I understand why he's the 4th starter and all. I'm not even as fired up as RR is about it. He'll fail out and never be heard from again and Hoch will be up in May.

That said, the Royals have a responsibility not to start our home season with Ponson getting blasted by the Yankees at the home opener. Probably the most attended series of the entire season and the KC faithful are going to watch them trot out Ponson and Ho Ram? Talk about a PR nightmare. They should be trying to hide as many of those guys' starts as they can on road games. So much for not needing a 5th starter until mid-April.

Sit out Meche and let Greinke start tomorrow. Skip Greinke and let him start on Friday. Even flip SP with Davies. Whatever they have to do not to appear like they've already thrown up the white flag in the second series of the year.

Anyone else stop to think how ridiculous it is that the Royals are touting Jose Giullen as their candidate for the All-Star game? He's playing only marginally better (if that) than David DeJesus. Meanwhile, David is a home-grown talent, model citizen and is probably the primary reason why we even happen to notice that Guillen has all these RBIs (someone has to be on for you hit 'em in).

Oh, and he's done it without a)calling his teammates babies b)saying f&% you to the fans c)assaulting a coach d)getting the largest free agent contract in Royals history.

Does this team really think that paying a guy a whole bunch of money automatically makes him a "leader"? Do they really think an All-Star campaign is going to overcome all the other non-leader-ly aspects of his persona?

Quietly last week, rogue pellet shooter Emil Brown passed golden boys Mark Teahen and David DeJesus for the RBI lead on this team. That means that in 150 and 200 fewer at bats (respectively) Brown has more RBIs; and generally he's done it from less desireable spots in the lineup (Teahen almost always in 3rd spot, supposedly THE big RBI spot).

So, I suppose it's time, as we look at FAs available on the market, to wonder: 1)is Brown's "decline" this year just based on lack of consistent playing time 2)do we consider "commiting" to him as an OFer and make him PART (to stress, not all) of the improvement needed in the OF.

Perhaps if Teahen moves back into the infield and a mid-level FA (anywhere from Jose Guillen to Aaron Rowand) is put in another OF position, then filling the other spot with a full slate of Emil would be an improvement.

Sure, he's a headcase. But is Milton Bradley any better? And Brown's off year may actually drive down his FA value anywhere else.

As much as I want this team to move on from the many of the players that constituted our pathetic teams of the past (Sweeney, Brown, etc.) we also have to recognize when guys who were expected to be stars actually are only valuable as bit parts to pair with true stars. Casting off the bit parts because they aren't stars is counterproductive. We just have to go get the stars to make this a good team.

So, I figured they would trade for a young position player, maybe with a little power. Nope.

OK, so, we got a struggling pitcher from Atlanta (warning) for Dotel. They'll keep him in AAA (where he was recently demoted) and let him work things out a little before working him into the Royals rotation, right? Wrong.

Work him into the rotation in a low impact game? Wrong again.

Kyle Davies will have his first start for the Royals in Yankees stadium. Welcome to the team, Kyle; you've been given the honorary "Eduardo Villacis" position in our rotation. Make us proud. And the way we're playing against the Twins right now, we might be riding a 4 game losing streak.

I suppose it's possible he'll go out and toss 7 scoreless on "the big stage" and Moore will look like a genius. And Davies track record says he's good when he gets himself "up" for these types of situations.

It's also possible to run across the street with your eyes closed in rush hour traffic and not get killed (paraphrasing another poster) and you might also get three HRs out of a lineup that includes Jasons Smith and LaRue. It doesn't make either a good idea.

It's also very possible that Davies will implode, essentially killing any "change of scenery" bonus gained from the trade. McClure and the Royal's coaches will have had zero opportunity to make any significant improvement with him and the catchers will barely know his stuff. A disastrous performance will destroy almost as much fan good will as the infamous "Elarton Start".

What's the hurry? Why immediately into the rotation? Is 4th place worth making the same mistakes they made with the guy in ATL? Does he replace JDLR or Nunez, both young players who have performed better than he has to date? I don't understand.