Halfway to Nowhere

81 down, 81 to go. Here we are coming off what was maybe the worst series of the year looking toward a second half filled with little to be excited about. Let's just see what's going on in Yosty's mind as he readies himself to start the second half and get this ship back on track:

Inside the bathroom of Suite #27 at the Downtown Denver Four Seasons

I'm really ready to kick off this 6-man rotation. I came up with it all on my own. It will work. I have six below average starters, so the way to make it work is to pitch them less often, Ned it's F-ing Managerial Gold. I really didn't want to send my little Duffy down to the minors again, I've really got him on the right track. It was probably all of that Ned Yost Tuff Love ©. It worked on Escobar, it worked on Gordon, it worked on Soria, hasn't worked on Hoch yet, but it will. I'm really having a hard time coming-up with a pet name for Danny Duffy, both first and last name end in a 'y' and I usually just add that to the end of a players name. Do I take off the 'y' and just call him Duff, that's just not Ned Yost enough. I'll keep working on it, there has got to be another way. 

Ned get's Hungry and heads to the lobby for breakfast 

"I'll have a Denver Omelet."

Batting orders are so hard. Good thing Butler's not playing today, this gives me another opportunity to bat Chris Getz #2. Getzy has been on fire, got that BA all the way up to .270 and he can hit-and-run so well, just the perfect #2 hitter. If I could have kids again, they would be just like Chris Getz. I wish I had nine guys just like Getzy playing everyday. Well, maybe 5 Chris Getz clones and 4 Jeff Francouer clones. That team would win. I've got a hunch today: we're going to bat Melky #4, Alex is #3 and Alcides will leadoff. I've just got this hunch and my momma always told me to play your hunches. Man, a Denver omelet really does taste better in Devner. I wonder if French fries taste better in France. I need a shower.

Ned heads back upstairs for a quick shower and shave before BP

Tomorrow's another day, Tomorrow IS another day, Tomorrow IS ANOTHER day. I don't trust that shaving gel, I stick with the foam. Old Spice aftershave smells good. I'm going to get through to that punk kid Hosmer today. What does he think he's doing swinging at all of those pitches. I keep telling him this isn't the minors Eric, just watch how Chris Getz hits, take your time. Hosmer doesn't listen. I can't believe Butler's still mad at me for that astronaut comment. He can't play first base, Ned's decision is final. If I was Dayton Moore I'd trade Billy and Eric both, they're just a couple of babies who would never have made it in my day. All we have to do is win 15 in a row and we're back in this thing, I don't know what everybody is so worried about.

Bare With Me

So the Royals close out a fairly lackluster homestand in which the Arizona Diamondbacks demonstrated for us what good young teams look like and then the Cubs came to town to boost dismal attendance numbers at the K and play to see who is the worst non-Houston Astros Team (KC Wins!). This is not interesting baseball. What makes this season even worse is that it is clearly a year in which the Royals would have had a shot to steal the division had they simply been able to stay around .500. But now they're batting, once again, to stay out of last place. As the trade deadline nears, the Royals will certainly be discussed as sellers and not as buyers, they may be able to sucker someone into Melky Cabrera or Jeff Francis for a prospect or two, but these will all boil down to Shaun O'Sullivan, Vin Mazarro and at best Tim Collins returns. Trading Melky Cabrera-types won't get you to that next level. I believe that it is time for Dayton Moore to be bold and start taking calculated risks that get the 2012 Royals looking like potential contenders. This year the Royals are in a great position as sellers with minor league talent to spare and no big Jose Guillen contracts hanging around so they're not looking to just dump payroll because they have NO payroll. Thanks to Gil Meche's generosity and the trades of Greinke and DeJesus, the team is sporting a payroll of under $36 mil. The lowest in baseball. Now comes the hard part, what do you do with a 2011 budget surplus of $30+ mil???

Trade for Carlos Zambrano

I said that you were going to have to bare with me on this one. This proposed trade has two parts: the theory and the actuality. First lets start with the theory; Carlos has an inflated contract, the Cubs desperately want rid of him, the Royals have payroll space, there is not one single middling starting pitcher worth paying for in the 2012 free agent class and by the way the Royals need a starter. Who is your projected 2012 KC Royals starting rotating? It's scary, I know. So it could be anyone, but Big Z is just the best case that I've been able to come-up with. One of the big advantages in contract absorption trades is that you won't have to give up much, so the Royals can hold on to all of their precious prospects and let go of maybe two mid-tier guys. Here is how the economics of the trade break down; Carlos is still owed something like $9 mil this year and $18 mil for 2012. Yes, these are big numbers, but the Cubs know they need to eat a good chunk of that if they want to rid themselves of Carlos and get anything in return. So I believe the best way to use the Royals deflated 2011 payroll is to eat a few mil from another team's bad contract this year, while still gaining a much needed asset. If the Royals agree to take on something like half of the contract, that means somewhere in the neighborhood of four million this year and nine next year. I'm just assuming these numbers, but if the Cubs wanted a team to pay much more than that, it would be silly. The point is; who does it hurt if the Royals payroll creeps over $40 mil this year? It's like a tree falling in the woods; the Royals planned to have around a $70 million payroll this year so it seems to me that tacking on a few mil this year will not hurt anyone. If no money is added, David Glass will simply become imperceptibly richer and maybe Christmas bonuses are little better in the executive suite. But that's it, the books will rollover to 2012, and Luke Hochevar will again be our opening day starter. I call this the theory part because it could be any player with an expiring back-loaded contract that is weighing another team down, yet that player is still potentially useful - just not at that price. As for the $9 mil (give or take) in 2012; the Royals will still come into 2012 with one of the lowest payrolls in baseball, unless of course they sign Pujols to play 2B, Prince Fielder to man RF and persuade CC Sabathia to come join the rotation. So if you think you can find a better use of this money, I'm all ears.     

I assume that the money won't raise much of an issue here, but a lot of baseball fans probably see the crazy Zambrano and think clubhouse problem; i.e. more Jose Guillen, less Jeff Fancouer. Maybe you can get past this, but you still see his 4.38 ERA and dropping strikeout rate as indicators of a potentially washed-up starting pitcher who won't help the team. And you know what, all of these concerns might be valid. But let's break down what Zambrano has done and just think what he could do for the Royals. Zambrano has never, save a seven inning cup-of-coffee in 2001, had an ERA over 4.00. Never, not once! The only time after he was officially moved to the starting rotation that he has not completed a season with 160+ innings and 28 starts with said sub-4.00 ERA was last year when Lou Pinella went senile for a month and made one of the best pitchers of the last decade into an 8th inning set-up man. If you're still here and have bared with me through all of this, but are not yet convinced that this is an impressive feat then let me tell you why this is so impressive to me. The entire KC Royals starting pitching rotations from the years 2000 through 2010 have been able to accomplish this (sub-4.00 ERA, 160+ innings, 28 starts) exactly SEVEN TIMES! Only three times have been by pitchers not named Zack Greinke or Gil Meche. And since Carlos Zambrano started his streak in 2003 he has been able to accomplish this seven times compared to just five for the Royals. So one starting pitcher has accomplished this feat two more times than all of the starting pitchers for the Royals COMBINED! So yes, I marvel at this achievement. Carlos has stayed healthy and been an above average starting pitcher, with flashes of greatness, for his entire career and still appears to be a useful workhorse. This is exactly the kind of pitcher the Royals need. The issues about his club house presence may or may not be of any real concern, it's hard to tell. But if you choose to believe that he is just a competitive pitcher who wants to win and is in the last year of his contract looking for another big deal then what more could you ask for?

It's a leap-of-faith, I'll grant you that, but based on the above referenced track record do you feel more comfortable penciling-in Vin Mazarro or Carlos Zambrano as you #3 starting pitcher? Do you see more potential for a #2 starter in Luke Hochevar or Zambrano? Looking at the Royals current situation, I feel that they need to start making gambles, and as far as gambles go this is one that has the potential to make a real impact on the team without sacrificing much other than a couple of secondary prospects and only a few million bucks that will hardly be felt by the payroll. Playing the waiting game with pitching prospects is fine, and Duffy has been looking better every time, but you need someone reliable in your rotation and there have been few pitchers as reliable (physically not mentally) as Carlos Zambrano. I think this is the exact situation that can be exploited by a shrewd organization; an unwanted player with a big contract and a team in need of payroll space to sign someone like Pujols or Fielder. It just reeks of desperation. If there is another, better contract dump situation out there please let me know. But this trade deadline I'd love to see Dayton take a risk instead of his past Callaspo-for-O'Sullivan snoozers that will have little impact on keeping 2012 from looking like 2011.

Stealing vs Acquiring

Depending on your view of Frank White the announcer, we believe that it’s highly probable that Frank White the man is a heck of a guy, a swell family man and a decent guy to run into at the neighborhood BBQ. With that being said, Frank White the announcer is as bland and straightforward as an announcer can offer. We can’t recall any instance of offering even a courtesy giggle to any of Frank’s attempted “funnies”. Let’s just say that after three innings of Frank no one has ever said “Gee-Wilikers, that guy would be a hoot to go grab some beers with”.

Regardless, Frank said something the other day during the Diamondbacks game that was a somewhat original insight or one that we have not previously heard 10,000 times at a 10-year old baseball camp. Lefebre and Frank were bantering about Adam Kennedy’s slide step and how for some miraculous reason Chris Getz might not be able to steal second base (as if Chris Getz is the standard for base stealing prowess…it’s a miracle of God he got to first base to start with). The quote was something like this:

“Kennedy is able to maintain his command and keep the ball down while using that slide step. With most guys the arm doesn’t catch up and they leave the ball up when using a slide step. In my day no one knew what a slide step was, nobody used one”.

Frank played when Kauffman Stadium was large enough to fatten 300 head of cattle (if the surface was natural grass, of course). Frank also played when people really stole some bases. This was what the Powder Blue Room refers to as the Cocaine Era of Base Stealing. Just for a minute take a look at some of Vince Coleman’s stolen base numbers.

In 1985-87, Vince Coleman stole 110, 107 and 109 bases, respectively. Coleman was on 1st or 2nd base 210 times in 1985. He successfully stole a base 110 times, or about 53% of the time he was logically eligible to steal. If you count the mere 25 times Coleman was caught stealing, Coleman attempted to steal a base darn near 65% of every time he was logically eligible to do so. Keep in mind this was IN THE MAJOR LEAGUES.

That is an attempt percentage similar to your average 9-year old Little Leauge game, where this is the first year stolen bases are allowed, kid pitchers crying because they don’t know how to pitch from the stretch and the catcher can’t so much see second base much less throw it that far (wasn’t eveyone’s first “steal” sign a touch of the hat followed by a swipe against the chest….hat and belt buckle was of course bunt).

In 1986 it was more of the same. Coleman reached 1st or 2nd base 194 times. He actually stole a base 55% of the time, and tried to steal a base 63% of the time.

Vince Coleman didn’t really “steal” bases as he “acquired” them, sort of like one company “acquires” another company. According to dictionary.com the third definition of “steal” is:

“to take, get or win insidiously, surreptitiously, subtly, or by chance”

Now the Powder Blue Room has no earthly idea what the words insidiously or surreptitiously mean, but we do know there was nothing subtle about Vince Coleman’s desire to steal the next base in front of him. And the percentages show that Mr. Coleman had a successful rate of over 50%. Ask a casino if the player having a 53%-47% advantage is a game of “chance”.

"Stealing" infers some Ocean’s Eleven type scheme where Brad Pitt puts on a dandy suit, eats popcorn shrimp and somehow ends up in your vault. Vince Coleman stealing a base was true marksmanship. When standing on first base mabye Vince simply saw a mound of white stuff 90 feet away and thought he should get the good times a 'rollin (maybe have D. Strawberry and Doc Gooden out to 2nd base for a strategy session).

Of the twenty top single season stolen base totals, six occurred between 1980 and 1987. Eleven of the twenty occurred before 1900. You get the picture. This all leads to the bigger question. Why?

The Powder Blue Room has a theory and it is based on what was expected of a catcher back when. As everyone can recall, before Cal Ripken and later the A-Rod’s of the world, the average shortstop could shop for clothes in the juniors department and not hit his rear end with either hand, so long as he could field the ball.

Unfortunately, this is a theory the Kansas City Royals have adamantly adhered to for their entire existence as a franchise. There was a small change of pace with Angel Berroa for a year, but Angel never saw a pitch he didn’t deem worthy of a hack. By the end Berroa probably would have swung at a wheel pick off play to second base.

Perhaps catchers didn’t always throw 93 mph to second base. Perhaps the result of the 1980’s base stealing necessitated the requirement that catchers possess a cannon of an arm and a nano-second pop time to second. Or at least the arm strength factor did not carry as much weight in a catcher’s evaluation. A good time ago maybe a catcher was only really required to “handle his pitching staff” and block balls and not be a complete embarrassment at the plate. Nowhere in there was it required that you need to throw greyhounds out stealing.

Then teams got around to thinking “geez, if we let every fast dude that gets to first base exploit our catcher (especially with all the large multi-use stadiums back then, homeruns not being as in vogue) then why should anyone bother with a double….tell Johnson down in scouting that from now on catchers have to be able to throw the daylights out of the ball to second or else this is going to get really out of hand”.

Much like the shortstop of a pre 1990’s vintage, the required tools of a catcher might have changed. Now we have to listen to Tim McCarver say “this guy has a cannon behind the plate”. Well, Tim, now they all do. Some have more of a “cannon” of an arm than others, much like some running backs are faster than others. But they all throw aspin tablets to second base and all running backs are fast.

This has to be one of the reasons that Vince Colman could hit a single and stand on first base and have every single breathing soul in the stadium know he was going to try and steal a base, and actually do it. This is not the same bowl of soup as when Jose Canseco was the first to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a season. Almost any major leaguer can scrounge up 40 trash stolen bases by guessing right and strategically attempting stolen bases in the 7th inning of a blowout, August 23rd, Sunday 1pm, Oakland-Kansas City getaway game in Kauffman Stadium, when it is 400 degrees Kelvin outside, the catcher is nursing last night’s P&L escapade and fielders would rather not run over to second to field the throw.

Mickey Mantle summed it up best when after Canseco accomplished the 40-40 feat he was asked why he was never able to pull it off.  The Mick’s answer:

“Hell if I’d known 40-40 was going to be a big deal I would have done it every year”.

We don’t have any real evidence of the above theory and obviously there are a ton of other reasons for prolific 1980’s base thievery. Perhaps pitchers just came to reason that if fast guys that have a knack for stealing bases really want second base, then bless their souls let them have it. At some point it becomes counterproductive to delay the inevitable.

Or as Frank White said, maybe it took a little while to develop the counter offense technique of a slide step. Baseball people will tell you “you steal a base on the pitcher and blah blah blah”. That’s true when you are trying to “steal” a base, where pitch count, pitch selection and so on matter most. When you are trying to “acquire” a base, and everyone knows it, the catcher’s arm strength really matters. It’s the arm strength that is going to make up the difference in the runners speed and jump during a base “acquisition”. That extra arm strength is going to give you a shot. That little difference is what you need to get Vince Coleman when the pitcher is slide stepping, has thrown over 2,000 times, and the previous four pitch-out attempts went by without cause.

Our guess is that the 1980’s thievery of bases caused the new modern day catcher that can really, really throw to second base. Vince Coleman might have been like a gambler or investor that finds an edge before the crowd catches on. Boy did he ride the wave.

Taking Stock

The PBR is going to put on its three-piece Gordon Geko suit and play analyst for the Royals to see which player's stock is up, who's stock is down, who's a buy, who's a hold, who's a sell, you know all of that good stuff. As an overall portfolio, I think we can all agree that the KC Royals are weak to quite weak? For all of the small battles the team is winning they're still losing the war...

Alcides Escobar

I'm going to give this my Hold rating; he was a penny stock about two weeks ago and now he's the hottest tech stock on the market. However, I need another month of data before I really consider Alcides' hitting stock - even after today's HR - as having any growth potential. Just to illustrate how bad he was hitting; during his steak (not including today) he's had to go 20 for 40 over his last 11 games just to get his SLG% to tick over .300, the streak has taken him all the way from The WORST offensive player in the league to the 4th WORST (per OPS+ @ Baseball Ref) Juan Pierre and Orlando Cabrera watch out! The PBR won't be suckered in to buying that type of hype, but if you do own it it's probably got more room to grow before it's profit taking time.

Danny Duffy

If you were a day trader who happened to be playing Duffman stock today, you had fun. He was coming in fresh off his first major league win, then has a typical first inning rough patch, next he looks like Randy Johnson for two innings, then gets injured. I'll just say I was buying all of the Duffy stock that I could get my hands-on as he was striking everyone out; in 3 2/3 innings he struck out nine, by far and away the most of any Royals pitcher this year (Chen and Davies each had a game of 7K) and all in less than four innings! After the injury I panicked and sold most of my stock, but then upon hearing that it was just a "leg cramp" I bought half of it back. Here is the bottom line; the Royals need an ace, Duffy is probably not it, but he is closer than anyone else. The Royals had four top minor league lefties coming into the start of the season; the best of them can't find the plate and has a 5.00 ERA in AAA (Montgomery), the next will undergo elbow surgery (Lamb), number three has a 6.00+ ERA in AA (Dwyer) and then there is Duffy who is in the majors and hopefully still healthy. Starting pitchers are the most fickle stocks of them all, and the Duffman has at least made it to the majors and proven that he can strike-out professional hitters so for a Royals stock right now that's a BUY.

Jeff Francouer

Since May 5: .224/.269/.308. Basically for the last six weeks Jeffy has hit like Alcides Escobar, if he hadn't put together that monster April, he'd be platooning with Mitch Maier and maybe still should be. I'm not as down on Frenchy as it might seem, but I wouldn't touch his stock with a ten-foot pole right now. Hopefully there is one MLB team out there that just looks at April stats and needs Le Jeff, but I think that hope is fading by each AB.

Wilson Betemit

His stock is no longer available on the open market, Dayton and Yost seen to that.

Eric Hosmer

He came out with a very strong LinkedIn-like IPO, but has had exactly one extra base hit in the month of June and has been out-homered by Alcides Escobar. I'm still strong to quite strong on Hosmer stock, but I liked it a lot better when his hits found the gaps and went over the fence.

Vinny Mazzaro

I've been shorting his stock since it came out, and we'll probably see him replaced by Bruce Chen asap, but make no mistake about it the Royals might need him to be a passable starter if they hope to do anything next year. He's the heir apparent to Kyle Davies, whatever that means.

Mike Moustakas

I'm placing a hold on this stock, I like it, but don't quite love it yet. On the defensive side he has the hands of concrete laborer, but looks like he might throw harder than Aroldis Chpman. At the plate he's looked solid except for the fact that he might never hit lefties (0 for 9 so far). All this adds-up to potentially a good major league player, but probably will always be limited by the defense and aversion to left handed pitching and therefore never great. Still I'll take what I can get in this no-so-hot market.

Felipe Paulino

Depends on the price tag, the Royals bought low and Dayton might have found another good project player that he can turn into a useful everyday player. He could very well be the best pitcher in the starting rotation now, however this is on a team that has as its only two regular starting pitchers the 49th and 50th (out of 54, per ERA+ @ Baseball Ref) best in the league, so we're working on a sliding scale.

Aaron Crow

In my humble opinion, he's been mislabeled as a small cap fund when he should really be a large cap fund. I'm still holding out hope for Yost and Moore to put him back in the starting rotation, but Yosty and Dayton are the two guys most likely to stick with convention and the philosophy of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." It's also possible that they've got to have someone ready if Joakim falls apart again, but still Crow doesn't seem to be getting the most out of his potential. Yesterday, he was apparently passed over by Yosty in favor of Greg Holland as the 8th inning guy who predictably gave up the lead with a two-run bomb. So I'm failing to see any of their logic with regard to Aaron Crow usage and the firm of PBR doesn't put out buys on part-time 8th inning guys. So hold if you already bought him, but wait until he moves to the rotation for anymore action on the Crow fund.

Melky Cabrera

Melky is about like one of those mutual funds available in your work 401K plan and seen advertised during golf tournaments. You could do a lot worse than having invested in the Cabrera fund, but you're probably not going to buy that house in the Hamptons because you dropped 5% of your paycheck into the Melky Global Markets Growth Fund from TD-Lynch'n-heimer. Still I'm buying on Melky as a very low-risk investment and I like his price-to-earnings ratio better than Jeff Francouer, while seeing more room for sustained growth. The Royals have no use for both Frency and Melky going forward this year with Lorenzo Cain tearing it up in AAA, one has to go and Melky will still be under contract next season for a lot less than the cost of the Francouer mutual option. Sorry it's just business.    

Billy Butler

I've finally come around on this stock, I used to be a seller but after all is said and done, Billy is our best hitter until proven otherwise. I've gotten past all of the flaws and now in my old age just want a steady 10-15% return every year and that's exactly what Billy gives the Royals.

Chris Getz

I prefer the larger cap hitting fund of Aviles, always have and always will.

Alex Gordon

I've been holding this stock for a long time now and still won't sell until the bitter end. In short, if the Royals are going to win in the next couple of years they need Alex Gordon to be the exact player that he is right now. We no longer need him to be Geoge Brett, but if he can continue to be an above average/useful player then he's got value. All that being said, I can still see Gordon stock turning into a Madoff-style ponzi scheme leaving them with nothing.

The KC Royals Fund

I've been selling at a loss for weeks now; 10 games under .500, all the way beneath the Twins and in last place. It feels familiar, but somehow even worse than ever; it's June and our hope rests on the shoulders of Bruce Chen and maybe even Kyle Davies, Jeff Francouer putting together another hot streak, Alcides Escobar hitting like Tulo, things that just don't happen. What happens next will depend on very undependable players and that scares me as a fan because there still remains the possibility that it could get worse. It's a long way up from here and today's market closed at a new 52-week low.

I'm bored

Watching the Royals play the A's was just ridiculously painfully boring and reminded me that this is a very long season which will probably not be any kinder to the Royals going forward. During the first game the Royals more or less took care of business, considering they were playing a team that had just reached a new low, but then came the last two games in which the Royals showcased all of their flaws. Even when Luke Hochevar actually puts together a good start the Royals bats take a night off because they can't hit a lefty who throws strikes. Then our BEST pitcher, you know the one with a sparkling 4.40 ERA going in to today's game, gets tapped around by one of the worst offensive teams in the league. What happened to that early season hope? I mean seriously, the Pittsburgh Pirates are two games over .500!

Who's the first to go?

I'm already looking forward to the annual trade season to heat up so that there is something to be interested in while watching this team play sub .500 ball. Basically, it seems that the Royals should have some players that draw Scott Posednik-like interest at the deadline, but fall well short of Cliff Lee-like bidding wars. We all know Wilson Betemit should be gone as soon as they Royals get any kind of offer, this was made blatantly obvious with the call-up of Moose and subsequently turned Wilson the asset into Wilson the take-what-you-can-get after thought. Mike Aviles might even be available and, in my opinion, more valuable that Wilson, but his value also might be dead now that he's returned to Omaha. The two players most likely to draw trade chatter amongst fans, other teams and player flipper Dayton Moore would seem to be Melky and Frenchy. Both are having Somewhat respectable seasons and Melky is still under contract for another year, while Frenchy has that patented leadership strategy down to a science. I didn't do my homework, so I don't have any idea of what teams might need an above average corner outfielder but there has to be at least a couple, there always are (see Posednik and Guillen from last season). Even though I don't think Dayton would, or maybe precisely because he wouldn't, my opinion is that pawning off Frenchy, moving Melky to right and calling up Lorenzo Cain makes the most sense. Currently they have almost identical stats and while Melky has done it with pretty consistent production all year, Frenchy has done it with one big month followed by 6 weeks of nothing. In addition, I think it would be perfect to pencil in Melky as your starting right fielder next year and I don't think it makes sense to try and negotiate any kind of deal with Frenchy based on intangible leadership qualities a great throwing arm and one good month. But in the end these are all splitting hairs, what I really think the Royals should be doing is trying to be buyers at the deadline and make a big move that nets them a real starting pitcher that they will be able to pencil in next year's rotation. If not, my guess is that we'll be having this same conversation next year. Oh and if any team out there would give you anything in return for the services of Bruce Chen or Jeff Francis, you should take the check to the bank before the ink is dry.

That's it for now

I could continue on and on about how the Royals starting rotation is still pathetic, but I won't, even the Royals know that. I could try to predict who the next call-up will be, but the two big ones are here and team is still the same, so we should just wait and hope that Duffy figures it out. I could tell you how much I hate some of the moves Ned Yost is making, but there are too many. I could tell you that I'm really excited about seeing Moose and Hosmer at the corners for the next five years, but the thrill just isn't there yet. I could elaborate on how much the Royals could use Mike Aviles going into the National League parks, but it probably wouldn't make a difference in the end. I could attempt to preview the big I-70 series, but if the Cards don't take two-of-three from the Royals I'll be shocked and it will be most likely due to something flukey. So let's just dig in and wait for that big Wilson Betemit for cash and a player to be named later trade because I can't think of much else to look forward to.

Reinstated

After taking a self-imposed exile from watching, writing and generally paying too much attention to the Royals, I have Reinstated myself from the DL and was able to catch-up with the team during their series vs. the Canadiens. There is actually a lot to talk about with the team not related to their play on the field, which is probably a good thing because the Toronto series provided more of the same; a revolving door starting rotation, a smattering of offense here and there, and of course ANOTHER extra inning win!

Now who's our Closer again?

I come back to find out that Joakim was apparently never really relinquished of his duties as closer because the team played so bad that Aaron Crow's stint never provided him with the opportunity to close out a win. So today Joakim was back doing his best Mike Macdougal impersonation with a bases loaded save and all is well in the world. I'm still pulling for Joakim, but you know it's just a matter of time before he blows another save, and then what do you do? I guess he's earned the right to try, try and try again. It's like Dayton and Yost believe that they have this magical control over their players' psyche and they know when said player is "ready" even when the rest of us are just shaking our heads asking Why???

Poor Mikey

In another case of itchy trigger finger Dayton Moore needing to do something just for the sake of it, he's sent Mike Aviles down to Omaha in favor of future 3B superstar Mike Moustakas. This is the same as the Hosmer promotion, I feel so bad for Mike Aviles that I just can't be too excited about seeing Moustakas in the bigs. Hosmer has pretty much made me forget about Kila but Mikey has been around for a while and deserved better. Basically, if Moustakas can do anything close to Aviles' rookie year it will be a complete success or if he can mirror Aviles' offensive production from last year it would a good start to his career, but that's just the problem: he has to do exactly what Mike has already done just to be worthy of the call-up. Obviously, the problem here is really Chris Getz and my inability to believe that his defense is really that much of an upgrade over the potential offense from Aviles. However, let's just give the organization the benefit of the doubt and say that Aviles is such a butcher at 2B that he can't play there. What about Wilson? In 131 games for the Royals this is what he's done: .294/.367/.471, 15 HRs, 66 RBI. If Moustakas does this, he'll be awesome. But again, Wilson already has done this and we know Moose isn't known for his defensive skills, so did they do this really to platoon Moose and Betemit? Is Wilson Moving to 2B? Can Chris Getz throw a knuckle ball? The obvious play here is to wait until you can trade Betemit then call-up Moose and you have Aviles as the perfect utility man. So unless Moutsakas can play 2B there was no real need to call him up, but I guess I have to admit that I am much more excited to watch the Royals play this weekend.

The No Brainer of all No-Brainers

So you're the GM of a baseball team and you really want that quick-to-the-majors college pitcher, but you just happen to draft after the four best pitchers are taken. The next best player is a high school player that lives in your city and might be "The Next" Ken Griffey Jr. Also, his first name is Bubba and his last name begins with Star. So the Royals really had a tough decision with the fifth pick in the draft, fingers crossed 2014 he's coming-up just like Moose and Hosmer are now. I don't know anything about high school baseball so that's all I'm going to say at the risk of sounding like an idiot.

Ringling Brothers presents the Royals staring rotation

I've also returned from my Royals-free respite to find out that our best pitcher is Felipe Paulino, a scrap heap Dayton Moore find if I've ever seen one. I hope he's good, not much more to go on than two really good starts, so we'll leave that one alone too. Did you know that the Royals have TWO pitchers who are qualified league leaders, though obviously they are leading the league in nothing. If you combined Luke Hochevar - yes, he had an awesome game today - and Jeff Francis they would just barely squeak into the Top 10 of strikeouts. Our team leader in wins is Joakim Soria! But don't worry because help is on the way, Bruce Chen and Kyle Davies started both games of a double header for our AA team and each managed to give-up four runs and take the loss. Who's excited to see Kyle back in the rotation? I guess it could be Vin Mazzaro who went 5 innings, gave up 6 runs and actually lowered his ERA by 5 runs. I feel like this is redundant, but the starting rotation is just not good. All aboard the Felipe Paulino band wagon.

Moose & the Royals in Cali

So Westward the Royals go, hoping Felipe Paulino can keep pitching like Alexi Ogando, Moose can hit like 2008 Mike Aviles, Kyle Davies and Jason Kendall get re-injured and Joakim has really, truly and finally figured in out. It's good to be a Royals fan again, the rest did me well.