Jul/093
Heads Should Roll For This
Posted by: Casey on July 22, 2009.
How long do we have to watch this team go through the motions before someone gets in their face? Not only does this extend the losing streak to 9 games, but is the 4th straight game that the bullpen has blown a lead. I’m not even going to blame Hillman or anyone else on the coaching/managerial staff. I can’t think of a worst performance by a baseball team over the last couple weeks than what we are seeing.
Someone needs to call some of these guys out. This bullpen is absolutely horendous. At some point, don’t you think someone would want to go out there and actually do their job? No, because they’re just going through the motions. When you watch relievers from other teams come out of the bullpen, they’re breathing fire, they’re attacking the hitter, they’re being aggressive. Our guys come out and nip the corners, they throw these weak curves, they pipe the fastball after they fall behind. This is absolutely terrible.
We’re scoring runs for once, so someone should get in this teams face. Whether its Trey Hillman, or one of the players, someone needs to explode. I’m tired of watching this emotionless baseball team piss through this season. Soria, Guillen, Teahen, DeJesus, someone call someone out. There’s this thing called being accountable.
Someone take charge. Someone do their job.
Jul/0911
Fire Dayton Moore
Posted by: Casey on July 22, 2009.
That’s right. Me, the lontime proponent of this regime, has finally changed his mind. When you look at the acquisitions that Dayton Moore has made this year, as a whole, turned out to be terrible.. Whether he was just really unlucky, or if it was just one bad year of decisions, there is no true excuse for it. They had this organization building over the last couple years, but this year has just been a complete step backwards.
- Coco Crisp – 6 million – for an outfielder who is notoriously known for getting injured, and is an average CF in my book
- Kyle Farnsworth – 4+ million – for an absoulutely terrible reliever
- Mike Jacobs - 3+ million - Probably the best move made this year, and that’s for a player who’s twenty points over the Mendoza and went over a month without hitting a homerun
- Juan Cruz – 2+ million – another worthless reliever
- Willie Bloomquist – 1+ million – Okay, he might have been a better addition than Jacobs. Maybe.
Those are all terrible, terrible additions. This team spent over 10 million more this year than they did last year, and at the pace they are at, will finish well below where the team did last year. That shouldn’t happen in baseball, especially at this time in the US economy. While other teams are being smarter with their money, Moore was able to get Glass to spend some money, and guess what, that’s not going to happen again. David Glass is sitting in his Texas home right now thinking the exact same thing I’m saying:
I invested more money (significantly more) on this team than I did last year, and we’re 19-47 since starting out 18-9 in April?
That is an absolute disgrace. Moore has to be gone at this point in time.
And only because I don’t think Hillman would be able to keep his job through a Dayton Moore removal, Trey’s likely not to be returning to this baseball team. I honestly am still a Trey Hillman fan. I love the way he handles his clubhouse. I wish this team showed a little bit more passion than they do, other than that, I like how Hillman runs the show. Sure, there’s some situational stuff where we give him fits about it (especially early on in the year), but at the end of the day, it’s not his fault that he doesn’t have a reliever than can get outs. It’s not his fault that this team is hitting terribly. It’s not his fault that this team is as bad as it is defensively. But you don’t see him saying that, and you don’t see him targetting his players. I like the man, and because he’s a Texas boy too, maybe, just maybe, he’ll get to keep his job. Much to the dismay of Frank White.
Maybe Moore gets another year out of Glass. If he does, I think Glass will likely not add to the payroll that much (especially since Guillen’s 12 mil will be gone). Expect it to stay around 70-75 million.
Jul/097
Trade Soria, Others Not Needed
Posted by: Casey on July 21, 2009.
As much as it hurts to see players traded away that we grow accustomed to, it’s time to realize that this team isn’t going anywhere. We need to move towards the 2010 and on season’s and sell the pieces of this ship that aren’t going to be apart of the future. I think the need to go list includes:
- DeJesus – It was fun, but he’s not the future
- Teahen – Love the guy, but we could get something of value for him
- Guillen – I’d trade him for anything above a new pitching machine
- Buck – Sorry ol chap
- Soria – What good is a team with a great closer when we only need him 30 games a year and we aren’t contending? We could get some serious value for him, not to mention if we don’t think he can pitch 5 outs in an outing, than we’re babying him, and if he needs to be baby’d then we should trade him.
- Meche – I’m tired of his injury-prone-self. He’s a workhorse, but if he’s giving up runs then he’s supposively hurt. According to Meche’s lack of responsiblity, if he was always healthy, his ERA would be around 2.00 .. I’m tired of it.
- Anyone else that we don’t feel is going to be apart of the future of this team.
Let’s face it, we’re still two years away from getting impact bats like Mouse and Hosmer, let alone the young pitching. Our AAA is terrible, so it’s going to be two years at least. We shouldn’t be spending more money on guys that are not helping this team.
Our payroll this year went up around 12 mil if I’m not mistaken, and this team is worse than it was before. Dayton Moore had a terrible year. Coco deal = fail. Jacobs deal = fail. Farnsworth = fail. Ponson = fail. Anyone else? I know I’m forgetting others, just writing a quick piece.
Thoughts?
Jul/091
Petro's Mid-Season Grades For The Kansas City Royals (pt. 1)
Posted by: photogwingsfan on July 14, 2009.
After watching bits and pieces of the home run derby and being happy that St. Louis Cardinals’ Albert Pujols didn’t win on his home field, I had to get back to the task and hand unfortunately and give my grades for the Kansas City Royals at the mid way point. This is part one consisting of the coaching staff, catchers and infield. Part two will be later today/tomorrow and will be the DH spot (Mike Jacobs), outfielders and pitching staff.
Coaching staff: C-
There is not much else to say about Trey Hillman that hasn’t already been said. The way he has managed games this season is starting to make fans wonder if he is able to guide a team. With a team like the Royals he obviously needs to be making more right moves than wrong ones because the margin of error is slim. I think his job should be safe until next season unless the season gets even worse.
John Buck: C-
John Buck hasn’t done much to change my opinion on what I thought he was before the season. Yes has been injured for decent amount of games but as Royals fans know we will get a good defensive catcher but the offense is severely lacking and doubt it will ever come around.
Miguel Olivo: C+
Miguel Olivo, like John Buck, hasn’t really surprised me this year but his power has been a nice surprise. He is only three homeruns away from his career high (16) and I am sure will fall around 23 home runs.
Brayan Pena: n/a
Not much to really say about Brayan Pena but I don’t think we are expecting much from a third string catcher. He hasn’t played enough for me to even evaluate him.
Willie Bloomquist: C+
Willie Bloomquist has played a lot more than I honestly wish he would have but he has exceeded my expectations with his .280 batting average and has committed only seven errors while playing every position except for pitcher and catcher.
Billy Butler: B
Billy Butler is positioning himself to have a nice season if he can continue his batting average and connect on a few more homers and try to reach 20 by the end of the season. I have also been more than happy with his fielding at first base in the 78 games he has played there only committing four errors.
Alberto Callaspo: C
Alberto Callaspo has done more than expected at the plate with a .298 batting average and six home runs but his fielding has left something to be desired but has done a decent job overall playing second base.
Tony Pena Jr.: D-
It is not his fault that he is on the team, because no one in their right mind would refuse a position on a major league roster, but there is no reason on earth that Tony Pena, Jr. should be on this team. Every regime has their favorite/pet player and Jr. is it.
Mark Teahen: B
Mark Teahen has done everything this team has asked playing four different positions and keeping his batting average at a very respectable .294 and his home run total sitting at nine. If Teahen is traded I won’t be upset because the Royals need to upgrade at pretty much any position and he could be a nice piece to someone’s play-off puzzle.
Alex Gordon: n/a
Alex Gordon didn’t get off to a great start in the seven games he has played so far with his .095 batting average but a lot of that could be due to his injury. I am hoping as I am sure a lot of others that Gordon can come back strong because the Royals need it.
Jul/095
Give The Trade a Chance
Posted by: Casey on July 13, 2009.
Look at it from this point of view. We gave up two minor league pitchers, neither of which are proven at the Major League level, for a shortstop that instantly upgrades us at that position. The M’s are paying for most of Betancourt’s remaining deal. He has “limitless potential”. A change in scenery is almost always the turning point for players like this. Who knows if either of the two arms we gave up will be any good. You can’t say that this trade was terrible until you see what happens to the players you gave up. If Yuni hits .250 for 3 years in Kansas City, and Cortes isn’t pitching effective, consistent innings at the big league level, then we win the trade. Even if Cortes ends up pitching 10 years as a middle-reliever, being a consistent performer, I still like this trade. It’s a gamble. Cortes could be the next Jimmy Gobble. Being the pitcher of the year in the Royals farm system isn’t quite a guarantee that the player will be successful in the majors. I think Yuni will be a good player for us, and I know he’ll be an upgrade from TPJ/Hernandez/Bloomquist.
’nuff said.
Jul/095
Royals Drop Game 2, Stay Optimistic
Posted by: Casey on July 11, 2009.
The bad news is, the Red Sox scored one run all night on friday, and they still got the win. The good news is that Bannister stymied the Sox for much of the night, dancing through the high-powered sox lineup with using both sides of the plate and keeping the hitters guessing.
There’s something about Fenway Park that makes Lester completely dominate the Royals. He has now pitched 26 scoreless innings against the Royals at home, which is an unbelievable feat. If you would have told me that there was going to be a no-hitter tonight in the major leagues, I would have been genuinely worried that it was going to be Lester doing it to us again. Lester has turned into a heck of a pitcher, really coming after hitters and not being afraid of challenging guys with his fastball. I enjoy watching him pitch, I think he’s got a chance to be very great.
I’m very optimistic about our chances to come away with at least a 2-2 tie at Fenway, which in my mind is an accomplishment, especially when you consider the fact that the Sox missed out on Greinke. We get to face Smoltz, which will be fun to face a legend, especially since he hasn’t been very good so far as a Red Sox player. Not only that, but we also have Meche heading onto the mound to face him in saturdays game. Hopefully we get the win against Smoltz because Chen will be facing Beckett in the sunday finale and yeah, that could be bad.
After many hours of thought, here’s my ruling on the trade today. We’re getting a SS who is a legitimate big-leaguer. We’ll be having Gordon and Betancourt on the left side of the infield, which gives us a much better lineup than we have had in the last few weeks. Compare these hypothetical lineups:
Typical lineup for first-half of the season.
- DeJesus (LF)
- Bloomquist (SS)
- Butler (1B)
- Guillen (RF)
- Teahen (3B)
- Jacobs (DH)
- Callaspo (2B)
- Olivo (C)
- Maier (CF)
With Gordon/Betancourt
- DeJesus (LF)
- Bloomquist (CF)
- Butler (1B)
- Guillen (DH)
- Teahen (RF)
- Gordon (3B)
- Callaspo (2B)
- Olivo (C)
- Betancourt (SS)
If you compare the lineups, you’ll notice some small differences, which actually turns out to be big differences. We fielded a lineup earlier this year that had Maier, TPJ and Hernandez. None of those players are legitimate big-league players, let alone guys that should be starting often. The additions of Gordon and Betancourt make this team much better on offense, defense and speed. I don’t think you can argue that.
We won’t know if Cortes ends up being as good as advertised. I think that because he’s not a proven big-league player, and that we got Betancourt who is a proven player (who by the way, has unlimited talent), that this trade is going to work out well for the Royals. It dramatically improves this team at SS, meanwhile we won’t know how Cortes pans out for years to come. I like the trade, and I will go on record as saying that I think Betancourt will work harder in KC and will work out for us very well. Let’s hope I am right.
BTW – props to Teahen. I really don’t want to see him leave this team.
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