The Royals improbable post All Star Break run finally culminated last night with season long slumper Mike Moustakas hitting two home runs, Ervin Santana continuing to be both a Royal and a good starting pitcher (a difficult feat) and pushing the team beyond a .500 record. This has the clear benefit that we no longer have to say "if we could just get to .500 then..." Past this, the advantages stem from the psychological benefits to a beaten down fanbase, to preserving the slim hopes at the playoffs, the saving of jobs, the respectability of the franchise allowing them to sign free agents who would otherwise not be interested, etc., etc., etc. The PBR is happy to see the improvement and is exactly what we wanted to see before the season started, but the fact remains that (after Detroit's win this afternoon) if the Royals lose tonight, we will be in the same position as before the All Star Break, despite this nice seven game winning streak. So what else does this mean....
They Were Buyers!: After so much debate as to whether or not the Royals should sell high on Ervin Santana or go big on a second baseman, they did neither. They made the classic deadline deal and got JUST ANOTHER OUTFIELDER. We now have our replacement for Wil Myers, come join the four man platoon Mr. Justin Maxwell!!!!!! Classic Dayton type guy; big, athletic, hit some HRs one time in his career, possible platoon RF, might be useful, but most likely useless, only slightly better than Jeff Francouer, but I'm sure there is something Dayton Loves about him and of course he couldn't just sit still. Obviously, we all know that this was most likely a waste of time. Hopefully, this is what happened: Dayton asked for every team's #1, #2, #3 and #4 prospect for Ervin Santana, they hung up the phone and Dayton never called back. Also, Dayton checked in on Howie Kendrick and the Angels asked for the same package and Dayton hung up. We can all live with this outcome, no one will ever know what we could have had for Santana and likewise it's hard to fault Dayton for not wanting to give up another top prospect for a proven 2B, especially given that Wil Myers is currently one of the hottest players in baseball. The PBR and others were really pushing for the Royals to be bold and sell Santana, but we have to default to the fact that we know absolutely nothing and really we just wanted to seem something interesting. So there we have it, another outfielder who happens to hit right handed and almost had 20 HRs last year, questioned answered, we were Buyers.
Touché, Detroit: So the Royals win seven in a row and Detroit wins nine of ten. Naturally the other team has to lose for you to make up ground and Detroit doesn't seem to want to do that. However, they have a player who showed up on the wrong pieces of paper and therefore they'll be losing a starting SS. Their only answer is to take the gold glove starting SS from another first place team. F-you, Tiger! But what about those bullpen problems? Problem solved, Detroit steals the closer from another team to work as a set-up man. Yes, but didn't you hear, we got a right hand hitting platoon 5th outfielder. Seriously, Detroit we need a break. Wait a minute, we might have found your Kryptonite: Miguel Cabrera fielding! This is the only thing that can really affect the chances of the Royals (or Indians) catching Detroit, the best hitter in baseball hitting the DL would be music to ears of the far fetched Dreams of Royals' fans. Not that the PBR would root for that sort of thing
Not Losing Helps: If the Royals have taught us one thing recently, it's that winning every baseball game you play makes you look like a much better team. This is the team we all expected to see, a competent club that shows promise with an outside shot at the playoffs, but most likely still needs a year to gel. It has taken a lot of work to finally become a winning team again, so the best advice the PBR can give is that if they keep winning every game, there might still be a chance, though Detroit might do the same. Where the Royals go next will be very interesting, but given how this season has gone any amount of winning or losing wouldn't come as much of a surprise.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Friday, July 19, 2013
Dayton Moore's Sisyphus
“We’re pushing forward. We’re pushing up the hill. We’re not going to stop.”
This is per Dayton's ill advised, poorly worded and borderline insane comments to the KC Star that have driven Royals fans to the brink of rioting. There is a lot of truth in this comment, but not the kind Dayton seems to think he's getting at. In the article Dayton thinks he's being the power of positive thinking, leader of men-type that his Tony Robbins books tell him he needs to be, but he's actually the guy who refuses to get it. The Royals are done this year, they just lost 5 games in a row and they have only 70 games remaining in which to make up a seemingly insurmountable lead in either the division behind both the Indians and the Tigers or the Wild Card behind even more teams. The Royals had been hanging around, just barely dodging extinction and then came the pre-All Star break sweep at the hands of the Indians. The best we can hope for is that this is Dayton Moore putting on his best poker face and that he is just waiting for the best offer to come in on Ervin Santana. However, anyone who thinks Chris Getz should get one more ONE MORE CHANCE to prove that he can´t hit major league pitching doesn´t get the benefit of the doubt with the PBR. This type of comeback has happened before in recent memory just down I-70, but if we're the 2011 Cardinals then this blog can officially retire in Peace.
With the Royals opening back up today against the Tigers, there is only one thing that can happen to get things turned around: a sweep, either by us OR them. If they go out and get swept then Dayton can no longer make these types of comments, Ned Yost will have to start putting a resume together and Dayton can be free to trade Ervin Santana and hope to get a minor league player than can help in 2014. If the Royals are the ones who sweep the Tigers, then we restart the Bandwagon and resume talks of 2013 contention and Ned Yost being manager of the year, Dayton Moore being lauded for his brilliant trades for James Shields and Ervin Santana, Hosmer and Moustakas as the new Bash Brothers, etc. However, like Dayton says there is likely more uphill pushing in the future of the Royals and the remainder of the season will be marked by more delusions, so here are the Top 5:
#1 Ned Yost Loves Hot Guys: He said it: “In fairness to (Giavotella),” Yost said, “he only had 35 at-bats. I understand that. But we’ve got to go. It’s time to go. We want to make sure we’ve got as many hot guys in that lineup that we can get in it.” This is Ned's justification for the recall of Chris Getz. Getz is SO HOT right now there should be a warning label on the back of his jersey instead of his name. A .313 hitter in AAA, that kind of bat has to be in the line-up, never mind the guy who in just shy of 1,500 major league plate appearances has a slugging percentage of .313. I'm done.
#2 Hosmer is Awesome: All of this Eric Hosmer is on-fire, George Brett unleashed the monster, he's back talk needs to slow down. Yes, he finally started hitting home runs again and now has almost as many as Vernon Wells! However, he still trails Chris Davis by 28 so lets hold off on the excitement until it is really warranted. He's about an average offensive player, he still has a long way to go until we can get excited about him in the future. Don't get me wrong, I like to see those HRs as much as anyone, but he's not even Mike Sweeney yet.
#3 Mike Moustakas is coming around: Yes, Since June 1st he's raised his average from below .180 all the way to .215. Sorry this isn't progress, just going from being really bad and having really bad luck to just being really bad. I'm really not sure who Mike Moustakas is going to be, but right now he's quite simply one of the top 5 worst hitting everyday players in baseball.
#4 Alcides Escobar, short stop extraordinaire: He's right there with Moustakas for worst everyday hitters in the AL, but he hits second in the line-up because he is really good at bunting. Ned Yost and the 2-hole is probably some of the most overworked territory on the Royals Blogger circuit, but it's because IT IS STUPID to have the guy with a .277 OBP getting the second most ABs in the line-up. If this doesn't change in the second half, we know Ned Yost is certifiable. Bunts, good speed and nice backhanded plays on defense, don't allow you to bat in one of the most important places in the line-up, this is just wrong. Alcides Escobar is an average major league SS, nothing more, no matter how many times Rex Hudler calls him a ballerina dancer.
#5 The Royals can compete in 2013: We covered this briefly in the outset, but it's not going to happen. The Royals need to be realistic and actually open the local newspaper or any one of a hundred internet websites and look at the standings. Sorry Dayton, it was a nice try but the Tigers better; Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera make Alex Gordon and Billy Butler look like Chris Getz and Jeff Francouer. It's over, be smart make the right moves for 2014 and keep with your perpetual testing of our patience year after year, but I'm sure NEXT year we'll really, really, finally be ready to win.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Treading Water (Thanks Detroit!)
When the PBR suggested that the Royals take advantage of their remaining weak schedule in June, a 4-5 run wasn't exactly what we had in mind. However, thankfully Detroit has been equally sub-par and despite the missed opportunity, the Royals find themselves in third place and a deceivingly close 4.5 games back in the standings. The calendar has flipped to July and the Royals are suddenly in a new phase of the season where Eric Hosmer is hitting HRs again, Mike Moustakas is north of the Mendoza, David Lough is making us forget about Wil Myers, James Shields and Ervin Santana are getting run support and Johnny Giavotella isn't in the minors. But those are all of the positive things going on, we will hold off on painting the rosey picture until the Royals are above .500. For now, we are going to do what we do best, beat dead horses....
Horse #1: C'est la vie Frenchy. Poor Dayton Moore had to put down his favorite old horse, he had been trying to convince the world that there was still life left in old Mr. Frenchy, but the vet finally got through to Moore and he was sent to the glue factory on Saturday night. As opportunistic bloggers, how should we react to this news? Should we hyperlink the 20 posts when we mentioned that signing him for two years was a bad idea? Should we go the soft route and talk about how it was a good signing at the time, but unfortunately it just didn't work out and kudos to Dayton for knowing when to pull the plug? Should we be realistic and separate the man from the decision and say that cutting an overpaid 5th outfielder is a relatively easy decision? Having paid $13.5 million for two years of service from the worst RF in baseball will naturally make Dayton Moore look like a bit of a fool, but in the history of overpriced MLB outfielder contracts this one is far from the worst. The one thing that made it so bad was when Ned and Moore refused to see what everyone else did, but recently it was clear that Frenchy had lost his job and this last move helps to prove that they aren't so blind, so there really isn't much to fault them for in this years use of Frenchy. If day one of the post Frenchy era was any indication of what is to come then we're probably going to win the World Series. However, the truth is, all the Royals have to do is replace Frenchy with an average player, he was so bad that ANYTHING was going to be better. Au Revior Frenchy, you made us laugh, cry and yell at the TV more than any Royals player in history, congrats.
Horse #2: Wade Davis-Luke Hochevar comps. It was all going in the right direction, Wade Davis had gone four starts without allowing more than two runs, he had his ERA back under 5.00 and then came Saturdays 1 IP, 5ER masterpiece. Now we have to start asking the questions again. Is he more suited for the bullpen? When will Danny Duffy be ready to replace him? Does Dayton more look like a giant sucker for taking him in the Myers-Shields deal? In my professional scouting opinion, Davis' problem seems to be that he gives up too many hits and walks too many batters, which is to say he isn't a very good pitcher. As good as James Shields has been, if you combine their numbers you have exactly 200 IP with a 4.05 ERA; this is much closer to two more Jeremy Guthries than the dominant Ace and #3 starter we would like to see. The point is, Wade Davis' performance has been bad enough to completely offset the dominance of James Shields, so if he doesn't pick it up soon things will have to change. We all want Davis to be better, but we wanted Jeremey Affelt to be better, we wanted Kyle Davies to be better and we wanted Luke Hochevar to be better, but they weren't and Davis might not be anything more than promise either. The real question is how long the Royals let this be talked about before they act? Hopefully the Tampa Bay Ray in Davis shows itself and he comes around to be a solid starter for the rest of the year, but if not there will be another driver for the Dayton Moore is an Idiot bandwagon.
Horse #3: Giavotella over Gets, Finally! The question as to why Chris Getz got so many opportunities will never be answered. The short answer is that Ned and Dayton always wanted him to be the coaches favorite little Jimmy Hustle player who bunts well, plays great defense, gets on base, runs fast, does the little things, blah blah blah. As much as they wanted this, Getz never became that player no matter how many times Ned hit him leadoff or second. The PBR is one of the Royals Blog league leaders in negative words written about Chris Getz, but the truth is nobody would have ever noticed the immortal Getzie if Hosmer and Moustakas were Trout and Machado. He could have been just the irrelevant 9-hole hitter if the Royals big hitters were actually big hitters, but unfortunately our middle of the order is just middling. Again, Getz was so bad that anything would have been an improvement and hopefully Gio will keep this up just enough so that we never have to see Getz again, but I don´t think we just added vintage Dustin Pedroia to our line-up. Time will tell, but as long as I don´t have to write another word questioning Ned Yost´s decision to bat Getzie second (that will be reserved for Alcides Escobar, soon), I will be happy.
Horse #4: Eric Hosmer is hitting HRs (fingers crossed).
This...
is the only thing that can make us forget about this...
No questions about it, if the Royals get right this year, it will be because of the former.
Horse #5: The Royals need to get to .500. This is perhaps the most overused phrase associated with losing teams. Yes, it is historically impossible to make the playoffs when you don´t get to .500, but the dream of chasing .500 means that you are currently a loser. Short of trading for Giancarlo Stanton and Chase Utley, the Royals have pulled out all of the stops to be a winning team this year. With the Detroit Tigers trying their best to prove that the AL Central is the worst division in baseball, the Royals have done nothing to take advantage of this. Just because someone else is losing doesn´t make you a winner, you still have to win games. So hopefully as the Wil Myers vs. David Lough Rookie of the Year debate heats up, so will the Royals. Talking about getting to .500 needs to give way to being over .500 and not having to talk about .500 EVER. It is exactly the mark of mediocrity, if that's what the Royals are shooting for so be it, but right now thye are just reinforcing the fact that they´re not even mediocre. That's the Royals in a nutshell.
Horse #1: C'est la vie Frenchy. Poor Dayton Moore had to put down his favorite old horse, he had been trying to convince the world that there was still life left in old Mr. Frenchy, but the vet finally got through to Moore and he was sent to the glue factory on Saturday night. As opportunistic bloggers, how should we react to this news? Should we hyperlink the 20 posts when we mentioned that signing him for two years was a bad idea? Should we go the soft route and talk about how it was a good signing at the time, but unfortunately it just didn't work out and kudos to Dayton for knowing when to pull the plug? Should we be realistic and separate the man from the decision and say that cutting an overpaid 5th outfielder is a relatively easy decision? Having paid $13.5 million for two years of service from the worst RF in baseball will naturally make Dayton Moore look like a bit of a fool, but in the history of overpriced MLB outfielder contracts this one is far from the worst. The one thing that made it so bad was when Ned and Moore refused to see what everyone else did, but recently it was clear that Frenchy had lost his job and this last move helps to prove that they aren't so blind, so there really isn't much to fault them for in this years use of Frenchy. If day one of the post Frenchy era was any indication of what is to come then we're probably going to win the World Series. However, the truth is, all the Royals have to do is replace Frenchy with an average player, he was so bad that ANYTHING was going to be better. Au Revior Frenchy, you made us laugh, cry and yell at the TV more than any Royals player in history, congrats.
Horse #2: Wade Davis-Luke Hochevar comps. It was all going in the right direction, Wade Davis had gone four starts without allowing more than two runs, he had his ERA back under 5.00 and then came Saturdays 1 IP, 5ER masterpiece. Now we have to start asking the questions again. Is he more suited for the bullpen? When will Danny Duffy be ready to replace him? Does Dayton more look like a giant sucker for taking him in the Myers-Shields deal? In my professional scouting opinion, Davis' problem seems to be that he gives up too many hits and walks too many batters, which is to say he isn't a very good pitcher. As good as James Shields has been, if you combine their numbers you have exactly 200 IP with a 4.05 ERA; this is much closer to two more Jeremy Guthries than the dominant Ace and #3 starter we would like to see. The point is, Wade Davis' performance has been bad enough to completely offset the dominance of James Shields, so if he doesn't pick it up soon things will have to change. We all want Davis to be better, but we wanted Jeremey Affelt to be better, we wanted Kyle Davies to be better and we wanted Luke Hochevar to be better, but they weren't and Davis might not be anything more than promise either. The real question is how long the Royals let this be talked about before they act? Hopefully the Tampa Bay Ray in Davis shows itself and he comes around to be a solid starter for the rest of the year, but if not there will be another driver for the Dayton Moore is an Idiot bandwagon.
Horse #3: Giavotella over Gets, Finally! The question as to why Chris Getz got so many opportunities will never be answered. The short answer is that Ned and Dayton always wanted him to be the coaches favorite little Jimmy Hustle player who bunts well, plays great defense, gets on base, runs fast, does the little things, blah blah blah. As much as they wanted this, Getz never became that player no matter how many times Ned hit him leadoff or second. The PBR is one of the Royals Blog league leaders in negative words written about Chris Getz, but the truth is nobody would have ever noticed the immortal Getzie if Hosmer and Moustakas were Trout and Machado. He could have been just the irrelevant 9-hole hitter if the Royals big hitters were actually big hitters, but unfortunately our middle of the order is just middling. Again, Getz was so bad that anything would have been an improvement and hopefully Gio will keep this up just enough so that we never have to see Getz again, but I don´t think we just added vintage Dustin Pedroia to our line-up. Time will tell, but as long as I don´t have to write another word questioning Ned Yost´s decision to bat Getzie second (that will be reserved for Alcides Escobar, soon), I will be happy.
Horse #4: Eric Hosmer is hitting HRs (fingers crossed).
This...
is the only thing that can make us forget about this...
Horse #5: The Royals need to get to .500. This is perhaps the most overused phrase associated with losing teams. Yes, it is historically impossible to make the playoffs when you don´t get to .500, but the dream of chasing .500 means that you are currently a loser. Short of trading for Giancarlo Stanton and Chase Utley, the Royals have pulled out all of the stops to be a winning team this year. With the Detroit Tigers trying their best to prove that the AL Central is the worst division in baseball, the Royals have done nothing to take advantage of this. Just because someone else is losing doesn´t make you a winner, you still have to win games. So hopefully as the Wil Myers vs. David Lough Rookie of the Year debate heats up, so will the Royals. Talking about getting to .500 needs to give way to being over .500 and not having to talk about .500 EVER. It is exactly the mark of mediocrity, if that's what the Royals are shooting for so be it, but right now thye are just reinforcing the fact that they´re not even mediocre. That's the Royals in a nutshell.
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