In a stunning development today, Derek Jeter decided to shun the NY Yankees and sign a team friendly one year contract with the lowly Kansas City Royals. After Jeter felt betrayed by the Yankees piddly offer to only pay him twice the market rate for a player of his caliber, instead of his desired quadruple market rate salary, he decided that he was up for a new challenge and went to a team who he felt was the complete opposite of the NY Yankees. He also agreed to move to second base in favor of the far superior fielding capabilities of the younger and rangier short stop Yuniesky Betancourt, also realizing that he would have to beat out Chris Getz for the second base job in spring training. He agreed to a one-year, six million dollar deal with KC in hopes to reestablish himself as a premier free agent in next years offseason. Given that we know Jeter is always looking for ways to meet new challenges and overcome obstacles, he feels that through his patented leadership qualities he will be able to lead one of the worst teams to the world series in just one year. It came down to a decision between KC and the Pittsburgh Pirates and he felt that it was time to get out of the east coast take advantage of the low cost of living which Kansas City offers. In an exclusive interview with the Powder Blue Room, Derek stated that the new challenges included; wanting to see if he could actually hit 10 home runs in a real baseball stadium, to see how difficult it is to score 100 runs a year without the benefit of a 100 million dollar batting order hitting behind him, and the added difficulty of fielding behind pitchers who will never get any hall of fame votes. He acknowledged that it will be difficult and he'll miss the ease of riding into the playoffs every year on the coattails of the best team money can buy and that many of his opposite field home runs will not even make it to the warning track, but he feels that his prowess alone will make most teams give up at the mere sight of him dawning an opposing team's uniform, no matter whose uniform it is. He admitted that the strategy is similar to the guy who gets dumped by his girlfriend, then dates the next girl who will have him in an effort to make the old girlfriend jealous and thus take him back, ignoring the faults for which the girlfriend previously dumped him. Jeter also admitted plans for reality based TV show to be aired on FOX and titled "Jeter's Winning Ways", which covers his transition and is likened to a show where CEOs for major corporations agree to pick-up trash to see how real people live. The show will reportedly pay him the difference in money he is forfeiting on the free agent market and will keep his face in prime time, given the Royals current once-every-10-year pace for nationally televised games. All in all, DJ feels that he owes something to the game and wants to bring his winning attitude to a group of losers, demonstrating that his true worth cannot be measured in age, slugging percentage, defensive rage or any thing else which can be measured by numbers.
Yes by now you've caught the whiff of sarcasm and get the joke, but just what would this guy be worth to the Royals is the question? Would you even want him if he said okay, okay from you guys I'll do if for 2yrs/$25 mil? In the end we all know that Jeter will sign a contract for the Yankees worth roughly the value of the 2011 payroll for the Royals, but if you were the GM for the Royals and he approached you and said that he was tired of negotiating with the Yankees and he was willing to play for your team, just what would you offer the guy? How many teams out there would, if they could, match the Yankees initial 3yr/$45 mil offer? It would surprise me if there were two. This year I gave thanks for all of the Jeter vs. Yanks management contract talk and just how hilarious it really is.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Bye Bye Banny and DeJesus
The Royals got things started early in the offseason by making a quick deal and shipping off long time Royal David DeJesus to the A's and cutting ties with another staple over the past few years in Brian Bannister. While the decision to cut Banny didn't come as much of a surprise, it's still sad to see a familiar face go. However, the decision to trade DeJesus came awfully fast and without much rumoring, poof...just like that he was gone. Discussions about the merits of this trade can be found throughout the world wide Royals web, so rather than break down the trade ad nauseam, we'll quickly summarize our thoughts and give our best send off to a couple of players whom we'll be hoping enjoy greener pastures in the future, because their time with the Royals was painful to say the least.
Banny was, at one time, close to being a solid staple in the Royals rotation, but things just came apart in a hurry. Hell as early as this year he threw a shutout and became the first person to beat Stephen Strausburg, but that was a long time ago and right around that time is when he took a nose dive into Royals abyss. So now the futile two-some of Davies/Bannister is broken up and the Royals will go trodding along without Banny because no decent business man could have paid Banny $2 mil and change coming off the season he put up last year. There is about a 50/50 shot he'll get recycled by some pitching desperate NL team and manage to compile a decent year in 2011 and we here at the PBR sincerely hope that happens. Banny, along with many others, personifies the Royals losing years by being another member of the ALL iffs, almosts, coulda-woulda-shouldas TEAM. IF Banny coulda repeated his 2007 season, Mark Teahen coulda continued his 2006 year, John Buck woulda been a teensy bit better, Alex Gordon woulda been the next George Brett and if Angel Berroa coulda been exactly like his 2003 season forever THEN the Royals might not have sucked soo bad over the last several seasons. However, we all know what actually DID happen and we have to wave good bye to another Almost-Was.
As for DDJ, we actually still might get something for his years of above-averageness and that is definitely worth something. David was a Real Major League player on many, many, many teams containing LOTS of decidedly Non-Major League players. We like David, everyone does, but he was about like having a good looking friend-that-is-a-girl that you have hung out with for years now, but you knew deep down that nothing was ever going to come out of this situation; you were going to keep taking her out for moderately expensive dinners and you still would have just been friends. So I guess trading him for Vinny is about like making out with her slightly younger flirty co-worker - its just business - the friendship is obviously over, but at least you got the co-workers phone number. The consequences of not having DDJ on the 2011 squad are far from grave and the plus is that we now have a pitcher named Vinny to go along with Shaun O'Sullivan, the duo who will from now on be dubbed the Mick and the Whop (no offense), and it gives the Royals a proposed 5 man rotation that doesn't involve Bruce Chen (no offense). The real fun/scary/fantasy GM question now is, who's on Right?? David, we'll miss you, but hopefully you'll be in a better place now and be on a team which doesn't lose 90 games.
No need to shed too many tears over this, lets just keep our fingers crossed and hope that the Royals start bidding on Jayson Werth to replace DDJ, that Vinny isn't the next Banny and that Zach Greinke is still a Royal come next year. All in all, its an interesting enough start the Royals offseason limbo.
Banny was, at one time, close to being a solid staple in the Royals rotation, but things just came apart in a hurry. Hell as early as this year he threw a shutout and became the first person to beat Stephen Strausburg, but that was a long time ago and right around that time is when he took a nose dive into Royals abyss. So now the futile two-some of Davies/Bannister is broken up and the Royals will go trodding along without Banny because no decent business man could have paid Banny $2 mil and change coming off the season he put up last year. There is about a 50/50 shot he'll get recycled by some pitching desperate NL team and manage to compile a decent year in 2011 and we here at the PBR sincerely hope that happens. Banny, along with many others, personifies the Royals losing years by being another member of the ALL iffs, almosts, coulda-woulda-shouldas TEAM. IF Banny coulda repeated his 2007 season, Mark Teahen coulda continued his 2006 year, John Buck woulda been a teensy bit better, Alex Gordon woulda been the next George Brett and if Angel Berroa coulda been exactly like his 2003 season forever THEN the Royals might not have sucked soo bad over the last several seasons. However, we all know what actually DID happen and we have to wave good bye to another Almost-Was.
As for DDJ, we actually still might get something for his years of above-averageness and that is definitely worth something. David was a Real Major League player on many, many, many teams containing LOTS of decidedly Non-Major League players. We like David, everyone does, but he was about like having a good looking friend-that-is-a-girl that you have hung out with for years now, but you knew deep down that nothing was ever going to come out of this situation; you were going to keep taking her out for moderately expensive dinners and you still would have just been friends. So I guess trading him for Vinny is about like making out with her slightly younger flirty co-worker - its just business - the friendship is obviously over, but at least you got the co-workers phone number. The consequences of not having DDJ on the 2011 squad are far from grave and the plus is that we now have a pitcher named Vinny to go along with Shaun O'Sullivan, the duo who will from now on be dubbed the Mick and the Whop (no offense), and it gives the Royals a proposed 5 man rotation that doesn't involve Bruce Chen (no offense). The real fun/scary/fantasy GM question now is, who's on Right?? David, we'll miss you, but hopefully you'll be in a better place now and be on a team which doesn't lose 90 games.
No need to shed too many tears over this, lets just keep our fingers crossed and hope that the Royals start bidding on Jayson Werth to replace DDJ, that Vinny isn't the next Banny and that Zach Greinke is still a Royal come next year. All in all, its an interesting enough start the Royals offseason limbo.
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