huntsman has made sense during most of the debates, he's well versed in foreign policy with China and has been probably the least heralded of the candidates. He's also a Mormon, which can rub people the wrong way, if you're into that religion/politics kind of conversation. Huntsman is likely positioning himself for a cabinet position if a Republican is indeed elected.

Meanwhile, Adcock may turn out to be an undervalued member of the Royals either as a #4 or #5 starter, a solid long reliever or depth in Omaha. He's a Rule V pick, a rarity in Major League Baseball. Much like Huntsman's Mormonism, Adcock's Rule V status makes him a rare, but possibly valuable commodity for the Royals.

Ron Paul is Billy Butler - Love them or hate them, both are polarizing figures. Both have passionate followers. While Paul has rallied the most support in the Iowa Caucus, the media seems to be ignoring him for his popularity amongst the youth of the country. Paul has been ideologically consistent throughout his political career and never changes who he is, no matter the stage.

Butler on the other hand, seems to be undervalued by some Royals fans as a guy who hits into double plays and "warning track outs". All the while, Butler has been the most consistent offensive performer on the Royals for the past three seasons. Butler's passionate following has turned him into a cult hero, with his "#CountryBreakfast" nickname. There's also a contingent of fans saying Butler's value will never be higher and he should be traded to maximize the return. But if Butler isn't traded, he's under a club-friendly contract and won't cost the Royals much for what he'll give back in return. Much like if Paul doesn't get the Republican nod, he'll return to his congressional seat and run as an independent, making some noise in the general election.

Mitt Romney is Alex Gordon - He's been the poster boy for the Republican Party and the favorite for the GOP nomination in the Summer. Romney is the superstar for the Republican establishment and enamored himself with most of the country. He's been the favorite all along and it's tough to see that changing.

Much like Romney, Gordon has enamored himself with his good looks and finally reaching his potential last season. But some question his ability to sustain his success in the long-term. Gordon and Romney both sprang to the forefront in the past year and both seem to be the most popular amongst the Republican Party and Royals fan base.

Newt Gingrich is Blake Wood - Both have the amazing ability to throw gasoline on easily manageable situations.

Barack Obama is Luke Hochevar - The darlings of 2008, both showed signs of promise early on. But somewhere along the way, they crumbled. Much like Barack Obama fights congress to reduce the budget or pass Obamacare, Luke Hochevar fights control and consistency in the middle innings. But every once in awhile, they'll throw an 80-pitch, three-hitter or kill Osama bin laden.

My farewell to KU Football

2011-11-26T18:03:00.003-06:00

It's finally over. According to your record books, we "win" the overall series 56-55-6. According to our record books, we still win 57-54-6.

And that is why I'll miss this rivalry. We simply don't understand or agree with one another.

You don't understand why we hate you so much. Hating Kansas is a tradition at Mizzou. It's a tradition at Mizzou as much as Homecoming, the columns, journalism, "MIZ-ZOU", Harpo's and the Missouri Waltz. It's something you couldn't and probably never will understand. We've always wanted you to reciprocate the hate as much as we did, but usually just turned your nose up at our hatred and referenced your illustrious basketball past.

I'm going to miss you, Kansas football. No doubt about it. Losing to you was awful. I don't think I ever hurt as bad as I did after Kerry Meier was left wide open with 28 seconds left in 2008. I don't think I'll ever be happier than when we beat you in 2007 in the biggest KC sporting event since the 1985 World Series.

The thing that sucks is that this football rivalry was just recently ignited and actually meant something for the first time in a long time...but Turner Gill ruined that.

It's not you, Kansas. It's the Big 12. Despite what the experts and ESPN say, Tobacco Road and Michigan-Ohio State can't hold a candle to this kind of hatred. I wish like hell you could come with us. I really do. There really is no Mizzou without Kansas. Our sole existence some years is whether or not we beat you.

So whether or not you see this as 56-55-6 or 57-54-6, no one wins. Faceless curators are deciding that this rivalry isn't going to go on and we suffer.

We'll never see another Armageddon at Arrowhead or perhaps a KU/Mizzou Big 12 championship game at Sprint Center.

We might see you in a bowl game or NCAA tournament down the road...and if we do, fuck you, you pretentious bastards.

Cheers to 120 years of a great rivalry. I'll always hate you and miss you.

Why Kansas City hates the Cardinals and their fans

2011-10-28T21:52:00.004-05:00

I'm sitting here writing this in total darkness on Friday night of Halloween weekend. I could be out partying with friends, but I'm tired. So stop judging me.

I'm sitting here watching the Cardinals en route to their 11th World Series title and 250 miles away, a city is celebrating a championship. And here we sit, in the cold, another October without baseball in Kansas City.

I have never exactly been able to put my finger on the exact reason why I hate the St. Louis Cardinals. Maybe it's their smarmy fans who proclaim every other fanbase as second rate citizens. Maybe it's the 70 year old Italian woman that manages the team. Maybe it's their inexplicable knack for pulling Septembers and Octobers out of their ass like some kind of Chinese magician. Maybe it's because they spit on 1985 as a World Series that doesn't matter. Oh it matters. It matters when it's the only damn one that you've won.

I hope they know what they have. They've never suffered. And that isn't their fault. It's not their fault at all. They have had a run of fantastic front office people and great players like Albert Pujols, Chris Carpenter and Jim Edmonds.

But what also pisses me off that for every Albert Pujols and Jim Edmonds, you have a David Eckstein or Scott Spiezio playing just as well in October. How the hell does that happen? If you ask a Cardinals' fan, it's because they get so amped playing in front of the best fans in baseball. If you ask me, it's because some dickhead made a blood sacrifice to Satan himself in exchange for some T-Ravs, a case of Michelob Golden and an eternity of unlikely, no, impossible, postseason success.

In all honesty, the Cardinals are probably the 10th or 12th best organization in Major League Baseball in the past six years, yet they've now won two of the last six World Series. I'd realistically put the Phillies, Yankees, Braves, Rays, Rangers and Red Sox ahead of them and the Cardinals have won just one less championship than those six teams COMBINED.

I think I speak for everyone when I say, HOW THE HELL IS THIS HAPPENING?

And no, this isn't some backhanded compliment to the fans of the St. Louis Cardinals. NO! It is an explanation as to why everyone hates you here. Since you were popped out of your mother's birth canal, the Cardinals have never sucked. EVER.

"Well, there was the '96 team that only won 84 games..." NO! You've never sucked. EVER.

You spit on us and call us second-rate citizens for sticking by a team that Mother Teresa would have a tough time rooting for. A team so awful, they have had ONE winning season in the last 17 years. ONE. So excuse my while I go all Ivan Drago's wife when I say:

"You act like you are so very good and we are so very bad."

SO WITH THAT SAID, please...please, please, please...STOP referring to yourselves as the best fans in baseball and start celebrating the proud, lucky, stupid history of your franchise.

Now, I'm getting drunk.

Royals Kingdom Mail Bag: 10/2

2011-10-03T13:34:00.011-05:00

So I forgot about an email account I created in Spring Training for the Royals Kingdom mailbag about two months ago, but apparently you guys didn't. I opened up the "mail bag" to find ten emails sent during the last week of the season. So I've decided to forgo my season wrap-up post and instead answer the questions from you, the people. Also, if you want to email me during the offseason, just send your questions to royalskingdom.mailbag@gmail.com with "Mailbag" in the title and be sure to give your name and location.

What do you think we do with Wil Myers? Really seemed to struggle at the plate. Is he still considered a legitimate prospect and does he have any trade value? -Tim J., Grandview

Wil was considered to be one of the many crown jewels of the farm system in 2010. Unfortunately, his 2011 campaign was marred with injury and prolonged slumps. But the talent is still undoubtedly there. As far as trade value, it has never been lower. Trading Myers now would be pretty negligent by the Royals as other teams would likely be able to drive down the price with the not-so-special numbers Myers put up last year. I think Wil's future is somewhat unclear with the organization. But I may be wrong. Myers is not a center fielder. If Melky Cabrera leaves to make room for Myers, then that leaves the Royals without a center fielder. If anyone is going to be moved to make room for Myers next season, it will have to be either Jeff Francouer or Alex Gordon. It's a tough spot, but it is definitely one of those good problems to have.

Do the Royals have any chance to sign CJ Wilson? -Mary C., Overland Park

Not really. His performance in Game One of the ALDS certainly didn't drive up his price. But the reality is that CJ Wilson is going to get a contract very similar to that of Jayson Werth. In other words, it is borderline insane to give a 31-year-old pitcher anything more than a five year, $50 million deal (See Meche, Gil). I've always liked CJ Wilson, but with this crop of awful free agent pitchers this offseason, Wilson is going to get a monster deal upwards of $100 million. The Royals are best served sitting on their giant stockpile of cash and waiting on the loaded 2013 free agent class or making a play on a pitcher via trade.

What's the plan for Melky Cabrera? Do we sign him long term? -Ryan T., Kanduhar, Afghanistan

First, thank you for your service! Melky is still arbitration eligible, so I doubt the Royals make any kind of long term commitment. Melky will be 28 next season and if he produces like he did in 2011 next season, then I think we may be wise to lock him up for a few years. Melky has the tools that's for sure. Hitting 18 home runs in Kauffman Stadium isn't exactly easy either. Melky has legitimate power, especially for a center fielder. The smart move would be to keep him around next year OR possibly float him as trade bait this winter. But once again, you would be running the risk of banking on Lorenzo Cain to replace Melky's production in the lineup. I hope the Royals keep Melky around. With his bat in the #2 spot protecting Gordon and Billy Butler, this offense could be very potent next year.

What kind of potential does this offense have? Is 800 runs next year out of the question? -Daniel T., Columbia, MO

800 runs is not out of the question. This is all stringent upon Jeff Francouer, Melky Cabrera and Alex Gordon all repeating, if not improving upon last year's numbers. As far as potential goes, the sky is the limit. The lineup is in place and the young guys got valuable MLB experience. If the mythical "sophomore slump" strikes Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer, Johnny Giavotella and Sal Perez, we may have an issue. But the likelihood of that happening is very, very slim. The offense is sure to be stacked and may be one of the best in the AL Central. But one thing is for sure, this team isn't going anywhere unless we improve the pitching staff. Another thing to consider is the amount of blowout wins that the Royals had in the last two months of the season. Good teams win blowouts and the Royals had an above .500 record in games where the final score was decided by five or more runs. This offense could have the makings of one of the best in club history if things keep progressing the way they did in August and September.

Do you have any cool ideas for what the Royals should do for the All Star Game next year? -Shannon K., Independence

I have full confidence that the Royals and Kansas City are going to put on a great show for the All Star Game next July. That being said, here's what the Royals should do for the Midsummer Classic:

- No Garth Brooks
- No Garth Brooks
- No Garth Brooks

Kidding aside, I think a concentrated effort to involve the Negro Leagues and Negro Leagues Baseball Museum needs to be the theme of the entire week.

Thanks for the questions, guys. Keep 'em coming through the offseason! I plan on doing this once a month.

Focus in KC has shifted from Royals, but Royals focus on 2012 has not

2011-09-16T13:53:00.002-05:00

Remember when the Chiefs lost to the Bills, 41-7? Yeah that sucked the life out of pretty much any and all football buzz around the sprawling metro KC area. I'll admit, I was in a sour mood from my football teams' performances in the last week. Pretty much ruined my entire Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. But then something turned it all around...I watched a Royals game.

This is going to be an extremely positive post. Quite a departure for me, I know. Usually in September I'm calling for Dayton Moore to resign, swearing off the Royals forever and only paying attention to NHL hockey or the Chiefs. But I've found myself unable to detach myself from this team and its young and exciting core.

The names we see run out there every night aren't the Jai Millers and Lucas Mays of Septembers past. These are legitimate big leaguers in the making. Mike Moustakas is finally finding his power stroke. Eric Hosmer continues perhaps the best overall rookie season in club history. Johnny Giavotella showing that at times he can be perfectly adequate. But there is one rookie who stands alone as the most impressive stallion in the Royals stable of young, sexy talent.

Salvador Perez.

It's not everyday that you see a 21-year-old catcher come up and play as impressively as Perez has in his first month with the Royals. Catcher is easily the most difficult position to play on the baseball diamond and Perez has come up and done nothing but play defense at a level expected from a perennial gold glover behind the plate. But the defense is something we have heard about ever since Perez was signed out of Venezuela by the Royals five years ago. The way he has handled the bat makes his first 29 games even more promising.

In 117 plate appearances (in my mind, this is not exactly a small sample size), Perez is hitting .318/.350/.455/.805. And those numbers are coming from hits to all fields. He's showing an incredible knack to hit the ball to all fields with incredible power. I'm one of those guys who values both scouting and stats, but not in the way that Kieth Law claims he does.

Perez is going to be something special, that's for sure. I don't know if we can even call this "development". It's more akin to "immediate adjustment" than development. I don't think there is a better catcher in the big leagues at the current moment than Salvadore Perez and I'm being 100% serious.

Perez is just the tip of the iceberg concerning reasons to be encouraged by what the Royals are doing in September right now. The team is loose and refuses to go through the motions as do most teams that are 22 games under .500 at this point of the season. The Royals are currently riding their longest winning streak in two years and have outscored their opponents 24-8 in those contests.

Not to go unmentioned is the scrapwork starting rotation that has really come together in the last month of the season. Luke Hochevar has been pretty damn good since the All Star Break. (I encourage everyone to go read this piece on Royals Authority). Felipe Paulino has faltered down the stretch, but I still expect him to be a contributor to the rotation next season. And finally, Bruce Chen just absolutely refuses to turn into a pumpkin. Also, a fond farewell to our neighbor from the north, Jeff Francis, who turned in a pretty respectable season and protected us from the likes of Sean O'Sullivan and Vin Mazarro for most of the season.

But as the sun sets on 2011, the promise of 2012 is on the horizon for your Kansas City Royals. An offense that has the potential to score 800+ runs and a rotation that could possibly hold the fort well enough for the Royals to take a shot at the division crown in the ever-declining AL Central may just be enough to return Kansas City to one of the best baseball cities in these United States.

Let's just hope winter doesn't last too long.

Looking ahead to the absurdly good 2013 free agent class

2011-08-21T21:53:00.003-05:00

While most Royals fans have their focus on Mission 2012, it has become obvious to this blogger that the real key to a contending team may not happen until the final out of the 2012 season has been recorded.

With starting pitching at the top of the Royals' offseason needs, I've started to wonder whether or not the Royals can actually field a contending team in 2012. Don't get me wrong, I think the Royals are going to be a much improved team in 2012. We'll likely see a complete overhaul of the starting rotation, with Mike Montgomery, Aaron Crow (fingers crossed), Greg Holland and possibly Chris Dwyer all competing for spots in spring training. That's encouraging, but it's far from a sure thing.

Mike Montgomery's command has been an issue this year. He's walking a lot more guys than he has in the past and giving up more HR/9 than at lower levels. It doesn't bother me that much. Monty has fantastic stuff. The word out of Omaha is that he hasn't been mixing in his devastating curveball as much as he has in the past. Based on his stuff alone, I think Monty can pass at the big league level and work things out in KC. Pitchers like Montgomery may take time to develop. With his arsenal of "ace" pitches, he'll still take time to develop into a good MLB starter. Don't expect much though for the first few years.

Aaron Crow seems to have melted under the sweltering KC summer heat. After a dominant first half of the 2011 season that granted him a spot on the AL All-Star roster, Crow has turned into a clone of Sean Lowe. The walks are up, opponents are hitting him all over the yard and it has become increasingly difficult to trust him in late game situations. This all could be attributed to Crow being overworked...except he's only thrown 55 innings this year. Word from some scouts and experts is that Crow isn't throwing his fastball as much as he was in the first half, trying to finesse hitters into outs. If Crow is indeed getting away from his fastball, this isn't a good sign for him or the Royals if the plan is to move him into the rotation in spring training next year.

Greg Holland just might have the best stuff of any pitcher on the Royals roster. He throws the fastball as well as I've seen since Joakim Soria first broke out in 2007. Holland has four pitches and throws them all extremely well. The fastball is an absolute work of art. Late life, dialed up to 97-98 MPH and it sets up his slider extremely well. The only issue might be the archaic baseball idea that bullpen guys simply can't move from the bullpen to the rotation. I'm not saying Holland would be a Cy Young candidate if moved into the rotation, but he would be a damn good #2 or #3 starter.

On to Chris Dwyer. He freaked a lot of folks out after a horrific first half. Now, he's strung together five consecutive outstanding starts. Dwyer is certainly a long shot to make the rotation next year out of spring training, but a strong finish to 2011 certainly puts him on the fast track to the big leagues and probable call up in mid-2012.

Even if that is the best case scenario, we still have an entire pitching rotation made up of question marks and Luke Hochevar. There are no guarantees on Danny Duffy's success. Bruce Chen is likely to turn into a pumpkin any day now. Jeff Francis, while walking less batters than Cliff Lee, still can't miss a bat to save his life. The Royals are going to have to break the bank and spend some money on a pitcher.

When they spend that money will be key. Diving into this year's free agency class would be a disaster. Heading up the class of 2012 will be CJ Wilson, a guy who is going to get an above market contract due to the fact that the rest of the class is a giant pile of steaming garbage. So before you go all "MARK BUEHRLE!!!!!!!111" on me, let's take a look at the 2013 free agency class:

Zack Greinke- I know we all pretend to be lovers scorned when this name is mentioned in KC, but if Zack would have us, I would buy the cake for the welcome home party.

Shaun Marcum- If the "hometown discount" is a real thing, then KC should be at the top of Marcum's list. If we can get something going in 2012, KC will be attractive to pitchers not from Excelsior Springs.

Anibal Sanchez- This is the guy I want the Royals to go all in on. His walk rate and ERA have been going down the past two years and he's going to be affordable since he plays in baseball purgatory on the easternmost stretches of the Florida Everglades. Going to be the sleeper in an otherwise loaded free agent class.

Jonathan Sanchez- Going to be a sexy name due to association with one of the best rotations in baseball, but his walk rate is astronomical. Might be available at a bargain price and possibly worth the risk. Very comparable to A.J. Burnett. Lots of walks, lots of strikeouts.

Matt Cain- Perhaps the sexiest name on the list, in my opinion. I'm going to bet he re-signs with the Giants. He's been buried in Tim Lincecum's shadow for several years, but I would love to see the Royals be aggressive in their pursuit of him.

Cole Hamels- He's a "winner" that baseball people love to talk about so much. In Philly, he's the #4 starter. In KC, he's the ace.

Of course, all of these names could be off the market by the time 2013 rolls around and we might be stuck with a young, promising rotation with question marks galore. Or we might make a huge free agent splash that puts us over the top.

I still expect us to compete and quite possibly contend in 2012. The foundation is being set before us and next year is sure to be met with expectations, hopes and dreams. David Glass signing checks may never be more important than it will be a year from now.

With absurd division title hopes fizzling, focus needs to shift to 2012

2011-08-06T22:51:00.003-05:00

Entering this weekend, I had a twinkle of hope running through my head. With a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers, the Royals could find themselves just eight (yes, EIGHT) games out of the division race.

Two 4-3 losses to the Tigers on Friday and Saturday night quickly pissed all over that twinkle of hope in my head.

If there's anything to be gained from these losses, it's the fact that the Royals have played two outstanding games against the old, overpaid cream of the AL Central's crop, the Detroit Tigers. Friday night's game was outstanding. Seeing Billy Butler, Eric Hosmer, Johnny Giavotella and Mike Moustakas lead a three-run comeback in the late innings had every Royals fan drooling all over the place at the thought of the same scenario playing out over the next decade. The energy shown by that group of young players on Friday night had me tricked into thinking it was a playoff game. Gio pumping his fist as he drove in Butler to open up the scoring was perhaps the greatest foreshadowing we've seen here since Tony Pena belted out "we believe" after Ken Harvey hit his famous homer in extras in 2003.

The series can be salvaged with a win on Sunday, but a loss puts the final nail in the coffin on a not quite lost 2011 season.

When people look back on the 2011 season in 25 years, they may see yet another 90+ loss season. When I look back on it, I'll view it as a metamorphosis, when the Royals finally cleansed a roster full of castoffs and mistake free players, turning over the leaf to a new era in Royals baseball.

Let's just look at how the roster, especially the lineup, has changed since opening day:

RF- Jeff Francouer (still here, supposed part of the future)
CF- Melky Cabrera (still here, hopefully a stop gap)
LF- Alex Gordon (still here, part of the future)
3B- Wilson Betemit (gone)
SS- Alcides Escobar (still here, part of the future)
2B- Chris Getz (still here, not part of the future)
1B- Kila Ka'aihue (still in the system, not part of KC's future)
DH- Country Breakfast (still here, part of the future)
C- Matt Treanor (still here, not part of the future)

The roster has been cleansed of 1/3 of those guys and now the Royals offensive lineup doesn't have a single player over the age of 27. Giavotella has mercifully replaced Chris Getz, Mike Moustakas is up, Hosmer is up, Duffy is up.

The roster turnover has only just begun in my mind. Soon we'll see the likes of Mike Montgomery, Sal Perez, Lorenzo Cain, David Lough and others grace the green grass of Kauffman Stadium and you'll start to see the team of the future forming in front of your eyes.

So stick out 2011. Stick out the one-run heartbreakers, the blown saves, the swings and misses on low and away sliders and the occasional bobbled ball. I've been telling people to get on the bandwagon for about a year now. All that's left is to take the first step and let your guard down. These guys can play and you can tell they are hungry to restore pride and glory to this downtrodden franchise and its masochistic fan base.

The future is here and it isn't just one player. It's several players. The new generation of Royals baseball to quench the thirst of the lost generation of Royals fans. We are thirsty and soon, we shall drink.

Top 20 Royals Tweeters

2011-07-15T22:33:00.009-05:00

Since it's that time of year when most people aren't even paying attention to the Royals, I figured I would compile a list of my favorite Royals' tweeters. No matter how bad the Royals are, people are always going to use the social media platform of Twitter and use it to complain, inform and make one another laugh. This list does not include KC media (one exception). That being said, here is the first ever fluff piece on Royals Kingdom. Be sure to give these guys (and gals) a follow:

20. @Kevin_Agee- Complains about the Royals and does it extremely well. Biggest MO State tweeter out there as well.

19. @RoyallySpeaking (Jeff Parker, Royally Speaking)- One of my first followers on Twitter and a member of the old guard of the Royals' blogosphere...not to say that he's old or anything.

18. @mhays83 (Matt Hays, SB Nation Kansas City)- One of the most reasonable Royals fans on Twitter. Unabashed lover of the Iowa Hawkeyes.

17. @rustindodd (KC Star)- Sam Mellinger's replacement for Ball Star. No pressure.

16. @KCYETI (Kirk Harris)- KC YETI IS TEH AWESOME.

15. @grogg (Greg Layton)- Die hard Royals and Cubs fan. What the hell is wrong with him?

14. @pcbearcat (Ross Martin)- Smart ass Royals fan, he fits in with the rest of us.

13. @TJFsports (Tom Fehr)- Combine Royals tweets with tweets about Game of Thrones, Entourage, Todd Haley and Chipotle, you might have my best friend that I've never met. Add to the equation that he's a die hard KU fan and he's my sworn enemy. I will destroy him someday.

12. @royalsauthority (Craig Brown)- Head blogger over at Royals Authority. Hater of stolen bases and sac bunts.

11. @doublestix (Keith Blackburn)- For a guy who is younger than most Royals' prospects, Keith knows his stuff about the Royals farm system. And he hates the Twins. I mean, he REALLY hates the Twins. What's not to love?

10. @kcscoliny (Clint Scoles, Pine Tar Press)- A fine man from Nebraska on top of everything that is the Royals' farm system. Need some info about a Venezuelan pitcher in rookie ball at 2 am? He's your man.

9.@scobes15 (Kevin Scobee, Kings of Kauffman)- Most underrated (if there is such a thing on Twitter) Royals tweeter out there. Congratulations on recently moving out of your mother's basement and finding a woman willing to microwave your hot pockets. When he's not tweeting about the Royals, he's tweeting about The West Wing or The Wire.

8. @brokenbatsingle (Nick Scott, Royals Authority)- The armchair GM of Twitter. Unpopular thoughts, in-depth discussion, ground breaking tweets about fine ales.

7. @michaelengel- Head writer for Kings of Kauffman. Solid analysis of the Royals and pretty girls in Lawrence.

6. @KCRoyalman- Friend of Royals Kingdom and wearer of capes. Want a look into the mind of the most diehard of the diehards? Follow this man.

5. @Greg_Schaum- By far the most informed person on Twitter when it comes to Royals prospects. Good for the occasional NHL 94 tweet.

4. @royalsreview (Will McDonald)- Snark, snark and more snark. Any night when the Jeff Francouer's and Kyle Farnsworth's of the world are signed by the Royals is a must follow for Will.

3. @BHIndepMO (Brandon H.)- He's funny. He's brash. He's even keeled. This guy is the voice of the down-trodden Royals fan on Twitter. Knows the history of the team and isn't too pessimistic or optimistic. Coined the term #BoomYosted

2. @jazayerli- Rany is the smartest Royals fan out there. Doesn't tweet that much, but when he does, he makes it count.

1. @fakenedyost- This guy has a direct line to my funny bone. You probably already follow him and if you don't, then you should re-evaluate your life.

Honorable mention: @minda33 (And then she moved to Palm Springs and out of our lives)

Fans' choice: @oldmanduggan (After tallying the votes, Josh Duggan is your choice for one of the best Royals fans on Twitter.)

Royals with trade value, the unseen tapes

2011-07-08T14:51:00.003-05:00

July 31 is rapidly approaching and it's obvious that the Royals are going to be in sell mode. The MLB trade deadline is when all armchair GM'ing spikes and everyone likes to pretend that they're Billy Beane (the Brad Pitt version of Billy Beane), making the big trade that can put your franchise over the top. But here's the truth for teams like the Royals, when you're in sell mode, these trades are usually just salary dump. So don't expect the Royals to make a blockbuster trade this July. I'll break it down for you right meow...

The guys everyone is talking about

Joakim Soria- Biggest name likely to be made available by the Royals, but with the trade market about to be saturated by relief pitchers, the Royals are going to be asking a lot for Soria, which they should. What the front office can't do, is accept any deal for Soria that is below their perceived value of Soria. Jack hasn't had the best season of his career, but has locked down the ninth inning with authority in the past few weeks and seems to be on the right track. But once again, the market will be watered down, which could work to the Royals advantage, considering Soria will be in the top tier of those relievers. I think Soria's trade value has started to go down, but a strong second half could put his trade value back at it's 2010 offseason value, where the Yankees allegedly offered uber-hitting prospect Jesus Montero for Soria. Any package that doesn't include high end starting pitching for Soria should be avoided. The Royals have the bats in the minors, it's time to stock the arms. Keep your eye on the Phillies, Tigers and Braves (of course) as possible destinations for Soria. Those three all have stockades of readily available young arms that would catch the Royals' eye.

My bet: 10% chance Soria is traded.
Demands: B+ RHP starter prospect, C+ RHP, athletic 2B in high minors

Melky Cabrera- Start the argument for best free agent acquisition by Dayton Moore because Melky has done nothing more than exceed all expectation this season. But he has to go, Lorenzo Cain and David Lough have proven that they are ready to make the jump to the big leagues and Melky is a guy with postseason experience that seems to be moved every single July no matter what kind of year he's having. Shouldn't bring back much, but the Royals can get decent value for him. He is under contract for next season and is still just 26-years-old.

My bet: 60% chance Melky is traded.
Demands: C+ starting pitching prospect/fireballer with command issues in low minors, straight up.

Jeff Francouer- Here's the guy I guarantee that the Royals will be overvaluing at the deadline. Anything more than cash or players to be named later for Francouer will be a steal. Yes, Frenchy has had a good year, but teams know all about Jeff Francouer. The selling points are pretty hollow, but the intangibles that some GMs overvalue might be enough to increase Frenchy's value.

My bet: 75% chance Frenchy is traded.
Demands: Cash or PTBNL.

Wilson Betemit- Stop fooling yourself, he isn't going to bring back diddly. Betemit had an amazing comeback year last year. If you follow the Royals closely, you know the story about Betemit. Former Braves super prospect who somehow got labeled as a bench player. Betemit's value isn't high because he's not an everyday player. There might be a team out there who thinks they can steal Betemit, and if they want to, go ahead and let them. Moustakas is up and Betemit plays once every six days.

My bet: 90% chance Betemit is traded.
Demands: AA pitcher

Jeff Francis- He'll be in pretty high demand by National League teams. The market for starting pitchers is pretty awful and Francis will be one of the better pitchers available in that market. He's the ideal 4-5 starter that teams are looking for this time of year. Might be able to get something better than expected for him, especially if a desperate team comes calling.

My bet: 95% chance Francis is traded.
Demands: AA pitcher

Billy Butler- Let me address this once and for all. Billy Butler should not be traded. Billy Butler is a good, maybe great player. Billy Butler is 25 years old. Billy Butler is a Hall of Fame talent.

My bet: 2% Butler is traded.
Demands: No less than four of the organization's top 10 prospects.

The guys who people aren't really talking about

Alex Gordon- His breakout season has started the trade rumor mill for Gordo. In my mind, the Royals can't afford to trade Alex Gordon. The potential has finally come through AND he's one of the best defensive left fielders in all of baseball. In fact, next to Ryan Braun, Alex Gordon is the best left fielder in all of baseball. I don't want him traded and the Royals would be taking several steps back in the development process. Gordon is a prime example of why you can't be impatient with a rebuild. The project is far from over, but the horizon looks very promising for #4.

My bet: 2% chance Gordon is traded.
Demands: Package Gordon with Giavotella or Dwyer for a PREMIUM starting pitching package that includes 2-3 B level starting prospects and the organization's best OF prospect.

Bruce Chen- For a guy who is quietly having one of the best seasons by a Royals lefty in a long time, Chen's name isn't being thrown around as much as I would expect. I'll be honest, I think Chen was a dynamite pickup by Dayton Moore. He's been our most consistent pitcher and has revived his career here. It isn't uncommon to see lefty pitchers put things together later on in their careers and go on to extend their playing days by a few years. I don't think the Royals will part ways with Chen unless they are offered a very good package for Chen.

My bet: 25% chance Chen is traded.
Demands: A pitcher from the organization's top 20.

Stay tuned, I'll be writing more about the trade deadline as we get closer to July 31.

Rebuttal to Chris Sullentrop's Grantland article

2011-07-07T14:15:00.004-05:00

First, read.

Mr. Suellentrop,

First off, what an incredibly well written article. It is obvious that you attended the greatest journalism school on the planet, the University of Missouri.

But what also shines through in this article is the stereotypical douche resin that lingers around in this city after folks like you have left. Doesn't shock me that you're one of those lifelong Kansas fans who committed sports loyalty suicide when you opted to go to a good school like Mizzou, instead of accepting a second-rate, but still acceptable, journalism degree from your beloved Jayhawks. So it doesn't shock me in the least that you threw your hometown under the 20 million pound bus, with Bill Simmons at the wheel.

I'm sure you worship the ground that Bill Simmons walks on. The East Coast bias has probably infiltrated your mind by now. Either that or you've always viewed Kansas City as a second rate, insecure city and have dreamed about the big city while "wasting away" in the Midwest, where great journalists have been born.

Instead of following in the footsteps of Posnanski, Whitlock, Paige and Miklasz, you probably thought the easiest road to notoriety and written-word fame was to hit the bright lights of Broadway and wash away the shame of your "cow town" upbringing, while alienating your home city in the process. So I'm sure Bill Simmons and the good folks at Grantland contacted you because what self-righteous, East Coast trendster doesn't open up the New York Times every morning while drinking their half-caf, triple shot Starbuck's and smelling their own farts? I'm sure it was an easy decision for you.

So you wrote an article pretty much saying that Kansas City was a lonely, desolate place where children play under power lines, multi-million dollar arenas sit empty, women don't shave their legs and the winters last for seven months. Your reasoning in the article is laughable. Sprint Center is one of the country's busiest venues, but since there isn't an NBA team in town, it's a failure of an arena. You could have stopped there, but you didn't. Shot after shot came and by the end of the article, my blood was boiling.

You said you left KC for a bigger stage and a bigger paycheck. Well, you got that. But you have done it at a cost, sir. So have fun living in New York City, paying $1500 a month for 120 square feet and $7 for beer at a bar, living the good life and trying to rub elbows with smart people with smart jobs and smart clothes. I'll be here in Kansas City, loving where I was born and raised, drinking in giant parking lots and eating the best smoked meats in the world. You may have left KC, but I'm not entirely sure you ever truly lived here.

Nice suit.

Melky leading off and the "Magic Eight Ball" bullpen

2011-06-22T17:44:00.003-05:00

After last night's atrocious offensive showing by the Royals, despite Alex Gordon nearly hitting for the first cycle by a Royals' player in over 20 years, Ned Yost hinted that lineup changes would come. Needless to say, I was relieved. I had grown awfully tired of seeing Jeff Francouer (who I have developed a man crush on after his fantastic first couple of months) struggle at the plate and turn into the Jeff Francouer of old.

Alex Gordon continued his actual dominance in the leadoff spot, becoming the best left fielder in the Major Leagues (it's true, look it up). He's been the only enjoyable part of this team in the months of May and June. This is awesome. Gordon had been unfairly dumped on by most Royals fans and media for a majority of his career and to see him pull off a season like this has made me incredibly happy and relieved as a fan. Hats off to Alex Gordon. If he isn't our All Star, then they should just let him punch Nick Swisher in the face.

So with a lineup switcheroo, you would think that Gordon would maintain his perch at the top of the Royals' lineup. He IS after all one of the hottest hitters in baseball this year.

Instead, it's Melky Cabrera. Melky has stayed consistent...but he isn't a leadoff hitter. When Gordon was inserted in the leadoff role, I was shocked and actually proud of the Royals for doing something so progressive. Gordon, in my mind, is the next generation of leadoff hitters in baseball. Good on base skills, decent enough speed, power to the gaps, doesn't strikeout...wait, isn't that what managers always say, despite when they put Chris Getz in the leadoff spot?

Frenchy was removed from the cleanup spot and busted all the way down to...fifth. I get it. I like Ned Yost. He's a guy who commands the respect of his team and gets it back in return. He put up with Frenchy in the cleanup spot about a month longer than I would have. I'm just hoping Frenchy didn't have a sit down with Yost and ask him to be removed from the cleanup role like Joakim Soria did when he asked to be removed from the closer's role.

But Yost's bullpen management has been the most frustrating part of the whole equation. With the Royals down by three in the eighth inning and threatening to come back, Yost seemingly drew a name out of a hat and out came Everett Teaford, a LOOGY. Teaford gives up a two-run bomb and the Royals lose. Of course, who knows what may have come if Teaford had gotten out of the inning, but in a three run game, the manager has to treat it like a three-run lead.

So Nick Wright of 610 Sports Radio came up with the "Magic Eight Ball Bullpen" meme the other day on his show and I'm not sure if I've ever heard a more outrageous, yet so dead-on metaphor for Ned's bullpen management.

Ned: Should I put Greg Holland in to face three lefties?
Magic 8 Ball: As I see it, yes.

Ned: Tim Collins can get lefties out, right?
Magic 8 Ball: Outlook good.
Ned: Screw you, I'll put him in anyways.

Ned: Should I have a reliever put one in Yadier Molina's kidney?
Magic 8 Ball: Very doubtful.
Ned: WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!

I hope you still have the receipt to Spencer's Gifts...

Annual Royals Kingdom 'Ode to the St. Louis Cardinals (and their fans)'

2011-06-20T02:30:00.006-05:00

Another heart stopping series between the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals concluded Sunday afternoon in America's Most Dangerous city and the Royals dropped the season series against their pre-fabricated, "Son of Denkinger", pointless rival across I-70. After the final game of the series that saw a few sparks of frustration from the red-clad Best Fans in Baseball's team, Alex Gordon called the Cards a "bunch of babies" for plunking him late in the game as retaliation for what seemed to be two innocent, yet unfortunate plays earlier in the game.

So this of course sparked my disdain for the St. Louis Cardinals. I don't know where it came from, but for the love of bearded Jesus, I really can't stand much of anything about this franchise.

It could stem from the fact that the fans have pretty much branded themselves as the "Best Fans in Baseball". Best at what, exactly? I don't understand what the whole self-appreciation hubbub is about. Hey, guess what? EVERY FREAKING TEAM IN BASEBALL SAYS THAT THEY HAVE THE BEST FANS IN BASEBALL. Here's a quote from John Q. baseball player from an on-field interview after literally every game ever: "I'm just thankful that we get to go out in front of the best fans in the game and I'm glad we won."

So throw a freaking parade for yourselves and dust off that Aaron Miles jersey, man! You've achieved something so very rare that it's only mentioned at every opportune time for any player ever to earn goodie points with the home town folks so your front office will throw a few extra bucks at him once he hits free agency. It's a pretty common practice. I'm sure you believe that Jesus Christ was a bearded white man who spoke English, too.

I've heard people refer to St. Louis as the "Capital of Baseball". Of course, those were people from St. Louis. But THEN I heard from this guy at Charlie Gitto's who says that Abner Doubleday made a trip to the Casino Queen back in 1881, so this is all verified that St. Louis is indeed the Capitol of Baseball and all fans should make pilgrimage to St. Louis and pay homage to the home of baseball...and the Bowling Hall of Fame.

Here's an idea. Instead of referring to yourselves as the "Best fans in baseball", refer to yourself as the "best franchise in baseball". You can certainly get away with that and it would be less absurd than making the notion that your fan base is superior to 29 others. You've won 10 World Series! You have had some of the greatest players to EVER strap on the cleats and play between the lines. Yet the most important thing about the Cardinals is the fans. Hey that's just great. Guess you've earned it after all. You've never gone longer than 25 years without a World Series victory. Hell, you go to the playoffs every year. You have the most prolific slugger of our generation wearing Cardinal red (for now).

My point is that it is EASY to be a Cardinals fan. It's EASY to root for your team. It's EASY to spit on teams like the Royals and Cubs because we've been so terrible and you've been so great. I mean, your worst team in the last 15 years won a World Series for Christ's sake!

Hey, guess what? I've won 20 Super Bowls on Madden. I'm the best player in Madden. Oh, what skill level was I playing on? EASY.

You're on EASY mode, St. Louis. Where you kill the boss on one shot while running around just firing random bullets into the air, hoping one hits.

Over here in KCMO, we're on extreme-devil mode. Where fucking zombies jump out of walls and eat your brains out after you save the princess. Where no matter what, you can't ever kill the boss, despite pumping round after round into his face. Where possibly your greatest pitcher ever demands a trade because he "doesn't like it here". SHIT AIN'T EXACTLY EASY OVER HERE.

Well guess what happens after you play enough times on extreme-devil mode? You get better...and better...and better...and better. You get draft picks. You make changes to your philosophy. You appreciate what you earn and enjoy watching how far you've come.

Guess what? We're getting better. Our owner actually seems to have figured out how to run some semblance of a professional sports franchise. We preserved one of the games iconic ballparks, while you grabbed the cookie cutter after Pittsburgh, Colorado, Texas and Philly were done using it. We've got the up and coming hottie that was just named hottest chick in the history of whatever and showing massive amounts of potential. You've got the 50-year-old divorcee with the bad boob job. Sure, it'll be fun for awhile, but man I can't wait to see that bitch go batshit crazy on your ass.

The next 25 years should be fun.

Handling of Soria points to bigger problem

2011-05-31T01:47:00.003-05:00

Sorry about the delay between posts, folks. I've gotten a little lazy lately.

Joakim Soria blew his fifth save of the season on Monday afternoon and dropped the Royals to 23-30 on the season. After this weekend and road trip, it's hard to see the Royals ever getting back to .500 this year. A sad thing to say after such a surprising start to the season.

I've been saying that something is wrong with Joakim Soria since about the second week of the season. After watching most of the Royals' media contingent and some fellow bloggers live in denial about Soria's status, they all finally admitted something was off after Monday's latest catastrophe. Welcome to the conversation.

Ned Yost shows incredible confidence in his players and I greatly admire that. But you have to wonder if that can be a weakness as much as it is a strength (or as Frank White would say, "strinth"). Soria struggled with control more than we've ever seen in his career and barely threw first-pitch strikes, something that makes him who he is and why he is so difficult to hit.

When Yost was hired, the biggest knock on him was his handling of the bullpen in Milwaukee that allegedly led to the Brewers almost blowing a seven-game lead in the NL Central race in 2008. Now here it is, rearing its ugly head in KC.

Soria has earned the right to be given every chance to hold his role as a closer on this team. But when is enough enough? Soria has been off all year, something pointed out by myself, famed Royals' tweeter Brandon Harris (@BHIndepMO) and more recently, 610 radio's Nick Wright. If I saw this as early as April 15, what were the Royals seeing since then and why did it take so long? Why did Joakim Soria ASK to be removed from the closer's role while the Royals idly stood by and did nothing about a guy that is about to enter a three-year option period where he is due over $20 million dollars?

Soria currently holds the most valuable contract on the 25-man roster and arguably is the Royals' biggest trade chip. The Royals stood by and watched as Soria's trade stock plummet after he was being considered one of the hottest trade commodities in Major League Baseball this past offseason.

The Royals' handling of high-priced pitchers has been frustrating. Gil Meche is the latest and most prevalent example of this negligence. Are we about to go down the same path with Soria?

Soria has denied that anything is wrong with his health and I guess I can believe that. Soria has been the weakest link in a bullpen that has become one of the most exciting, young collection of arms in baseball. But Yost continually went to Soria and it has ultimately led to this torrid stretch of baseball that has dropped the Royals all the way to fourth in the division after being a staple in second place for a majority of the season.

More alarmingly, Soria does not have a clean slate of health in his past. He's undergone Tommy John surgery and saw an extended DL stint in 2009 due to a shoulder issue. The Royals simply can't afford to take any chances with Soria, right now.

27-year-old stud closers with impeccable control don't suddenly "lose it". He's been the second best reliever in baseball for the past three years. When he's ready to enter the prime of his career, he can't find the strike zone or miss bats. He's getting bombed and hit hard. That has NEVER HAPPENED IN HIS CAREER. He's not throwing his curveball as much, and when he does, it doesn't have any bite to it. When that happens to a pitcher, it usually means he's hurt.

Something is wrong with Joakim Soria and the Royals would be wise to look deeper into this. The sad part is, they probably won't.

Thrashers moving to Winnipeg, AEG leaves KC out to dry...again

2011-05-19T23:41:00.005-05:00

It has been public knowledge for the past two years or so that the Atlanta Thrashers have been on the brink. The owners, the Atlanta Spririt Group (who also owns the Atlanta Hawks and minority shares in the Braves and Falcons), started quietly shopping the team after the 2008-09 season to local owners. And since Atlanta has a fine, upstanding tradition of supporting its professional sports teams, no one came calling.

So the door was open. The Thrashers waived their 99-year lease at Philips Arena and the team was ready to listen to offers from ownership groups outside of the city of Atlanta.

Before I delve into the more current state of affairs in the ever shifting world of the NHL, let me take you back to the summer of 2004. Kansas City had been begging for a new arena. Downtown was widely considered a joke and the Big 12 Tournament had left for the greener pastures of Dallas, Texas. KC had been passed over by cities like Nashville, Phoenix, Columbus, Atlanta and Raleigh-Durham for NHL franchises from 1995-2001. So Kansas City, the progressive entity that it is, decided it was time for a shiny new arena, smack in the middle of downtown with a planned entertainment district adjacent to the proposed arena. The West Coast-based Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) came calling to our aid. You see, AEG owned a majority share of the Los Angeles Kings and had an "in" with the NHL. AEG offered to operate the arena for the first ten years after construction. Don't fool yourself, Sprint Center was indeed built to attract an NHL team. A slew of teams were looking for new buildings and KC was the apple of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman's eye. Any time an NHL team was rumored to be relocating, Kansas City was the first city mentioned.

The Pittsburgh Penguins came calling in 2006. The corporate suites at Sprint Center sold out within a week and people were even calling to see if they could buy season tickets after KC caught wind of the Penguins' interest. They flirted with us and we got played. Here's why:

AEG employee and NHL Hall of Famer Luc Robitaille was named "head of hockey operations" for the mystery team and as of today, I think he still holds that title. Well you see, Luc's best friend is Pittsburgh Penguins majority owner Mario Lemieux. You don't have to look much further than that. Lemieux used his connections with Robitaille and AEG to get his new building. Easy peezy.

So here we are. 2011. The Atlanta Thrashers are pretty much BEGGING someone, anyone to swoop this team up out of Atlanta. AEG promised us a team. So here's the team. We don't have to coax them out of a city where they are entrenched in history and passion. We don't have to negotiate out of a lease. We won't have to do much. Just get an owner.

Instead, AEG sits in their ivory tower, watching down on KC getting passed over yet again by an NHL or NBA team while they collect fat stacks from concert revenue and the Power & Light District hemorrhages money.

The district lost $14 million dollars last year and we foot the bill for that. The entire P&L district and Sprint Center were built for one purpose: to attract and secure an NHL or NBA franchise. Of course, I prefer the NHL, but I wouldn't be too pissed if we got an NBA team either. Just something to put down there!

Some may argue the proposed economic impact of a sports team, but a sports team is what is needed to save P&L.

So we sit here, looking like idiots, while AEG and Tim LIEwicke make money off of concert revenue from artists who are under contract with AEG. You don't have to do much looking. It's just below the surface. Anyone seen Tim Liewicke in KC since 2006? No. AEG owns dozens of arenas around the world. So they'll sit there and tell us that all is well because Sprint Center is the "3rd busiest arena" in North America, when in reality, its a sponge, sucking the life out of the neighboring district and giving nothing in return.

I'm not saying that KC is the best suited city for an NHL franchise, but AEG has a lot of clout in the media. But there wasn't even a WHISPER of Kansas City in ANY of the Atlanta relocation talks. Seems a bit strange.

We were promised an anchor tenant and all we've gotten are crappy concerts and meaningless exhibition games. It's time to start asking what the worth of AEG actually is.

The answer for KC sports fans? Not that much.

Eric Hosmer

2011-05-05T17:07:00.005-05:00

Today, at 4:34 PM, Central Daylight Time, the Kansas City Royals announced that phenom Eric Hosmer had been activated from AAA Omaha...and I JIZZED IN MY PANTS.

This callup means several things, but the most important thing is that the Royals think they can win NOW. This signals a shift in the Royals' organizational philosophy. Instead of watching the service time clock, the Royals see fit to promote Hosmer now and give a significant boost to our already pretty damn good offense. Soon to follow will be the much needed reinforcements to our starting rotation and goddamnit, this could be one helluva summer here in the City of Fountains.

Kila wasn't getting the job done, let's be honest. He had a small window to keep the seat warm for Hosmer and he didn't take advantage of his opportunity. Hosmer straight up forced the Royals' hand. Kila will probably catch on somewhere else, in fact, there are probably teams calling Dayton Moore inquiring about what it might take to get Kila out of a Royals/Storm Chasers uniform.

So Eric Hosmer will step out on to the beautiful, lush green grass of Kauffman Stadium in front of ~40,000 starving Royals fans and announce that the future has indeed arrived a year early. Unreal.

The fairy tale of Hosmer's career will continue tomorrow night at Kauffman Stadium. Has there been a more remarkable turnaround in this franchise's history? Hosmer received the biggest signing bonus in Royals history and responded by hitting .241/.334/.361 in his first full professional season. Next year, he lights the world on fire, turns into the hottest hitting prospect in baseball and spearheads the greatest system in the history of the Kansas City Royals and perhaps Major League Baseball.

He's here folks. He's freaking here. Buy your tickets, Friday night will be a playoff atmosphere at the K.

PS: Jason Kendall probably will never play another game with the Kansas City Royals.

GO ROYALS!

May, the month of May, the force be with us

2011-05-02T21:52:00.003-05:00

It's May. A month that will make any Royals fan want to crawl under a rock for the next 30 days and wait until September call-ups. In the past 10 seasons, the Royals are a combined 103-178 in May games, good for a .366 winning percentage and over the course of a 162-game schedule would be 59-103 with that winning percentage. A-haw-ful.

Here's the thing, this team is different! Hooray! Not really, but if this team is for real, they will make it through May with a .500 record. You gotta remember, division championships aren't won in May, they're won in the dog days of July, August and September (See Royals, c. 2003). But you see, May is also where division titles and runs to .500-for-the-first-time-in-nearly-a-decade are shot to hell. May is a fickle bitch. May exposes your team for who they really are.

Dayton Moore has flexed knowledge on us like "plus hands" and "runs created", but my favorite (no joke, I actually believe this) is his belief that you know almost everything you need to know about a team after 40 games. Those 40 games are a big enough sample size to determine whether or not a team is for real or not. Hearken back to 2009, when GMDM dropped this knowledge-sodapop on us. Royals were 18-11, first place in the division and built like a house of cards that hit a lot of homerz. KC was electric, the K was packed for every Greinke start and you couldn't convince me the Royals weren't for real.

Driving home with two of my good friends on our way back from another dazzling Zack Greinke gem, we gushed and bellowed about how this was going to be the Royals year. I started to get goosebumps and it took everything in my power to not jump into the front seat and hug both of my friends. Think about it like in "The Hangover" when Phil, Allan and Stu are heading into the desert to give Chow $80k in exchange for Doug, when instead they're about to get back "black Doug".

Yeah, that was a mother f**king tangent. Anyways, it's May. Kila Ka'aihue seems to be coming around, despite what some Royals fans are saying. Kila is hitting .320/.393/.520 in his last 7 games with six strikeouts and a .389 BABIP, meaning Kila is finally starting to flex his big Hawaiian muscles. So please, stop pointing to his stats overall this season, it makes you look silly. Yes, I know they are flashed up on the scoreboard each time he comes to bat, but do yourself a favor and do a little bit of research before making a fool of yourself. Kila's arrow is pointing up. If Kila falls back into the abyss for SEVERAL months, then hey, you've got an argument. This is a guy with less than a half season of experience in the major leagues. All Kila has done while some radical fans are brandishing torches and pitchforks is make less outs than Royals' Facebook page fan favorite, Melky Cabrera this season...

Jeff Francouer continues to affirm my man crush. Overall good guy and look, He's hitting righties! Frenchy is hitting .290/.328/.565 against right-handed starters this year. He's also slugging .867 against all lefties this year. That's absurd. He has slowed down in the last week though. Francouer has notoriously disappeared in May as well. Hopefully he keeps it going, he's protected Billy Butler in the lineup quite well this year.

The starting pitching is starting to rear it's ugly head. I won't be shocked if we see Danny Duffy in the next couple of months, especially if the Royals hang around .500 through May despite our starters lack of resembling anything good. I fully expect Duffy to be the first impact prospect to be called up to the big leagues. I'm still not sold on Kyle Davies, not saying much, but there's no way the Royals can afford to keep him around.

In closing, I like how the players are handling this quasi-hot start. The mantra surrounding this team during the spring was "we're going to surprise some people". Of course, that's the mantra surrounding every team coming off 25 consecutive seasons without a single postseason appearance...

Big opportunity for the Royals to see how they match up with two other up-and-coming American League teams in the Oakland A's and Baltimore Orioles. I don't expect the crowds to start showing up during the week and probably throughout the rest of the season. That's the problems you will encounter when you have roughly 8,000 season ticket holders.

If this team is different, May will be no different from April and we'll see the Royals hanging around .500 headed into the meat and potatoes of the 162.

Royalman Report Podcast: Episode 4 with Troy Olsen, Michael Engel and Brian McGannon

2011-04-12T00:05:00.002-05:00

I was on the Royalman Report Podcast with Troy Olsen and Mike Engel this Sunday. We talked about Kevin Appier getting voted into the Royals Hall of Fame, the Royals 6-3 start, the Missouri Mavericks' current playoff run and everything in between. Enjoy.

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Why 6-3 (and beyond) is awesome

2011-04-11T15:09:00.005-05:00

Nine games in, and this team is three games over .500. I'm here to tell you why this is awesome. There is some cautious belief behind this team, some of it worth while and well deserved. Most fans are waiting for the fall to begin, but what happens if that fall doesn't come?

This start doesn't need any statistical analysis because this start defies all statistical probabilities. Alex Gordon just had the best week and a half of his career. Billy Butler is hitting a legitimate .394 and is OPSing (yes, I just invented that) 1.179. Alcides Escobar is playing defense that has Dick Kaegel and Lee Judge saying "Yuni WHO?" Jeff Francis is reaching back to the days of yore when men were men and...and that's another story. The bullpen...giggity.

There's optimism around this team and that's awesome. Of course, the 2003 and 2009 comparisons will start rolling in if this team continues to play at or around .500 into June. Of course the trade talks will start to heat up and the inevitable, "we should trade our prospects for Pujols" chatter will start to flood sports talk radio.

And here's why this 6-3 start (and beyond) is awesome. We don't have to make trades. Need a bat? Mike Moustakas. Need a lefty in the rotation? Mike Montgomery. Need a utility man? Johnny Giavotella. Need a bullpen arm? Louis Coleman.

I said at the beginning of Spring Training that anything we get from this 2011 Royals squad would be a bonus. You bet your ass this 6-3 start counts as a bonus. Enjoy this. Go buy tickets for the next homestand. The Royals are guaranteed to have a winning record by the time they return home on Friday. We're playing the Twins this week to wrap up this short road trip, before returning home to face the Indians and Mariners. To me, this will be another defining moment in this young season, where the Royals can start proving us wrong. Hell, we just won a freaking road series in Detroit in the second week of the season. How often do the Royals win intra-division series on the road this early in the season? We didn't win a freaking series until June in 2006.

This is exciting. It's a new car smell here in Kansas City, a first date, first weekend at college excitement. This is not 2009. This is not 2003. This roster is not made with duct tape and bubble gum. The foundation is being built right before our eyes. Of course, I hope Jeff Francouer and Melky Cabrera aren't a part of that foundation, but I'll take their contributions while they're still here.

Don't jump in with two feet quite yet, KC. But don't be afraid to stick a toe or two to test the water for now...

Opening Weekend revisited

2011-04-04T17:26:00.004-05:00

The first cut is the deepest. What a way to open up the 2011 season. The Royals are 3-1 on the strength of some late heroics in all three victories. Hell, we were one windgust from being 4-0. There was a lot of magic squeezed into this weekend and the optimism from Spring Training has been extended into another week.

So before you start pre-ordering those ALDS tickets against Baltimore, let's just sit back and enjoy this off day before the inevitable poo hits the fan.

I know that one weekend series is coming sometime in early May when the Royals are sitting around .500 and we go on that West Coast swing, drop eight of nine and the downward spiral begins. Maybe it won't come this year and the Royals will stick around .500 throughout the entire season. Look, if you aren't the least bit encouraged by this weekend, then boo on you.

The Royals did something this weekend that they haven't done in years, they made a bad bullpen pay dearly for their mistakes. They almost did it in all four games. The Angels bullpen couldn't find the strike zone and the Royals got to one of their perennial "thorns in our collective side", Fernando Rodney. I'm not ready to say "Game On." quite yet. In fact, that time will not come until this team is at least 10 games over .500 near the All Star break. I've learned my lesson in the past few seasons.

There is a different feel to this team in seasons past, though. The players are likeable and seem to really believe in each other. Look at this picture and try to tell me that this isn't a group that is ready to prove the naysayers wrong. Once again, this is not me trying to swing optimism to a fanbase on life support, but do you see Tim Collins' face? Frenchy looks like he just found out OBP has been eliminated as an officially tracked stat. Melky Cabrera looks like he's ready to hug a guy he met two weeks ago, which coincidentally would be the first time he hugged someone since childhood.

No statistical analysis needed in this post, because the Royals overcame two terrible starts by Kyle Davies and Bruce Chen and showcased a never-say-die attitude not seen around here since Tony Pena was taking showers with his clothes on.

Matt Treanor was picked up off the scrap heap from Texas and is currently my vote for Royals Player of the Week after some great defense behind the plate and hitting a walkoff homer in extras last week. Matt Treanor wasn't signed to be an offensive contributor, but rather a game caller and defensive specialist. As if the Jason Kendall signing needed to look worse, Treanor's play in the opening weekend was everything and more than the Royals expected when they pissed away six million dollars on Kendall's contract.

Our bullpen? Skeet, skeet, skeet. Timmay Collins and Aaron Crow were dynamite. I have never been more excited to see relievers come in to games. I had goose bumps when Crow came in and shut down the middle of the Angels' order late on Opening Day. Tim Collins seems to strike people out with his sheer awesomeness. Nate Adcock and Jeremy Jeffress didn't perform as well as KKKKKrow and Collins, but they should be nice pieces to this bullpen in the middle to late innings if/when our starters go to hell. Back to Crow and Collins, all I have to say is man crush. I think it's safe to say that if we can get leads into the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, this team can be dangerous. But that's a big "if", especially with our paper thin rotation.

But as I sit and type this on the first of many off-day Mondays, I can't help but wonder what might happen if this team can simply outscore opponents. Alex Gordon had a great opening weekend (minus Opening Day). Jeff Francouer did his best Jeff Francouer impression, but still got some big hits. Kila was clutch all weekend and Billy was being Billy by the time Saturday and Sunday rolled around.

Don't worry about when the regression to the mean will happen. Just realize that this team in in first place and two games over .500 for the first time since May of 2009. Let's have some fun while we can. Oh yeah, the White Sox are in town this week. Let's keep it going boys.

Royals 2011 Season Preview

2011-03-30T23:31:00.003-05:00

It's here. Baseball starts today and I'm more optimistic about this team since June of 2009. Predictions for the boys in blue have been all across the board, from 100+ losses to flirting with .500. I'm not entirely ready to drink a tall glass of optimism with rose colored glasses on, but I am entirely ready for another season of the greatest game on earth, baseball.

For the Royals, obviously all eyes are focused on the future. But to get to Mission: 2012, we must endure 2011.

In 2011, there will be hair pulled out of our heads, remotes thrown and season tickets threatened to be cancelled. But the sun is starting to rise, the night is darkest before the dawn, what have you. So what will we see when we look back on the 2011 season?

I'm not entirely sure. What I see is a team in the truest form of transition, trying to make do with what they already have on the roster. Needs were addressed in the offseason, mainly in the outfield. But instead of going out and grabbing whatever old veteran was left on the scrap heap, the Royals signed guys with upside. Sure, Jeff Francouer, Jeff Francis and Melky Cabrera may not be the ideal candidates to improve a young team, but they are guys with some upside. Francouer was the next big thing when he came up with the Braves as a 21-year-old, but he sucks now. There's some upside still there. Not a whole lot of upside, but anything we get from these place holders should be viewed as a bonus.

Now that I addressed the three biggest question marks on the roster, it's time to guzzle down a high ball of optimism. Kila Ka'aihue is finally going to get his shot. I am pretty enthusiastic about this. Kila came on strong late last year and mashed seven homers in Spring Training this year. Kila has showcased the ability to get on base not seen in these parts in the last five years. Couple that with the encouraging projections from Bill James and PECOTA, and we might see the emergence of a cult hero in Ka'aihue.

Billy Butler has been relegated to DH duty and this seems to be the right idea. Butler is the textbook definition of a "professional hitter". Baseball history points to a big jump in Billy's overall power numbers, which seems absurd considering he hits close to 60 extra base hits every season. But if Billy turns into a Edgar Martinez carbon copy, are we really going to be that upset? I'd rather have a guy who is consistently putting the ball in play and getting on base than a guy who will mash 25 homers and strike out 150 times in the DH role.

Alex Gordon was going to be my #1 "wild card" for the Royals this season, but I figured I'd consolidate an entire post into a paragraph or two about Gordo. This is it for him. Be great, or be league average. The Royals are all-in with Alex Gordon for this year, shown by Ned Yost penciling him into the #3 hole in the Opening Day lineup. Gordon showed great plate discipline early on in spring and a new hitting approach mixed in with a shiny new swing have Royals fans thinking about a breakout season. He will get every opportunity this season to prove that he belongs on this team beyond this year and be privileged to stay with this team when our farm system begins yielding results. I'm going to shy away from completely jumping on the Gordon bandwagon, but I do reserve the right to jump on when he has 15 bombs and an .850 OPS at the All Star break...

But of course, I can go on and on about how I am much more optimistic about this team than in the past couple of seasons. The truth is that 2011 will be a waiting game. Us Royals fans are going to be like dogs waiting at the front door of our house, waiting for our family to come home after a long, 25-year vacation from winning. Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer, Mike Montgomery and the whole motley crew are stampeding towards Kauffman Stadium. The question is how long will it be until they get here?

Well, they might already be here. Not the crown jewels of the system, but some of the integral pieces to what will be a franchise resurgence the likes which have never been witnessed.

In the bullpen.

Yes, the bullpen is where this all begins and ends (puns are punny). Tim Collins, Jeremy Jeffress, Nathan Adcock and Aaron Crow are all slated to be members of the Royals' bullpen come 3pm today. The bullpen hasn't seen this much youth in a long, long time, if not ever. Three rookies alone in the bullpen, soon to be joined by the fourth, Louis Coleman whenever the Royals see fit to promote him. In my mind, Coleman will make the trip down I-29 with Moustakas and/or Hosmer in May or June. The question here is whether or not the Royals' starters can get late leads to this bullpen.

So that's that. I know I missed a few things ("improved" speed and defense, but Dick Kaegel was not available for comment), but I covered what I feel are the biggest storylines headed into this season. Who's ready for some predictions? You're not? Too bad, here they are:

Record: 71-91
Division finish: 4th
MVP: Billy Butler
Pitcher of the Year: Joakim Soria
Rookie of the Year: Tim Collins
Managerial changes: 0
Fan walkouts: 0

Royals Wild Cards for 2011: #2 Luke Hochevar

2011-03-12T02:29:00.003-06:00

Luke Hochevar once again finds himself on this list after holding down the #3 spot in last year's Royals Kingdom wild card list. Hoch had a pretty respectable 2010 until he was derailed by injury in the middle of the season. Before he went down, you could see him putting it together. Also, when he came back in September, he turned in two quality starts before the season ended.

So what is it with Hoch? I've heard that he has confidence issues, that he still struggles with his control, so on and so forth. The Royals have all but named him their Opening Day starter, so if that doesn't help out at least a little bit with his confidence, we might see more of the same from Hochevar in 2011.

Consistency is what we need from him.

The issue with Hochevar is not him not developing into a front of the line starter, but solidifying himself in the rotation as a good, if not great #3 starter. With a ton of left-handed starting pitching prospects about to flood the roster, Hochevar has to be a guy the Royals can lean on in the future. Hoch's service time isn't much of an issue, but he's about to enter the prime of his career this season as he will turn 28 in September.

The time for Hochevar to make a difference is now. He's got to become a reliable starter, not a guy who will go out and get shelled for four runs in five innings. He's been branded the next Derek Lowe, so take that as you may.

Maybe Hochevar is one of those guys who develops late, maybe he's just a bust. I can't help but think what could have been if the Royals had gone in another direction in that 2006 draft. Tim Lincecum, Evan Longoria, the list goes on and it's littered with guys who are worlds ahead of Hochevar.

So what do we expect from Hochevar in 2011? In my mind, you have to be happy with anything less than a 4.50 ERA. Which is pretty pathetic, but Hoch's influence on this franchise goes much beyond what he accomplishes in 2011. If Hoch doesn't finally become the guy we thought he would be, this is what we're looking at for a rotation in 2012 and beyond:

1. Mike Montgomery (rookie lefty)
2. Chris Dwyer (rookie lefty)
3. Luke Hochevar (below average righty)
4. Danny Duffy (rookie lefty)
5. Everett Teaford (rookie lefty)

In other words, not very good as far as strategy goes. Now, of course, all of those rookies might hit their potential in their first season or so and become above average, even good or great major league starters. But having Hochevar turn into a solid middle of the rotation arm is incredibly valuable to this team. It provides flexibility in the rotation and allows the Royals to not have to worry about match ups against lefty heavy lineups and so forth.

Hochevar's wild card goes much beyond this season. That seems to be a common trend developing in my wild card series. Let's hope Hoch can find some rhythm and success this season. If a healthy Hoch can do what he did when he was healthy last season, then we don't have much to worry about.

Quick Thoughts: the meaning of Spring Training stats

2011-03-11T15:39:00.003-06:00

There are several Royals having great springs so far. Mike Aviles is crushing the ball and hitting .458. Mitch Maier can't get out and is getting on base at a .652 clip. Melky freaking Cabrera is hitting over .500. Alex Gordon can't seem to do anything other than draw walks. Eric Hosmer is slugging .929...but so is Lance Zawadzki.

So what's the point? I'm not sure if there is one, but one thing is for sure, Spring Training stats are misleading. Always have been and always will be, especially for guys on the 25-man roster.

You can search high and low on the internet, but it is very difficult to find Spring Training stats from seasons past. So, I'm gonna have to go from memory on this one and from what I can remember, Maier had a big spring last year.

But Spring Training stats are important for guys like Hosmer and Moustakas. Honestly, on a scale from 1 to 10 how excited are you for these guys? We knew one or two of Butler, Gordon and Hochevar were going to be good, but Hosmer and Moustakas show Hall of Fame potential. All reports from Spring Training are billing Hosmer as the next Jim Thome, but a much better looking and athletic version of Jim Thome.

I'm excited. I can't wait. I don't want to rush into things, but it's going to be a fun summer, no matter how many games we lose.

Quick Thoughts: The absurdity of Jason Kendall

2011-02-21T19:26:00.005-06:00

Leadership, leadership, leadership. We've had it beaten into our brains from the time Matt Stairs was taking ABs away from Justin Huber to now Jason Kendall just being a general jerk to media members.

Now, not all leaders were "nice guys". I'm sure General Patton was a world class jerk, but Patton was, you know, really good at his job.

Jason Kendall is not.

I know he's played 2,000 games at the big league level and he was at one time a premier catcher in the major leagues. But that time has passed and Kendall is now lucky to even have a job, a job given to him by an organization that was desperately looking for "leadership".

I'm sure most of my readers have heard the exchange between 610 Sports' Nick Wright and Kendall during Wright's interview with Mike Moustakas. Basically, Nick asked Moustakas if he was fine with starting the season out in AAA Omaha until June so he and the Royals can avoid "Super Two" status after the 2012 season. At this time, Kendall (obviously upset because nobody wants to talk to him or whatever) interrupts Wright's interview to M-F bomb Wright and put Moustakas in an incredibly awkward situation.

Crash Davis would never do that.

Here's my question, what kind of "leader" does this? This isn't rookie hazing or anything like that. Hell, it isn't even protective. It just sounds like Kendall was having a bad day (he's prone to these) and decided to take his anger out on an unsuspecting journalist...no wait, one of the more popular, if not the most popular sports journalist in Kansas City. Great move, fearless leader.

In my mind, Kendall has been perhaps the biggest disaster in Dayton Moore's tenure, outside of Jose Guillen. To me, this guy isn't a leader, but rather a crotchety, old veteran trying to collect one last big paycheck. Bravo, sir. You've done it! You have tricked GM's into throwing millions in guaranteed money at you by being labeled as a leader.

Craig Brown at Royals Authority wrote a great article about how Kendall should take Gil Meche's lead and just walk away now. Of course, the situations are different. Kendall seems like the classic "gamer" who won't retire until there aren't any I-League teams willing to sign him. But the health problems are very similar. Kendall isn't going to help this team. Especially as a "leader". His behavior today was the act of a man who knows that he is at the end of his rope, trying to possibly gain favor with a young, up-and-comer.

To me, it was pathetic.

Royals Wild Cards for 2011: #3 Alcides Escobar

2011-02-13T21:40:00.004-06:00

Stabilizing the defense up the middle has been an alleged priority of Dayton Moore ever since he got here. Since then, we've seen a gauntlet of suck run through the position of shortstop from Tony Pena, Jr., Willie Bloomquist and Yuniesky Betancourt. Even Mike Aviles wasn't that great defensively when he was at shortstop.

The Royals paid the Brewers $2 million dollars to take Yuniesky Betancourt in the Zack Grienke trade, which in my mind was a small miracle. Alcides Escobar came over in the Greinke trade after an incredibly underwhelming .235/.288/.326 for the Brew Crew last season. Not a great start for the one-time 12th ranked prospect in baseball.

The reason that Escobar is a wild card is solely based on the fact that he is a shortstop. We haven't had a respectable shortstop here since Freddie Patek and I'm hoping this all changes with Escobar. Some people say that the Royals didn't get star-caliber players in the Greinke trade. I'm fine with that, considering that we possibly have hall of fame-caliber players in our minor league system right now. Escobar will need to be a role player and he has to stick to the shortstop position, as it is pretty obvious that the front office plans on switching last year's first-round pick Christian Colon to second base.

So, Escobar's "wild cardness" goes much beyond his performance this year. In fact, his performance this year could be a big moment in the Dayton Moore regime. Will Escobar stick at short and move Colon over to his more natural position at second base? I think so. Escobar has been heralded as the "next big thing" when it comes to playing defense at the shortstop position. Word on the street is that Escobar is going to make our eyes pop out of our heads with the plays he's going to make. Hey, that's great, but can he make the throw to first without launching the ball into the dugout suites?

I think Escobar will be much better than Yuni, which isn't saying much, but it is saying something. Escobar has much better plate discipline...once again, not saying much...than the Yunigma. Quite simply, Escobar is a better athlete and better baseball player than Yuni. So take that, Dick Kaegel!

There's a lot riding on Escobar. But it is easy to look at his stats and see the beginnings of perhaps Yuni 2.0. Much like Kila Ka'aihue at first base, Escobar has one year to solidify himself at shortstop, because the Royals can't spend too much time deciding what to do with Colon's defensive position.

Escobar's ceiling is as an above average major league shortstop. No more, no less. And after the past 10 years at that position for this francise, wouldn't you take that?

Royals Wild Cards for 2011: #4 Kila Ka'aihue

2011-02-07T23:27:00.004-06:00

Big questions surround the big Hawaiian entering 2011. Is he really the real deal? Can he keep mashing at the MLB level, or is he just another AAAA masher who can't hack it in the bigs?

Kila is undoubtedly a fan favorite. The chips are definitely stacked against him. A 15th round pick out of high school whose path to the big leagues has been blocked by wet mops like Ross Gload and Jose Guillen. It's safe to say that the fans are in his corner.

Kila had his struggles last year, but he came on late, hitting .261/.367/.511 in the final 30 games of 2010. Also, six of his eight homers came in the last 30 games of the season. Kila's BABIP was also .297, a sign that he was hitting the ball hard.

Of course, one can point to the fact that this all came in September (let the Ryan Shealy comps come rolling in). But I think there's more to the story when it comes to Kila.

Kila had multi-hit games against (ERA in parenthesis) Nick Blackburn (5.42), Fausto Carmona (3.77), Gio Gonzalez (3.23), Edwin Jackson (4.47), Rick Porcello (4.92) and Tommy Hunter (3.73). Those guys aren't your run-of-the-mill September call ups.

To me, Kila's early MLB numbers combined with his minor league stats scream "Carlos Pena 2.0". Unfortunately, Pena bounced around until being uncovered by the Tampa Bay Rays a few years ago. If the Royals are as committed to OBP as they say they are, Kila should be a fixture in this lineup for several years.

But much like Wilson Betemit and Mike Aviles, Kila is in a precarious spot, as he is occupying a position that will likely be taken over by a prospect in the very near future. Eric Hosmer will likely be with the club sometime either this season or next season, giving Kila very little time to prove that he has a spot on this team.

Most people will ask for Kila to be traded when Hosmer is ready to make his big league debut, but Kila can also force the Royals hand by turning in a dynamite first half. He's under team control for the next five seasons. As a 27-year old, Kila's contract will be Royals' property all the way through his prime.

PECOTA has Kila projected at 25 home runs and a .387 OBP. I'm sorry, but that's not something you just trade away, even to make room for an uber-prospect like Hosmer. Plus, I don't think the market for Kila would even be good enough to warrant a trade. The point is, Kila's value goes beyond home runs and on-base percentage. I'm not a scout, but I think Hosmer would transition to the outfield very easily. Of course, Hosmer, much like a Lance Berkman, has a future at first base, but in the mean time, could be a very serviceable and possibly even good major league outfielder while Kila holds down first base and DH duties for the next few seasons.

The worry on my end is that Kila has placed a ton of pressure on himself to perform. I can't blame him. This is his shot. He's got one chance to impress. Of course, he might get one down the road, but if he wants to be a big leaguer, this year is critical for him. The Royals had shown little faith in him up until last summer. But if Kila is mashing at the K on a 30+ HR pace come July and Eric Hosmer is banging the door down in Omaha, the Royals have a choice.

My belief is that Kila will be kept around, his contract is incredibly valuable. It seems that the Royals are very careful with service time. If Kila lives up to the promise, he is an extremely valuable player.

Royals Wild Cards for 2011: #5 Wilson Betemit

2011-02-07T01:18:00.006-06:00

This is something I did last year in the weeks leading up to Spring Training. I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I did writing them. Enjoy.

Wilson Betemit burst on to the 25-man roster late last May and hit the ground running. Betemit finished the season hitting just below .300 while getting on-base at a .378 clip. Not too shabby for a guy who came to the Royals' 2010 Spring Training on a minor league deal. Betemit slugged an outstanding .511 and finished the year with a 141 OPS+.

Of course, this was only in 315 plate attempts, but that's more than a small sample size. Over 600 PAs (roughly a full season of work at the plate), Betemit would have finished with 26 HR, 86 RBIs and 66 XBH if he stayed on his pace. Fangraphs had Betemit at 1.3 WAR for 2010. That's pretty good for a half-season's work. Betemit's 74:36 K:BB ratio also shows that his numbers in 2010 weren't necessarily a fluke.

Looking ahead to 2011, it could be likely that Betemit could continue his success in Royal Blue. Betemit was the top ranked prospect in the Atlanta Braves' system (go figure) in 2001 and 2002. This is a move by Dayton Moore that has gone overlooked in my mind. Betemit has never been a full-time player in his career, but he certainly thrived when he was given the chance to play every day in 2010.

The reason Betemit is a wild card is due to the fact that he apparently has no position on this team. He filled in well as a third baseman last year, but it is obvious that the Royals are focusing on defense this year (see signing of Feliz, Pedro). Not a good thing for Betemit, who posted a rough .929 fielding percentage and a -10.4 UZR last year at the hot corner.

The Royals seem to be leaning in favor of Mike Aviles at third. It is unfortunate, as Billy Butler and Kila Ka'aihue seem to be the everyday 1B/DH combo, leaving Betemit without a position on the field.

The outfield isn't an option for Betemit either, as the spacious Kauffman Stadium outfield will likely be occupied by a combination of Jeff Francouer, Melky Cabrera, Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain, Gregor Blanco and/or Mitch Maier, who are all superior defenders than Betemit.

The problem for Betemit is not only in his defense, but also a soon-to-be crowded 25-man roster. Mike Moustakas is breathing dragon breath down Aviles and Betemit's necks at third base, and could very well kick either player to the bench come April, May or June.

The defined role for Betemit will be a player who comes off the bench in the late innings, to spell the paper thin bats of starters Chris Getz, Lucas May/Brayan Pena and Alcides Escobar. He will definitely be valuable if Butler, Aviles or Ka'aihue hit the DL early in the season. If Betemit continues to hit off the bench the way he did in 2010, then the Royals will definitely have one of the better bench power bats in the AL Central. But if Betemit wins a starting job in Surprise, then we will definitely get to see whether or not his 2010 punch will carry into 2011 and beyond.

Billy Butler doesn't know any good places to eat in Idaho Falls, plus Dayton Moore!

2011-01-22T01:56:00.003-06:00

What can I say that hasn't already been said by my compatriots in the Royals' blogosphere? The Royals Digital Digest was an amazing experience. I sat in a room with Dayton Moore, Ned Yost, Billy Butler and Jeff Francouer and got to ask them questions. It was surreal. From Dayton Moore's filibustering to Minda Haas' excellent photography, the experience was one I won't soon forget.

On to the meat and potatoes of Digital Digest. I'll be honest, I knew Dayton Moore was going to give long, tangenty (?) interviews, so I hopped right in. I asked Dayton something that has been weighing on my mind ever since Dayton Moore took over. What kind of shitshow did he inherit? His answer, despite some off topic ramblings and some self-imposed "atta boys", was the one I was looking for.

"You know Brian, I knew there was going to be a lot of work to do, I knew it was going to be a tremendous challenge"

A. How cool is it that he called me by my first name? And B. Duh. Dayton had to know what kind of mess he was getting himself into. The fact that he even took this job makes me respect him even more.

"We knew that if we put a group together that trusted each other that we could motivate ownership to follow our plan"

Trust seems to be important to this current regime. It seems that everyone is on the same page that works in the baseball operations department at One Royal Way. Dayton also made it a point that every one in the front office is a "good person" so to speak. But then again, just because you can quote every verse in Psalms doesn't mean you can build a championship caliber team.

"We knew there would be difficulties with the market."

I'm not trying to stir the pot here, but this made me wonder if the Royals are going to continue using the brutal small market argument if "The Process" doesn't work out. I don't want to say he was giving himself an out with this part of his answer, but it makes me wonder. Now, to be fair, KC is not Dallas, Chicago or Los Angeles, but there are deep pockets in this ownership. I hate pointing the finger to all of our problems to the Glass family's frugality, but if a big money free agent is what will push "The Process" over the top, then I'm hoping they are ready to spend...big.

"If you would have told me four years ago that our farm system would be where it is and we would have this much flexibility in our payroll..."

I would still guarantee you that Jeff Francouer would be a Royal.

"It was scary"

Once again, the respect I have for Dayton Moore for taking this job is immense. DM went toe-to-toe with David Glass and won. This was a franchise hanging on by a string when Dayton took over. Every year, people call for him to be fired. I don't think "It was scary" was the real response. I would be willing to bet that this job still scares the bejeezus out of Dayton Moore.

"It takes awhile to do it that way (through the draft) and you have to hit on guys"

Hit on guys? Haha, just kidding. Man, have we hit.

"There are 26 clubs that have had more picks than us in the first 100 and we've been able to build our farm system (through that)"

This gives me so much hope for the future. We've been able to build a better farm system than any other team in baseball with LESS top 100 draft picks than most MLB teams. I have more than enough confidence that our pipeline will continue to produce once Mission: 2012 has commenced.

"You have to produce sooner or later, or else the fan base grows impatient"

[sarcasmfont]Yeah that's great and all, but when the hell are we going to start winning?[/sarcasmfont]

"If it hadn't been broken for a long time, we wouldn't have been here. If the Glass family would have felt the organization was close, he wouldn't have made a change."

Another reason why blaming the Glass family for the Royals' struggles is stupid. David Glass saw the pitchforks and torches in the distance and made a change.

This is just the first installment of my Digital Digest breakdown. More from Ned Yost (Tim Collins is a baby?), Billy Butler and the man, the myth Jeff Francouer will come as the weekend goes along.

Are you ready for some baseball?

2011-01-11T14:30:00.003-06:00

Kind of? The attitude surrounding the Royals is the usual. The general malaise around the fanbase remains and there is little to no hope for the upcoming 2011 season. Yeah, that sucks. But what I've been noticing lately is there isn't as much snark and sarcasm with the fans. That's a good thing.

I think people are digging in for a tough run here in 2011. It's going to be brutal, but I think the clouds will clear when all is said and done. There is about a 1% chance of this team winning over 80 games and I'm being generous with that 1%. But that shouldn't discourage you from still caring about this team. I care. I care a lot. This is going to be a fun season. Of course, I'll probably retract that statement when the first 7+ game losing streak shows up or whenever the Royals PR department mentions Billy Butler's consecutive hits in a series streak in June, but this team is going through a metamorphosis.

Actually, metamorphosis is the wrong word. This team is going through a detox. A detox of old, mediocre veterans. A detox from the old Royals. We've got a roster full of guys who haven't reached their potential, not passed it. Of course, some of them will never reach it, but there are some interesting things to point out here. The Royals have guys who were once big time prospects. Francouer, Cabrera, Getz, Betemit, Gordon, Hochevar, etc. Now, is Kauffman Stadium going to be the house of last chances like it is every summer? Not really. I think there is a market for players like Francouer, Betemit, Gordon and Hochevar. Getz and Cabrera, not so much. Jeffy Lockerroom is always on the move at the deadline because well, lets face it, there's always someone dumb enough to take him. Frenchy played really well in the playoffs last year and while he may not have much value with the saber-heads, there are apparently teams who would like to have Jeffy Clubhouse during a pennant race.

But this whole post isn't going to be about Jeff Francouer (yeah, you don't have to close this window quite yet). There are several exciting things going on down on the farm if you're just crawling out of your hole that you dug in 2007. Of course, we've got Moustakas and Hosmer and Dwyer and Montgomery knocking on the door this year, but dive a little deeper into our farm system and you'll see that right behind these guys are yet ANOTHER wave of potential MiLB supernovas like Mous and Hosmer. There's Cheslor Cuthbert, who according to Greg Schaum, has gotten comparisons to Gary Sheffield. There's Robinson Yambati who posted a Soria-esque 1.161 WHIP in rookie ball. Yordano Ventura might throws in the upper 90s despite a 5'11" frame and has showcased awesome control.

It's just a really exciting time to be a Royals fan. It sounds stupid, but to quote Dewey Cox from "Walk Hard": "This is an exciting time. I don't know what it is, but there's something going on here."

That's how I feel. There's something happening. A building crescendo towards something great. Now, it's time for it to start happening.

The Kansas City Royals: Revolutionary?

2011-01-04T15:31:00.004-06:00

This week the Royals announced what I thought was a very cool promotion. The Royals are looking for a blogger/social media hound/internet user to be a "fan correspondent" at the upcoming Royals FanFest. I can't remember the last time the Royals reached out to fans who also happen to be opinion makers on social media outlets like Twitter, Facebook and blogs.

As of Tuesday afternoon, many Royals bloggers were talking about how this could be a first step to the Royals perhaps giving media credentials to bloggers. Of course, this is a slippery slope. What exactly qualifies a blogger to get credentialed? Do you have to write for a large media outlet? Do you need a journalism degree?

The Royals have a golden chance to be revolutionary here. The internet is still a new, exciting network of tubes and chutes and flying envelopes that carry your emails through the interwebs to most MLB executives.

Close your eyes, Royals front office/media relations big wigs. Now, imagine the Royals blogosphere as a giant bazaar where people are talking about your product. Now sure, most of it is bad, but people are talking about it. This bazaar is accessible to everyone in the world. Millions of Royals fans can find it and it isn't very hard. Now imagine where these people will go after they leave the bazaar? They'll probably go buy what the people in the bazaar are selling, ultimately, the super awesome castle that lies beyond the yelling and shouting of the bazaar. Oh, it's beautiful! Look at those fountains!

Well guess what? Those yelling and screaming shopkeepers are the bloggers and the bazaar is the internet. They promote your product for free. They drive people to your place of business. What every blogger writes about is the same thing. Ultimately, every blogger is selling people on the Royals. Saying, "hey, we care enough about this team that we write about it".

As far as I know, only the Mets, Padres and Phillies allow bloggers in the press box. I would argue that the Royals have the best bloggers of any team in baseball. Some of the writing talent on display in the Royals blogosphere is outstanding. The Royals would be taking a risk, sure. But think of how awesome it would be to see Will McDonald go toe-to-toe with Ned Yost after he bats Chris Getz third for the second time in a month? How about a Minda Haas sit down with Dayton Moore? It would be awesome.

So the ball is in the Royals' court. Let's see what happens. But this is a big step.

Hello from the Winter Meetings

2010-12-06T22:05:00.004-06:00

Haha, just kidding. I'm not in Orlando.

How cool would it be if I was though? I could be tweeting stuff about Cliff Lee and Zack Greinke and which absurdly moronic move John Mozeliak will make next. But I'm not. Instead, I'm tweeting false information about Frank White's future with the Royals. I would like to say from the bottom of my heart, my bad. I'll just stick to what I do best, which is being a fan and writing about my favorite baseball team, The Kansas City Royals...ugh.

Obviously, the biggest non-Chiefs/Josh Selby news going around in Kansas City right now are the Zack Greinke trade rumors. From what I can gather, Texas, Toronto and Milwaukee are the three most likely destinations for Zack. Texas probably seems to be the leader of the pack right now, as they can offer the best prospects in return for Greinke. Toronto, not so much. As for Milwaukee, I heard they were trying to include Ryan Braun in a straight swap for Greinke. No thanks. We're trying to build for the future. I would love to have Ryan Braun on the Royals, don't get me wrong, just not in a straight up deal, where we plug up one gaping hole (true middle of the order power) and open up another (our sinkhole of a starting rotation outside of Greinke).

I'll be honest, I'm really torn on this deal. Greinke has reportedly said he will "go anywhere". Which essentially is code for "I'd rather go through my first three years in the league than spend another two seasons with this team". That's great that Greinke would go anywhere, as I'm sure every team in baseball would love to have a 27-year old phenom under contract for the next two years at a market friendly rate (Greinke is slated to make ~$13 million in each of the next two years). And that's great, because this gives the Royals the opportunity to be selective. And boy, are they being selective. Bob Dutton reported early today that the talks between the Royals and Rangers fizzled out after Dayton Moore was not impressed with the Rangers package they were offering for the 2009 Cy Young Award winner.

This is encouraging news. Dayton Moore is not going to be bullied into a deal. He has a platinum chip in Greinke and he knows it. I'm sensing that Moore is walking around Walt Disney World saying "Yeah, I know he said he wants out of KC, but guess what, it's gonna take your entire farm system's lifeblood to get him outta here. And if your offer isn't good enough, we'll just take our two 2013 first round compensatory picks after he leaves and have the best team in the AL Central AND the best farm team in baseball. So SUCK ON THAT JON DANIELS."

The Royals can't afford to be shortchanged on this trade if it happens. The Beltran trade is still fresh in this fanbase's minds and it is quite obvious that wound has not completely healed, although there is one remnant remaining. A trade for Greinke needs to net us a HAUL. I'm talking a big time HAUL. That is why I somewhat want this trade to happen. I hate terrible baseball, I really do, but if we can absolutely clear out someone's upper minors in this trade, then hey, I'll deal.

But here's why I don't want to see Greinke traded. I want to see him win here. Zack has said before that he likes it in KC. I just don't think that he likes being in KC with the Royals. He gained some big time fan support after signing a 4 year deal, guaranteeing he would be in Royal blue for another four years after a great 2008 campaign. He followed that deal up with the greatest pitching season in club history. He's a fan favorite. He sells tickets.

But guess what else sells tickets? Winning. And let's face it, this team probably isn't going to be doing much of that this coming summer. It sucks to say that in December, but that may just be the cold hard truth. And I'll never be one of those fans who roots for Zack to win somewhere else, I'll just be rooting that the guys we got for Zack are the ones who take us to October.

Kansas City

2010-11-03T23:23:00.004-05:00

I have lived here my entire life. It isn't much. It isn't little. It is perfect. It is right in the middle. 2 million people who share the same hopes, dreams and sports teams. We love the Chiefs. We love the Royals. We hate Kansas. We hate Missouri. We applaud K-State. It's a great town. Each summer or fall or winter or spring, some of us move away. Some of us stay away. But most of us come back. Kansas City is always a special place. Like that lakehouse you used to visit with your family in your youth. Quiet, simple, vast, drenched in history and memories, but comes with just about everything you need.

It is a great city to live in. People come back when they move away, even if it is just for a weekend of Chiefs tailgating or Jayhawk basketball. They always come back. I have plenty of friends who had the typical "big fish in a little pond" syndrome that usually accompanies the fast evolving brain of those who suffer from quarter life crises. The need to get out and explore the world seems like an enticing proposition. But they all come back.

Three weeks ago, one of them came back. My friend Brian Euston came back to a city full of opportunity. A city full of hope with endless dreams and plenty of good-natured people willing to give a stranger a chance.

So Brian came back to Kansas City. Returning from a long trip to Europe. He was greeted by the people and friends who knew him the best. Friends that had lasted him a lifetime. All the way from Catholic grade school all the way through Catholic high school. Those relationships were built to last a lifetime. Us Brookside kids are a different breed. We like each other. We love each other. We respect each other. We are good people. We celebrate...hard. We have a zest for life that some may misconstrue as reckless or irresponsible, but trust me, we only mean well.

So here we are. Our friend is gone. In a city that so many people come back to, Brian has been shut out. Only the memory remains. And for what? We don't truly know. What I know, is that Brian and our city deserve better. Brian may have been taken away, but his lesson remains.

We grew up in great neighborhoods, with great families, great friends. All the perfect recipe for a fantastic community. Our entire lives, we were taught to do things for the "greater glory of God". We owe it to Brian Euston to carry on the very lessons we have been taught since our youth.

I could stand on my soap box and call for answers and point my fingers, but that isn't my job. My job as a friend of Brian Euston's is to carry on his legacy. To ensure that these things don't happen to the people of our community anymore. The reach of our community is not just limited to that tiny awesome piece of God's creation from the Plaza to Waldo, but everywhere in this world and more importantly, Kansas City. This story cannot be written with vengeance, malevolence or anger. It must end with compassion, sympathy and grace.

Understand that we are in dark times. But the night truly is darkest before the dawn. I'm sure Brian was a big fan of the Dark Knight, so, don't worry, I gotcha buddy. There are good people left in this world. Don't let yourself get lost in the shuffle. Alone we are one, together we are many. Because we always come back. No matter what, we come back.

For Brian Euston. Rock State, big guy. Oh yeah, the Chiefs are 5-2. Yeah, I know...THE CHIEFS

Royals Phantastic Pharm System Based Off of Philly, not Atlanta?

2010-10-13T22:40:00.004-05:00

So I've been watching the MLB Playoffs because I'm a red blooded American who is entertained by other things besides a panel of national experts analyzing cell phone pictures of Brett Favre's penis or Tom Brady's hair. I have been paying a lot of attention to the Phillies. I'm not exactly rooting for the Phillies, but I keep finding myself fascinated with how this team was constructed.

A solid mix of veterans. Very few rookies and young guns, but guys who have been there before. I will argue that the Phillies are the model franchise in baseball. Meanwhile, bloggers and fans alike try to compare the Royals current MiLB renaissance to the 2008 Rays or the 2010 Rangers or the 1969 Mets and everyone is left scratching their head on who exactly to compare this group of young minor league studs to!

Then it hit me. Like a big, neon, swinging Liberty Bell in centerfield.

The Royals are being built like the Phillies.

Think about it. It's not too far off, is it? I mean, Mike Arbuckle, the guy who had a hand in drafting Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins is currently employed by the Kansas City Royals.

People love knocking Dayton Moore for being a Braves guy. But, man, when you put this thing under the microscope, the similarities really start to pop.

First off, let's look at the Braves. Who are their core* players? Brian McCann, Jason Heyward, Tommy Hanson...and that's it. So you say, well that's just 2010! Ok, let's go back further:

*I define a "core" player as a player who is under 30 years old, was drafted by said team, was acquired via the Rule 5 draft or was acquired by said team via trade and spent time in said team's minor league system.

Atlanta Braves core players
2009- Brian McCann, Yunel Escobar, Jair Jurrjens, Tommy Hanson
2008- Brian McCann, Yunel Escobar, Jari Jurrjens
2007- Brian McCann, Yunel Escobar
2006- Brian McCann

Pretty good players, right? Yeah, but only FOUR each year. The Braves weren't built to last while Dayton Moore was in their front office. Maybe he got sick of the "Braves Way" and wanted to move on. Think about that. The Braves really didn't see many marquee players come up after Dayton Moore left. An outside guess on my behalf says that DM did not like the direction of the Braves and moved on to KC. Who better to bring in than Mike Arbuckle? A guy who built an awesome farm system in Philadelphia? The farm system that has payed dividends for the Phillies over the last three years? The farm system that has put the Phillies in three consecutive National League Championship Series?

So let's take a look at the Phillies core:

2010- Carlos Ruiz, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, Cole Hamels, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Madson
2009- Carlos Ruiz, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, Cole Hamels, Jimmy Rollins
2008- Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, Cole Hamels, Jimmy Rollins

The Phillies are built for longevity. Dayton Moore likely saw this and made the call to Mike Arbuckle, realizing that he may not have learned everything he needed to know in Atlanta. The track record shows that the Phillies have a system in place that builds the team for the long term, whereas in Atlanta during Dayton Moore's time, the team was not built for the long term. Dayton Moore wasn't around in Atlanta during the 90s when the Braves won division championships every year. In fact, he was in Atlanta when their downturn started in the early to mid 2000s.

So now, let's take a look at how the Royals core will potentially look moving forward, of course this is all speculation. There will be trades, etc.:

2011- Mike Moustakas, Billy Butler, Zack Greinke, Joakim Soria
2012- Mike Moustakas, Billy Butler, Zack Greinke, Joakim Soria, Eric Hosmer, Mike Montgomery, Chris Dwyer
2013- Mike Moustakas, Billy Butler, Joakim Soria, Eric Hosmer, Mike Montgomery, Chris Dwyer, John Lamb, Wil Myers, Christian Colon
2014- Mike Moustakas, Billy Butler, Joakim Soria, Eric Hosmer, Mike Montgomery, Chris Dwyer, John Lamb, Wil Myers, Christian Colon, Cheslor Cuthbert

Of course, there will be busts, injuries (God forbid), trades and other unforeseen circumstances, but this team is being built for the long term. The benefits of being patient and trusting The Process will be rewarded if these guys become our core. Then throw in some moves like trading for a Cliff Lee at the deadline or signing a Roy Halladay in the offseason, and we're not just looking at a perennial division champion, but a World Series contender year in, and year out.

Be patient. We'll get there soon enough.

Growing Pains: to 2011 and beyond

2010-10-03T19:13:00.005-05:00

Show me that smile...

It's over. Mercifully so, if I could add. Once again, another piss poor season by the Kansas City Royals. So many frustrating elements in a season that was full of some clever marketing and mind numbing praise towards some of the Royals worst players. Also a season that saw the reigning Cy Young winner go from an untouchable, young stud, to a hittable, malcontent complainer.

Trey Hillman was fired early in the season, although it's been well discussed that he should have been fired after last year. Hillman was in no way suited for this job or for any managerial job in Major League Baseball. Instead of treating Hillman's job interview like a job interview, Dayton Moore seemed to treat it like an awesome night out at a bar where he and Hillman became bros for life. Well, after the first two seasons of Hillman's tenure, it was quite obvious that he was in over his head. Players didn't respect him, fans grew tired of his "Treyspeak" in postgame pressers and it all seemed like a cruel joke.

Of course, Ned Yost replaced Hillman and took the Royals to the brink of quasi-contention in late June, where the Royals just sat seven games under .500 and eight games back from the division lead. I got excited for about three hours during this time, and then the Royals went into Chicago and got bitch-slapped back down to reality and so began the decline.

Scott Podsednik was traded. A guy who the Royals PR department loved, and I'll give them credit, Scotty Pods had a good year for the Royals. But to suggest that he was playing at an All Star level was kind of absurd. Podsednik was a good veteran presence on the team...oh jeez, now I'm starting to sound like the Royals PR department. But he stabilized the top of the lineup, as we saw the offense sputter after Pods left for the Dodgers.

Yuniesky Betancourt had a "career year" according to most Royals fans on Facebook. Sure he did, after all, he did post an 88 OPS+...

Ok, that's all I really can muster on 2010. It was a terrible year, from the Winter Meetings all the way until 4pm today. Too much energy was wasted on my end from complaining about Rick Ankiel, Juan Cruz and Dave Owen.

Time to recharge the batteries, KC! 2011 will be a new year, with exciting new toys coming up through the system. The bullpen will be MUCH better with the additions of Tim Collins, Blaine Hardy, etc. The bullpen is where we are going to see our young arms make their first impact at the big league level. Mike Montgomery, Chris Dwyer and other starters will likely start out of the bullpen before making their mark in the rotation.

Mike Moustakas will be here at some point next year, and so will Eric Hosmer if all goes well. John Lamb and Wil Myers might shoot through the upper minors and be knocking on the door come 2012.

I'm expecting at least one of our prospects to have an immediate, Evan Longoria/Ryan Braun/Buster Posey type impact at some point in the next two seasons. Will it be Moustakas next year out of Spring Training? Will it be Hosmer coming up in mid season? Will it be Mike Montgomery filling in for an injured starter? Who knows. These questions will be answered. Next year may not be much better than 2010, but one thing is for sure, it will be a lot more fun.

As long as we have eachother...

Royals Kingdom Annual "I Give Up" Extravaganza

2010-09-07T11:28:00.002-05:00

I give up.

I haven't watched a full game in over two weeks. To try and give you some comprehensive and coherent analysis wouldn't be fair to you. So I give up.

We've lost 80 games and Jason Kendall for 8-10 months. We called up Jarrod Dyson. Mous won the Texas League POTY, despite Clint Robinson winning the Texas League Triple Crown.

I had the chance to meet Ned Yost and he's a straight shooter. Easy to like and I honestly believe he will lead us back to the playoffs.

But as far as this season goes, I give up. I can't put effort into this team anymore. I will continue casually watching, but my brain can't take it. Trey was terrible, then Ned was awesome, then we were in the pennant race in late June, then we lost 10 out of 13, then Yuni is all of the sudden a 25 year old Alex Rodriguez according to the Royals PR department, then he's Yuni, then Billy can't hit homeruns, hey, there's Alex Gordon! Kila can't hit to save his life all of the sudden

I'm tired. Time to recharge the batteries. Sorry.

Texas Rangers: Endgame

2010-08-30T18:13:00.004-05:00

Tonight, the Royals open up a series against the Texas Rangers. The Rangers are one of the best run franchises in Major League Baseball. Their prospects like Ian Kinsler, Nelson Cruz, Tommy Hunter and CJ Wilson (to name a few) are all homegrown talent that are big parts to the Rangers' run to the AL West pennant this season. They traded away Justin Smoak, one time Baseball America Top 10 prospect for the anti-walk, Cliff Lee. They were savvy with trades. Mark Teixeira was turned into Neftali Feliz. Vlad Guerrero was signed for a bargain bin rate in Free Agency.

Oh yeah, they were bankrupt at one point this year. But that is neither here nor there.

The Rangers are a FANTASTIC model for the Royals. Of course, the Royals don't have the population of a Dallas/Ft. Worth area, but the Rangers built their team the right way. Their Opening Day payroll was ranked 26th. The Royals were at #20!

This is the new era of Major League Baseball. The argument of small market/big market, small payroll/big payroll is over. Homegrown talent is the key.

But it isn't the only key. You've got to spend wisely in free agency. You've got to make good trades for veterans on the cheap and give very little away.

Follow the Texas Rangers' model and you will succeed.

Yuni: Every Rose Has Its Thorn(s)

2010-08-25T14:46:00.003-05:00

So a recent outburst of offensive production by Yuniesky Betancourt has some Royals fans laughing and pointing at us "basement dwellers". But since then, he's sunk back to regular YuniLevels.

His season stats are impressive. Sure, if you look solely at home runs and RBIs (worst stat ever for evaluating individual talent), he seems like he's a very productive player.

But if you look just below the surface of those stats...no, actually if you look just to the right of those stats, you'll see that his OBP is still well below .300, he still swings and misses at 47% of pitches out of the strikezone, and still has a negative UZR at -7. Oh and his OPS is at a strong .714, or in simpler terms, "Eleven-Points-Better-Than-Mitch-Maier". This guy is legit! SUPER LEGIT!

ERRRRRRRR. No he's not. He's still terrible. And don't tell me that I just think he's terrible because I don't "watch the games" or "listen to Ryan Lefebvre's analysis of Yuni". He's terrible. He swings at everything. Heres the messed up part: HE WOULD PROBABLY BE A DAMN GOOD PLAYER IF HE DIDN'T SWING AT EVERY DAMN PITCH!!!

The fact that he swings at so many pitches early in the count and out of the strike zone actually makes him terrible. If he wouldn't swing at those pitches, he would walk more, meaning he would get out less and help the team out more. Also, he would get better pitches to hit, his average would go up, he'd hit for more power and...dare I say it? Or will I get banished back to my mother's basement? HE WOULD WALK MORE.

He's not a good player. He's having an ok season. THAT'S IT. This year doesn't warrant an extension or whatever. Don't fool yourself. On Fescoe's show yesterday, Bob asked George Brett about Betancourt and George started talking about Wilson Betemit. I think that was George's polite way of saying, "I would rather s**t my pants at the Bellagio again than talk about Yuni."

He's a serviceable stopgap for the time being. But don't fool yourself into thinking that he's the future of this team. He's here through next year or until Christian Colon comes up. THAT'S IT.

Jason Whitlock is my hero

2010-08-18T09:43:00.007-05:00

How about that for a title?

He's one of my biggest influences. From ages 8-24, I read every single Jason Whitlock article. From Dr. B.A. Homer to Jeff George to King Carl, I read every single word. And I loved it. I didn't agree with everything, but his prose and style was (and still is) amazing.

Jason Whitlock got a lot of grief from Kansas City Star readers. I'm not trying to imply anything about the Kansas City demographic, but I'm pretty sure Whitlock made people uneasy because he was opinionated, brash and black. To some people he had an agenda. What that agenda was, I'm not sure. But I'm pretty sure he was one of the first media members to spearhead the "Fire Carl Peterson" movement. He was the first to question the Buddy Bell hiring...at the press conference announcing the hiring of Buddy Bell. He was the first to call for Allard Baird to be fired. He sees right through the NCAA and sees a corporation just as corrupt as Fannie Mae and Goldman Sachs. He saw right through Larry Johnson and saw an immature punk with serious psychological and anger issues. He exposed people in the right way. He is intelligent, savvy, smooth and most importantly, he brought KC to the forefront in national sports journalism.

Pardon the Interruption, Around the Horn, The Sports Reporters, Fox Sports, ESPN.com all featured Whitlock for long periods of time. You don't get to that point unless you're damn good. ESPN is the NFL of sports journalism, reserved for the top .01% of journalists in the world (although it may not seem like it when Chris Broussard or Joe Schad come on).

He is a big time player in a small market. KC had been a backwards thinking town up until a few years ago, Whitlock brought some panache and style to the town. When he wrote, people read. People read and they talked about it. "Did you see what Whitlock wrote today?" How many times have you heard that in your life?

That's what a great journalist does. They inspire discussion, debate, controversy and entertain. Jason did all of those things and was undeservedly criticized for it. To me, it seemed people often confused Jason Whitlock: the journalist, with Jason Whitlock: the person. Jason Whitlock the person may be a diva, primadonna or whatever. But Jason Whitlock the journalist is a man who is an equality rights activist. Whether for immigrants, homosexuals or those who are victims of prejudice.

Just like people are able to seperate Kanye West: the man, from Kanye West: the rapper, you must do the same with Whitlock. Kanye: the man, is an arrogant moron who thinks he is the second coming of John the Baptist, while Kanye: the rapper is perhaps the greatest lyricist of our generation. You have to seperate the two in order to see where I'm coming from

I have never met Jason Whitlock. I read his column for 16 years. His work has influenced me in so many ways. He and Joe Posnanski taught me how to captivate (or at least try to) readers. Draw the reader in with shock value, and trick them into reading a great story. Sure, some people couldn't seperate the shock value from the meat and potatoes of the actual column. But then again, some people don't have the capacity to seperate opinion from journalism.

I will miss Jason Whitlock.

Yankee "fans" will never be better than us

2010-08-15T03:36:00.008-05:00

Big credit to Travis Pflanz of One Royal Way* for giving me the motivation to write this post.

*By the way, if you haven't stopped by One Royal Way, it's phenomenal. He's a good writer and the site is really well designed. Hope to have him help me redesign my blog.

We're used to it. Whether it's the Twins, Cardinals, Red Sox or White Sox, Kauffman Stadium is a hot spot for opposing fans to flock to when their teams are in town. I can't blame them. The tickets are the cheapest in baseball. There's usually no problem getting a hold of some good seats outside of Opening Day. Kansas City is accessible from every major Midwest city within a few hours drive. There are fans of every team everywhere. The Twins, Cards and both Sox are teams that have earned my respect throughout the years.

The Twins are a model franchise for small market teams like the Royals (even though I would hardly consider Minneapolis/St. Paul "small market"). The Cardinals are a franchise with fantastic history and passionate fans. Although they may be cocky and arrogant, they usually have regional ties to St. Louis and have been lifelong fans. The Red Sox have become a "trendy" team in the last decade, but ask most fans at a Royals/Red Sox series and it's likely that they're actually from New England and will tell you exactly where they were when the Sox won it all in 2004. White Sox fans are as loyal as they come. The second team in the Second City. I hate the White Sox players, but have a large amount of respect for anyone who sticks by a franchise like the White Sox, who are continuously spat on by Cubs' fans for being trashy and poor.

Being a fan of most sports teams isn't easy. I'm a prime example. Lifelong Kansas City Royals, Chiefs and Missouri Tigers fan. Ask anyone born after 1985 and they'll tell you why. Hell, ask anyone born after 1970 and they'll show you why. KC is littered with the memories of Lin Elliot, Steve Bono, Tyus Edney, John Elway, Chris Chambliss, 5th downs and kicked footballs for game tying touchdowns.

My sports life hasn't been easy. I know why I stick by my teams though. They wear the banner of my city. Where I was born and raised. They wear the colors of my college where I had my finest moments. I am connected with these teams in a way that most fans are. They've given me my greatest memories and worst nightmares. I cried as Lin Elliot's wounded duck kick sailed left of the goalposts as time expired in 1995. I screamed for someone to just step in front of Tyus Edney in Boise. I feel the passion and love leaving my body with every dropped pop up and terrible free agent signing. But at least I feel something.

These Yankee "fans" don't feel anything. Did they cry as the Yankees won their 26th World Championship? Did they thank God for blessing them with a fantastic franchise that has committed itself to winning during its entire existence? Did they think life itself wasn't going to go on after Luis Gonzalez dashed the hopes of New York City just weeks after 9/11?

No. They point and laugh as if to say: "Look at me! This is the good life! I'm so glad I chose to be a Yankee fan!"

I have all the respect for those who were born in New York City. It's a great city. Maybe the best in the world. My family has ties to New York. My great-great grandfathers came off the boat from Scotland and Ireland to start a new life in America. If you're born in New York, chances are you're a Yankee fan.

However, if you're born in Omaha, Little Rock or Paola, you don't have the luxury of a professional sports team in your city. You get to choose. People who cheer for the Yankees from cities like these probably have family members who grew up in New York or just wanted to take the easy way and cheer for a winner. But there are people from Kansas City, born and raised, who are Yankee fans. I'm sorry, you're a poser. You're not from New York. That youth group trip you took to NYC in 1996 doesn't count either. I know you're a huge Alicia Keys fan and INSIST on blasting "LETS HEAR IT FOR NEW YOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRK" every time you take your '97 Chevy Blazer out to cruise Zona Rosa for chicks, but come on, you're not fooling anybody. It's easy to root for the Yankees because they win. In all likelihood, they've probably never been to New York City, or even the East Coast for that matter. But they see Eminem and LeBron James wearing Yankee hats and think that being a Yankees fan is cool.

Let me tell you something, being a fan of a sports team isn't supposed to be cool. It's supposed to be intense, visceral, passionate, loving, a roller coaster of emotion. Being a Yankee fan isn't like that to these people. It's the easy way out. The effort-free version of being a sports fan. If being a sports fan was a video game, the difficulty would go as such:

Easy- Yankees
Medium- Braves
Hard- Indians
Batshit crazy insane difficult- Royals

I didn't choose to become a Royals fan. I was born into it. But I choose to stick by the team. I choose to be loyal. Am I a better person for it? Probably not. But am I a better sports fan for doing it? Absolutely.

Because when the Royals do raise that trophy, I won't be pointing and laughing, begging for the world to notice how much better than everyone I am. I'll be right next to you. Soaked in beer and tears, hugging complete strangers. Knowing that choosing to stay loyal was the right choice.

Royals West Coast swing nothing worth writing home for

2010-08-11T01:18:00.008-05:00

This season has spiraled out of control. You shouldn't be surprised. We've seen it before. Season is lost. Yost effect has worn off. Orioles are 8-1 under Buck Showalter. Kila struggling at the dish. Life ain't so grand here in KC.

There really isn't much else to say besides that this team isn't very good. We have a revolving door of crappy leadoff hitters currently being shuffled through the lineup. Getz, Bloomquist and newly acquired, shiny, former Brave Gregor Blanco have all failed (predictably) to make their mark at the top of the Royals lineup. Meanwhile, Mitch "MITCH" Maier and his .343 OBP are languishing in the bottom of the order on most days, while Billy Butler hits with no one on base.

Yuniesky Betancourt, who routinely hits ninth and sucks no matter where you put him in the lineup, is SECOND to Billy Butler for the team lead in RBIs with 48 in 105 PAs. Doesn't that say something about lineup construction, when a guy who hits (I'm seriously laughing as I type this. Look at the BA/OBP split and you'll understand why) .240/.241/.346/.587 with runners in scoring position is SECOND on the team in RBIs?

Yes, as you can see here, our valiant shortstop hits .240 with RISP and has 48 RBIs. How is that possible? It's terrible. Truly a tragedy of lineup construction.

You CAN'T get on Billy Butler's case about his "lack" of run "production". He's doing just fine with runners in scoring position: .314/.419/.438/.857 in 129 PAs.

My brain can't wrap itself around this. Butler has a batting average with RISP WORLDS ahead of Yuni, 24 more plate attempts than Yuni with RISP, better SLG% with RISP than Yuni.

I don't get it. How is this happening? How does a player as awful as Betancourt (congrats on having a kid by the way) with RISP have almost just as many RBIs as Butler does?

This is a paradox. It really is. If you think you can wrap your mind around it, then let me know. I'm having trouble understanding this. Are the Royals really so awful that their best hitter, no matter how well he hits when runners are on 2nd and 3rd, they just can't score runs?

I'm at a loss. Looking over these stats frustrates me even more. It's like once runners get to scoring position with Butler on, the baseball universe gets fuzzy. It's unreal. I think the simple fact is that maybe Butler isn't getting as many "true" chances with RISP. I can't remember the last time we had runners at 2nd and 3rd with Billy coming up.

Maybe the case isn't the fact that there aren't runners in scoring position when Butler comes up. Maybe there just aren't runners ON BASE. Butler has 234 PAs with runners on. He's batting .327/.406/.454/.860 with runners on. Yuni? His line is a bit better than his RISP line at .290/.308/.443/.751 with runners on in 180 PAs. He's batting ninth. Butler gets more PAs than Yuni because he's higher in the lineup.

So move Yuni up in the order? God no. Move Mitch Maier, Mike Aviles and those who are in the bottom of the order to the top of the order. Get them in front of Billy. Getz, Bloomquist and Blanco are not the answers. Kendall needs to be out of the two spot. Put him ninth. Put him on the bench. Put him on a plane to Omaha for all I care, but for the sake of Royals' fans sanity, stop batting him second. I would put money on the fact that the reasons for Billy's lack of RBIs can be traced back to Jason Kendall batting second. Book it.

Quick Thoughts on the end of the Guillen era, Greinke's words, and the emancipation of Ed Lucas

2010-08-05T17:52:00.003-05:00

So we FINALLY released Jose Guillen. This move came about two months too late as Guillen has been horrendous down the stretch and pretty much for the last two seasons. Don't let the RBIs fool you (tip: never let RBIs fool you. Worst stat ever), Jose has been just above replacement level since he became a Royal. He trumps Juan Gonzalez, Mark and Storm Davis as the worst Royals free agent acquisition of all time. Yes, he does. By far. He was a clubhouse cancer, no matter how people tried to spin it. He wasn't misunderstood, or wanted to win, or was a passionate leader. He was a malcontent who couldn't back up his mindless ranting on the baseball diamond. Good riddance, Jose. Good luck finding someone who will give you more than a minor league deal as well. Say hi to Trey in Japan for us.

Zack Greinke opened his mouth again. Seems like Zack isn't too happy with the current state of the Royals. I'm happy someone was vocal, but Zack was pretty harsh on the Royals. I hope this isn't pointing to a return of Zack's psychological issues or anything like that. He was sounding an awful like he did back in 2006 in Bob Dutton's article. Hopefully it isn't too serious and it was just Zack venting his frustrations, which at this point in his career, he has certainly earned.

Anyways, these are some interesting days we're heading for. The Royals brass seems to be committed to a true youth movement. That being said, I'm joining Greg Schaum's fight for the Royals to call up Omaha 3B Ed Lucas, who has been tearing the cover off the ball in AAA this year. I would like to see him get a shot at third and see Betemit back on the bench as a late inning pinch hitter.

Enjoy the rest of Shark Week.

A Victorious Weekend

2010-08-01T16:21:00.007-05:00

So I'm writing this as Chris Getz makes a pretty sweet diving play to save the final game of the Baltimore series and cap off a truly victorious weekend for our boys. From nail biters on the field, to hair pulling as 3pm came and went yesterday, this was a fun weekend to be a Royals fan. Rick Ankiel, who came on strong after being reactivated from the DL was traded along with Kyle Farnsworth to the Braves. The Royals got stronger with the trade. Not necessarily better, but stronger.

We got a center fielder in Gregor Blanco(who joins Wil Myers in the we-decide-to-leave-off-the-last-letter-of-our-first-name club), who probably profiles as a 4th outfielder/back up leadoff man in the future. A major league ready reliever Jesse Chavez, who isn't anything special, but is still young and cheap. And we got a 21 year old, 5'7", 155 lb. lefty with nasty stuff. I've seen multiple people say that if Tim Collins was six inches taller, he would be the top relieving prospect in baseball. Yeah, we got this kid for Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth.

And now for something that has never been said on this blog: GOOD JOB, DAYTON MOORE.

Of course, the Royals still have some work to do. Jose Guillen remains a Royal (at the point of the publication of this post). I fully expect him to be released before the team boards the plane for Oakland.

The Royals extended Ned Yost for two years. This is a positive because now Dayton Moore can focus on how to make this team better heading in to 2011 instead of conducting a managerial search and accidentally stumbling upon Trey Hillman 2.0. Yost is a major league manager with a pretty good track record with young teams. He will be the stable master as the Royals young studs come up through the system in the next two years. Yost is about to see a major roster overhaul. Mous, Hos, Monty, Myers, Dwyer, Orlando, Lamb, etc. are all going to be making their MLB debuts while Yost is under contract. Yeah, that's more prospects than the Brewers had when Yost was managing the Brew Crew. Exciting stuff.

Hey, Kila got called up. Hopefully for good.

Close your eyes. It's 2006. How do you see the Royals in 2010? Alex Gordon hitting walkoff homers. Billy Butler smashing go ahead shots in the 8th inning. Zack Greinke pitching eight solid innings and getting the W. And we're 15 games under .500.

There is still work to do, but this was a good weekend for the Kansas City Royals and their fans. These last couple of months have the potential to be a lot of fun. The Royals could make a push back towards .500 and swing some momentum towards 2011. And they wouldn't be pushing back towards .500 with Ankiel, Farnsworth, Podsednik and Guillen, but rather with Gordon, Butler, Blanco, Collins, Kila and young, homegrown talent.

Sure, winning is fun, but I'm such a damn purist that when the Royals start winning, I want the Royals to do it the right way. Not how the Yankees or Dodgers do it. I want our guys. And that's what we've got here now. Our guys are starting to populate the roster. That's something to get excited about.

HAPPY SHARK WEEK!

Francoeur to the Royals...3 years in the making

2010-07-26T04:43:00.003-05:00

**This rumor was shot down literally right after I posted this. Apparently, the Royals are "not interested" in Jeff Francoeur. But I hope you enjoy it anyways.

It began in 2005. Jeff Francoeur blasted into the National League and had scouts drooling. OPS over 1.000, batting average north of .330 and a Bondsian .631 slugging percentage.

Then he came down to earth...hard. He's been an awful, malcontent, overrated fielder, bust of a player. He's changed teams. That didn't work.

Apparently, Dayton Moore looks at Frenchy like that girl who has been cheated on, lied to and emotionally destroyed by her loser boyfriend yet still keeps going back to him, despite her friends and family pleading for her to move on.

"Just because he doesn't walk doesn't mean he doesn't love me!"

"Yeah he's posted a negative UZR the past three seasons, but he won a Gold Glove!"

"I know he said he doesn't care about walks, but he hit 29 home runs four years ago!"

Francoeur serves no purpose on the Royals. I would rather have a super robot constructed with all of the worst parts of Jose Guillen, Emil Brown, Terrence Long, Reggie Sanders and Shane Costa than have Jeff Francoeur.

This rumor surfaces every season. Whether in the offseason, May or near the trade deadline, it never goes away. It points to a bigger problem. The problem being that Dayton Moore is so in love with awful baseball players, it is going to kill the momentum that the Royals have going in their minor leagues.

So Moustakas, Hosmer and Montgomery come up and are really good. Guess what? Frenchy is "protecting" Mous and Hosmer in the lineup! OH JOY! Hey, lets sign a 37 year old Melky Cabrera! Let's go get Derek Lowe, cuz the Braves liked him, right? Man, think of all the possibilities! Hey, how about that Matt Diaz guy? Oh, we had him at one point? Screw him! Wait, call the Orioles, do you think John Lamb and Hos would be enough for former Brave great, Mike Gonzalez? Hey, get Pods agent on the phone, it's time for him to make his triumphant return to KC to be a member of the 2014 Royals! We need a leadoff hitter dad-gummit! That Robinson kid can't run. I need un-utilized speed and sweet 5 o'clock shadow beards. Get Ryan Freel out of retirement, I NEED ATHLETICISM ON THIS TEAM!

Get ready. #GMDMisdelusional

Flip This House: Alberto Callaspo traded back to the Angels

2010-07-22T23:59:00.005-05:00

Sorry, had to entertain my readers who watch HGTV.

I like this trade. Boost the pitching in the minors. Open up the third base spot for Mike Moustakas. See what you have in Wilson Betemit. Get rid of a guy who just couldn't find a home on the diamond.

I liked Callaspo. I liked the Buckner trade for Callaspo back in 2008. But Callaspo was never going to be a cornerstone of this franchise. Yeah, he was a .300 hitter last year. But that .300 average came at the cost of subpar defense and boneheaded off the field decisions. He struggled this year to put it together. His offense was fantastic for a second baseman...but Callaspo can't play second base. His defense was ok at third base...but his offense this year didn't warrant him playing a corner spot in the lineup, a position that has to supply power and run producing.

Nick Scott from Broken Bat Single said it best, these are the kind of trades that can have positive impact for YEARS to come. Callaspo didn't have a future with the team. You keep him on the team, it blocks Betemit and Moustakas. Callaspo was well liked in his time in KC, but the team has to start purging this roster. Callaspo was an offensive contributor in his time in Royal blue, but his defense also contributed to the 97 losses last year. He's the definition of an "in between" player.

So moving Callaspo off the depth chart gives the Royals a bit of breathing room and deepens the minor league system. Callaspo wasn't technically a young guy either, he's on the wrong side of 27 and has already peaked in my mind.

So long Bert, you have a long career in front of you, just not with us. I hope you don't make us pay for it in the future.

Now batting...Rick Ankiel.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Well that was fun...

2010-07-18T18:22:00.002-05:00

Royals have now dropped six in a row since their "critical" series in Chicago. Dreams of division titles and ticker tape and parades on the Plaza in 2010 have been stricken down...ha, just kidding.

The Royals trade rumor machine seems to be spitting out more and more back-fence talk each day and the gossip is picking up around baseball.

Joakim Soria has been rumored to the Yankees. The Royals hold the advantage if these negotiations ever take place. The asking price is very high for Soria, as it should be as he's arguably been one of the best closers in the last five years and his numbers are comparable to Mariano Rivera's over the last three years. If the Yankees come calling, the asking price on Soria should be two of the Yanks top five prospects and a C+ arm. Catcher Jesus Montero seems to be the hot-button player that the Yankees are offering. Montero is the 5th ranked prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America. But Montero has struggled this year and his defense behind the plate has scouts questioning his long term viability behind the plate.

Scott Podsednik's agent told him that teams have been inquiring about him. The asking price on Pods shouldn't be too high, but the way Dayton Moore values athletic ability, the Royals demands for him may be too much for teams to consider. With the way Alex Gordon has been swinging the bat in Omaha, the Royals would be wise to unload Scotty Pods for whatever they can get.

Eric Hosmer hit a home run in his first AA at-bat. Seriously, who wrote the script for the Royals minor leagues this year? A good second half in the Texas League puts Hosmer on track to start 2011 in Omaha and possibly make his Major League debut as early as sometime in the 2011 season.

Moustakas got called up to Omaha. A good second half from him and we could see him in a Royals jersey this year as a September call-up. But the Royals' brass has said Moustakas will not see the big leagues this year. Hmm, we'll see.

Ned Yost says that skids like the current six game bender that the Royals are currently on are "unacceptable". Hey Ned, you're the one who insists on batting Jason Kendall every day.

So what does the second half hold for the Royals? The outlook for the rest of the 2010 campaign looks pretty bleak, but some clever and necessary roster shuffling by Dayton Moore and Ned Yost could give fans reason to keep paying attention as we move into the dog days of Summer.

State of the Royals: All Star Break 2010

2010-07-12T15:04:00.003-05:00

So, here we are. All Star Break. The Royals were contenders three days ago. Then they got swept by the White Sox and the writing seems to be on the wall concerning this ball club. I'm going to try my best to break down each facet of the ballclub in this post. If you're a regular reader of this blog, then you probably know what I think about the roster and the likes of Scott Podsednik and Jose Guillen. But I'll also take a look at the minor leagues, specifically Northwest Arkansas.

Offense

So I'll start off with what the Royals want the fans to believe is their biggest strong suit. Sure the Royals are among the league leaders in batting average, but they're bringing up the back end when it comes to slugging percentage and home runs. This team lacks the ability to blow teams out. We saw it in the Chicago series last weekend, the Royals simply don't have the horses to match up with the Carlos Quentins and Paul Konerkos of the AL Central. Our best "power" hitter is Jose Guillen. But you look closely at his stats, they aren't that impressive. He has 14 homers, yes, but he also has only hit 12 doubles. Jose has been a doubles hitter throughout his career and suddenly he has more homeruns than doubles. Meanwhile, our "cleanup" hitter, Billy Butler, who is holding steady with a whopping NINE homeruns at the All Star Break (which is making my preseason prediction of 30+ look absolutely ridiculous). Wilson Betemit has been a nice fill-in for Rick Ankiel. No wait, he's been 20x better and about $3 million dollars cheaper than Rick Ankiel.

The Royals have no problems clogging the bases with singles hitters, our problem is getting them home. The offense needs an injection of power. Maybe there are two hitters in Omaha that can do that for us? Nah, too simple...

State of the Royals offense: C+

Starting Pitching

Any rotation that has Bruce Chen in it deserves criticism. Of course, Chen has made Dayton Moore look like a genius and posted a sub-4.00 ERA in his replacement of Gil Meche. But outside of Chen's unlikely success, this rotation is bad. Brian Bannister's SABR-magic has worn off. The Kyle Davies Project looks like it is on its last legs. Seriously, Kyle Davies should pitch like he's about to be DFA'ed in each of his starts. Just when I'm ready to write him off, he pitches well. Zack Greinke is getting back on track after a rocky start.

Anthony Lerew is holding down Hoch's spot well, despite getting rocked in his last start. Hopefully nothing is terribly wrong with Luke Hochevar. I was really enjoying watching him pitch. He's worked very well with Kendall this year. His problem seems to be that he'll either pitch a gem or look like Scott Elarton.

Gil Meche needs surgery. I'm convinced. If he goes under the knife this season, he may be able to return mid-season next year and try to salvage what is left of his career.

State of the Royals starting rotation: D

Bullpen

These guys have been great. After an AWFUL start to the year, the bullpen has come together really well. From Kyle Farnsworth to Dusty Hughes to Blake Wood, these guys have really turned it around. Very few blown saves around this team. The bullpen has been a huge part of the Royals Yost-era success. Apparently, Ned has every bullpen pitcher throwing off the mound every day. Whereas Trey had players take a day or two off after pitching. Joakim Soria has been dominant, not quite 2008 dominant, but about as good as he'll be for the rest of his career. Blake Wood may be getting lucky with pitching-to-contact. He can't strike anybody out. His fastball is phenomenal. I'm not so sure he's the setup savior that this front office is labeling him as.

Kyle Farnsworth has been outstanding this year. Well worth his salary. He's even getting the job done in high leverage situations. Add him to the list of must-trade players.

State of the Royals bullpen: B+

Minor Leagues

Wow. What can I say that already hasn't been said by every minor league guru on the internet? I mentioned to Greg Schaum earlier this year that the Royals may have a farm system that is becoming the envy of Major League Baseball. Schaum was quick to slow my roll, but agreed that there are some positives surrounding the Royals farm system. Now, in July, I can confidently say that the Royals absolutely have a farm system that has many executives drooling.

Let's start at the top: Mike Moustakas has become the Mike Schmidt of the Texas League. Leading the league in most offensive categories, while playing 17 less games than most players. Eric Hosmer is driving the ball in the Carolina League, something that Moustakas couldn't do last year. Some people are concerned about his lack of homeruns, but in the C-League, doubles are just as good as homeruns and Hosmer has 27 of 'em. Mike Montgomery is continuing his dominance of the minors. But the real treat of the Royals farm system to emerge this year is 20 year old LHP John Lamb. He's averaging over 10 K's per 9 IP. He's got a 1.41 ERA. His stock is rising quickly and for damn good reason.

Not only are the Royals seeing individual success at the minor league level, but also team success. A thing minor league purists will tell you is more important than stats and scouting reports. The Naturals already clinched a playoff spot by winning the first half championship in the Texas League's Northern division. Meanwhile, up in the PCL, the O-Royals are in a heated pennant chase with the Iowa Cubs and Memphis Redbirds, led by the Kila Whale and a resurgent, but currently slumping, Alex Gordon.

A diamond in the rough in the Royals pipeline is 1B/DH Clint Robinson at AA NW Arkansas, who is hitting .318/.396/.591/.987. If Kila Ka'aihue turns out to be a bust, then we've got C-Rob right on his heels, who will likely join Mike Moustakas in Omaha before the season is over. Also add LHP Edgar Osuna to the mix. A guy who likely pans out as a lefty set up man or lefty starter in the future. Posting a 2.59 ERA and 1.100 WHIP, Osuna could be another Rule 5 gem picked by Dayton Moore.

Then throw in Wil Myers, Chris Dwyer, Kila Ka'aihue, Alex Gordon (not a prospect anymore, but who cares), Louis Coleman, Tim Melville, Aaron Crow, Brandon Sisk and Derrick Robinson and you have a minor league system that is stocked better than a Y2K-believer's basement.

To put it bluntly: our minor leagues are STACKED. Stacked, baby. Even if 50% of these guys bust, we've still got a hell of a lot of contributors who are under Kansas City Royal control through the better part of this decade. It's a beautiful thing.

State of the Royals minor leagues: A+

Look, this team is at a serious crossroads right now. I've been saying that for weeks now, but it is the truth. We can wear the rose colored glasses and think that we're "contenders" and do the organization as a whole a disservice. Or we can get back on the wagon and start building this thing for next year. I say next year because, well, this division is going to be just as winnable in 2011 as it was this year. The possibility of making a division run with homegrown talent is very exciting. That's something that everyone can get behind.

State of the Royals: C+

Royals Kingdom Radio Cancelled

2010-07-11T21:42:00.003-05:00

I hate to use that word, but after an eight month run, Royals Kingdom Radio is no more. The show received great feedback from what listeners we had, but in the end, the cost of running the show was no longer feasible for myself and the JPEG Show Network. I want to thank James Peuster for giving me the prime 4pm spot on 1160 AM on Sunday afternoons and allowing me to share my voice to greater Kansas City.

Royals Kingdom Radio may come back, it may not. For now, my short lived radio career is on hold. But I'm sure I'll be back in the future.

As for the blog, KEEP READING! I have no plans of discontinuing the blog.

Anyways, thanks for listening!

Critical series coming up for the Royals

2010-07-08T00:55:00.007-05:00

Ok, so six months ago when the Royals' schedule was released, this looked like just another series, in just another lost season, in just another 6-9 win month. But now, this Royals/White Sox tilt has taken on a whole new look.

These are the series that fans of toiling franchises dream about.

Here it is. Mid-July. The Royals are quasi-contenders. Eight games out of first place in a winnable division on July 8. The White Sox came to town with their "hottest team in baseball" cooties, and it has seemed to rub off on the Royals, who have now won 10 of their last 13 ballgames.

So, here we go. Bruce Chen (5-2, 3.51), who is doing his best Mark Buehrle impression, takes on Mark Buehrle (7-7, 4.53), who is doing his best Bruce Chen impression, in game one of the series. Dayman Banny takes on Gavin Floyd in game two. And Zack Greinke vs. TBA on Sunday for game three. Pretty winnable series on paper. Royals have been rocking Buehrle around all year. Gavin Floyd is finally developing into a mediocre pitcher and whoever the third starter is, is going to have a tough time taking on a Zack Greinke who has started to pitch like a combination of 2009 Zack and Optimus Prime.

Make no doubt about it. This is when games start to matter more. This is the last series before the All Star Break. Most teams are looking forward to the break and spending time away from the game. From all reports, the Royals can't wait to get back out on the field each day. These guys are playing really, really good, entertaining baseball right now. A series win in Chicago catapults the Royals into the All Star Break, single digits behind the division leader and playing their best baseball all year.

After Chicago and the break, it's back to KC for three-game sets with the Oakland A's and Toronto Blue Jays. Making this stretch even more crucial, 13 of the first 17 games after the All Star Break are played at Kauffman Stadium. A good series in Chicago and continuing this hot streak could be the right mix for a good excuse to go out to the ballpark for an otherwise disinterested fanbase.

I consider the White Sox a rival. This is how rivalries are strengthened. Mid to late season games that have division race implications. And even though the Royals are still seven games under .500, this series is still just as big as every other series with a division opponent for the rest of the year.

It is a borderline critical series for our boys in blue. There is a groundswell of support for these guys all of the sudden. A series win in Chicago completely energizes the city and fans and it could be a pretty fun second half of July, and possibly second half of the season here in KC.

Are the Royals closer than we think?

2010-07-02T01:56:00.004-05:00

After reading Sam Mellinger's article, I started taking inventory of the Yost era.

Here are the facts:

-The Royals are 22-22 under Ned Yost.

-The Royals are 22-22 under Ned Yost, despite the fact that Jason Kendall and Scott Podsednik anchor the top of the lineup and Yuniesky Betancourt plays nearly every day.

-The bullpen is vastly improved after the additions of Blake Wood, Victor Marte, Dusty Hughes and Kanekoa Texeira.

-The Royals are only being outscored by 31 runs (run differential of .39 runs per game).

-The offense is based on stringing singles together.

-The Royals lack multiple power threats.

-Nearing the halfway point, the Royals are only 9.5 games out of first place.

-Jose Guillen is currently blocking two players who are tearing up AAA Omaha. If he is moved, the Royals 25 man roster becomes wide open and allows Kila and Gordon to be moved on to the team for regular duty.

-Zack Greinke is starting to look like Zack Greinke.

-Anthony Lerew and Bruce Chen are filling the voids of Luke Hochevar and Gil Meche nicely.

-The Royals appear to be on the verge of a significant roster turnover as the trade deadline approaches.

Now here's the hopeful, borderline-insanity-optimism:

With the subtraction of one player (J. Guillen) and addition of two players (Gordon and Ka'aihue), the Royals immediately add power bats and basecloggers to the everyday roster. This will assess what is currently the Royals biggest void: power. Can the addition of Gordon and Ka'aihue really do that much?

Answer: YES.

Those two combined can put up numbers that will put the Royals in a good position to make a late season push at .500. Certain spots in the lineup have created offensive "hot spots" that has marginal players putting up big RBI numbers. Yuniesky Betancourt has 33 RBIs. He's batting .225 with runners in scoring position in the 9 hole. Meanwhile, David DeJesus is sporting a robust .323 average with RISP, and 35 RBIs.

The Royals need guys who can draw walks and hit for power, plain and simple. The team is serviceable right now. But the singles train needs a locomotive. A massive power generating machine to put this club over the top.

Only being outscored by .39 runs a game, the Royals really aren't that far away from a numbers stand point. Fundamentally, they're below average, but the addition of some power bats and clever roster maneuvering by Dayton Moore could add that boost that the Royals need to get back on track.

A strong finish to 2010 means several things. It will re-energize the fanbase. It will move the team in the PROPER youth direction that they have strayed from in the last one and a half years and it will put them into position to be a better team in the future.

Guillen's hot streak was done with smoke and mirrors

2010-06-29T10:31:00.003-05:00

Jose Guillen just capped off his 21 game hit streak against the White Sox last night, going 0-3 with a walk. Of course, many fans started jumping on the Guillen bandwagon saying that he had returned to form (which is saying SOOOOO much).

Guillen's "hot" streak may have well been a hitting streak by Scotty Pods. Thanks to some research by our friends over at Royals Review, they found that Guillen had put up this stellar line during the last 15 days of his streak: .364/.386/.354/.750. That's a pretty standard line for a guy with a 21 game hitting streak. The hitting streak was anything but "hot" though. Guillen was good for ONE extra base hit during the entire streak.

Of course, this isn't indicative of Guillen being a poor hitter. He did what he could. Reports have come out that Guillen has been suffering from blisters on his lead foot, making it hard for him to turn on that inside pitch.

Now, the Royals should take this as a sign to give Guillen a couple of days off. Imagine how he could hit with good feet. This hitting streak only increases his value on the trade market.

I'm not taking anything away from Guillen though. He's done a great job, but adding another car to the singles train that is the Royals' offense doesn't do anyone any favors.

Are the Royals and Cardinals even rivals anymore?

2010-06-25T01:12:00.005-05:00

I went to the first I-70 Series back in 1997. The first time the Royals and Cardinals had played since 1985. Kauffman Stadium was electric. Johnny Damon charged the mound after being hit by a Tim Belcher pitch in Game 2. The Royals kicked the crap out of the Cardinals in game 2, 16-5, while losing close games in the first and third games of the series. I remember the crowd being 70-30 in favor of Royals fans. Boy that was a fun time...

Now, 13 years and five managers later, the Royals still haven't made the playoffs or fielded a legitimate contender. Meanwhile, 250 miles down the road, the Cardinals have made two World Series appearances while winning/stealing one in 2006 against young and error-prone Detroit Tigers team.

So it goes. Every June, Kauffman Stadium looks like Arrowhead Stadium. Red clad Cardinal fans board the "Best Fans in Baseball"tm train and storm Kauffman Stadium, like that pathetic uncle from out of town who comes to visit every summer. They drink, they yell, they tell everyone that Budweiser is the best beer in the world and how toasted ravioli was invented in St. Louis. They claim you can't find a decent slice of pizza anywhere outside of the 636 or 314 area codes. Cool.

"The Best Fans in Baseball"tm might as well be the "Most Annoying Fans in Baseball", screaming anytime Albert Pujols hits a flyball. They boo when Albert Pujols gets intentionally walked, even though they have "fan favorite" Matt Holliday protecting him in the order. But I guess that's why you pay him $16 million dollars, so you can boo teams walking the best player of our generation in their own stadium.

They come like a swarm of locusts, spending their money at hotels and bars (Hey, thanks for paying for Sprint Center!). They talk about how the Cubs/Cardinals rivalry is the best in baseball, screw Red Sox/Yankees and Mets/Phillies. The whole weekend is like them showing off to the whole city of Chicago. Claiming, "Hey! Look at us! We run this town...like you do when the Cubs come to play at Busch..."

Here's my point. Cardinals fans don't consider this a rivalry anymore. I know a lot of Cardinals fans, some of my best friends are from Eastern Missouri and Western Illinois, although none of them actually live in the St. Louis city limits. They would have to be crazy to do that...

They laughed at me when I said the Royals biggest rival were the Cardinals.

Well, Sam Mellinger made an interesting point today. This rivalry is stale. It's like a broken record. Cardinals come into town. They bring 20,000 fans. The fans annoy us. We take it because our team sucks. They beat us. Life goes on.

There's hope on the farm, but it won't be here for a couple of years. It's time to take a break. Most Royals fans have what's left of their pride bashed to smithereens this time of year. I hate this series. It is my least favorite series of the year. It is an awful reminder of how far this once proud franchise has fallen. So I'm asking the Cardinals, Major League Baseball and Royals ownership to give us a couple of years to pick up the pieces. Keep the series in St. Louis. Sure this series is the biggest draw outside of opening day, but at what cost? Each year, the number of kids in this town wearing Albert Pujols jerseys grows.

We need some time, St. Louis. We owe it to this "rivalry" to take a break. Forget about us until October, then laugh at us when you look across at the AL Central standings to see we barely won 70 games. We'll be back. I don't know when, but we will be. And when we come back, hold on to your f**king hats, we'll be ready to take our stadium back.

Quick look at Nats and Royals lineups for tonight show you exactly where each organization is headed

2010-06-21T15:37:00.003-05:00

Lineups: Royals @ Nationals, 6/21/2010

Washington
1. Nyjer Morgan, CF
2. Christian Guzman, 2B
3. Ryan Zimmerman, 3B
4. Adam Dunn, 1B
5. Josh Willingham, LF
6. Ivan Rodriguez, C
7. Michael Morse, RF
8. Ian Desmond, SS
9. Livan Hernandez, SP

Kansas City
1. Scott Posednik, LF
2. Jason Kendall, C
3. David DeJesus, CF
4. Billy Butler, 1B
5. Jose Guillen, RF
6. Alberto Callaspo, 3B
7. Mike Aviles, 2B
8. Yuniesky Betancourt, SS
9. Bruce Chen, SP

So here it is. This is probably the most depressing pitching matchup I've ever seen. Outside of that, we have two franchises going in opposite directions at the moment.

The Nationals are perennial losers and are quite the comic relief in the National League (remember when they couldn't even spell their name right on their jerseys?). But they have a lineup that isn't much better than the Royals, but its headed in a better direction than the Royals.

While the Royals have Scott Podsednik batting leadoff, the Nats have Nyjer Morgan, a guy with a lot of potential who was traded for Lastings Milledge. Win for Washington. They don't have Jason Kendall batting second. Win for Washington. They don't have Jason Kendall in their lineup. Win for Washington. Christian Guzman and Adam Dunn are actually pretty good veteran players for their big price tags, unlike say...Yuniesky Betancourt and Jose Guillen? Win for Washington.

Pretty pathetic that what was essentially an expansion franchise is further along than the Royals. Oh yeah, Dayton Moore also had Zack Greinke, Billy Butler and Alex Gordon dropped in his lap. The Nats started from scratch. They're further along than the Royals because they're doing it the right way.

Win for Washington.

Bashing of KC, internally and externally, makes me sick

2010-06-18T13:01:00.007-05:00

So after the news was confirmed that Kansas City will indeed host the 2012 MLB All Star Game, most people in Kansas City rejoiced. Then we started reading what people were saying about us. It hurts to see people bash a city. But then again, most of these people are probably east coasters and have probably never been to Kansas City in the last 5 years. Then I started reading the reaction from locals, some saying that KC will be exposed as a fraudulent major league town. The best way I can compare it is like a good looking girl suddenly panicking and thinking that she looks awful in her prom dress and won't leave her room...two months before prom.

I'll admit it, KC was a pretty boring place 5 years ago. We had just lost the Big 12 tournament and Westport had been taken over by hooligans and criminals. Most of the city's metro population lived in Kansas and suburbs. It was a boring place unless you were searching for some damn good barbeque and had an affinity for outdoor shopping.

But the city is on its way back. 50,000 people have moved back in to the city limits, 5,000 to downtown alone. $4.5 billion dollars have been invested in downtown since the late 90s. The Power and Light district is the social center of the city, the Kauffman Center for Performing Arts will be a premiere theatre on the national stage, the Crossroads District is still one of this city's best kept secrets, Union Station has been a bust, but it still brings in some pretty awesome national exhibits.

Most people's view of Kansas City is very dated. This isn't the KC of the 1990s, where the main attraction in town was the world's largest collection of Starter jackets (...it still might be). There are plenty of things for people to do in this town now. All within a short taxi or bus ride from downtown are the River Market, Westport, the Plaza, Power & Light, Crown Center, Negro Leagues Museum, and the 18th and Vine Jazz district.

The point is, people have become so disconnected with Kansas City. People say they're from KC, but in all likelihood they're from Lee's Summit, Blue Springs, Overland Park or Parkville and haven't seen the revitalization from up close. I've seen it. I worked at Power & Light for nearly a year. Every night, people from KC or even out of town, would come up to me and say how they couldn't believe an area like this could be in Kansas City. The people of KC need to stop badmouthing our city. She's back on the rise. I think we're going to blow people away.

Maybe we're suffering from ugly duckling syndrome, or it could be the other thing that has plagued this city for the last 20 years...loser mentality. Get behind your city and for crying out loud, stop it with the loser mentality.

What should be done with David DeJesus?

2010-06-17T18:54:00.005-05:00

With the trade deadline rapidly approaching, the Royals are reportedly ready to wheel and deal some of their veteran players. Scott Podsednik, Rick Ankiel, Jose Guillen and Kyle Farnsworth's names have all been linked to potential trades. Also in that mix of names was David DeJesus, probably the most prized piece on the Royals roster. The return on DeJesus would be ok. He isn't a big name player and doesn't have the "sexy" power or speed that would net the Royals a blockbuster set of prospects.

That isn't a knock on DeJesus, its a knock on how under appreciated players like DeJesus are in baseball.

He'll be affordable. We know this. All of his important skills probably won't significantly decline in the next 5 years. His speed and power may decrease, but here's the beauty of this: DeJesus isn't known for either of those things.

He's currently batting .324/.399/.482/.881. Pretty awesome numbers. His OPS+ currently stands at 139, a career high.

Those are the facts. Now here's why we should keep him.

Yes his value is high right now. But the return will not be substantial enough. I say this because the Royals system is extremely shallow in the outfield. Derrick Robinson, David Lough and Jordan Parraz seem to be close to the big leagues, but having a veteran (and overall nice guy) like DeJesus to welcome them to the bigs would net much more value than 2-3 C+ prospects. Um, not to mention DeJesus has been the most consistent offensive performer on the Royals in the last 7 years.

I'm not saying DDJ should be a Royals lifer, but he definitely deserves to spend a few more seasons with the Royals. I'm not trying to be a Royals "sunshine pumper", but trading DeJesus just doesn't make that much sense. That is, unless he is designated as a Type A free agent, in which case the Royals would be compensated with draft picks.

Re-sign him to a three year deal. He just started a family here and might be willing to give the Royals the good ol' home town discount.

He's not just a good player, but he's a good guy and definitely deserves to stick around and be a part of (hopefully) a new generation of Royals winners.

Royals can learn a lot from Blackhawks' journey

2010-06-11T23:33:00.012-05:00

Alright, you all know me. I'm a huge hockey fan. But this has nothing to do with the sport itself. It does have everything to do with how the Chicago Blackhawks not only turned their franchise around on the ice, but off it as well.

5 years ago, if you would have asked a Chicagoan who their favorite Blackhawks player was, it probably wouldn't have been a player on the current roster. They would have said Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull, Jeremy Roenick or Denny Savard. The Hawks were downright awful for the most part from 1997-2007. They made the playoffs once, as an 8-seed, during that stretch. The 22,000 seat United Center would be half full for weekend and rivalry games, much worse for weeknight games and non-premier opponents. This was in a city of over 7 million people (2.8 million in the city limits alone) and they could barely draw 10,000 people. Not to mention they had to compete with four other major sports teams. Season ticket sales were south of 5,000 and the Hawks were nearly forgotten about in Chitown. Owner Bill Wirtz refused to spend money on free agents and the draft. He wouldn't even fork over the dough to show the team's home games on local television. Blackhawks TV cost $30/month! $30/month! Just to watch the worst team in the league!

Of course, if you're the worst team in the league, you get the best draft picks. In 2006, the Hawks drafted Jonathan Toews with the 3rd overall pick. The next year, they drafted Patrick Kane with the 1st overall pick. As Bill Wirtz's health declined, his son, Rocky, began learning the ropes and making front office decisions. The board hired former Blackhawks player, Dale Tallon, as general manager before the 2005-06 season, and started making wholesale changes to the roster, shedding awful veteran payroll and began building the team from within while making trades for young players.

Bill Wirtz passed away shortly before the 2007-08 season and his son, Rocky, took over full ownership of the franchise. Rocky Wirtz's first order of business was to put the home games back on local television. Done. Then he hired former Chicago Cubs president, marketing whiz John McDonough, to the same position in the Blackhawks front office.

McDonough knew that the Hawks were not the frontline team in Chicago, and they probably never would be. But no one even cared about the team in Chicago. McDonough and his executives started reaching out to the city of Chicago. Soon bars were flying Blackhawks flags outside of their doors. Blackhawks players were making more public appearances, charitable and social, and the Hawks invited their formerly shunned hall of famers back to the United Center and created the Blackhawks Ambassadors, made up of Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull, Tony Esposito and Dennis Savard. They cultivated business relationships with the Bears, Bulls, Cubs and White Sox. Jonathan Toews and head coach Joel Quenneville sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at Wrigley Field. Derrick Rose dropped the puck at the home opener. Four Blackhawks threw out the first pitch at US Cellular on Opening Day this year. Lance Briggs participated in the famous United Center "Puck Shoot" in February. They hosted the NHL's annual Winter Classic at Wrigley Field in 2009. They made themselves synonymous with the city.

During the summer of 2008, when the White Sox and Cubs are the only tickets in town, the Blackhawks began hosting the annual Blackhawks Convention, a three day event at the Downtown Chicago Hilton and Towers (you know, the hotel in the last scene of The Fugitive). Hawks players, past and present, coaches and everyone involved with the team attend the event. A lot of sports franchises do it, but the Hawks go all out. Organist Frank Pellico provides the soundtrack for the weekend on a miniature version of the United Center organ. The hotel is converted into a hockey playground, with pep rallies, games, performances from the Second City comedy group, Chicago celebrities and world famous Chicago cuisine. They even open the event with the National Anthem, Chicago style. The first convention sold out in a month, with tickets going for $60. The next year it sold out in two weeks. This year, it sold out in three days.

*Wanna go this year? You can find three-day passes on eBay anywhere from $499 to $3,995.

Then, the Hawks started reaching out to the young people of Chicago. Wrigleyville and Lincoln Park are flooded with young professionals who are out Thursday-Saturday at bars and clubs. The Hawks created the Blackhawks Bars network. A group of over 150 bars, pubs, clubs and ale houses all across Illinois where fans could watch every Blackhawks game and mingle with fellow fans. Young people started to rally around the young team. The city fell in love with the team and there was just one thing left to do...Win.

With the groundwork already in place, the Hawks finally made it back to the playoffs in 2008-09, making it to the Conference Finals for the first time in nearly 15 years, a long time for a hockey franchise. The Blackhawks became the hottest ticket in town. The journey had reached its destination. The Hawks raised the Stanley Cup for the first time in 49 years and united the city of Chicago. Ask anyone from Chicago what the most popular team in Chicago is right now, and I guarantee you that 95% will say the Blackhawks. The party ensued in Chicago and probably won't stop until sometime in September. The Blackhawks had created magic in Chicago. Team officials predicted 500,000-1 million people would show up at the championship parade on Friday and that was a pretty liberal estimate according to some.

Two million people showed up for the parade.

Two million people. And those two million showed up because the Blackhawks reached out to them. They gave them something to believe in even before all the winning started.

Well, 525 miles away, there is another professional sports franchise that is reeling. They have trouble drawing fans. Most fans will tell you that their favorite player is someone that hasn't played in 20+ years. They lose. They lose comically. They don't have a shred of partnership with the other team that they share a parking lot with. They spend too much money on bad free agents. They make bad trades. They have lost touch with the city. But they've got these guys in the minor leagues that give the fans hope for the future.

The Royals do a fine job with their marketing, they really do. But you have to cultivate a winning environment not just around the stadium, but around the city. Get young people involved. Make Kauffman Stadium a destination for young people. Affiliate yourselves with the most popular bars in town. How cool would it be to walk in to the Brooksider, Tom Fooleries or Paddy O'Quigley's and see dozens of Royals fans watching the game, cheering and celebrating? Make the Royals cool again. Make the Royals Kansas City's team again. Sure we may not win for a few more years, but lay the foundation. Make people expect to win before the winning starts.

"The best way to create a winning environment, is to first expect it" -Marty Schottenheimer

Do that, and maybe someday we'll have a parade with two million people of our own.

Kansas City Awarded 2012 MLB All Star Game

2010-06-11T15:13:00.005-05:00

Kauffman Stadium will host the 2012 Major League Baseball All Star Game according to a report from the Kansas City Star.

This is exciting news, especially for a city and franchise that has toiled through the last 25 years without a single playoff game since Game 7 of the 1985 World Series. But you all know that.

The most exciting part is that 2012 will likely be the beginning of a new era in Royals baseball. Prospects Mike Montgomery, Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer and others could very well be on the Royals roster at that point. Hell, Moustakas could be partaking in the All Star Game if his amazing minor league numbers translate to the big leagues. Zack Greinke, Billy Butler, Joakim Soria and/or Alex Gordon could very well be on the AL All Star roster in 2012. How about Billy Butler, Alex Gordon or Mike Moustakas participating in the Home Run Derby? Zack Greinke as the starter for the American League? Joakim Soria could come in for the save and clinch home field advantage for the AL in the World Series.

It is very, very exciting. Kauffman Stadium should be rocking with the noise and excitement it hasn't seen since the early 90s, especially if the Royals rebuilding period is over and they have entered into legitimate contender status. So here's to the Royals, the Glass family and those who worked to get this game to KC for what will be the first time since 1973.

Get excited KC, we've been waiting for this for a very long time.

Royals' draft trend points towards a winning trend...maybe

2010-06-09T13:05:00.005-05:00

Last year, the Royals surprised a few people after drafting 23 year old Aaron Crow. Crow was perhaps the most MLB ready pitcher after Stephen Strasburg. This year, they pulled another fast one and drafted Christian Colon, a guy whose name was barely mentioned in the months and weeks leading up to the draft. But it was obvious that the Royals were ready to draft another college player. The Royals say that Colon was the most "MLB ready player in the draft". Experts say that he has Placido Polanco's skills with Derek Jeter's leadership. If so, then that works out pretty nicely for the Royals. Especially if Colon is in the big leagues within the next two years. Then in the 2nd round, they drafted another college player, Brett Eibner, a pitcher/outfielder from Arkansas. Once again, some saying a guy whose offense has him on the fast track to the big leagues, but he also has versatility. If he busts as an offensive player, the Royals can send him back to the minors to work on becoming a big league pitcher.

On to the 4th round, Royals drafted another college guy. Lefty Kevin Chapman from Florida. Yet another guy who is a hop, skip and jump away from the big leagues. After that, the Royals draft is flooded with guys who have played college ball. Of course, there are a few high schoolers thrown in the mix.

But make no doubt about it. The Royals think they can win. And they think they can win in the next two years. Think about it, in the next two years, and as early as Opening Day 2011, we will likely be seeing the major league debuts of Mike Moustakas, Mike Montgomery, Derrick Robinson, Aaron Crow, Edgar Osuna, Louis Coleman and Eric Hosmer. So, what did Dayton Moore do? He drafted guys that give the Royals the best chance of competing NOW.

And by now, I mean the very near future. Colon could be in the big leagues as early as next year (if they can get him signed quickly), Brett Eibner sounds like a two year project in the minors, whether or not the Royals decide to use him as a pitcher or outfielder.

The Royals didn't draft any big shockers or huge impact guys this draft. But they did draft guys who are definitely on the fast track to the big leagues. There are very few 4-5 year projects in the early rounds of this draft. There aren't any 1st-4th rounders who require that much time in the draft, with the exception of 3rd rounder high school SS Mike Antonio.

The Royals are loading their upper minors. Most of these guys will probably start off in Wilmington, putting them two or three years away. Some of them will finish the season in Northwest Arkansas and play in the Arizona Fall League.

I'm not saying get excited or buy your playoff tickets. But have faith. The front office seems to think that these guys are not the next crop of superstars, but rather those guys who will supplement the future superstars of Moustakas, Montgomery and Hosmer.

Because before Mike Moustakas hits that game tying double in the 9th inning, you need that guy who will leg out the infield hit or beat out the throw from left field on the hustle double. Because before Eric Hosmer hits the three-run homer to win the game, you need a guy to draw a walk and then single through the hole. Because before Mike Montgomery can win 20 games, you need solid bullpen guys to get the job done. Because before Aaron Crow can throw a shutout, you need that guy who goes deep into the hole at short to make the play.

Because before you can win a championship, you need a complete team.

Royals Draft Christian Colon

2010-06-07T19:08:00.003-05:00

I'm not a college baseball expert. I never will be. I'm not a scouting expert. I never will be. I'm glad that the Royals took a shortstop. Our middle infield depth in the minor leagues is very thin. Now with the recently acquired Rey Navarro and Christian Colon in the system, the Royals have some "toolsy" shortstops (maybe I am a scouting expert if I keep throwing words like that around) in their system. Colon hit 16 homers this year, along with 16 doubles and 64 RBIs. He has history with someone involved with the Royals organization. Current third base coach Eddie Rodriguez managed Colon in the 2009 Baseball World Cup.

Don't rely on me to give you the inside scoop on this guy. I'm just here to bitch and moan about the bullpen, 25 man roster construction and bad strategy. Let the experts decide if this was a good move. I'll talk about it in three years.

Quick Thoughts on Umpires

2010-06-03T18:31:00.003-05:00

Well this has been an interesting last 24 hours. We had Joyce-Gate in Detroit last night. And today, the Mike Estabrook circus set up shop at the K.

I'll start with Jim Joyce. At first, I was outraged. How dare an umpire take away a perfect game? The third perfect game in ONE MONTH? What a joke. Then I remembered. This man is a person. He has a family. He probably had dreams about a moment like this. Well, his moment came and it is now going to be one of the most infamous moments in Major League history. I disagree with the call. 99% of America disagrees with it. But the thing that has stood out the most in this whole ordeal is the professionalism of Armando Galarraga and personal responsibility of Jim Joyce that was on display in the last 24 hours. The fact that Jim Joyce was man enough to admit his mistake AND man enough to apologize to Galarraga and Jim Leyland just minutes after Leyland was filling Joyce's face with Marlboro breath, is a testament to the kind of human being that Jim Joyce is. Which is more than enough to make up for his blown call.

Now onto a more cowardly and ridiculous topic. Earlier today, let's just say that home plate umpire Mike Estabrook was having a little trouble discerning the strike zone. Fed up with seeing his Cy Young winning pitcher getting squeezed, catcher Jason Kendall decided to say something about it. Estabrook then fee-fi-fo-fummed in front of Kendall and made a scene in front of the plate. Well that didn't sit too well with Ned Yost, who stormed out of the dugout with fervor and rage that had escaped his predecessor. Yost gave it to Estabrook. Hard. It was like the shower scene from American History X, except with words. And Mr. Estabrook deserved it. There's a reason why players get paid more than umpires. Because people go to watch the players, not umpires. Call strikes, keep track of the outs and don't try to be a part of the game.

Royals Trade Deadline Special: Episode 1

2010-06-01T01:13:00.005-05:00

Over the next couple of months, as trade talks start firing up, I'm going to profile 3-4 Royals at a time to estimate the value of what the Royals could get in return for several different players. Next to their name and position I will provide their salary info for the current 2010 season and for the 2011 season. Here we go...

I'll start off with the list of usual suspects, I'll leave the hard hitting, newsworthy stuff for later.

David DeJesus, RF, 2010 salary: $4.7 million, 2011: $6 million club option with $500k buyout- His name has been in the trade stew for the last three seasons. His value is lower than it has been, as he is 30 years old now. But that is really the only thing that sets DeJesus back. He does a lot of things well. Great fielder, above average bat, great with runners in scoring position. He is a bad baserunner though. He would fit in nicely with a National League team looking to add a legitimate Major League outfielder who can play all three outfield positions for a very fair price. I can see the Padres, if they are still in the heat of the NL West or Wild Card races, and maybe even Athletics come calling for DDJ. The Royals shouldn't ask the world for DeJesus, but perhaps a young, upper minors catcher and a low-level C+ pitching prospect should do the trick.
Trade Likelihood: Possible
Trade Value: Above Average

Kyle Farnsworth, RHP, 2010 salary: $4.5 million, 2011: $5.25MM club option with a $500K buyout- He's having a pretty darn good season right now. The majority of his $4.5 million salary would be paid to him by the time the Trade Deadline rolls around, so the salary really isn't the issue. The issue here is that Farnsworth has been run out of nearly every single city in Major League Baseball. The usual buyers at the deadline (Yankees, Tigers, Cubs, etc.) are all teams that Farnsworth has played for. Someone will have to be desperate enough to take him on. But a simple glance at his numbers and you see that he has been effective for the Royals this year. Potential suitors for him could be the Blue Jays, Angels, Giants and Reds, as all are having awful trouble with their bullpens. The club option for 2011 is a bit of a concern, it would have to be a team who is willing to use him as a rent-a-player. The good news is that teams are ALWAYS looking to add bullpen arms around the Trade Deadline. The return on Farnsworth won't be great, but the benefit in this is that it allows the Royals to call up a young pitcher to the bigs (Crow, Hardy, Coleman, etc.) and shed some payroll. My bet is on the Giants, as they seem to be willing to take on extra payroll if necessary.
Trade Likelihood: Very Likely
Trade Value: Average

Willie Bloomquist, UTIL, 2010 salary: $1.7 million, 2011: Unsigned- St. Willie isn't an all star. He doesn't set the world on fire. But he plays nearly every damn position on the field except for catcher. Teams usually are looking for utility players around the trade deadline. Bloomquist also provides his speed for any potential suitor. Look at what Dave Roberts did for the Red Sox in 2004. If it weren't for him stealing that base in game 4, the Red Sox probably would have lost the game. Willie will provide a decent glove at every position off the bench in the late innings. He can come in and run for slow players in the late innings. He can even convince the team's 35 year old catcher to be his teammate in the two-man bobsled team at the 2018 Winter Olympics! He is extremely affordable and versatile. Provides little to nothing at the plate, but Bloomers' value is off the bench, something that every team can use at any time of the year. He could really go anywhere. The return will be minimal, but it would allow the Royals to take a look at a player like Irving Falu or perhaps open up a roster spot for Mike Moustakas. And that is the most I will ever write about Willie Bloomquist.
Trade Likelihood: 50/50
Trade Value: Below Average

Rick Ankiel, CF, 2010 salary: $2.75 million, 2011: $6 million mutual option with $500k buyout- He's hurt now. That is the issue. It would be a high risk move for the team that would bring him in. He is supposedly about to start a rehab assignment. There are a plethora of reasons the Royals should trade him. He has a big hole in his swing. He strikes out a lot. He blocks Mitch Maier. He blocks Alex Gordon. But he does have redeeming qualities. He hits homers. He has a cannon for an arm. He is a decent fielder. If someone is interested in taking him on, then the Royals should absolutely unload him. He doesn't fit in with the "youth" movement that the Royals are allegedly taking. If he can be traded, then the value for him may be pretty decent. A Double-A or Triple-A shortstop should be sought. Once again, the Padres need outfield help.
Trade Likelihood: Doubtful
Trade Value: Average

Royals Kingdom Prospect Review 1-5

2010-05-24T17:42:00.005-05:00

The future freaks me out...

5. Eric Hosmer, 1B/DH, 20 years old, High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks- Now we're getting into the meat and potatoes of the Royals farm system. What better place to start than with this guy? He's terrorizing the Carolina League right now with a .376/.447/.558/1.005 line. Along with those robust stats, he's only hit 2 home runs, but hold-up-wait-a-minute...he's hit 16 doubles, driven in 30 AND is 7 for 7 when stealing bases. Keith Law went as far to say that Hosmer is one of the top hitting prospects in all of baseball. The more exciting part is that Hosmer has some versatility. The Royals didn't draft him with a mindset of Hosmer being a 5-tooler, but he's showcasing a skillset that is pointing towards him actually being a toolsy player. His future may not even be at first base or as a designated hitter. He's got a cannon for an arm (he was clocked at 95 MPH in high school) and has showcased phenomenal baserunning skills as shown by his perfect stolen base percentage and four triples. He's one to watch and has shown that his rough first two years were nothing but flukes.

4. Wil Myers, C, 19 years old, Low-A Burlington Bees- Other than spelling his first name correctly, Wil Myers seemingly does everything right. Greg Schaum from RoyalsProspects.com told me that scouts' eyes absolutely light up when you even mention this kid's name. So far in the Midwest League, Myers has struggled making contact, but he's walking a lot and showcasing power with 6 homers and 10 doubles in 39 games so far. His defense is impressive as well, he's thrown out 39% of basestealers this season, but 11 passed balls are cause for a bit of concern. Myers is a tremendous baseball talent, and if he doesn't work out at catcher, he's athletic enough to fit in somewhere else. If he does work out at catcher, then we may have our counter attack to Mr. Joe Mauer.

3. Aaron Crow, RHP, 23 years old, AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals- A local boy who dominated college ball at Mizzou who was viewed as the most readily available starting pitching prospect in the system. He's struggled this year at AA. He's got all the stuff in the world, location has been the issue so far. He's got some work to do, but it's obvious he's feeling some pressure. He's put up a decent 4.47 ERA in 9 starts, but that is nowhere near where it needs to be if he is to stay on track for his big league debut, which many forecasted would be around the All Star Break of this year. If he can get it back on track in his next few starts, then I think we'll see him at some point in KC this year.

2. Mike Montgomery, LHP, 20 years old, AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals- A sandwich pick in the 2008 draft, Monty has blown through the minor leagues, never once posting an ERA over 2.25 at ANY LEVEL in the minors. He's spearheading the Royals' crop of pitching prospects with stats like a 1.94 career minor league ERA, 1.012 WHIP and 184 strikeouts in 199.2 career innings. He couples a long, lanky frame with an incredibly deceptive delivery and finesses hitters to death with a 91-93 MPH fastball that gets on hitters quickly. His changeup is his secondary pitch. He has great control of the pitch and it has good downward movement. He's still a year or two away, but most scouts say that all of his skills will translate incredibly well to the next level. For a kid who is still getting used to his big frame, he's only going to continue getting better.

1. Mike Moustakas, 3B, 21 years old, AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals- "Tremendous competitor and leader on the field. He's the guy you want at the plate when the game is on the line." -JJ Picollo. Quotes like that aren't a dime-a-dozen. Moustakas originally was number two on this list when I started it two weeks ago, but now he's simply forced his way into the top spot on my list. His .395/.482/.816/1.298 line is absolutely absurd on any level. He's hit 12 homers already this year. I'm going to keep this one short, because Moustakas is something special. He really is. There are plenty of videos online of this guy mashing the ball in AA. He's got a sweet stroke and will probably be saying so long to Arkansas in the near future and may be saying hello to Omaha...or possibly even Kansas City before the 2010 season is over.

Roads? Where we're going, we don't need......roads.

Royals Kingdom Prospect Review 6-10

2010-05-21T16:43:00.006-05:00

The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades...

10. John Lamb, LHP, 19 years old, Low-A Burlington Bees- Once viewed as a legitimate hitting prospect, Lamb has been mentioned as one of the best young left handed arms in all of minor league baseball. He's drawn early comparisons to Tom Glavine and has an outstanding changeup that is causing Midwest Leaguers fits in 2010 as Lamb is posting a miniscule 1.58 ERA in Burlington. He suffered an unfortunate injury in 2008 when he broke his elbow in a car accident, but he's rebounded nicely and there seem to be no injury concerns with Mr. Lamb. He doesn't blow batters away, his fastball tops out at 92 MPH, but his control and quality of stuff is what is going to get him to Kansas City. Still several years away, he's going to be fun to watch as he ascends through the Royals minor league ranks.

9. Louis Coleman, RHP, 24 years old, AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals- I've heard some people say that he's the next big thing, as far as set up men go. I've also heard he has limited upside. But my gut is telling me that this guy is the closest prospect we have to the big leagues after Blake Wood. He's dazzling in Northwest Arkansas. His WHIP is at an unheard of 0.811. He's only walked 7 batters in 24.1 innings and has struck out 20 batters. Another guy who is likely to get a shot at a September call up and will undoubtedly be competing for a spot in the bullpen come February 2011. He's a guy that you should keep an eye on, as the Royals bullpen future is looking pretty impressive. A pleasant thought after seeing the kind of disaster that is currently occupying the area beyond the right field wall in Kauffman Stadium...

8. Noel Arguelles, LHP, 20 years old, Whereabouts Unknown- One of the biggest international free agents this past offseason, the Royals made a big splash in the international market landing Arguelles and signing him to a 5 year deal. Not much is known about Arguelles as he is yet to pitch a professional inning. There were injury concerns as he had been pitching for 18 consecutive months before signing with the Royals, which is probably the reason why he has been inactive for some time. What is known about Arguelles is that he has fantastic stuff and outstanding control. The Cuban defector should show up soon in the Royals minor leagues, likely at Northwest Arkansas or Wilmington. He's a good candidate to rocket through the minor league system. That is if he can stay healthy...

7. David Lough, OF, 24 years old, AAA Omaha Royals- I have him high on this list simply because he's a hitter. But his stock is quickly dropping. He bat .325 last year in AA and High-A, but his plate discipline is an issue. He doesn't walk enough to sustain a lengthy stay in the top 10. He's got tremendous potential when it comes to handling the bat, but as far as plate discipline goes, he's got a lot of work to do. But time is running out on the 24 year old. He isn't blowing many people away this year in Omaha, posting a meager .273/.302/.377/.679 line. If he doesn't turn it up soon, he'll be falling into Chris Lubanski status. The only reason he is so high on this list is due to the fact that he is older and perhaps more ready for the big leagues than most on this list. But as I said before, if his current trend continues, it could be a not-so-happy ending for David Lough.

6. Tim Melville, RHP, 20 years, High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks- Another guy who is on the rocks. He's got worlds of potential, but he's struggling to put it all together in Advanced A-ball Wilmington this year, with an 8.64 ERA in 33.1 innings pitched. He's got the benefit of the doubt, as he is still at the age where many pitchers are trying to find an identity, but the Royals have a lot of money invested in him. They took him in the 4th round of the 2008 draft and gave him first round money. The St. Louis native has some work to do, but Royals fans should take comfort in the fact that this kid has some seriously good stuff and a tremendous work ethic. I am confident he'll get everything back on the right track. Look for a big second half turnaround from Tim. I'm rooting for him. And if this year is a disaster for him, hopefully he realizes he's still very, very young and has plenty of time to straighten it out.

Things are goin' great, and they're only gettin' better...

Royals Kingdom Prospect Review 11-15

2010-05-20T13:56:00.003-05:00

Here we go, again:

15. Tyler Sample, RHP, 20 years old, Low-A Burlington Bees- A giant on the mound at 6'7", Sample is viewed as a big time relief prospect with Closer written all over him. He already throws in the mid-90s, an impressive feat for a 20 year old. The only reason he isn't higher on this list is major injury concern. He had Tommy John surgery as a sophomore in high school. He's still several years away as he still has control issues, he's already walked 33 batters this year in 42.1 innings pitched. He's also struck out 32 batters though...

14. Danny Duffy, LHP, 21 years old, Currently Inactive- Duffy made headlines this offseason by announcing that he would be taking a leave from baseball. He's a top five prospect if he's playing. But since he decided to step away from the game, he takes a little dip on our list. He's a big lefty hurler who has posted ERAs under 3.00 in his first three professional seasons. He's struck out 290 batters in 245.2 professional innings pitched up against just 83 walks. Here's to hoping Danny returns soon to the Royals organization.

13. Blake Wood, RHP, 24 years old, MLB Kansas City Royals- He's blown us all away this year. He's only allowed one run so far (Home run to Corey Patterson, welcome to the big leagues kid.) and showcased outstanding control in his 6 innings pitched, walking just one batter. His fastball moves down and in on hitters and has a great slider. He had been struggling before getting his call to the big leagues, posting a career 4.26 ERA in the minors, but blew everyone away in the Pacific Coast League with a 2.16 ERA in 2010. He's definitely going to be showcased on the big stage this year as he earned a call to the big leagues earlier this month.

12. Chris Dwyer, LHP, 22 years old, High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks- Curveball, curveball, curveball. That's all you will see when you look at scouting reports on Chris Dwyer. He's going to rise fast in the minor leagues with his breaking stuff, his changeup still needs work, but he is a big time bullpen prospect. He's being called a sleeper by many scouts and Royals fans should definitely look forward to seeing this lefty come up through the ranks.

11. Jordan Parraz, OF, 25 years old, AAA Omaha Royals- A contact hitting outfielder that is drawing comparisons to David DeJesus. Originally from the Astros organization, Parraz absolutely raked in AA Northwest Arkansas last year, batting .358 in 64 games. He's struggled thus far in Omaha in 2010, but a .342 OBP next to his .242 batting average shows that he is willing to work the count and lay off bad pitches. He is definitely a guy who will be getting a September call-up or compete for a spot on the 25 man roster come Spring Training in 2011.

Royals Kingdom Prospect Review 16-20

2010-05-18T00:41:00.006-05:00

Alright, I'm gonna take a stab at this. A true test of a baseball bloggers mettle is how well they can rate and analyze their organization's prospects. Here is my attempt at it.

20. Reynaldo Navarro, SS, 21 years old, High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks- Most people may scoff at Navarro being this high on my list. But shortstop is a position that this franchise has been shallow at all decade. Navarro's skill set is still very raw, but for a 21 year old shortstop in his fourth season of minor league duty, time may be short for him as he is eligible to become a minor league free agent after the 2012 season.

19. Derrick Robinson, CF, 22 years old, AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals- Robinson was a question mark entering Spring Training. A speedster with an athletic build, he showcased his speed in 2009 with 69 stolen bases at High-A Wilmington, but lacked the ability to make solid contact. He's climbing the prospect ladder quickly though, posting a .300/.391/.415/.806 line in Northwest Arkansas this season after tweaking his batting stance. If D-Rob can keep putting up these numbers, he may be making a case for himself as a potential leadoff man or number 9 hitter.

18. Kila Ka'aihue, 1B/DH, 26 years old, AAA Omaha Royals- Kila has been languishing down in the minors, he's a long shot to even be considered a prospect anymore as he is entering the stage where he can no longer be considered a prospect, but rather a career minor leaguer. He has the best plate discipline in the entire Royals organization, but the Royals have a big time roadblock standing in his way in Jose Guillen. He is easily the most readily available player on this list as he has dominated the upper minors for the past three seasons and provides the potential for an immediate offensive impact in the middle of the order if the need arises. It is apparent that the Royals aren't too high on him, as the Royals to cite his "slider speed bat" as the reason for his lack of Major League service time.

17. Edgar Osuna, LHP, 22 years old, AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals- A strike thrower who has showcased outstanding control in AA this year after being the Royals Rule 5 Draft pick in 2010. He's walked only SIX batters in 39.1 innings pitched this year and is sporting an outstanding 1.051 WHIP. He is definitely turning into a big bullpen prospect and even a guy who could see time in the starting rotation if the need for a lefty starter arises. His star is rising fast and is making a strong case to be considered for a September call-up. I am sure we will see him sooner than that.

16. Johnny Giavotella, 2B, 22 years old, AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals- His stock is starting to drop, but with the Royals organization pretty shallow in middle infield talent, Giavotella has a lot resting on his shoulders. He has good plate discipline, but lacks pop and has never hit over .300 in the minors. He shows good range and seems to handle the glove pretty well, but if he is ever going to make a push for the big league club, his defense will be the reason.

Quick Thoughts on the Beginning of the Yost Era

2010-05-17T21:14:00.002-05:00

Hey what do you know the Royals are 3-1 under new manager, Ned Yost, and have won four out of their last five games. There are some pretty obvious changes that have been made. First, Yost has moved Jason Kendall into the 9-hole, which is awesome, considering most National League pitchers are better hitters than Jason Kendall.

The best part of NedBall is his apparent disdain for small ball. The Royals have tried to play for the big inning in nearly all of the games, which is encouraging, especially when Trey Hillman played the game like it was always the 8th inning of a National League game.

And a non-Yost thought quickly. I am sick of Jose Guillen. He is a curse. A nasty scab on this franchise. He is blocking Kila Ka'aihue. He costs this team runs and contributes very little to the success of the team. After being demoted, Kila refused to give an interview with reporters and why should he? He got treated like garbage, like every other Baird-era draftee has been treated by Dayton Moore. I think that Dayton Moore believes that Baird draftees can't play every day at the big league level until they're 28 years old.

Gotta swallow the pride Dayton. Baird drafted the Polynesian Powerbolt in the 15th round and you gave the Dominican Deficient $36 million buckaroos.

Hillman's Firing Means Dayton Moore is Likely Next to Go

2010-05-13T16:50:00.006-05:00

Today, the stunning but not-so-surprising news struck the Kansas City area today. Trey Hillman is out as manager of the Kansas City Royals and consultant Ned Yost is in.

The news here isn't the firing itself, but rather the undertones displayed during the press conference.

This wasn't Dayton Moore's decision- Showcased by his emotion, it's obvious that Dayton Moore didn't want this to happen. I feel for the guy, but it is unacceptable to cry in professional settings, especially when your professional setting is a major league baseball stadium. He broke rule numero uno of all business: never hire your friends, especially in a position that has an incredibly high failure rate. It was known from the start that Hillman and Moore were close. It raised a few eyebrows but many people around baseball (including Peter Gammons) thought that Trey was an outstanding hire. Eventually, Hillman didn't seem to be working out and many feared that Dayton Moore wouldn't be able to pull the trigger when it came to Hillman's job security. Some of those fears were realized after the disastrous 2009 campaign and Moore continued to back Hillman. Just a month and a half into the 2010 season and David Glass was rumored to be in town for the current homestand. I guess all it took was three games of this garbage for him to decide what needed to be done that Dayton Moore couldn't do himself.

Dayton Moore is the next to go- It's never a good thing when the owner steps in and fires the manager. Look, I'm not saying that this is the exact thing that happened, but there's a high probability that it did. Believe it or not, David Glass has been a good owner the last 4 years. He signed the biggest General Manager prospect at the time, signed a new lease with the city for 25 years, got renovations for a stadium that this city is absolutely in love with, stepped away from personnel decisions and has signed the checks. Now, he's holding people accountable. Something that this organization hasn't done in 20 years. Everyone should be looking over their shoulders now that David Glass has ensured that no one's job is safe.

Dave "The Windmill" Owen is gone- Trey's boy and third base coach will likely exit stage left with Trey after today. Obviously, he's not the biggest problem in the organization, but he was a problem and another sign of incompetence that the Royals blogosphere loved to scapegoat.

This starts the search for a new manager- Who will it be? Ned Yost is not a long term solution. It was blatant that he was brought in as a safety valve if this situation happened. Most Royals fans will be clamoring for Frank White and Hal McRae. Frank White has made it obvious that he doesn't want the position anymore and it would put the Royals in a very sticky situation if a situation arose where White would be under scrutiny. I doubt McRae would want to come back after the way he was ushered out by Herk Robinson in the 1990s. I see the Royals going outside of the organization and we may see names like Terry Pendleton, Bobby Valentine, Willie Randolph or as Greg Schaum suggests Torey Luvollo, current manager of the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox. My vote is for Freddie Gonzalez who has worked miracles for the Florida Marlins in South Florida. Gonzalez doesn't get along with Marlins' owner Jeffrey Loria and has experience with young ballplayers and is considered a big managing prospect. But this is a thought process for a later time.

So where does this leave the Royals? Well, Ned Yost's reputation isn't the greatest. Some are saying this is a lateral move. Obviously, the track record for replacing managers midseason isn't the best, but the Rockies circled the wagons and rattled off an incredible second half to qualify for the playoffs after firing Clint Hurdle and replacing him with Jim Tracy. That likely won't happen with the Royals, but maybe Yost has a plan for this team. Hopefully, Yost sees some potential with the pieces that this team has. Maybe we see more playing time for Kila Ka'aihue, Brayan Pena and Chris Getz. Maybe Yost has a plan for Alex Gordon. We may see a shakeup in the Royals lineup tomorrow, we may not. I hope that Yost plans to inject the lineup and roster with more youth and return to a true rebuilding process. Yost oversaw the Brewers' overhaul that included the insurgence of Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, J.J. Hardy and Rickie Weeks.

I'm not saying that the season is saved, but there is certainly some reason to hope that our owner has decided that enough is enough. Everyone is on watch now. From the players to the front office, it's good to see that the Glass family will not tolerate failure.

There isn't much reason to hope, but this is a good sign moving forward.

TreyBall: It All Happens Here

2010-05-10T23:28:00.002-05:00

Well, I had the fortune of being away from the Royals this weekend after spending a lovely weekend in Chicago.

I opened my computer on Sunday evening to expect the usual snark and tongue-in-cheek humor from my fellow Royals bloggers on Twitter and was amazed at the monsoon of outrage over the Texas series. After a quick scan of several trusty Royals websites, there I sat, 500 miles away, my mouth gaping wide open at the absolute catastrophe that was Treyball in Arlington.

Luckily, I wasn't able to see or hear the Yuni pop-up, the Maier at 1B inning, the Kila batting cleanup or now infamous phantom "tag-up and advance" play. I can only imagine the thoughts that would have gone through my head if I were to have watched these games live. Of course, I would have thought "these are my Royals..." But I had the blessing of distance and perspective. My thoughts were "Did. That. Really. Happen."

Oh yes it did. It happened. It's not just losing with the Royals. It's finding new ways to make yourself lose. This isn't young rookies making silly plays. This isn't players trying to play injured. It's Treyball. It's like MartyBall, except you never win. Kila Ka'aihue is Rich Gannon and Jose Guillen is Steve Bono. The Royals offense is Lin Elliot. Hey, did you hear the one about the Royals offense? They tried to hang themselves, but when they tried to drive the runner in from third the chair, they missed.

It's comical. The Royals have gotten worse over the past three seasons. 58-104 in their last 162 games.

Now people are calling for David Glass to take action. I'll admit, I posted a pretty big knee-jerk post a week or so back. But after gaining perspective, I thought to myself: none of this is David Glass' fault.

He gave the reins to Dayton and Co. He's taken a step back and invested money back into the franchise. It's easy to point the finger at the guy with the fat wallet. He's doing his part. I would like to see him at more games and interact more with the local media, but that isn't who he is. If the team started winning, I'm sure he would be at most games.

Dayton has given Trey another vote of confidence, saying that Trey has done a "terrific job". I'm sorry. He hasn't.

He's done an awful job. If I were to rank the previous five Royals managers, Trey would come in last. No wait, if I were to rank ALL Royals managers, he would come in last. He has lost the team once again. It is obvious that he plays favorites. Jason Kendall is the new Ross Gload having played in 31 of the 32 games so far at the catcher position. A ridiculous notion for a 35 year old catcher who had had lower body injuries throughout his career.

The fans are grumbling and word has it that David Glass is none to happy about the current situation at One Royal Way.

The season is lost already, but some are still pumping sunshine. The Royals seem set on losing with overpriced veteran talent rather than losing the "right way" with our cheaper in-house talent.

The longer this continues, the longer we have to suffer.

Dayton Moore, You've Got a Big-Time Gimme Putt Here...

2010-05-04T17:40:00.003-05:00

With Rick Ankiel going to the DL with a lower body injury, Dayton Moore has a big opportunity to gain favor with a fanbase that is about as happy as 18th century France. A roster spot has opened up and there is only one choice that the fans will be happy with: Kila Ka'aihue.

All he's done is be the most prolific OBP guy in AAA the last 3 seasons. The Royals tried him out as a September call-up in 2008 and he hit one of the most impressive home runs that I've ever seen. It looked like a high flyball off the bat that would drift foul, but the ball carried and carried and found its way into the right field bleachers. Hell, the guy even got a curtain call. That's what we thought of him in 2008. Our first baseman of the near-future. A guy with awesome power, great plate discipline, decent glovework at first base and a plethora of nickname opportunities (even though "The Flyin' Hawaiian" is taken).

So Dayton, you've got a serious gimme right here. The fans are REELING. Seriously reeling. Like we're-not-going-to-buy-tickets-anymore-this-year reeling. You've got Kila. He's your Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card. You can fix so many things about your reputation with this move. For one, you can somewhat stymie the belief that you only pay lipservice to OBP. You can "practice what you preach" and call up the best OBP prospect we've had in awhile.

And guess what? If Kila sucks, then the egg is on our face and you can laugh at us as we Huberize Kila on the message boards and blogs. If he's awesome, or hell if he's even ABOVE AVERAGE, you're viewed as a genius and KC fans have something to get excited about. Oh and he also fixes that little problem you have that I like to call Battingjasonkendallsixthitis.

DO IT.

Hope Is a Funny Thing

2010-04-30T00:56:00.003-05:00

Remember when Dayton Moore was hired in 2006? People rejoiced. We were dancing in the streets. He promised parades on the Plaza and a contending team by 2010! He used words like "process", "grit", "responsibility" and "hope".

Hope. It's a funny word. We hope it won't rain today. We hope that our car starts. We hope that our fledgling-no-better-than-an-expansion-franchise of a team can be led by competent leadership. That's what we had. It is in short supply now in KC. The Chiefs 1990-2004 dynasty was over. Kansas City sports fans were reeling. Then came our white knight. Waving the Atlanta Braves flag and proclaiming that he would save us.

And here we are.

Nearly 5 seasons later and nothing. Dayton Moore made the promise. He promised to spend money wisely. Eliminate waste. Spend money in Latin America. Nothing. There is nothing to show for it except for an 8-14 team with a roster that has been filled rather than constructed. We had a lights out bullpen in 2008 that led the team to its highest win total since 2003 and an 18-8 September. Then it was demolished to make room for high risk, expensive veteran talent. A 97 loss season followed.

Now we're being told to be patient. Guess what? We've been patient. Most diehards are ready to jump ship. But we can't. We're tied down. Held at the mercy of incompetence and "processes". Our young fans are being told that carousels, dollar hot dogs and fireworks are reasons to go out to the ballpark. Our young fans are being told that 97 loss seasons are okay because we have a Cy Young winner. People are settling for less. That is the worst thing that can happen.

Settling for less means that the Glass family can get away with it. They can get away with signing Dayton Moore to a 5 year extension because the bottom line is growing. We just paid $250 million dollars out of pocket to renovate your stadium so you could generate more revenue. Now we're being told that we need 2 million fans to show up to watch this awful product before we can spend more money. Guess what? We can give you more money to spend. But throwing money at your problems doesn't solve your problems. Just look at Kansas City Public Schools. $2 billion dollars down the drain and we just closed half our schools and fired half of our teachers.

Money isn't the problem. Leadership is the problem. We want to go to the ballpark and cheer. We want our owner to be at most of the games. We want to know we will win everytime Zack Greinke toes the rubber. We want to high five strangers after that big late inning home run to win a big divisional game. We want our manager to storm out of the dugout after an umpire makes a brutal call that loses the game for us.We want to cry tears of joy when that final out is made in October.

We've done our part. We've done it for 25 years. You've been here for 10 years. They've been the worst 10 years in Royals history. It isn't a coincidence. The time for change is now.

M's DH/LF Woes Mean Big Series for JoGui, DDJ and Scotty Pods

2010-04-27T12:09:00.006-05:00

So here's what I've gathered from the M's blogosphere: The offense is bad, Milton Bradley sucks and it may be time for Ken Griffey Jr. to hang 'em up. So this creates an interesting scenario. If Griffey Jr. was to retire or Milton Bradley was DFA'ed or booed out of Seattle, it would create holes at DH and Left Field for the Mariners. Thus leaving the M's with quite a conundrum. They are one of the AL's worst offenses, as stated in my previous post, ranking near the bottom of the league in every offensive category(dead-freaking-last in home runs, too).

And here I come, with my evil professor scenario. Are the Mariners desperate enough to trade for Jose Guillen? I mean, why not? The guy is loved in the Pacific Northwest. He posted a pretty good season in Seattle. Good enough for one unnamed GM to give him a $36 million dollar deal. So what if the Royals eat, oh say $7-8 million of what is left on the contract? I say do it. The return on Guillen is never going to be higher. The guy can't get out. Everything he hits finds its way into a gap or over the fence. It is a perfect time to show him off to the Mariners and say "hey, look at this guy we've got here. He sure beats the pants off of your aging/aged Hall of Famer".

So maybe Jack Zduriencik isn't interested Jose Guillen. VH1 would be all over the Mariners front office trying to get a reality show about their clubhouse with Milton Bradley and JoGui Wheelz in the mix together. Interesting thing about the continuous experiment that is Milton Bradley is that he sucks when he doesn't have 2008 Josh Hamilton protecting him in the order. He's hit 3 HR and driven in 10 runs while mashing for a .167 average. So Jack Z may be ready to cut bait with FrankenBradley.

Well, we've got a couple of pretty productive Left Fielder's in our outfield right now. In fact, our left fielders are so good that our Right Fielder is actually our best Left Fielder! I know, it's crazy! So here's my scandal. Shop DDJ and Scotty Pods to the M's, include Jose Guillen as a side dish and see what Jack Z has to say about it. He's been viewed as a traditional GM with a scouting background, but has become obsessed with defensive metrics, and I'm sure he would like DeJesus' 18.8 career UZR/150 patrolling left field at Safeco Field.

But this of course is all hinging on whether or not Dayton Moore can pull this off...

Could Mariners Series Be Just What the Royals Need?

2010-04-26T17:00:00.003-05:00

The Royals need this. The first 6 series of the season were against top AL offenses in Detroit (twice), Boston, Toronto and Minnesota (twice). The Mariners are currently ranked 11th in the AL in batting average and RBIs, 10th in runs scored, On-Base-Percentage and doubles and dead last in homeruns with a staggering nine long balls.

A pleasant sight after facing the fearsome lineups of the class of the AL's batting orders.

Its a nice change of pace from Mauer-Morneau-Cuddyer to Guttierez-Lopez-Old Balls Griffey.

Scary Things

2010-04-25T00:47:00.002-05:00

The Royals say that Kila Ka'aihue has a slider speed bat, yet Rick Ankiel can't catch up to a fastball.

The Royals say that Mike Aviles still can't make the throw to first, yet Yuniesky Betancourt throws the ball about 5 feet short of first base.

The Royals say Disco Hayes will never pitch in the major leagues, yet Luis Mendoza, John Parrish, Dusty Hughes and Kyle Farnsworth have pitched 22.2 innings this year.

Royals Shakeup Bullpen, Still Screw It Up

2010-04-23T15:19:00.004-05:00

Alright, when I first saw that Juan Cruz had been released and Luis Mendoza had been DFA'ed, I was happy. But then I remembered that Cruz has been one of the more reliable relievers this year. He had one of the lowest ERA's in the bullpen, while finding some bad luck with pitching to contact, showcased by his .528 BABIP. My guess is that the Royals thought it was time to part ways with good ol' Cruzy.

Looks like I need to change my subhead up top. Luis Mendoza and his 22.50 ERA have been released. The crime in this is that the Royals didn't need Mendoza. He was a project and the Royals simply didn't need him. With Brad Thompson and Carlos Rosa already on the 40-man roster, there was no need for Mendoza. Closer Joakim Soria said that Mendoza was the best pitcher in Mexico (which is kind of like saying that he makes the best pizza in Mexico). Whatever the case, Mendoza had his shot at the big leagues and once again, he failed.

Now to the real issue that I have with this decision. The Royals are recalling LHP Bruce Chen and RHP Brad Thompson from AAA. I'm ok with Thompson, but Bruce Chen is not a Major League arm. He is what he is. An AAAA pitcher with a 4.71 career ERA. Not interested. Meanwhile, we've got Carlos Rosa, a young guy who many thought would be a big set up arm a couple of years ago. But word from people around the Royals organization is that the front office believes that Rosa still hasn't learned to be a reliever. I hate to say it, but this is how these things are going to be for a while. Not until the Royals start getting viable young arms in Omaha. Blake Wood still isn't quite there yet, Rosa is struggling, Disco Hayes has very few believers in the front office and the Royals seem to be throwing stuff against a wall and seeing if it will stick. And for now, thats just the way it's going to be.

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

Bullet Points on Toronto Series

2010-04-21T17:56:00.002-05:00

-Zack was Zack today. Good to see him bolt it down and turn in a quality start against one of the AL's better offenses. If he struggled today, I was really going to start worrying. The only negative is that our bullpen sucks and couldn't hold the Jays, preventing Zack from getting his first win of the year.
-Jose Guillen and Scott Podsednik continue to swing hot bats. I never thought I would say this, but these two seem to be our offensive catalysts. If they can keep it up through the season and in to July, we may see these guys bring back a pretty decent haul around the trade deadline, especially Podsednik who is signed to a very club friendly deal. Guillen...not so much.
-Alex Gordon came up big today. The Royals were on the verge of a sweep and a disastrous 3-6 record on their first road trip. But Gordo pulled the boys in blue back from the edge and delivered with a huge extra innings home run. Oh yeah, the bomb he hit was off of a lefty too.
-Canada really doesn't care about baseball when the NHL Playoffs are going on and the Jays are playing the Royals. Truly a recipe for all time attendance lows.
-Josh Rupe may be the guy. No one in the bullpen has been able to throw strikes, but Rupe has come out of Omaha and been awesome. Even though he allowed the Jays to tie it today, he's really held it down. Now the question is if he can sustain it.
-Kyle Davies looks serviceable. I've been saying for years that he is underutilized in the rotation and should be used in the bullpen. I may be right considering he was magnificent through 5 innings yesterday and then imploded in the 6th. A common trend in his 2010 starts.
-The offense seems to get satisfied whenever they go up by 3 or more runs early in the game. No...No...no no no no. Jamie Quirk said it all the time last year when the Royals were winning with smoke and mirrors in May, you've got to have a "step-on-their-neck" mentality. Strike hard, strike first, show no mercy. Or maybe this offense isn't capable of scoring more than 3 runs on a regular basis.

Royals Bats Invade Canada! Overtake Canadian Military

2010-04-19T15:40:00.002-05:00

Now is the time for retribution! Well, not really. But hey, the Blue Jays are off to a pretty good 7-6 start. Most people, including myself, were thinking that the Blue Jays would be baseball's version of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Crappy and old. But Cito Gaston is a brilliant manager and has obviously done something right. Vernon Wells is hitting like the Vernon Wells of old. But the Royals are catching the Blue Jays at the right time. Tonight's starter, Brandon Morrow, is coming off his worst start in years after giving up seven earned runs through four innings against the White Sox.

The Royals get to see Excelsior Springs native, Shawn Marcum in the final game of the series as he faces off against Zack Greinke on Wednesday.

So open a Labatt Blue, eat some pyrogies and crank up the Nickelback (on second thought, don't do that) and enjoy baseball on carpet for the next three days!

Twins Series Preview

2010-04-16T15:56:00.009-05:00

Alright, so here we go. Early season baseball outdoors in the Twin Cities. Should be a riot! Here's some things to keep an eye on.

-Zack Greinke hasn't really looked much like Zack Greinke in his first two starts. He's much better than he's showcased early on. I'm looking for him to kick it into gear tonight and shut down this potent Twins offense.

-Roman Colon has been designated for assignment and Josh Rupe has been called up from Omaha. This is a baby step in the right direction. Dayton Moore has allegedly been shopping Juan Cruz and Kyle Farnsworth as well, saying that the Royals would eat some or most of their remaining salaries.

-Billy Butler has been hitting singles left and right, but hasn't showcased much power yet in 2010. Looking for a big series from Billy Ray simply for the fact that he's due.

-After the news of Jose Guillen's brush with death in the offseason, I'm rooting for this guy big time. Hopefully he keeps it going and murders the ball again this weekend. Only problem is that Jose has struggled in cold weather in his career. First pitch temp tonight in Minny is listed at 58 degrees.

-Can Gil Meche rebound this weekend? I sure hope so. If Gil can turn in solid starts this year like the rest of our rotation, look out.

-Interested to watch extended periods of baseball at Target Field. Haven't gotten a chance to see how the ball plays in the park. Very little foul territory as well.

-The Royals no longer have to dread the Metrodome. Time for a fresh start in Minnesota.

Royals Show Signs of a Good Team, Capitalize on Detroit Mistakes

2010-04-14T17:13:00.002-05:00

Sometimes one game can change your outlook for the short term. I really liked what the Royals did today. They had to win today. I remember in 2006, the Royals didn't win a SERIES until mid-June. So we've improved in that department.

Alright, enough with the snarkiness. I loved how the Royals won this game today. Jose Guillen, wow. We all may have to owe you an apology if you continue hitting like this through April. JoGui has 5 taters in 4 games. Pretty impressive. He's playing like he should in a contract year. Good for him. If the Royals are 10 games out in July, then he could get a pretty good return in a trade. But if we aren't 10 games out, then he'll likely be a reason we aren't 10 games out.

John Parrish is everything John Bale wasn't. He's been very reliable these first couple of weeks. A big cheer came from my end when he got the biggest Royal killer, Miguel Cabrera, to ground out to get out of a jam in the 7th inning. An otherwise small victory in what could have been another disastrous bullpen meltdown.

The Royals took care of business when the Tigers made mistakes. Gerald Laird dropped a ball on what should have been an easy out at the plate. Rookie Scott Sizemore let a slow dribbler go under his glove, letting a run score. That is how the Royals are going to win. Simply play better than the other team. If you can do that most of the time, you'll likely be around .500.

Another exciting element of this Detroit series was that the Royals collected 46 hits. Don't know the last time that happened, but man we really shelled them this week.

I'm starting to creep back towards cautious optimism. After nine games it is tough to evaluate a team and whether or not they are streaky, but these guys are swinging the bats well, the starters are doing their job and turning in quality starts and the defense looks better, not good, but better. If we can get this bullpen figured out, then as one Royals blogger infamously wrote: "It's On".

Quick Thoughts on BoSox, Aviles, Bandwagoners and Gil's Mess

2010-04-11T19:19:00.002-05:00

Really, the bullpen is awful. Boston's isn't much better, but they have some nice hitters like Jeremy Hermida and a 40 year old Jason Varitek. Glad we could squeak one away from them and not be a total embarassment of a 1 win team. Jose Guillen hit 2 homers today. Sorry Kila, but JoGui Wheelz just bought himself another month of active duty on a major league team. Mike Aviles, if I ran a baseball team named the Kansas City Royals, you would play every day and set the table for Bert and Billy Ray. Yuniesky Betancourt.....thats all. I can't speak on him. It would end up with me writing a run on sentence about first swing pop outs and GIDP. Red Sox "fans" were loud and obnoxious this weekend, per the usual, but on Saturday I actually sat behind a group of people who were ACTUALLY from Boston and they couldn't have been nicer. But most of them seemed to be bandwagoners who paid good hard American money to sit in a chair for 3 hours for the sole purpose of shouting "YOUUUUUUK" whenever Kevin Youkilis breathed or looked like Sloth from The Goonies. Gil Meche, wow. I'm sorry, looks like your career has taken a beating from Trey Hillman and Dayton Moore (starting April 15th, they will be referred to as "Treyton"). Either that, or a five year deal was wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too long for a guy like Gil. Going with the latter as we know Dayton loves signing players within the timetable of their plateau.

10 days of peace now. Royals on the road for 9 games.

**One positive, Rick Ankiel is awesome. If that guy learned some plate discipline, he could be great. I mean, really really great.

We Got 159 More of These to Go...Great.

2010-04-08T16:11:00.005-05:00

First off, I'm going to save the Trey bashing for later. Like when it becomes a real question of whether or not he should be fired, which I am going to guess shows up sometime in late May.

You can't fault Trey for the fact that our league-worst-in-2009 bullpen was not improved (no, Luis Mendoza is not an improvement, Dayton). What you can fault him on is his impeccable need to start Jason Kendall and keep him on the basepaths in the late innings. He was good for two baserunning gaffes late in games during this series. I won't say that I didn't see it coming. Also, Kendall was allegedly acquired for his defense, yet in these three games he was also good for a couple of miscues behind the plate that let runners advance. Also, I really enjoy seeing him hit slow dribblers and soft liners with runners in scoring position.

But the main issue that I have with this opening week is that it has become obvious that Treyton (yep, thats what I'm calling them now) seem to be content with trying to "compete" with veterans rather that lose the "right way" with young talent that is in our system. Instead of calling up Kila Ka'aihue to DH, we watch Jose Guillen loaf around the batters box and hit TPJ-esque ground balls with runners on. Instead of letting Mitch Maier prove he can hit .300 outside of Arizona, we allow Scott Podsednik to throw three-hoppers to the cutoff man. Yeah, but he hit 3 singles today! Instead of letting Carlos Rosa learn how to become a setup man in the big leagues, we get to enjoy Roman Colon and Luis Mendoza feed Miguel Cabrera batting practice fastballs in the 7th inning.

I am positive that Treyton plan to keep using this anemic lineup well into May. Then they will finally "realize" that this crap that they are putting on the field isn't as great as they thought it would be! Its crap. This offense is crap, this defense is crap, this bullpen is atrocious and I can't believe I'm saying this only 3 games into the season, but it is the truth. I have zero faith that this team can accomplish anything positive. We will lead the league in no-decisions, errors, passed balls, blown saves, BB/9 and just about every other category that crap teams lead the league in.

It is so disheartening for me to write a post about this so early in the season, but I've seen this trainwreck before. Yeah, it's the 2005 Kansas City Royals. Rick Ankiel is Reggie Sanders. Scott Podsednik is Terrence Long. Jason Kendall is Paul Bako or whatever craptastic "defensive guru" we had behind the plate that season.

The only difference is that the starting rotation looks to be amazing. Luke really impressed me on Wednesday, Banny looked like Banny today, and Zack probably pitched the worst he'll pitch in the first half of the season, yet still turned in a quality start.

That is the most depressing part. The Royals have slowly decayed into an offensive blackhole, while we've seen the starting rotation blossom into one of the best in the American League.

While Treyton has been beating the "pitching and defense" war drum, the offense, which has the core of an outstanding run producing lineup, has been neglected and turned into a disaster. Betancourt, Kendall, Guillen, etc. Its all going to be a disaster.

My only hope is that sometime before the Trade Deadline is that Treyton is no more and Dayton Moore can make us remember why we all had so much hope in him when he took over a franchise that is starting to look like it once was in the darkest of times. But I'm not holding my breath.

Thoughts on the 25-man Roster

2010-04-03T16:41:00.003-05:00

The Royals have decided to keep Mike Aviles on the big league team in favor of perennial non-roster invitee Wilson Betemit. Thank God.

I can't speak intelligently on the current "battle" going on between Dusty Hughes, John Parrish and Anthony Lerew because I don't know anything about them. I will wish them all the best of luck though and I hope they enjoy their stint on the 25-man roster as they will inevitably be sent down or released sometime before July.

Obviously the biggest shocker of the last few days, besides Trey Hillman cutting his mullet off, has been the decision by outfielder Brian Anderson to become a pitcher after not making the team as the 4th outfielder. Anderson was a former pitcher at Arizona in his collegiate career, so maybe it'll work out for him. He's going to start off in Idaho Falls and will probably be forgotten about soon enough.

I'm glad to see Mitch Maier make the team. After the spring he had, there was no option but to keep him around. I can see him getting pretty decent reps in the outfield until Josh Fields comes back. I think Maier's ceiling is around David DeJesus level, which makes the signings of Podsednik, Ankiel and Goldilocks Anderson even more confusing. Without Pods on the team, I would have pegged Maier's numbers at .270/.345/.450 with around 10 homers and a handful of stolen bases. Maybe an injury will allow him to showcase his ability.

Word is beginning to spread about the improvement of Roman Colon. I'm cheering for the guy, he's had a pretty rocky career. I'm looking for him to put up similar numbers to Ramon Ramirez in 2008 and be a steady bridge to Soria.

Back to Aviles, man I hope he can beat out Yuni for the starting spot. I think Mike is a special player. People are saying he's faster, leaner and stronger since coming back from surgery. A 20/20 season is out of reach, but maybe he'll surprise us this year. If Yuni is knocked off his perch (and he should after the stellar .283 average he posted this spring, which is up against Aviles' near .500 average) at shortstop, then I will put Aviles in the same category as Butler, Soria, Greinke as players that this team can rely on. His bat is better, his defense is tremendously better and he is faster than Betancourt. It should be pretty easy to make this decision.

Happy April!

2010-04-01T13:34:00.002-05:00

It may as well be the greatest month in all of sports. So to kick it off, I planned to write the usual silly, unbelievable, far-fetched, outlandish, fake Royals story that many bloggers write on this day of foolery.

But then I thought, what if it actually happened? What if I reported this fake, ridiculously stupid story, and the Royals actually did it? So I compiled a list of possible April fools stories and I just couldn't be comfortable with writing these fake stories when in the back of my mind, I thought that they actually may come true some day. (I included some "quotes" from Dayton Moore as well)

-Royals trade Billy Butler for Juan Pierre. "We really like where Juanny is headed in his career. We thought with the speed aspect of our ballclub, he really fits in here. We'll probably have him bat third to start the season. Since our outfield is already full of major league quality winners, we're going to see how he fares in the DH role and put Josey back out in right field and see where this goes. We are incredibly lucky to have him in Kansas City and the fans should feel that way too."

-Royals trade Zack Greinke for Alfonso Soriano and Kevin Gregg. "Alfie and Greggie will absolutely make us better. Both defensively and increase our grit factor. Plus, I really think that those glasses that Greggie wears are super badass. We'll probably start Soriano at shortstop and option Mike Aviles to the Japanese league to make room for them on the roster."

-Royals fire Trey Hillman, re-hire Tony Muser. "Trey came into my office yesterday and slammed a book called "Baseball Probetus" or something like that on my desk and asked me if I had ever read it. Of course I think the math is the devil and immediately the scar on my forehead began to burn as the book stared me down like some evil scroll full of fuzzy math. I then decided that Trey should be let go, and I hired a true grit warrior who had success with gritty players like Jeff King, Roberto Hernandez, Jeff Austin and Joe Vitiello in the past with this organization. For me, it was a no brainer. That and I prefer managers with mustaches."

-Dayton Moore tries to hire Ken Caminiti as hitting coach. "Oh, he is? Oh, my bad."

-Dayton Moore destroys all video equipment in the clubhouse. "We thought from an organizational standpoint, that technology and new age statistics are evil. We needed to cleanse ourselves of the evil that is sabermythics and begin using the best stats like runs created and runs scored. We also have hired more scouts to replace this silly video system. We have branded them 'scout specialists' and if you want to meet with them, just look for the 'SS' emblem on their collar. We in the front office could never wrap our heads around these so-called advanced statistics. If there was a stat that told me how many wins a player would be worth, then I would have invented it by now."

Quick Thoughts on Danny Duffy

2010-03-24T14:15:00.002-05:00

Earlier today, the Royals announced that AA pitcher Danny Duffy will be taking a leave from baseball. They didn't say how long or why, but some have reported that it is because he has lost his love for the game and wanted to reassess his life.

This is discouraging for Royals fans. Duffy, ranked as a top 10 prospect in the Royals system by most outlets, is 22 years old. My guess is that the kid just wants to pursue other options. I can't blame him. As much as I want to be mad at him and pull the whole "every boy and man in America would kill to be in your position" argument, I just can't.

Danny is only a year younger than I am. I've been blessed to live the typical college life. I was in a fraternity, I drank, I made stupid decisions, made tons of friends, ate Top Ramen five times a week, etc. Meanwhile, Danny was riding buses all over the Midwest, living off of $20/day, eating fast food for every meal and trying not to give into the temptation of blowing his nearly half a million dollar signing bonus.

The point is, maybe Danny wants what I had. Lord knows I want what he had. Sure college life isn't glamorous, but it isn't supposed to be. Its what normal kids do when their away from their parents with little to no rules. Who cares what he wants though? I could've played ball in High School, who knows maybe I would have been great and got drafted in the first 5 rounds, got hundreds of thousands of dollars and a couple of months later was living in Arizona, away from my friends and family, knowing that my life would be miserable for the next few years until I MAYBE got to the big leagues. Meanwhile, I've got a half a million bucks sitting in some bank account somewhere that is just begging to be spent on stupid stuff that a 22 year old doesn't need.

My point is, give the kid a break. At 18 years old, he was thrown into a man's world, with out the buffer of college. He should do whatever he wants to do.

Royals 2010 Wild Cards- No. 2 Alex Gordon

2010-03-17T20:51:00.003-05:00

Seems like he's on this list every year. We all know the story, it has become a common trend with Royals 1st round draft picks. The potential is there, yet Gordon and Luke Hochevar have struggled putting it all together for a full season, but there have been signs of their full potential. Whether it is an 80 pitch complete game from Hochevar or a 450 ft homer from Gordon into the second tier of the fountains, we have all seen it.

Now Gordon's future is definitely in doubt. His health has become more of a concern than his consistency. Hip surgery last year, a bad bounce broke his nose in 2008, broken thumb this Spring, a handful of trips to the 15 day DL, just a sample of what he has gone through.

He was proclaimed as the greatest baseball prospect ever by many, Minor League Player of the year in his first year in AA. He had all the potential in the world. His first at bat in the Major Leagues has become a microcosm of his career. Bases loaded, Opening Day, facing a legend in Curt Schilling, a team that had a bright future....he struck out. The hope is fading on Gordon, he's going from a guy who was unfairly labeled as the next George Brett to the next Craig Paquette, another unfair comparison. He is 26, going in to what is supposed to be the prime of a player's career and has barely scratched the surface.

The thing that worries me about Gordon's current injury, a broken thumb, is that it will turn into a nagging injury that once again prohibits him from reaching his potential with the Royals. I still have high hopes for him, he's shown us what he can do. He's got one of the purest swings I've ever seen and he is a tremendous athlete.

The hope remains for me that he will be able to overcome this inconvenient injury and become a staple in this lineup, something that this team has lacked for a long time. 2 years ago, it was the thought of Billy Butler and Alex Gordon smacked in the middle of the lineup, terrorizing Major League Baseball. Butler would hit doubles, walk and then Gordon would smash homeruns, Royals would dominate the AL Central and so on.

That hasn't happened.

Obviously, Gordon is the easiest choice for a Royals Wild Card. My hope is that he can stay healthy throughout the season and be a lock for 150 games. If that can happen, I have no doubts he can finally start reaching his potential.

Outside of the Batters Box: Missouri Mavericks Review

2010-03-14T04:50:00.010-05:00

Those of you who know me, whether through this blog or in person, know I am a huge hockey fan. You know that I think Kansas City is a prime candidate for an NHL team. The NHL hasn't been around in these parts on a regular basis for nearly 35 years. The Blades were great in the 90s, The Scouts were a joke in the 70s and the Outlaws...well, the Outlaws never really stood a chance. This year, KC received a big time jolt of professional hockey when the Central Hockey League expanded to the Eastern-most part of the metro and placed the Missouri Mavericks at the brand new, 5,500 seat, state of the art Independence Events Center.

I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting much when the team was announced. I had been to a couple of CHL games back when the Topeka Scarecrows were the nearest pro team around back in the early part of the millenium. I wasn't impressed. It was slow, poorly officiated, too violent and lacked a serious amount of skill. But the league has grown by leaps and bounds in the past decade.

When I went to my first Mavs game, I was expecting a decent night at a hockey game. Maybe there would be a couple of fights, a nice looking goal or two and the fans would be loud. I was blown away. It was obvious that this league had changed. There are players in the CHL who have been drafted by NHL teams or even played in the NHL. Many of them are on their last stop in their careers, but still possess a decent amount of skill. There are fights. There are bad penalties, but for the most part, the players keep it clean and respect the game.

The Independence Events Center looks pretty big from I-70 for a 5,500 seater. But once you get in the building, the atmosphere is incredibly intimate and there really isn't a bad seat in the barn. My seats were in the corner, about 20 rows up and the sightlines were incredible. If you've never seen hockey up close, you've gotta go to a Mavericks game. Tickets are cheap too. $15 bucks to sit 10 rows up isn't bad at all considering you would pay around $150 for those same seats at an NHL game. The crowd was great the whole game. The fans at the IEC reminded me of how intense the fans were at Kemper Arena when the Blades were dominating the IHL. We've got smart hockey fans here. They stand up when there's an odd man rush. They clap and yell when the Mavs clear the zone on a penalty kill. They cheer loudly when the goalie makes a great save. The arena will never get louder during a fight than it does when the home team scores. Fans wear hockey sweaters from every team in the NHL, past and present. There is a spattering of Blades and Scouts jerseys, as well. Its an awesome atmosphere.

As I am writing this, the Mavs have won in a shootout against the Odessa Jackalopes (there are some great mascots in this league) and have gone four points up on the Tulsa Oilers for the final playoff spot with three games to go. All they have to do now is win one game on the road to secure a playoff spot and if the Mavericks can do that, this city will fall in love with hockey once again, even more than it already has. Because lets face it, we could all use a winner around here.

Royals 2010 Wild Cards- No. 3 Robinson Tejeda

2010-03-08T14:14:00.004-06:00

Tejeda has really impressed me in his time with the Royals, whether it be in the bullpen or starting rotation. The reason he is included in the "wild card" discussion is because I'm not sure that the Royals know what they want to do with him. He's been solid out of the 'pen in the past, but he had an amazing September in which he posted a 2.84 ERA as a starter, and averaged 10.6 K/9.

Tejeda isn't a wild card because I am unsure of what he will do, but rather I am unsure about where he is most valuable to this team. If used in the bullpen, he provides a steady and reliable arm in a sea of question marks. Not to mention, it would be nice to have a sturdy bridge to Joakim Soria rather than have to bet on Juan Cruz being healthy and reliable. But his best stuff didn't come from the bullpen last year. It came in the starting rotation.

Once again, a wild card comes down to whether or not Trey Hillman and Dayton Moore make the right decision, which based on past performance, is not likely to happen. Tejeda is a good starter. The only issue with him starting is that he usually is only good for 5-6 innings. With Dayton & Co.'s ridiculous notion that this rotation will pitch 1000 innings, it is unlikely that we will see Tejeda in the rotation on a regular basis. The Royals have also been tinkering with his delivery. Last year, he pitched exclusively out of the stretch. Now, Bob McClure has tried to incorporate a windup into his delivery, and as we have seen in his first two Spring Training starts, Tejeda has struggled. Hopefully the Royals coaching staff can correct this and maybe limit him to only using the stretch, rather than force him to change his mechanics. With Kyle Davies showcasing his inability to conserve his pitches and limit his pitch count, I would like to see he and Robby switch places. Davies is obviously a failed experiment in the rotation. The obvious option is for him to be placed in the bullpen.

I think most Royals fans would prefer 5-6 good innings from Tejeda rather than suffer through more 60 pitch, 6 earned run, 2 inning Kyle Davies performances.

Do's and Don'ts for Royals Contention in 2010

2010-03-04T00:28:00.002-06:00

DO give Kila Ka'aihue a shot. He's better than any other option at DH, besides Billy Butler, in the system. I'm guessing that Jose Guillen will find his way to the DL either during Spring Training or sometime shortly thereafter. Josh Fields should be used as a back up 3B/1B/OF. This team is desperate for walks and KK's great OBP would be a welcome sight at Kauffman Stadium. Not to mention he may bring some potentially fearsome pop to the 6 or 7 spot in the lineup.

DON'T have a good April. Have a decent April. We saw it last year and the year before and in 2003, it's not how you start, but rather sustaining success and winning at the right times. The pressure to win is always surrounding a team, but being "right there" in July and August could possibly propel this team to contention status in the weak AL Central. Stay within 5-7 games of the division leader, hover above .500 through July and you are a couple of solid winning streaks away from the playoffs.

DON'T think that you can piggy back Billy Butler, Zack Greinke and Joakim Soria to .500. If this team has any shot, it won't be because these three continue success, it will be due to Alex Gordon, Luke Hochevar and the bullpen putting it together this year. Any team with a handful of good players can always raise a little hell.

DO score runs when Zack Greinke pitches. Easy.

DON'T be tempted to use Kyle Farnsworth in game threatening situations.

DON'T bat Scott Podsednik or Jason Kendall in the top of the order. This is an awful idea that Trey seems to be toying with. Pods has decent numbers in the leadoff spot, but nowhere near what David DeJesus seems to offer. Podsednik is best suited for the 8th or 9th spot in the order. Kendall does not provide the OBP he used to and should no way warrant a spot in the 2-hole.

DON'T let Brayan Pena languish on the bench. He has shed quite a few pounds in the offseason and added some muscle to his frame. He may turn into an Alberto Castillo type, but maybe he turns into a Yadier Molina type as well. Give him a shot.

DO attempt to educate the front office on the broad idea of sabermetrics and advanced statistics. One of our best pitchers swears by them. Maybe Banny should have a little sit down with Dayton and Co. and explain in 4th grader terms why Yuniesky Betancourt is actually a worse option than Tony Pena Jr.

DON'T listen to Dave Owen.

Quick Thoughts on Ankiel

2010-03-03T16:27:00.004-06:00

Dayton Moore raised some eyebrows this week by saying that "there is no question that Rick Ankiel should continue to improve". Pretty bold statement considering that Ankiel is going to be 30 this season, an age at which most players can only find their best seasons in the rearview mirror. But Ankiel has impressed the most out of all the Royals players in camp so far, hitting two homers in the intrasquad game. Kevin Seitzer said that there are three players that make a sound off their bat that sounds different from others. Those three players: Bo Jackson, Billy Butler and Rick Ankiel.

But not so fast my friends, Lets not forget that while he may be 30 and his skills could be declining, he is still a player that has only been batting at a major league level (an above average level at that) for 2+ seasons. That being said, treat Ankiel like a 24 year old. He is still learning. He is the most athletic player on the roster and I highly doubt that we see him regress much over this season.

Royals 2010 Wild Cards- No. 4 Mike Aviles

2010-03-01T16:26:00.006-06:00

Shortstop is a position that this team has struggled to fill in the last decade. There was one shining beacon of hope in 2008 when Mike Aviles finally got called up to the big leagues. We all know his story. A Baird era draftee, signed out of college in the 789,105th round. Given a bus ticket and a thousand bucks as a signing bonus and 7 years later, he was a few dozen at bats away from finishing in the top 5 in the AL batting title race while playing top notch defense at short. Last year was a disappointment for Mike. He was injured, some say mistreated by Royals' trainers and beaten up from the World Baseball Disast...I mean Classic. Some people thought that Aviles career not only as a Royal, but as a major leaguer, was over. After a Tommy John surgery and lengthy DL stint, Aviles is finally back in Royal Blue.

Still a month or two from being 100%, Aviles has impressed so far in early camp, causing some club officials to say that he is the most defensively sound infielder the Royals have on their roster. A pleasant report for a fanbase and organization that is reeling from one of the worst defensive seasons in club history. There are whispers that Yuniesky Betancourt is still playing his role of a symbiotic Terrell Owens/Tony Pena Jr.

The point is that Aviles can not get healthy quick enough. Trey Hillman has sung Aviles praises in camp and has hinted that he will most likely overtake Yuni's spot once he returns to active duty, barring a miraculous first half from Betancourt.

The hope is that Mike can return to his 2008 form. An offense that is lacking serious pop in the bottom of the order could use an injection like Aviles to boost Royals bats to mediocre status. Even if he doesn't return to form, he has proven that he can hit at the big league level and be an adequate defensive part of this team. Obviously, he probably won't reach his .325 mark, but some say he could be a consistent .300 performer and put up similar numbers to Alberto Callaspo if given regular playing time.

If he can repeat even 80% of what he did in 2008, it will help this team in more ways than one. It will take at bats away from Yuniesky Betancourt and relegate Willie Bloomquist to what he does best, utility status. It will add depth to the team and the AAA level. Once Mike returns to the 25 man roster, either Chris Getz or Betancourt will be optioned to Omaha. Getz has options remaining, but if Betancourt is the one who goes, he can decline the option, forfeit the remainder of his contract and become a free agent, where no one will offer him a big league contract, or he can accept the assignment and get his big league paycheck while trying to fix one of his alleged 5 tools. Essentially, Mike Aviles coming back, no matter how you slice it, makes this team better. Of course, there are no guarantees.

The offense needs a serious injection of power. The defense needs a steady leg in the infield to stand on. The team needs another year like 2008 from Aviles to have any shot at contention. Mike is that kind of player that every team needs, the proverbial "energy guy". I'm not saying he'll be Brooks Robinson at the plate or Buddy Biancalana in the field. But he should be better than the turd pile we ran out there during 2009. You want someone to believe in besides Zack Greinke or Billy Butler in 2010? Look no further than Mike Aviles.

Royals 2010 Wild Cards- No. 5 Gil Meche

2010-02-25T14:54:00.011-06:00

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be breaking down a list of current Royals who are "Wild Cards" to the Royals success. These will be players who have the most questions surrounding them heading into the '10 campaign. I start breaking down the list, by importance, with #5, Gil Meche.

Gil has been a consistent performer for the Royals and one of the better pitchers in the AL Central, when healthy. Gil is on this list simply because he needs to stay healthy. His health isn't an issue all alone to Gil. It is an issue of Trey Hillman limiting Gil's workload. The Royals have said that they want their starters to combine for over 1000 innings this year. A pretty lofty goal, and seems to be congruent with the Royals and Dayton Moore's "Old School" and possibly ill-advised approach.

The fact of the matter is that Gil Meche is not a workhorse. He has only pitched over 200 innings twice in his career. Both came in back to back seasons in 2007 and 2008 when Meche was considered the team's ace. The interesting thing is that those seasons in which he pitched over 200 innings, they were the best seasons of his career (3.67 ERA in 2007, 3.98 in 2008). So I'm actually hoping that Gil can reach the 200 inning plateau that the front office has set him.

Those 200 innings will not come if he is once again abused by Trey Hillman for back to back 125 pitch outings. The Royals have invested $55 million in him. He is still due nearly $25 million before his contract is up in 2011. The Royals would be wise to get their money's worth from Gil Meche by using him appropriately. He needs to stay healthy this year and next as he is going to be prime trade-bait if he returns to his form that he displayed early in his Royals career. That is one way that the Royals could stand to gain in this scenario. The other is that Gil Meche will be a solid number two starter behind Zack Greinke, and possibly give this team the legs to actually contend this year. Any team that has a solid 1-2-3 punch in their rotation will almost always compete for a division crown.

Gil has been a centerpiece on this team for three seasons and a leader on and off the field. He is a valuable pitcher to have. His value is only good when he is healthy. Just because a pitcher is throwing a shutout through 6 innings doesn't mean you have to keep him in. Gil Meche usually has high pitch counts in the late innings and is generally solid into the 7th inning. But if those pitch counts are around 100-110 pitches and there are still multiple innings left, he needs to be sat down and hand it over to the pen. That is common baseball knowledge, especially with a guy who has a history with injury and the ever dreadful "dead arm".

Gil can be a big piece on a contender. He is still at the age where a player can consistently perform at a high level and I doubt he will display many signs of regression. His numbers most likely project him as a number three starter, but on a team that lacks consistency in the lower part of the rotation, that is a risk that the Royals cannot take.

Ryan Lefebvre's "The Shame of Me"

2010-02-18T00:27:00.006-06:00

I just got done reading Royals TV Broadcaster Ryan Lefebvre's book, "The Shame of Me" for the second time in a month. I am incredibly grateful that Ryan is allowing the world to look into the dark and disturbing story of his battle with clinical depression and alcoholism. It really gives the reader a look inside the mind of someone who struggles with the proverbial "inner demons" and takes us on the violent journey that took hold of Ryan during the 2005 season.

It gave me, an aspiring radio show host and sports broadcaster, some perspective on the lives that these men live. That it sometimes isn't enough to be successful, handsome and well-liked. It made me realize that you have to confront your emotions and problems in your life, rather than hide them in the deepest abyss of your soul. We are incredibly lucky to have a man like this representing the Royals' organization in our community.

I'll be honest, I did not like Ryan when he started his career with the Royals at the turn of the millenium. I thought he was a cocky, smug jerk who was using the Royals as a stepping stone to something bigger than Kansas City. But he started to grow on me throughout the years and I came to learn that he is an incredibly intelligent baseball announcer and he has turned into one of my influences in my quest for a career in sports broadcasting. But after reading this book, Ryan Lefebvre is more than an influence on me, he is a hero. I usually don't throw that word around too much, but he really is. The courage he has shown in publishing his heartbreaking story has given me so much more respect for him as a man. As men, we are taught to hide our emotions and hold the tears back when the weight of the world becomes too much for us. He has given me faith that it is okay to talk about your emotions and to really tell people what you are feeling, rather than put up walls and facades to make us appear tough.

I look forward to the opportunity of getting to know Ryan Lefebvre during this season. I highly recommend reading his book, because whether or not you suffer from addiction or depression, you will learn something about yourself and begin to ask questions about your own mental health.

As for Ryan Lefebvre's future as a broadcaster with the Royals, I hope he stays here forever. He is one of the best announcers in the game and I think that he will one day join Denny Matthews and Fred White in the Royals Hall of Fame, and years down the road, be enshrined in Cooperstown, not only as a broadcaster, but also as an advocate for depression and addiction awareness among the baseball community.

Quick Thoughts on Farnsworth

2010-02-11T21:23:00.002-06:00

Today, the Royals announced that Kyle Farnsworth would be competing for a spot in the starting rotation. My first thought was "why?", which over the next few hours turned into "why not?"

It's a perfectly good question. Why not try him as a starter? Farnsworth has long toiled as a tormented set up man all across baseball. But he has never once been a starting pitcher. He isn't really built like a pitcher, more like a UFC fighter. He's had his chances in the bullpen and he usually blew them. But the funny thing is, when he pitches in low pressure situation, the guy gets people out. He had a 19 inning scoreless streak last year (which was broken when he appeared in a late innings situation and blew a lead). My point is, why not give him no lead to work with? Baseball is a mental game and has driven men crazy (See Dykstra, Lenny). Let's face it, if you're a pitcher you have to be mentally tough. Especially if you're in the bullpen. But I think the psychological advantage of being in the rotation is that there is less pressure on you than sitting on a bench for 3 hours and then being thrust into a game threatening situation.

I don't know if I could fully endorse the move, but like I said, why not?

Excuse Me While I Process...I Mean Project...

2010-02-11T02:41:00.005-06:00

Well, Spring Training is just days away for the Royals. That being said, it is time for me to unveil my "gut instinct", non-statistical-yet-based-on-past-performance-projections! Enjoy.

We'll start off with the starting rotation.

Zack Greinke- 17-9, 2.56 ERA, 247 K, 230 IP. I expect Zack to regress, if you can call it that, due to the fact that I think the league will somewhat key in on him after watching mountains of tape. It probably won't help that much. I think his strikeouts will also go up just a bit.

Gil Meche- 13-12, 4.03 ERA, 162 K, 203 IP. As I have said in the past, I think we've seen the best of Gil Meche in a Royals uniform. He's getting older, but not old enough to warrant a big regression this year. I think Trey learned his lesson last year and Gil will stay relatively healthy.

Brian Bannister- 12-10, 3.57 ERA, 152 K, 210 IP. Banny is going to turn into a work horse this year. A REAL innings eater. I think he'll throw several good games for the Royals this year.

Luke Hochevar- 10-14, 4.38 ERA, 163 K, 187 IP. Luke is a guy who I think will finally start putting it together this year and will start climbing his way up to the top half of the rotation heading in to 2011. I really have faith in him because he showed us some brilliance in a handful of starts last year.

Kyle Davies- 2-8, 5.67 ERA, 102 K, 140 IP. I think he'll be relegated to bullpen duty by the All Star Break. He's got a world of potential, but I'm not sure if the mental makeup is there.

Lineup (projected)

1. RF David DeJesus- .283/.356/.440, 12 HR, 76 RBI, 10 SB. I think he's been the most consistent player on our roster in the past few years. If he puts up numbers like this with the Royals cellar dwelling in July, I expect him to be traded.

2. LF Scott Podsednik- .270/.325/.387, 4 HR, 48 RBI, 26 SB. I am not as gloomy about Pods as I was when we acquired him, but I think he'll provide average to decent numbers for a light hitting, poor baserunning 2-hole hitter.

3. 1B Billy Butler- .315/.385/.460, 28 HR, 105 RBI, 1 SB. I was looking forward to this projection all week. Really excited to see what Billy will do this year.

4. CF Rick Ankiel- .254/.312/.425, 16 HR, 56 RBI, 12 SB. All I want for him to do is gun people down and not strike out with runners in scoring position. I think he'll play well enough for people to like him.

5. 2B Alberto Callaspo- .298/.345/.425, 15 HR, 67 RBI, 6 SB. I think 'Bert will continue hitting. Most baseball people think he's a .300-.310 career hitter. I put him in the .285-.300 range. His RBI numbers will slip as he probably will not be hitting behind DeJesus' hefty OBP and rather Ankiel's sluggish OBP.

6. Alex Gordon- .265/.345/.450, 18 HR, 70 RBI, 13 SB. A season like this would have us all optimistic that he could really be a special player, but time is running out on him. I hope his real numbers are better than this projection.

7. DH Josh Fields*- .242/.320/.432, 20 HR, 53 RBI, 2 SB. I think we could see him succeed in a new environment.

8. SS Yuniesky Betancourt- .265/.289/.376, 4 HR, 38 RBI, 6 SB. I am actually thinking about taking these numbers to Vegas and seeing what the odds are. I'm guessing they're less than 50:1.

9. C Jason Kendall- .245/.325/.320, 0 HR, 37 RBI, 5 SB. Pretty weak way to round out a lineup, but I doubt we see better numbers than this. Hopefully his defense behind home plate will lead to more wins and he won't strike out in big situations.

*I did not put Jose Guillen's projection up because I believe he will play in very few games this year.

Bench

1B/DH Kila Ka'aihue- .238/.356/.420, 10 HR, 45 RBI, 2 SB. This may be a pipedream, but I think that the Kila Whale (nice, right?) deserves his shot. Another year in AAA turns him into Justin Huber 2.0. He needs a chance to develop.

C/DH Brayan Pena- .276/.330/.390, 5 HR, 29 RBI, 0 SB. I like him alot. I really hope that he gets a real look in Spring Training. My hope is 50 starts for him, especially if Kendall breaks down.

SS/2B/OF/3B/DH/Janitor Willie Bloomquist- .260/.307/.325, 3 HR, 36 RBI, 15 SB. Willie is a valuable player, if he only starts every fourth day.

OF Brian Anderson- .278/.350/.385, 3 HR, 27 RBI, 12 SB. He really broke out in Boston in 21 games where he hit .280. If he doesn't impress in Spring Training, then he has options left.

Bullpen

RHP Kyle Farnsworth- 4.75 ERA, 35 K, 35 IP. MOP UP DUTY ONLY. MOP UP DUTY ONLY. MOP UP DUTY ONLY

RHP Juan Cruz- 3.67 ERA, 67 K, 57 IP. I think he struggled last year due to injury. I could be wrong and he could be yet another NL pitcher who can't hack it in the Junior Circuit.

LHP Edgar Osuna- 4.13 ERA, 27 K, 40 IP. Our Rule-5 pick could surprise us this year and provide decent lefty help.

RHP Robinson Tejeda- 3.06 ERA, 56 K, 60 IP. I think he will be our primary set up man. I also think that he will challenge Kyle Davies for the 5th starter in Spring Training.

RHP Matt Herges- 4.67 ERA, 28 K, 35 IP. Another guy who will be a mop up man.

LHP Dusty Hughes- 3.98 ERA, 37 K, 48 IP. For a bullpen that needs incredible help from a lefty, Dusty could be a nice surprise.

Closer Joakim Soria- 43 Saves, 2.06 ERA, 70 K, 69 IP. I have a feeling it will be another All Star type season for the Mexicutioner.

There you have it.

2003 vs. 2010

2010-02-04T15:09:00.008-06:00

Remember that year? Magical. So I got to thinking, was that 2003 team better than what we will put on the field in 2010? I put the two head to head to see what came out of it. This is purely based "on-paper", I only used simple baseball stats like ERA, Batting average, Home Runs and RBIs in my comparisons. I also used the 25 man roster that the Royals currently have on their website as my basis for the 2010 roster.

Starting Rotation

2003: Darrel May, Chris George, Runelvys Hernandez, Kyle Snyder, Jose Lima
2010: Zack Greinke, Gil Meche, Brian Bannister, Luke Hochevar, Kyle Davies

Edge: 2010. Two words. One name. Zack Greinke.

First Base

2003: Ken Harvey
2010: Billy Butler

Edge: 2010. Butler has joined hall of famers with the stats he put up last year as a 23 year old. He is the top offensive player on the team and his ceiling is nearly unlimited. Harvey had two solid years for the Royals, but after his All-Star appearance in 2004, he started regressing...violently.

Second Base

2003: Desi Relaford
2010: Alberto Callaspo

Edge: 2010. AC had one of the best offensive seasons for a second baseman in Royals history, but struggled on the defensive side of the ball. Relaford was a journeyman who had a career year in KC, but didn't put up the offensive numbers to best Callaspo.

Shortstop

2003: Angel Berroa
2010: Yuniesky Betancourt

Edge: 2003. Berroa came from nowhere and became a fan favorite in his Rookie of the Year season, while Betancourt has become a running joke amongst Royals fans.

Third Base

2003: Joe Randa
2010: Alex Gordon

Edge: 2003. Randa gets the nod over Gordon because Randa stayed healthy and played top notch defense at the hot corner.

Right Field

2003: Aaron Guiel
2010: David DeJesus

Edge: 2010. DeJesus is a good player, year in and year out. Guiel lacked consistency and was often injured.

Center Field

2003: Carlos Beltran
2010: Rick Ankiel

Edge: 2003. Beltran is a 5-tool all star. Ankiel is good at a few things, but can't match up with Beltran in any category.

Left Field

2003: Raul Ibanez
2010: Scott Podsednik

Edge: 2003. Raul had a career resurgence in KC and became one of the best hitters in baseball in the last decade. Podsednik has been knocked around the league and never established any consistency.

Catcher

2003: Brent Mayne
2010: Jason Kendall

Edge: 2010. Basically a contest between two monkeys flinging poop at each other. Kendall has the better track record than Mayne.

Designated Hitter

2003: Mike Sweeney
2010: Jose Guillen

Edge: 2003. Sweeney was just two years removed from setting the club record for RBIs with 144 when he started breaking down in 2002. Guillen has one thing in common with Sweeney in the fact that he can't stay healthy.

Bench

2003: Michael Tucker, Mike DiFelice, Carlos Febles, Dee Brown
2010: Josh Fields, Willie Bloomquist, Brayan Pena, Chris Getz

Edge: 2010. The defensive versatility of Bloomquist and Getz, coupled with the offensive potential of Fields and Pena gives 2010 a slightly better outlook than the soft hitting bench of the 2003 team.

Bullpen

2003: Jeremy Affeldt, D.J. Carrasco, Kris Wilson, Jason Grimsley, Al Levine, Curtis Leskanic, Miguel Ascencio, Sean Lowe
2010: Juan Cruz, Kyle Farnsworth, Robinson Tejeda, Matt Herges, Edgar Osuna, Carlos Rosa, Anthony Lerew, Roman Colon

Edge: 2003. Once again, another poop flinging contest. '03 gets the edge because of the solid help that was provided by Curtis Leskanic and Al Levine late in the season. Also Jeremy Affeldt has turned into a decent reliever in the NL.

Closer

2003: Mike MacDougal
2010: Joakim Soria

Edge: 2010. Both former All-Stars, yet the Mexicutioner beats out Mac based on the fact that Soria is a dominant pitcher, whereas MacDougal was more lucky than good in 2003.

Manager

2003: Tony Pena
2010: Trey Hillman

Edge: 2003. Tony Pena won manager of the year after taking a team full of replacement players and a merry-go-round of starting pitchers to the brink of a division title. Trey Hillman has failed to inspire his players the same way that Pena did in 2003.

Overall

Edge: 2003. The '03 team had so much talent offensively, yet zero starting pitching and little help out of the bullpen. It is my belief that that team could have competed for and possibly won the division if it had a more solid and consistent rotation. The defense was about as good as we have seen this decade with Beltran, Randa and Ibanez. This 2010 team is filled with holes and it is hard to see Trey Hillman doing what Tony Pena did in 2003 with essentially a polar opposite roster. Pena had a team loaded with offensive talent, yet no starting pitching and a bullpen that routinely gave up leads. Hillman has a pretty good starting rotation, yet very little help on the offensive side of the diamond. With an All-Star caliber closer, Cy Young winner and a first baseman that has put up comparable numbers to hall of famers, Hillman has yet to prove that he can inspire a team to win on a consistent basis.

All-Decade Worst Plays

2010-01-30T03:13:00.015-06:00

Its been a pretty slow week on the Royals front, no big trades, although a few rumblings, but nothing meaty enough to write about. That being said, to take a phrase from Lou Brown of "Major League", how about I give you a nice big **** burger to eat? Big thanks to Jeff Parker at Royally Speaking for being my muse on this one.

Terrence Long and Chip Ambres watch a fly ball drop between them in a game in 2005. The Royals had already given up a big lead in the inning when a fly ball was hit to medium left centerfield. Outfielders Ambres and Long settled under the ball, looked at eachother, took one step towards the dugout simultaneously and then allowed the ball to drop between them.

Ken Harvey hits Jason Grimsley in the face with a throw to home in 2004. A slow dribbler caught Harvey and Grimsley in between the pitcher's mound and 1st base, as Harvey attempted to catch the runner from third at the plate, Grimsley's face ran into Harvey's arm and both laid on the ground, writhing in pain, as the runners advanced.

Kerry Robinson tries to make "Web Gems" in 2006. Probably the worst defensive play I have ever seen. CF Kerry Robinson races back to the wall in pursuit of a high fly ball to right center, he leaps to make a circus catch at the wall and....the ball falls 10 feet in front of him.

Royals Bullpen implodes and gives up 8-3 lead with two outs in the bottom of the 9th. The 2008 Royals were about to end a long losing streak against the Minnesota Twins as things became unraveled in the ninth. Joel Peralta was brought on to stop the bleeding as All-Star Closer Joakim Soria sat in the bullpen. Peralta gave up a go ahead homerun to Craig Monroe and the Twins went on to win the game and the Royals went on to lose 12 in a row.

Juan Gonzalez comes up limp. He literally took one step out of the batters box in a game against Oakland in 2004, and went down like a ton of bricks before even getting half way to first base. After playing in 33 games for the Royals, Juan-Gone spent the rest of the 2004 campaign on the DL.

Runelvys I. After being shaken off several times in the previous inning, Catcher John Buck confronts Runelvys Hernandez in the Royals dugout and the two begin fighting. Teammates try to break up the bald Buck and burly Hernandez. Hilarity ensues.

Runelvys II. After yet another Runelvys Hernandez curveball goes wild in a game vs. Detroit in 2005, nicking Tigers SS Carlos Guillen on the toe, Guillen argued that the ball had hit his foot and he should be awarded 1st base. The umpire declined the protest and play resumed. With the next pitch, Hernandez hurled a fastball at Guillen's head, careening off of his helmet and sending him to the ground. Hernandez then storms towards Guillen, who had been collecting himself on the ground. Benches clear, Elvys ejected. Hilarity ensues.

Runelvys II-b. After the benches had cleared, seemingly harmless relief pitcher Jeremy Affeldt was charged by current Royal, Kyle Farnsworth. Farnsworth then form tackled Affeldt to the ground and began whaling away at Affeldt's head as the teams tried to pry the two apart.

Thats my list, whats yours?

Preview for Royals Kingdom Radio: 1/31

2010-01-30T03:03:00.003-06:00

Where has the optimism gone?

Join myself and James Puester as we talk about where all the optimism surrounding the Royals has gone. In the past few years, the Royals have had positive talk surrounding them entering Spring Training. Last year, a few media outlets picked them to win the division, and fans were wondering if it was the year the Royals finally turned the corner.

We'll break this down and more, tomorrow at 4pm only on 1140 KCXL and 1160 KCTO. We might even take some calls to get what your thoughts are on the upcoming season.

*Also an apology for not posting anything new this week! Pretty slow Royals week wouldn't you say?

Preview for Royals Kingdom Radio 1/24/2010

2010-01-23T20:13:00.002-06:00

Big show lined up for tomorrow! We'll have Daniel Shoptaw from the Baseball Bloggers Alliance and C70 at the Bat, a St. Louis Cardinals blog. We'll have his thoughts on Rick Ankiel and we'll talk about the Baseball Bloggers Alliance.

We'll focus on what the Ankiel deal means for the Royals this year and possibly in the future.

Tune in tomorrow at 4pm only on 1140 KCXL! If you aren't in the listening area, stream it on your computer or iPhone here

After Ankiel, What's Next for KC?

2010-01-23T00:14:00.004-06:00

At first there was outrage. Then optimism. Then delusion. Finally, acceptance. Acceptance of the fact that Rick Ankiel will be a Kansas City Royal.

Once again, a move that I am ok with. Ankiel improves our outfield defense. He provides a measure of protection for Billy Butler if his power returns and he is able to stay healthy. His contract is also a very club-friendly deal. His $3.25 million dollar salary is much cheaper than what his agent, Scott Boras was asking for (3 years/$15 million). Included in the deal is a mutual option for 2011 worth $6 million.

Rick Ankiel is not young. He will be 30 when the season starts and 31 when it is over. I'm not sure what the Royals plans are, but I'm sure we are about to see a decent sized roster shakeup.

First off, our outfield is now pretty crowded as Ankiel joins David DeJesus, Scott Podsednik, Brian Anderson, Mitch Maier, Jose Guillen and possibly Josh Fields.

Of that group, Anderson has minor league options left. Maier is out of options and it is possible that Maier will move on after spring training.

So that leaves us with DeJesus, Scotty Pods, Guillen and Ankiel.

I doubt that any of those will accept a role as a 4th OF.

DeJesus has the most trade value out the group, but his production is going to be greatly needed in this lineup. Guillen has little to no trade value as he probably will start the year on the DL. Podsednik has all but been guaranteed a starting spot. Ankiel is too good of a defender to sit on the bench.

I think it is obvious what needs to be done. Jose Guillen needs to be released.

The $12 million dollars is already spent. If you trade Guillen, you will have to eat nearly all of his salary. He is hurt, nobody wants him. You have to designate him for assignment and let him explore his options elsewhere. That leaves you with a quick, defensively sound outfield that is suited for Kauffman Stadium.

Now, if Dayton Moore goes with the not-so-obvious move of trading DeJesus, there are several areas that need improvement on this ballclub. A trade for DeJesus would have to garner a young lefty pitcher and one or two young infield prospects, maybe even a catcher.

If DDJ is traded, this opens up a big competition for the final OF spot between Maier, Anderson and minor leaguers Jordan Parraz (hit .348 in AA and AAA in '09) and David Lough (hit .325 also in AA and AAA in '09).

With either move, it could possibly benefit the Royals. If Guillen is released, I am positive it would benefit the club (see my post below as to why). As for a trade for DeJesus, it would pain me to see him go, but if the return is substantial, then I won't feel too awful about it.

In a Perfect World...

2010-01-18T16:58:00.008-06:00

First off, I want to thank everyone who tuned in to the Royals Kingdom Radio Show this weekend. It was another great show that has received tremendous positive feedback. A big thank you to Greg Schaum who was our guest.

On to bigger things...

The thing that stood out to me the most this weekend during my interview with Schaum, was that he said Jose Guillen's rehab is not going as well as the Royals planned (big surprise). So this news stirred up my interest in what may happen before spring training starts on February 18.

We've seen it year in and year out. The Royals make awful trades, sign marginal talent in free agency, etc. But with the news of Guillen's rehab mess, the Royals are presented with a huge decision. Do you try to rehab Jose and try to get at least 100 games out of him or do you eat the $12 million dollar contract, release him and give players already in the organization a shot at the big league club during spring training? Hopefully the Royals are looking at the latter as their primary option. If you release Jose Guillen, it is addition by subtraction. There are no big money, long term contract-type free agents left. You already have money allotted for the draft and you are in year two of a refurbished stadium that will probably continue to generate revenue. Eating $12 million dollars in salary will not hurt you in the short term or the long term.

My advice: eat the contract.

The $12 million still owed to Guillen is not the issue here. The issue is that Guillen will more than likely be a negative influence on the team. If he stays on the team, he will probably see multiple stints on the disabled list and only hamper the development of this team.

So what options do the Royals have?

Option 1: Keep Jose Guillen. Pay him $12 million dollars. Have him play in less than 80 games, hit 8 home runs, drive in 50 runs, commit defensive miscues in Right Field, take away DH reps from Billy Butler, continue to strike out in big situations and prevent this team from winning games.

Option 2: Cut Jose Guillen. Pay him $12 million dollars. Call up Kila Ka'aihue and platoon him with Josh Fields at the DH position. Place Mitch Maier in RF. This immediately improves the Royals defense and gives young players a chance to develop.

It may seem like the Royals don't have many options right now, but this is definitely an option. If Dayton Moore can cut dead weight with Jose Guillen, admit a mistake and eat the huge salary, this will be a positive move for the Royals.

It isn't that complicated. There aren't miles of red tape and circumstances that are inhibiting this team's ability and chance to contend, only a seemingly incompetent GM who can't evaluate talent at the Major League level.

Royals Kingdom Radio Show Preview for 1/17

2010-01-16T19:54:00.004-06:00

This week on Royals Kingdom Radio we take a look at the top prospects coming through the Royals minor leagues. We bring in 610 Sports' Greg Schaum to take a look at which prospects have the best chance at making an impact on the Royals within the next few years.

Tune in tomorrow at 4pm on 1140 KCXL (Liberty) and 1160 KCTO (Cleveland). If you can't find it on the radio, stream it on your computer here.

Royals Awards Night an Eye Opening Success

2010-01-14T22:25:00.003-06:00

For a team that has very little to celebrate, it sure seemed like there was a lot more going on than meets the eye at the Overland Park Convention Center on Thursday night. I had the privilege to attend the event and was nothing short of blown away. The night was amazing. From the pre-party in the lobby, all the way to the awards show itself, the Royals pulled out all the stops.

I won't talk about how moist the rolls were, how touching Ryan Lefebvre's introduction of Zack Greinke was, or how perfectly tender the steak was. I will however speak on how I had my sense of hope renewed by a guy who wore the Royals uniform for only one season. David Cone revitalized my hope. Introducing Zack Greinke, along with Bret Saberhagen and Ryan Lefebvre, Coney delivered a speech that would get even Denny Matthews fired up. Cone hearkened Royals fans back to a time when Amos Otis, George Brett and Frank White ruled Royals Stadium. He passionately spoke about how the Royals were always on top back then and how they had to be back on top. That is the only way it should be. Then he turned to Billy Butler and Zack Greinke and said: "You guys are the key to bringing that back."

At that point, I had chills running up and down my spine. Sure we may have screwed up in signing Scotty Pods and Kendall. But look folks, we've got the best young first baseman in all of baseball. We have the best pitcher in the world. We have a closer that has ice water in his veins. My point is, my belief was restored tonight. The belief that this team is headed in the right direction. Belief that Dayton Moore can be a competent Major League GM. Belief that everything can go right at Kauffman Stadium for one magical summer. We're due folks. That has to count for something.

Keep the faith.

Podsednik Signs; Dayton Moore's Pseudo-Confidence Soars

2010-01-08T17:17:00.003-06:00

Here's the deal. I'm ok with this move. We sign Scott Podsednik to a 1-year deal worth $1.75 million with a mutual option for 2011 if Podsednik gets over 560 ABs. Not a bad deal. This improves our outfield depth, speed and defense. Podsednik's arm may not be the strongest, it might be a slight upgrade over Coco's arm in CF, but he can get to balls just as quickly as Coco.

I'm happy we got him to sign for less than $2 million, as he had a career year at the plate, hitting .304. The defense in the outfield looks improved, we'll probably see this on a regular basis:

LF- David DeJesus
CF- Podsednik
RF- Mitch Maier/Willie Bloomquist

All three have played CF in their careers and have above average speed. Podsednik adds a stolen base threat, but not as much as you would think, he led the league in Caught Stealing twice and was 30 for 43 in steals last year. The Royals will probably be one of the fastest teams in the AL Central next year with the additions of Getz, Brian Anderson and Podsednik, joining the likes of Bloomquist, DeJesus, Maier and Gordon, all players who have decent steal numbers in their careers.

I'm ok with the move. We didn't really have a centerfielder headed into 2010. Hopefully Dayton Moore and Trey Hillman don't move DeJesus out of the leadoff spot in favor of Podsednik, but rather keep him at the bottom of the order and let him set the table for Callaspo, DDJ and Butler in the later innings.

If the Royals do that, then this will be a positive move.