Hope Is a Funny Thing

Remember when Dayton Moore was hired in 2006? People rejoiced. We were dancing in the streets. He promised parades on the Plaza and a contending team by 2010! He used words like "process", "grit", "responsibility" and "hope".

Hope. It's a funny word. We hope it won't rain today. We hope that our car starts. We hope that our fledgling-no-better-than-an-expansion-franchise of a team can be led by competent leadership. That's what we had. It is in short supply now in KC. The Chiefs 1990-2004 dynasty was over. Kansas City sports fans were reeling. Then came our white knight. Waving the Atlanta Braves flag and proclaiming that he would save us.

And here we are.

Nearly 5 seasons later and nothing. Dayton Moore made the promise. He promised to spend money wisely. Eliminate waste. Spend money in Latin America. Nothing. There is nothing to show for it except for an 8-14 team with a roster that has been filled rather than constructed. We had a lights out bullpen in 2008 that led the team to its highest win total since 2003 and an 18-8 September. Then it was demolished to make room for high risk, expensive veteran talent. A 97 loss season followed.

Now we're being told to be patient. Guess what? We've been patient. Most diehards are ready to jump ship. But we can't. We're tied down. Held at the mercy of incompetence and "processes". Our young fans are being told that carousels, dollar hot dogs and fireworks are reasons to go out to the ballpark. Our young fans are being told that 97 loss seasons are okay because we have a Cy Young winner. People are settling for less. That is the worst thing that can happen.

Settling for less means that the Glass family can get away with it. They can get away with signing Dayton Moore to a 5 year extension because the bottom line is growing. We just paid $250 million dollars out of pocket to renovate your stadium so you could generate more revenue. Now we're being told that we need 2 million fans to show up to watch this awful product before we can spend more money. Guess what? We can give you more money to spend. But throwing money at your problems doesn't solve your problems. Just look at Kansas City Public Schools. $2 billion dollars down the drain and we just closed half our schools and fired half of our teachers.

Money isn't the problem. Leadership is the problem. We want to go to the ballpark and cheer. We want our owner to be at most of the games. We want to know we will win everytime Zack Greinke toes the rubber. We want to high five strangers after that big late inning home run to win a big divisional game. We want our manager to storm out of the dugout after an umpire makes a brutal call that loses the game for us.We want to cry tears of joy when that final out is made in October.

We've done our part. We've done it for 25 years. You've been here for 10 years. They've been the worst 10 years in Royals history. It isn't a coincidence. The time for change is now.

M's DH/LF Woes Mean Big Series for JoGui, DDJ and Scotty Pods

So here's what I've gathered from the M's blogosphere: The offense is bad, Milton Bradley sucks and it may be time for Ken Griffey Jr. to hang 'em up. So this creates an interesting scenario. If Griffey Jr. was to retire or Milton Bradley was DFA'ed or booed out of Seattle, it would create holes at DH and Left Field for the Mariners. Thus leaving the M's with quite a conundrum. They are one of the AL's worst offenses, as stated in my previous post, ranking near the bottom of the league in every offensive category(dead-freaking-last in home runs, too).

And here I come, with my evil professor scenario. Are the Mariners desperate enough to trade for Jose Guillen? I mean, why not? The guy is loved in the Pacific Northwest. He posted a pretty good season in Seattle. Good enough for one unnamed GM to give him a $36 million dollar deal. So what if the Royals eat, oh say $7-8 million of what is left on the contract? I say do it. The return on Guillen is never going to be higher. The guy can't get out. Everything he hits finds its way into a gap or over the fence. It is a perfect time to show him off to the Mariners and say "hey, look at this guy we've got here. He sure beats the pants off of your aging/aged Hall of Famer".

So maybe Jack Zduriencik isn't interested Jose Guillen. VH1 would be all over the Mariners front office trying to get a reality show about their clubhouse with Milton Bradley and JoGui Wheelz in the mix together. Interesting thing about the continuous experiment that is Milton Bradley is that he sucks when he doesn't have 2008 Josh Hamilton protecting him in the order. He's hit 3 HR and driven in 10 runs while mashing for a .167 average. So Jack Z may be ready to cut bait with FrankenBradley.

Well, we've got a couple of pretty productive Left Fielder's in our outfield right now. In fact, our left fielders are so good that our Right Fielder is actually our best Left Fielder! I know, it's crazy! So here's my scandal. Shop DDJ and Scotty Pods to the M's, include Jose Guillen as a side dish and see what Jack Z has to say about it. He's been viewed as a traditional GM with a scouting background, but has become obsessed with defensive metrics, and I'm sure he would like DeJesus' 18.8 career UZR/150 patrolling left field at Safeco Field.

But this of course is all hinging on whether or not Dayton Moore can pull this off...

Could Mariners Series Be Just What the Royals Need?

The Royals need this. The first 6 series of the season were against top AL offenses in Detroit (twice), Boston, Toronto and Minnesota (twice). The Mariners are currently ranked 11th in the AL in batting average and RBIs, 10th in runs scored, On-Base-Percentage and doubles and dead last in homeruns with a staggering nine long balls.

A pleasant sight after facing the fearsome lineups of the class of the AL's batting orders.

Its a nice change of pace from Mauer-Morneau-Cuddyer to Guttierez-Lopez-Old Balls Griffey.

Scary Things

The Royals say that Kila Ka'aihue has a slider speed bat, yet Rick Ankiel can't catch up to a fastball.

The Royals say that Mike Aviles still can't make the throw to first, yet Yuniesky Betancourt throws the ball about 5 feet short of first base.

The Royals say Disco Hayes will never pitch in the major leagues, yet Luis Mendoza, John Parrish, Dusty Hughes and Kyle Farnsworth have pitched 22.2 innings this year.

Royals Shakeup Bullpen, Still Screw It Up

Alright, when I first saw that Juan Cruz had been released and Luis Mendoza had been DFA'ed, I was happy. But then I remembered that Cruz has been one of the more reliable relievers this year. He had one of the lowest ERA's in the bullpen, while finding some bad luck with pitching to contact, showcased by his .528 BABIP. My guess is that the Royals thought it was time to part ways with good ol' Cruzy.

Looks like I need to change my subhead up top. Luis Mendoza and his 22.50 ERA have been released. The crime in this is that the Royals didn't need Mendoza. He was a project and the Royals simply didn't need him. With Brad Thompson and Carlos Rosa already on the 40-man roster, there was no need for Mendoza. Closer Joakim Soria said that Mendoza was the best pitcher in Mexico (which is kind of like saying that he makes the best pizza in Mexico). Whatever the case, Mendoza had his shot at the big leagues and once again, he failed.

Now to the real issue that I have with this decision. The Royals are recalling LHP Bruce Chen and RHP Brad Thompson from AAA. I'm ok with Thompson, but Bruce Chen is not a Major League arm. He is what he is. An AAAA pitcher with a 4.71 career ERA. Not interested. Meanwhile, we've got Carlos Rosa, a young guy who many thought would be a big set up arm a couple of years ago. But word from people around the Royals organization is that the front office believes that Rosa still hasn't learned to be a reliever. I hate to say it, but this is how these things are going to be for a while. Not until the Royals start getting viable young arms in Omaha. Blake Wood still isn't quite there yet, Rosa is struggling, Disco Hayes has very few believers in the front office and the Royals seem to be throwing stuff against a wall and seeing if it will stick. And for now, thats just the way it's going to be.

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

Bullet Points on Toronto Series

-Zack was Zack today. Good to see him bolt it down and turn in a quality start against one of the AL's better offenses. If he struggled today, I was really going to start worrying. The only negative is that our bullpen sucks and couldn't hold the Jays, preventing Zack from getting his first win of the year.
-Jose Guillen and Scott Podsednik continue to swing hot bats. I never thought I would say this, but these two seem to be our offensive catalysts. If they can keep it up through the season and in to July, we may see these guys bring back a pretty decent haul around the trade deadline, especially Podsednik who is signed to a very club friendly deal. Guillen...not so much.
-Alex Gordon came up big today. The Royals were on the verge of a sweep and a disastrous 3-6 record on their first road trip. But Gordo pulled the boys in blue back from the edge and delivered with a huge extra innings home run. Oh yeah, the bomb he hit was off of a lefty too.
-Canada really doesn't care about baseball when the NHL Playoffs are going on and the Jays are playing the Royals. Truly a recipe for all time attendance lows.
-Josh Rupe may be the guy. No one in the bullpen has been able to throw strikes, but Rupe has come out of Omaha and been awesome. Even though he allowed the Jays to tie it today, he's really held it down. Now the question is if he can sustain it.
-Kyle Davies looks serviceable. I've been saying for years that he is underutilized in the rotation and should be used in the bullpen. I may be right considering he was magnificent through 5 innings yesterday and then imploded in the 6th. A common trend in his 2010 starts.
-The offense seems to get satisfied whenever they go up by 3 or more runs early in the game. No...No...no no no no. Jamie Quirk said it all the time last year when the Royals were winning with smoke and mirrors in May, you've got to have a "step-on-their-neck" mentality. Strike hard, strike first, show no mercy. Or maybe this offense isn't capable of scoring more than 3 runs on a regular basis.

Royals Bats Invade Canada! Overtake Canadian Military

Now is the time for retribution! Well, not really. But hey, the Blue Jays are off to a pretty good 7-6 start. Most people, including myself, were thinking that the Blue Jays would be baseball's version of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Crappy and old. But Cito Gaston is a brilliant manager and has obviously done something right. Vernon Wells is hitting like the Vernon Wells of old. But the Royals are catching the Blue Jays at the right time. Tonight's starter, Brandon Morrow, is coming off his worst start in years after giving up seven earned runs through four innings against the White Sox.

The Royals get to see Excelsior Springs native, Shawn Marcum in the final game of the series as he faces off against Zack Greinke on Wednesday.

So open a Labatt Blue, eat some pyrogies and crank up the Nickelback (on second thought, don't do that) and enjoy baseball on carpet for the next three days!