This offseason for the Royals just hit its peek of weirdness; enter Mr. Rick Ankiel whose signing has you - and every other Royals blogger/fan - asking themselves if somehow Dayton forgot to withdraw their offer to Slick Rick after signing Scotty Pods, but also speculation is rampant about if this will lead to some other mystery move that The Riddler Dayton has up his sleeve...
Do the Royals have insider info that Jose Guillen can't play RF anymore???
Is David DeJesus being shipped off to greener pastures???
Are the Royals setting themselves up to have someone at every position ready to trade at the All-Star Break in hopes of pulling off another Dotel-for-Davies type move???
Is Dayton Moore a spy being paid by the Twins and Chi Sox???
Can advanced genetics and cloning be used to fuse one great player from Guillen, Ankiel and Posednik???
Did Alberto Callaspo retire?
Are we just assuming that at least two players will be injured by the end of April?
This is all very confusing, but does that mean it´s bad? I guess we´ll just have to wait and see...
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
New Years´ Resolutions
So we´re Royals fans, tough luck, would you really rather be a Yankees fan??? Things have been bad and don´t look to be improving in the near future so its time to take stock and stick to a few New Year´s Resolutions to keep yourself sane and not let the same old complaints get you down.
10. Instead of "trusting the process" just trust that things will be the same
9. No more Jose Guillen complaints, everyone knows he sucks dollar bills, but as a fan the only thing you can do is root for the guy
8. Learn how to pronounce Yuniesky´s name and don´t read any advanced statistcs blogs about him
7. Just hate the Yankees, concentrate all of your hatred on them, they suck, they are The Evil Empire, they will sign Zach Grienke, they would sign Billy Butler if he were actually good enough for them and they will come get Joakim Soria when they are good and ready
6. I guess you could look forward to 2011, but really you shouldn´t look forward to anything and just watch them good or bad they are your team
5. If Mark Teahen, John Buck and Miguel Olivo have career years this year just say "good job, I always liked you guys, I´m happy to see you doing so well on your new team"
4. When Willie Bloomquist is your Opening Day starter at DH just say that makes sense I´m glad to get his bat in the line-up
3. The AL central is always winable, if the Royals were in the AL East they might not win 30 games
2. When Jason Kenall has season ending knee surgery just be glad you get him for another year
1. Our best team of the decade boasted a starting rotation led by Darrel May, Jose Lima and Chris George - anything can happen.
10. Instead of "trusting the process" just trust that things will be the same
9. No more Jose Guillen complaints, everyone knows he sucks dollar bills, but as a fan the only thing you can do is root for the guy
8. Learn how to pronounce Yuniesky´s name and don´t read any advanced statistcs blogs about him
7. Just hate the Yankees, concentrate all of your hatred on them, they suck, they are The Evil Empire, they will sign Zach Grienke, they would sign Billy Butler if he were actually good enough for them and they will come get Joakim Soria when they are good and ready
6. I guess you could look forward to 2011, but really you shouldn´t look forward to anything and just watch them good or bad they are your team
5. If Mark Teahen, John Buck and Miguel Olivo have career years this year just say "good job, I always liked you guys, I´m happy to see you doing so well on your new team"
4. When Willie Bloomquist is your Opening Day starter at DH just say that makes sense I´m glad to get his bat in the line-up
3. The AL central is always winable, if the Royals were in the AL East they might not win 30 games
2. When Jason Kenall has season ending knee surgery just be glad you get him for another year
1. Our best team of the decade boasted a starting rotation led by Darrel May, Jose Lima and Chris George - anything can happen.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Christmas Wish List
Right now the Royals appear to be heading toward finding the standard lackluster gifts under the christmas tree; Jason Kendall is so far the most exiting thing and he´s about the equivalent of a paisley striped tie from JC Penny that your out-of-touch grandma bought you. The new Teahen players may turn out to be somewhere along the lines of a $20 Itunes gift card but its still too early to tell. If you´re a Royals fan this might be something like your wish list...
- Jose Guillen offers to play for free this year and donates the previous year´s salary to finding a center fielder.
- Billy Butler kisses a frog and wakes up to look like Frank Thomas in his prime
- Jason Kendall pulls an Aaron Boone and breaks his leg while riding his Harley thus nullifing his contract
- Gil Meche discovers the value of Eastern Medicine and acupuncture cures his back forever
- After Tommy John surgery Mike Aviles becomes the Royals go to flame throwing set-up man
- Matt Holliday decides he really loves the Power and Light district in KC and Scott Boras agrees to pay him out of his own pocket
- Trey Hillman just can't find good sushi in KC and returns to the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan
- David Glass checks his financial records and realizes that Wal-Mart has had a few good years and adds $100 Mil to the payroll this year, but the best part is Royals Fans (not Dayton Moore) get to vote on where to spend the money.
Apparently Royals fans have been the Naughtiest fans in baseball for 20 some years now, what is it that those Yankee fans have been doing, maybe to Santa we really are the "fly over states"?
- Jose Guillen offers to play for free this year and donates the previous year´s salary to finding a center fielder.
- Billy Butler kisses a frog and wakes up to look like Frank Thomas in his prime
- Jason Kendall pulls an Aaron Boone and breaks his leg while riding his Harley thus nullifing his contract
- Gil Meche discovers the value of Eastern Medicine and acupuncture cures his back forever
- After Tommy John surgery Mike Aviles becomes the Royals go to flame throwing set-up man
- Matt Holliday decides he really loves the Power and Light district in KC and Scott Boras agrees to pay him out of his own pocket
- Trey Hillman just can't find good sushi in KC and returns to the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan
- David Glass checks his financial records and realizes that Wal-Mart has had a few good years and adds $100 Mil to the payroll this year, but the best part is Royals Fans (not Dayton Moore) get to vote on where to spend the money.
Apparently Royals fans have been the Naughtiest fans in baseball for 20 some years now, what is it that those Yankee fans have been doing, maybe to Santa we really are the "fly over states"?
Saturday, December 12, 2009
long lost brothers?
I think this is the only viable explanation for the Jason Kendall signing, basically Tokyo Trey wants an extension of himself and his facial hair on the field at all times.
Of anything that could have come out of the Royals winter meetings this has to be the most ho-hum result possible; the signing of rent-a-catcher Jason Kendall. We signed a guy who is good at "calling pitches" a guy who has a lot of "experience", is going to be a "club-house leader", you get the idea nothing tangible just a lot of speculation and the bonus is we get him for two years not just one. I'm starting the over/under on DL stints with the Royals at 3, any takers on the under?
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Rumor Time/My proposed blockbusters
Wouldn´t being a Basball GM be fun, really what other professional sports executives get to have more fun with their Jobs. It is just like the good old days of trading my Topps Barry Bonds rookie card for your Score Don Mattingly - only you get paid, put up in hotels, eat steak dinners and get to hang out with your buddies all night (mom can´t tell you it is time for dinner).
With the seeming calm before the storm (winter meetings) the best thing we've got are rumors and things we as fans would like to see (deep down we´re the best GMs for our team)
So far the Royals have actually been fairly prominent in the rumor mill despite having such a limited arsenal to play with. Lets explore the best rumors and then take a look two flawless trade options that could make the Royals dominant next year.
The best rumor - in terms of Royals' benefit - was the proposed Jose Guillen to the Mets for Angel Pagan. Would any one have honestly objected even if the Royals had to pay $11 of the $12 Mil owed to Guillen this year in order to get a seemingly serviceable and possibly a very valuable young center fielder? This could have erased all of Dayton Moores hiccups from last year but...it was too good to be true (see story)
Alberto Callaspo has been in more rumors than Roy Halladay ever since the Royals acquired another young second baseman. Now Dayton had to come out with the standard "we are not shopping him" SuperGM-tough-guy-statement right before the meetings to try and get max value for a player that they have almost forced themselves into trading (see story). That everyone knows the Royals need to trade him for something of equal value makes this the most interesting wait and see trade they have pending.
The Royals are in hot persuit of Erik Bedard (no lefty in rotation equals death) an oft injured former quality starter who might have some potential upside. Basically a more expensive Bruce Chen. If he really is healthy, no way the Royals outbid other clubs (see story).
The best one - in terms of what the hell are you thinking - is the team's interest in Pudge. Seriously Royals, Dayton please see Benito Santiago from a few years back (see story).
Now, drum roll please, here are the two trades that would change the team, with as much upside and as little downside as possible, based on the realistic conditions of the trade market (no Pujols for Guillen tomfoolery) and keeping it interesting no minor league deals here we want to see something on Sportscenter:
Trade #1:
Royals give/Cubs get: Jose Guillen, John Buck, Alberto Callaspo
Cubs give/Royals get: Milton Bradley, Geovany Soto, Sean Marshall
Result: Teams swap problem children, Royals lose money but might get what they pay for in the end as well as getting a catcher with lots of upside and possibly the lefty they want for the risk of the extra money. The Cubs get cheap offense from Callaspo and Buck might hit 30 homers in Wrigley, not to mention getting rid of a player they can't keep without having to eat his contract.
Trade #2:
Royals give/Mets get: Gil Meche, Josh Anderson, Mike Jacobs
Mets give/Royals get: Oliver Perez, Angel Pagan
Result: Teams swap expensive contracts (Both are owed 2yrs/$20+ mil), the Mets get the benefit because Gil is much less risky than Ollie but for that they have to give up Pagan and sweep up the Royals trash. The Mets can then decide if they want to experiment with Jacobs at 1B and get a very good #2 starter behind Johan for a couple of years. The Royals possibly get the steady-Eddie CF they desperately need and a potentially dominant lefty starter behind Grienke.
The Odds of these happening are a million to one but with these trades the Royals might actually resemble a professional ball club and wouldn't really be any worse for the wear. Dayton please contact the Powder Blue Room if that assistant GM jobs becomes vacant.
With the seeming calm before the storm (winter meetings) the best thing we've got are rumors and things we as fans would like to see (deep down we´re the best GMs for our team)
So far the Royals have actually been fairly prominent in the rumor mill despite having such a limited arsenal to play with. Lets explore the best rumors and then take a look two flawless trade options that could make the Royals dominant next year.
The best rumor - in terms of Royals' benefit - was the proposed Jose Guillen to the Mets for Angel Pagan. Would any one have honestly objected even if the Royals had to pay $11 of the $12 Mil owed to Guillen this year in order to get a seemingly serviceable and possibly a very valuable young center fielder? This could have erased all of Dayton Moores hiccups from last year but...it was too good to be true (see story)
Alberto Callaspo has been in more rumors than Roy Halladay ever since the Royals acquired another young second baseman. Now Dayton had to come out with the standard "we are not shopping him" SuperGM-tough-guy-statement right before the meetings to try and get max value for a player that they have almost forced themselves into trading (see story). That everyone knows the Royals need to trade him for something of equal value makes this the most interesting wait and see trade they have pending.
The Royals are in hot persuit of Erik Bedard (no lefty in rotation equals death) an oft injured former quality starter who might have some potential upside. Basically a more expensive Bruce Chen. If he really is healthy, no way the Royals outbid other clubs (see story).
The best one - in terms of what the hell are you thinking - is the team's interest in Pudge. Seriously Royals, Dayton please see Benito Santiago from a few years back (see story).
Now, drum roll please, here are the two trades that would change the team, with as much upside and as little downside as possible, based on the realistic conditions of the trade market (no Pujols for Guillen tomfoolery) and keeping it interesting no minor league deals here we want to see something on Sportscenter:
Trade #1:
Royals give/Cubs get: Jose Guillen, John Buck, Alberto Callaspo
Cubs give/Royals get: Milton Bradley, Geovany Soto, Sean Marshall
Result: Teams swap problem children, Royals lose money but might get what they pay for in the end as well as getting a catcher with lots of upside and possibly the lefty they want for the risk of the extra money. The Cubs get cheap offense from Callaspo and Buck might hit 30 homers in Wrigley, not to mention getting rid of a player they can't keep without having to eat his contract.
Trade #2:
Royals give/Mets get: Gil Meche, Josh Anderson, Mike Jacobs
Mets give/Royals get: Oliver Perez, Angel Pagan
Result: Teams swap expensive contracts (Both are owed 2yrs/$20+ mil), the Mets get the benefit because Gil is much less risky than Ollie but for that they have to give up Pagan and sweep up the Royals trash. The Mets can then decide if they want to experiment with Jacobs at 1B and get a very good #2 starter behind Johan for a couple of years. The Royals possibly get the steady-Eddie CF they desperately need and a potentially dominant lefty starter behind Grienke.
The Odds of these happening are a million to one but with these trades the Royals might actually resemble a professional ball club and wouldn't really be any worse for the wear. Dayton please contact the Powder Blue Room if that assistant GM jobs becomes vacant.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
I just WAR-ed myself!!!
Seriously when I saw this I BABIP-ed down my leg, I choked on my own wOBA and I was laughing so hard that I had RAR coming out of my nose...
Royals fans and fans of FanGraph (and advanced statistics) I bring this to your attention; Kyle Farsworth had a decent year, nothing special but about what was expected of him, this according to FanGraphs! Anyone who watched the Royals this year should be shocked by this mathmatically unbiased conclusion drawn from complex formulas and such. These guys hate saves and holds so much that they have to live with the folllowing conclusion: Kyle Farnsworth had a better year than Carlos Marmol.
Marmol: SV-15; HLD-27; IP-74.0; ERA-3.41; BAA-.170
Farny: SV-0; HLD-5; IP-37.1; ERA-4.58; BAA-.287
These are the UN-advanced numbers of the two which tell you that Marmol is infinitely better, however through some myriad of advanced statistic gathering this is what FanGraphs says:
Marmol: RAR-5.5; WAR-0.6; Dollars-$2.6 Mil
Farny: RAR-6.8; WAR-0.7; Dollars-$3.0 Mil
RAR (Runs Above Replacement); WAR(Wins Above Replacement); Dollars (actual value)
Are you +WPA-ing serious you have to be out of your REW-ing mind!
Just thought I would bring it up since it seems to be one of those curious instances where advanced stats miss something (or maybe we all missed something while watching Farny, good year big guy looking forward to having you back in 2010???)
Royals fans and fans of FanGraph (and advanced statistics) I bring this to your attention; Kyle Farsworth had a decent year, nothing special but about what was expected of him, this according to FanGraphs! Anyone who watched the Royals this year should be shocked by this mathmatically unbiased conclusion drawn from complex formulas and such. These guys hate saves and holds so much that they have to live with the folllowing conclusion: Kyle Farnsworth had a better year than Carlos Marmol.
Marmol: SV-15; HLD-27; IP-74.0; ERA-3.41; BAA-.170
Farny: SV-0; HLD-5; IP-37.1; ERA-4.58; BAA-.287
These are the UN-advanced numbers of the two which tell you that Marmol is infinitely better, however through some myriad of advanced statistic gathering this is what FanGraphs says:
Marmol: RAR-5.5; WAR-0.6; Dollars-$2.6 Mil
Farny: RAR-6.8; WAR-0.7; Dollars-$3.0 Mil
RAR (Runs Above Replacement); WAR(Wins Above Replacement); Dollars (actual value)
Are you +WPA-ing serious you have to be out of your REW-ing mind!
Just thought I would bring it up since it seems to be one of those curious instances where advanced stats miss something (or maybe we all missed something while watching Farny, good year big guy looking forward to having you back in 2010???)
Friday, November 27, 2009
Vacation Time!!!
Right after Turkey Day and before or during Christmas seems to be the perfect time for any major leaguer to take a nice vacation and spend some of his hard earned bucks. The Royals are not exactly the A-Rod sit front row at a Lakers game types however surely they get out of KC and have a little fun. The following is an attempt to predict where these guys will spend some free time before getting back to the daily grind of jogging poles and taking ground balls in the brutal climate of Surprise, Arizona.
Buck and Farny: Some how I see these guys in a similar vein, maybe it is because both will have long major league careers with few overly outstanding moments but if you are capable of throwing 95mph then you are a middle reliver for life making a cool few mil per for as long as your body holds out similarly if you are a catcher who can hit a homerun every now and again you will have a job for the same period of time redardless of ever accomplishing anything that stands out. I´ve narrowed down Buck and Farney to three options. The first is Ice fishing in Canada with their buddies, just a good exuse to throw away around $20K to take home a 20lb Nothern Pike and get drunk with the exuse that Jack Danies keeps you warm. Second, I´m betting that at least one of these guys has 500 acres somewhere west of the Mississippi solely dedicated to shooting things, deer, Elk, Bald Eagles it doesn´t really matter a nice gun colection is a good way for any pro athlete to flush his money. The third guess is that they think they need to get some sun with thier ladie friends and their idea of sun & fun is to call their travel agent and buy a nice classy all-inclusive Cruise. $10-15K gets you a great view, a hot tub in the room, free champagne and as many dead animals as you can eat, not to mention plenty of stops at places called San Something where they can play golf while hunny-bunny gets some rays. These guys seem pretty predictable so moving on...
Grienke: Who knows??? With this guy anything is possible, my best guess is that he goes early to Arizona for Spring Training and tries to hustle pro golfers for money.
Mitchy: Mitchy seems like he might have a little outdoor dude in him, so he goes to Jackson Hole to shred some slopes and look for Snow Bunnies.
Willie: Honey get the Kids we´re going to Disney Land, Thanks Dad we love you!!!
Jose: This man now has a house in his home DR that rivals Bill Gates and Martha Stewart pads. What he does with his money is to blow it on additions to the house; this year he thinks he needs to get in shape so he intalls a $500K Gym complete with full time trainers and live Daddy Yankee concerts for inspiration. He also decided his kids needed a Zoo.
Billy and Alex: These two still haven't got their big pay days but I'll bet they save just enough every year to hit up Florida for a nice two week resort and spa package, basically the college spring breaks they never got to have.
Gil: Another wild card, he's got the ways and means, but seems like a bit of a workaholic. I'm thinking Gil is a closet foodie and oenophile, so he jets off to Napa Valley to spend a week in a nice rustic house while touring the vineyards and racking up $1000 dinner bills like DL stints. This year Gil was particularly impressed with the Pinot Noirs but the 2004 Sancerre he had was "out of this world" and the Braised Bison with Pine Nut Chimichurri he had at his favorite restaurant gave him a hard-on for a week.
Mike Jacobs: Mikey signs himself up for a personally guided, deluxe tour of a tobacco plantation in North Carolina . By upgrading to the “Four Star Jefferson Davis Gentleman Package” he ensures himself a tour of the local Red Man Chewing Tobacco Plant. Mike never gets to the plant because he is repeatedly caught picking tobacco leaves off the plants and stuffing them into his mouth, upon which the tour guide penalizes him by force feeding him 4 lbs of horrible North Carolina barbeque.
Yuniesky Betancourt: Yuniesky loves Clubbing so somehow through a friend of a friend he ends up in London and never leaves, making Victor’s parade through Europe in Rules of Attraction look like an eagle scout convention. He is absolutely amazed what money can buy you in the old country and he discovers the rewards of well fitting clothes. Next season, expect Sir Yuniesky to roll like Willie Mays Hays in well tailored slim fitting suits, while the Arctic Monkeys replace the Buena Vista Social Club on his day for clubhouse music.
David DeJesus: David looks like someone who knows how to spend money and he recently discovered that his Grandfather's name was D'Amici so he now thinks he's Italian. Its off to the home land this offseason; he hits-up fashion shows in Milan, checks out Michelangelo in Florence, does the Coliseum and Vatican in Rome and eats pizza in Naples before renting a Yacht to float around off the Amalfi Coast.
Buck and Farny: Some how I see these guys in a similar vein, maybe it is because both will have long major league careers with few overly outstanding moments but if you are capable of throwing 95mph then you are a middle reliver for life making a cool few mil per for as long as your body holds out similarly if you are a catcher who can hit a homerun every now and again you will have a job for the same period of time redardless of ever accomplishing anything that stands out. I´ve narrowed down Buck and Farney to three options. The first is Ice fishing in Canada with their buddies, just a good exuse to throw away around $20K to take home a 20lb Nothern Pike and get drunk with the exuse that Jack Danies keeps you warm. Second, I´m betting that at least one of these guys has 500 acres somewhere west of the Mississippi solely dedicated to shooting things, deer, Elk, Bald Eagles it doesn´t really matter a nice gun colection is a good way for any pro athlete to flush his money. The third guess is that they think they need to get some sun with thier ladie friends and their idea of sun & fun is to call their travel agent and buy a nice classy all-inclusive Cruise. $10-15K gets you a great view, a hot tub in the room, free champagne and as many dead animals as you can eat, not to mention plenty of stops at places called San Something where they can play golf while hunny-bunny gets some rays. These guys seem pretty predictable so moving on...
Grienke: Who knows??? With this guy anything is possible, my best guess is that he goes early to Arizona for Spring Training and tries to hustle pro golfers for money.
Mitchy: Mitchy seems like he might have a little outdoor dude in him, so he goes to Jackson Hole to shred some slopes and look for Snow Bunnies.
Willie: Honey get the Kids we´re going to Disney Land, Thanks Dad we love you!!!
Jose: This man now has a house in his home DR that rivals Bill Gates and Martha Stewart pads. What he does with his money is to blow it on additions to the house; this year he thinks he needs to get in shape so he intalls a $500K Gym complete with full time trainers and live Daddy Yankee concerts for inspiration. He also decided his kids needed a Zoo.
Billy and Alex: These two still haven't got their big pay days but I'll bet they save just enough every year to hit up Florida for a nice two week resort and spa package, basically the college spring breaks they never got to have.
Gil: Another wild card, he's got the ways and means, but seems like a bit of a workaholic. I'm thinking Gil is a closet foodie and oenophile, so he jets off to Napa Valley to spend a week in a nice rustic house while touring the vineyards and racking up $1000 dinner bills like DL stints. This year Gil was particularly impressed with the Pinot Noirs but the 2004 Sancerre he had was "out of this world" and the Braised Bison with Pine Nut Chimichurri he had at his favorite restaurant gave him a hard-on for a week.
Mike Jacobs: Mikey signs himself up for a personally guided, deluxe tour of a tobacco plantation in North Carolina . By upgrading to the “Four Star Jefferson Davis Gentleman Package” he ensures himself a tour of the local Red Man Chewing Tobacco Plant. Mike never gets to the plant because he is repeatedly caught picking tobacco leaves off the plants and stuffing them into his mouth, upon which the tour guide penalizes him by force feeding him 4 lbs of horrible North Carolina barbeque.
Yuniesky Betancourt: Yuniesky loves Clubbing so somehow through a friend of a friend he ends up in London and never leaves, making Victor’s parade through Europe in Rules of Attraction look like an eagle scout convention. He is absolutely amazed what money can buy you in the old country and he discovers the rewards of well fitting clothes. Next season, expect Sir Yuniesky to roll like Willie Mays Hays in well tailored slim fitting suits, while the Arctic Monkeys replace the Buena Vista Social Club on his day for clubhouse music.
David DeJesus: David looks like someone who knows how to spend money and he recently discovered that his Grandfather's name was D'Amici so he now thinks he's Italian. Its off to the home land this offseason; he hits-up fashion shows in Milan, checks out Michelangelo in Florence, does the Coliseum and Vatican in Rome and eats pizza in Naples before renting a Yacht to float around off the Amalfi Coast.
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