Perspective on Greinke's Historical Season

I'm 23. I consider the high point of my 23 year pro sports fandom to be when the Royals finished a magical, yet mediocre 2003 season with an 83-79 record.

23 years.

Wars have been fought and "won", I've seen five presidents in office, I've nearly completed all of my schooling, I have attended 2 universities, and nothing. Nothing has made me smile in professional sports in Kansas City in 23 years. Until yesterday...

Zack Greinke is my generation's George Brett. He is our Len Dawson, our Tom Watson, our 3-run homer off Goose Gossage into the 3rd deck. He's a shining beacon of hope on a franchise that has otherwise proven to be worth no more than wasted summers and sleepless nights for the few true fans it has left. He is the face of the lost generation of Kansas City baseball. He has college kids at Mizzou rivaling Albert Pujols jerseys with #23 jerseys. He is uniting a city's young population. Nights that Zack pitches might as well be quarter draws at Harpo's or Saturday night at The Hawk.

We've been searching for a long time. We had trouble relating to Mike Sweeney. We couldn't understand Carlos Beltran. Zack is our guy.

He's 25 years old. He's dealt with anxiety issues that so many young people are dealing with in today's fast moving world. Some of us feel that we will never be good enough, that we will always be beaten by someone else. That our best will never be good enough. We've all wanted to drop what we're doing and join the PGA tour or go mow lawns in Hawai'i for the rest of our lives, or at least we had the thought.

He symbolizes what so many young people are seeking: Hope. The hope that we can overcome our inner demons and become what we truly strive to be. The hope that a hapless and dormant fanbase can rally around a 25-year-old phenom who has the potential to lead this franchise and this city into an age of greatness and success. Much like a 26-year-old who captivated this town in a chase for .400, much like a 21-year-old who anchored a World Series rotation.

Zack is more than a Cy Young winner. Zack is our guy.

And he's going to be our guy for a long time.

Royals, Dayton Moore Trying to Improve

It seems like it was a month ago, an article was published on the Royals' website stating that a roster overhaul was "unlikely". Now, a month later, all signs are pointing to a complete stripping down of this roster. Arguably the face of the franchise, Mark Teahen, was traded to Chicago for a couple of league average, cheap, and somewhat unproven infielders in Chris Getz and Josh Fields (I'll break this down later). And now this week, rumors have surfaced that much offensively improved 2B Alberto Callaspo has been reportedly shopped around by the Royals, allegedly to the Dodgers for 28 year old minor league catcher, A.J. Ellis. Ellis is an OBP machine. He obviously would assess the need for a team that ranked in the bowels of the league in that category. But it would be a negative move for the Royals. Callaspo is under team control for the next several years, still cheap and seems to have kicked his off the field issues. Hopefully if this trade is made, A.J. Ellis is not the only piece involved in this trade. The Royals can use some bullpen and outfield help. 

The fact of the matter is that the Royals cannot afford to hold on to players who contributed to the mess that was the Royals last year. Offensive stats aside, Alberto Callaspo contributed to this team's struggles last year. He is an enigma. His body type is not suited for the 2nd base position. He seems to have trouble timing dives and leaping stabs for looping liners or hard hit grounders. He is good for a spectacular play every now and then, but that is almost a given for every major leaguer.

***

Outside of Billy Butler, Zack Greinke and Joakim Soria, this team should be making every effort to flip this roster and place pieces around these three core players that give this team the best chance to get back on the wagon. I used to include Alex Gordon on this list of "untouchables" but my faith in him is waning. Alex showed some promise in the last week of the season, but the promise needs to turn into production. This will be his fourth major league season. The injury issues have bugged me. Maybe he is similar to Billy Butler that he needs some time. The Royals have time. It is obvious that they are going to use 2010 as a stepping stone to 2011, which is a MUST win year for the Royals or Dayton & Co. could be out of a job and Glass & Co. could be out of fans. Is Alex Gordon deserving of one more year to prove that he belongs on this roster? Absolutely. Should the Royals shop him around to see if they can improve this roster by acquiring some "one-year-away" prospects in exchange for him? Absolutely. If Alex Gordon breaks out this year, it only increases his value, whether on this franchise or on the trade market. If Alex Gordon gets hurt again this year or only performs at a league average level, it only hurts his value. Dayton Moore is in a tough spot. Holding on to Alex Gordon and seeing if he finally turns the corner seems to be the right decision. That is unless a blockbuster deal is put on the table. If Gordon plays well this year, you can trade him at the deadline, you can hold on to him, you can sign him long term, etc.

***

As far as Fields and Getz go, I like the trade (then again, I liked the Mike Jacobs trade). This trade is different from others because it is dumping salary and gaining players who are both five years away from free agency. Let's face facts: Mark Teahen was a league average player who was getting expensive (the Royals probably would have paid him $5 million this year). Chris Getz and Josh Fields are both players who still have upside, whereas Teahen had already peaked. Getz was the White Sox sixth ranked prospect in 2008 and Fields is a former first round draft pick who is a natural athlete,  hit 23 home runs in just 100 games for the Southsiders in 2007, and sports a solid .286 career average against left handed pitchers. Not to mention his career OBP is 73 points above his batting average, many experts say that a good OBP is 75 points above the batting average. That being said, could Josh Fields be Kansas City's version of Carlos Pena or Jack Cust? Lets hope so, but my brain is telling me that Getz is going to be the most productive and contributing player out of this trade. My gut is telling me that Fields is a guy who needed a new start and can succeed here.

Lets hope my gut is right.

Reasons Why the NHL Can Succeed in Kansas City

Well, here we are again. Just a few short years ago, we had the most promising young team in the NHL just about packed and ready to move to KC. Mario Lemieux had enough in Pittsburgh. Local government did not approve financing for a brand new arena, and Mario was ready to cut his ties with the Steel City and move to the City of Fountains. He came and visited the arena during its infancy. Even his old buddy, NHL Hall of Famer Luc Robataille was announced as the team's VP. Then we had the rug pulled from under us. Pittsburgh and Lemieux made nice and the Penguins have made consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup finals and have the game's most recognizeable star.

BUT FEAR NOT! There's trouble in the desert....The Phoenix Coyotes are a mess. They've lost over 400 million dollars since the franchise started operating, and the owners applied for bankruptcy. Now when a major corporation goes into bankruptcy, it is put into public auction, and ANYONE can bid on it. Several billionaires have put in bids on it, including Chicago Bulls and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf and BlackBerry Mogul, Jim Balsille. I'm sure there are some other low profile bidders out there too.

But the news is now that Reinsdorf has pulled his bid and Balsille got his bid denied by the rest of the NHL owners. Now the tables have turned. There is no outright winner yet. Someone needs to step in. The bankruptcy judge has already said he will award the team to the highest bidder, even if they wish to relocate.

If they relocate the Coyotes to KC, there are several reasons why the NHL will settle in nicely in the KC sports scene:

-The Sprint Center: This is a brand new state of the art arena. Plus, KC has never really had a major league indoor team for an extended time. Imagine Arrowhead indoors. This place is just aching to get LOUD

-Natural Regional Rivalries. It is most likely that if a team is moved to KC, they would play in the Western Conference in the Central Division. Guess which teams are in the Central? St. Louis, Chicago and Detroit. Can you imagine the insanity at a Blues/KC game? Blackhawks/KC? Wings/KC? Oh yeah, not to mention, they would play a team from Denver at home twice a year...

-League Parity. The "New NHL" has implemented several rule changes such as luxury taxes, revenue sharing and salary caps to make the game more competitive. Many argued that this would water down the game, but I think it has made it better. Look at the Penguins. Pre-lockout, they were one of the worst teams in the league. Three years later, they raise the Stanley Cup. The examples are endless, Chicago, St. Louis, The Rangers, Columbus, Nashville. In fact, since the lockout, only five teams have not made the playoffs.

-The Stanley Cup Playoffs. Many well respected media personalities, including Jim Rome and Dan Patrick, have said that the Stanley Cup Playoffs is the greatest tournament in sports next to the NCAA Men's Tournament and World Cup. I couldn't agree more. Having been to a few playoff games, there is really nothing like it. I've never heard buildings louder. I've never seen more passion and desperation. Not to mention that Game 7s in these playoffs are unlike anything you will ever see.

-There is literally nothing to do here from Monday-Saturday, October-April. We love the Chiefs, but the professional sports scene is almost dead during this time of year in KC. Not to mention, it would be nice to get our minds off the Chiefs during the winter...

-Corporate support. There are several Fortune 500 companies based out of KC, ready and willing to help. When the Penguins nearly moved here, the suites sold out in a week.

-NHL21. There is no other group like it. A grassroots organization dedicated to growing the game of hockey in KC. Essentially, this would be the equivalent of the Red Coaters or Royal Lancers when the team got here. It is a group that is passionate about the game, and would stop at nothing to make sure the team succeeded here.

-The fans. You could make the case that KC has the best fans in sports. The Chiefs haven't won a playoff game since the first George Bush was in office. Yet Arrowhead is still full on Sundays. The Royals set their attendance record in a year in which they didn't even make the playoffs. Kansas City is ready for this. There are 2 million people in the Metro area, not to mention close to 7 million living within a 3 hour drive. You can't deny the fact that KC and the surrounding region has the income to support a team here. If the team was a winner, it would be the toughest ticket in town.

Looking back on when the Penguins were knocking on the door, I remember a guy calling in to Soren Petro's program. He wasn't the most well versed man on the planet, but his excitement was real. He wasn't a huge hockey fan, he said himself he couldn't name 10 players in the league, but he was just so excited because he knew that hockey is the single greatest live spectator sport in the world. I share his excitement. I know I may be biased about this, I'll be honest, I grew up with the game. But believe me Kansas City, this city, this community, will absolutely fall in love with this game. There is something about the smell of the ice, the sounds, the sheer power of the men in skates that cannot be fully appreciated when watched on television. It is truly unbelievable and I hope to share it with you someday.

Top 10 Moments of FAIL This Year for the Royals: No. 6

Sending Alex Gordon to Omaha for No Apparent Reason

I was having trouble filling this list, but the Royals sure did help me out...

Yes there was no APPARENT reason to send him down. Sure he had been struggling at the plate, he had just come off major surgery, etc, etc. But the real reason this happened is WAL-MART. The Royals trying to skim a few dollars off the top, by sending Alex Gordon down to Omaha to save a few bucks. Currently, Alex Gordon is 13 games away from being arbitration eligible. With this move, the Royals now control Alex Gordon through 2013. Funny part is, that if he wasn't called up for the start of the 2007 season (which he SHOULDN'T have been), the Royals wouldn't have this problem.

FAIL.

Shutting It Down (kind of) for 2009

Hey guys,

Just a heads up, I'll be writing less here on Royals Kingdom. The fall semester is upon me and I don't think I'll be able to keep this up while trying to finish up my senior year of college. But don't panic! I'll still be back around about once or twice a month to post some updates on here. If anyone would like to write guest columns on here, just leave a comment and I'll get in touch with you.

Anyways, thanks for reading! I'll be back to writing full-time around the Winter Meetings and I'll be sure to keep the blog updated on any big Royals news.

Reasons to stay a Royals Fan: Looking Ahead to 2010

2009 is over and the Royals very well could lose 100 games. This team cannot win a division with the current "talent" on the field. This team is surrounded with question marks headed into the offseason. With just a couple of months left in the season, it is now time to evaluate players and coaches/manager and decide which ones just don't fit in here. That shouldn't be too difficult.

But fear not, this team CAN contend in 2010. It is quite simple. The skeleton of a division contender is presently wearing Royal Blue. Dayton Moore must find the pieces to fill in around the foundation of this team and put them in a position to win a very winnable AL Central in 2010.

Here are the pieces that are for sure going to be the "meat and potatoes" of the Royals next year:

Zack Greinke- Ace is a position that most teams do not have, but most division winners have them.

Gil Meche- Grizzled vets are a dime a dozen, but hopefully a healthy Gil Meche can finally receive some much needed run support in 2010 and significantly have more wins than losses next year. Gil is a very solid No. 2 WHEN HEALTHY.

Brian Bannister- If Banny has finally figured it out, then the Royals have absolutely the scariest 1-2-3 top of the rotation in the AL Central.

Luke Hochevar- If Luke becomes the second coming of Derek Lowe, then the Royals have the scariest rotation in all of baseball.

Billy Butler- Billy is going to hit 30 home runs next year. Looking for a hitting equivalent of Zack Greinke? All of the signs are pointing to a break out year for Billy next year. Oh yeah, I would a little bit of money on Billy hitting close to .350 next year, but I would put money on it...

Yuniesky Betancourt- I wasn't impressed with the trade, but Dayton Moore may have fooled us all with this one. In a small sample size with the team, Yuni has proven to be an above average shortstop. Not to mention he's hitting .313/.353/.563 in August. 1 error in 23 games makes us all take another look at this trade too.

Keep the faith. You don't have to watch this crap, but I'm telling you, things could be different in 2010. Or Trey Hillman could still be the manager and we're right back here again in a year.

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Big 12 Preview: North

The North will most likely be decided by which team is the "least bad". Many experts are picking Nebraska or Kansas to win the division. To which I have to respond: Why? Is program tradition (Huskers) and recent relative success (Jayhawks) enough to crown a team already? I say no.

6. Iowa State- Is there anywhere more difficult to recruit than Iowa State? Record 3-9. No Bowl.

5. Kansas State- Bill Snyder is going to need more than one year to see his reclamation project succeed. This team couldn't win with Josh Freeman, so how in the world could they win with out him? Record 4-8. No Bowl.

4. Colorado- Dan Hawkins trying his best to get this team back to the top of this league. This program is still a year or two away. Record 6-6. No Bowl.

3. Kansas- They have a prolific offense, yes. But their defense is going to be just not very good. Todd Reesing can throw for 400 yards a game, but if the defense is giving up 500 on the other side, how can this team win the division? Plus an incredibly weak non-conference schedule will damage this team later in the season. Record 8-4. Insight Bowl.

2. Nebraska- Bo Pelini is well on his way to making Nebraska a powerhouse again, but they don't have many big playmakers on offense. In college football, you have to score points. I think that will be Nebraska's biggest problem. Record 8-4. Gator Bowl.

1. Missouri- The only programs that have won more games than Missouri over the last three seasons are USC and Ohio State. You can attribute that to the successes of Daniel, Maclin and Coffman, but this team is going to benefit from a run-heavy offense with a big athletic line and a couple of darn good scat-backs in Derrick Washington and De'Vion Moore. The defense has the potential to be very very good. Record 9-3. Cotton Bowl.

Big 12 Championship: Texas beats Missouri, 44-31

Border War
Missouri beats Kansas, 38-31

Sunflower Showdown
Kansas beats K-State, 45-6

Battle for the Bell
Missouri beats Nebraska, 35-17

Kansas/Nebraska
Nebraska beats KU, 47-42