Jun/101
Why you don’t want to trade DeJesus and other wonderful problems to have.
Posted by: Bertkc01 on June 28, 2010.
What are you people thinking about trading David DeJesus!? In what world is that a good idea? Who could replace him in our system? Remember the last time we departed with a great outfielder? The answer of course is “Which example do you want to use?” Trading Carlos Beltran who would play in the world series? Or Jermaine Dye who would help the White Sox win they’re first world series since the were the black sox? Or Johny Damon? Hall of Fame Johny Damon. Hero of Boston. Destroyer of Philly. Oh and did I mention a FUTURE HALL OF FAMER (He is and you know it. Don’t act like it isn’t going to happen.).
I personally would not like another rebuilding period to run any of our players out of town and what really needs to be done is, despite a recent 21 game hit streak, leading the team in HR, RBI and well slacking on the way to first. We need to discharge Guillen and make way for Kila in AAA and move Robinson from the Naturals to AAA (or move Gordon to first, there I said it, I said it and I’m not embarrased) and Hosmer to the Naturals and just set an example of how you get your teams ready for the future.
You don’t trade DeJesus. You just don’t. You offer to cover half of Guillen’s contract you get a pitcher and a shorstop who are close to major league ready or close to being close but you just don’t trade DeJesus. You don’t get rid of a guy who is putting himself in the teams record books because of defense and hits .330 and if you do you are fulfilling a stigma that has been attached to you by your fans as a cheap, lazy, greedy ball club that has no desire to win anything of significance again. Ever.
You don’t option Chen or Lerew to anywhere. Remember the end of 2008? Royals had a great bullpen with guys that were being called up from AAA or were from Dayton’s Atlanta rejects squad and we, as fans, we’re beginning we could win the division next year. Remember those guys? LEO FRIGGIN’ NUNEZ? Closer for the marlins anyone? Anyone? Ramon Martinez? Red Spx setup man anyone? Hello? Two words should forever scar and insult Royals ownership from 2009. Jacobs and Crisp. Sir Strike out and Mr. Owie Shoulder and oh we also inherited they’re ARBITRATION (scary soap opera pipe organ music here). We need to dump Davies or move him to the bullpen and he has no other option because he’s got 2 guys breathing down his neck for his job. When Hochevar comes back (not particularly excited for Meche and his new arm slot to be seen yet) he will move to the number 2 spot and we will begin to see the championship rotation take form. Greinke, Hochevar then Chen (holding it for Montgomery (AA) or Lamb (A) or whoever moves the fastest) then Lerew then Bannister. Bannister is pitching well but I really like seeing him on day games so he retains the five spot. So that’s the rotation that will announce to Major League Baseball that the Royals are no longer a joke. We can’t do that unless we tell Davies to start doing his job or go play for the Pirates. Harsh.
Sign DeJesus to the option and pay the man because he’s worth it. Sign him to a $21 million/3 year deal then let the baseball gods do what they may. Keep the guy here at least until 2012.
Davies goes to the bullpen or to the wolves. He sinks or swims. Suck it up and take it. He’ll always have a 2nd career in construction. Harsh.
Apr/102
Recapping Road Trip, Preview Homestand
Posted by: Casey on April 22, 2010.
Kansas City finished its 3 team road trip (Tigers 2-1, Twins 1-2, Canadians 1-2) a total of 4-5, which isn’t bad. We should have swept the Tigers (see: bullpen meltdown), salvaged game 3 against Twins and almost gave away game 3 against the Blue Jays but came out with a victory. There are some positives and some negatives, as with any situation, and I’m going to attempt to break down some of them.
Positives from road trip:
- Greinke. In Zack’s start against Toronto on Wednesday, he showed some more life than he had the rest of the season. His fastball velocity was still a little low, but he was locating his slider and his pitch-mix was more like last year’s. He still lived up in the zone with his fastball too often for my liking, but overall a good sign.
- Absurd hitting. We are still hitting at ridiculous numbers. As a team, a .296 BA 15 games into a season is a good sign. No one expects it to continue, but no one expected it in the first place. Yes, the 2010 Royals, defying expectations.
- Relievers. The bullpen hasn’t been as bad as it was to start the season. They will still struggle all season long, but hopefully not at the pace as it was heading. I should modify this by saying the bullpen was pretty bad in the Detroit series, but Rupe has been a solid contributor since his arrival. I do expect a move to be made tomorrow, hopefully Mendoza being sent down for another pitcher.
- Jose Guillen. ‘Clots (too early?) is actually contributing. I know, crazy. I’ve been as much of an advocate for him being traded as anyone, and right now just might be the perfect time to do it. If anyone’s going to take on his huge salary, they might be more inclined when he’s hitting .377/.406/.738. Let’s face it, we’re leading the league in hitting and sitting in 4th place. Guillen has been our best performer so far, but he’s not going to get us into the playoffs. With Getz returning fairly soon, Callaspo is the odd man out and Gordon needs at bats, and knowing Hillman he’ll want to get Callaspo out there as much as possible. I just think it’s best for the team to trade JG.
- Yuniesky Betancourt. Oddly enough, our talented short stop is actually performing up to this point. Sure he hurts on defense at times (seems improved to me), but when he’s hitting .309 who’s complaining? Not me. I was glad when we traded for Yuni mostly because of his potential to be a decent SS. I don’t question work ethic when Trey Hillman is involved.
- Billy Butler. BB off to a better start than he was last year. I think this is a big positive for the team. He’s not squaring up that pitch early in the count like he did last year when he was a doubles machine, but he’s still hitting better than he did last april (doesn’t take much). This might not be a big deal to most Royals fans, but I find the joy in the little things.
- Jason Kendall. He is way better than I thought he would be. Both offensively and defensively. I’ll say it. Plus he’s a great veteran to have in that clubhouse.
- We are not the Pirates.
Negatives from road trip:
- Rick Ankiel. Rick showed some great early season promise, but I really think he’s going to be a streaky player for us. The main problem I see with Ankiel (aside from confusion) is that no matter what the count is, he’s got the exact same swing. Because of that lack of a skill, Ankiel is a career .151 hitter with two strikes. The main way that he needs to overcome this issue is by being more patient at the plate. It’s almost like he’s afraid of getting two strikes that he tries to get a pitch to square up before then. Pitchers know that he’s an early ball hitter, so they’re very careful early in the count. It would also be nice if a coach could get him to shorten up with two strikes, but that would be good coaching.
- Gil Meche. Gil really doesn’t look good at this point in the season. I am at the point that I don’t think we’re going to see a sub-4.00 ERA from Meche again in his career. I hope my opinion changes come his next start, but as it stands now, that’s how I feel.
- Brayan Pena. He had an absolutely terrible game behind the plate against Toronto on Tuesday. As I mentioned on twitter, I hadn’t noticed him being that bad defensively last year, and I still don’t think he was as bad last year as he was Tuesday, but we’ve been kinda spoiled by Kendall to this point.
- Record. Like I’ve already stated, we are leading the league in hitting at a crazy pace, yet we are sitting 6-9. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when we cool off…
Pitching match-ups for Twins series:
- Game 1 – Pavano (2-1, 4.96) vs Meche (0-1, 11.57)
- Game 2 – Blackburn (1-1, 6.05) vs Hoch (2-0, 2.89)
- Game 3 – Slowey (2-1, 2.45) vs Bannie (0-1, 4.58)
Jan/101
The signing of Rick Ankiel and others
Posted by: photogwingsfan on January 27, 2010.
After giving the recent signings by Dayton Moore and the Royals some time to fester, I can finally give my opinion from a fans perspective.
Rick Ankiel- I am not jumping up and down with this signing but don’t hate it as much as others. After they decided to go another direction with trading Mark Teahen (I like who they got in return but hate to see one of my favorite and others go), not resigning Miguel Olivo and Mike Jacobs they had to go after someone with some kind of power. Ankiel had only 11 home runs last season which was marred by injuries but the Royals and their fans hope he can return to the 2008 season form where he hit 25. Everyone knows that the boys in blue won’t hit many dingers so they will need as much help possible from the former Cardinal (blah.) I don’t want to forget his arm in the outfield . It will be a major plus for the Royals outfield. [url]http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200805072655396[/url]
Scott Podsednik- Everyone is hoping the former White Sox can repeat a season where he hit .304 (BA) and steal 30 bases. He is part of a crowded outfield that includes David DeJesus, Mitch Maier, Jose Guillen, Brian Anderson and Rick Ankiel. Something will have to give and as of right now I see a starting outfield as DeJesus (LF), Ankiel (CF) and Podsednik (RF.)
Jason Kendall- This is the one signing that others and I just don’t understand. They let go Olivo and Buck and signed a guy who has no pop whatsoever and for around the same price. My guess is that they think he will work better with the pitchers.
Noel Arguelles- I believe Noel Arguelles is the biggest acquisition during the Royals off-season. It’s true that he might not pitch for a few seasons but this showed that Dayton Moore and the Royals are committed to putting money into the international market, a place that they have been absent as of late.
Pretty much what all this means is that the Royals are just trying to wait until their young guys come up from minors, something we have heard way to much. They have to start hitting on some guys in the draft or we will be right back to wear former General Manager Allard Baird left us.
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