On Wendesday I decided to go catch a Wilmington Blue Rocks game.  I was in Wilmington working on a trial for the past week and instead of taking an early train back to DC on Wednesday, I took the day off from work and caught a cab to Frawley Stadium for an 11:05 a.m. start time against the Frederick Keys (Baltimore's High-A affiliate).  The Blue Rocks lost 4-1 in a game that was never really close, and rather sloppily played.  But I had fun.  You can't beat sitting in the first row behind home plate for $10.  Here are some links to video I took of starting pitcher John Lamb and reliever Buddy Baumann, as well as some observations.

After the jump...                       

 

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What’s going on with Tyshawn Taylor and Bill Self?  Today, Bill Self addressed the media in about their relationship in a press conference.  I think that a lot can be gleaned from his comments, but not on their face.  You have to read between the lines to really figure out what he’s getting at.    

 

Most everyone in Jayhawk Nation knows the sequence of events by now:

 

1. Tyshawn Taylor allegedly posted a comment on his facebook account indicating that he is “done with Kansas”. 

2. KU played a close game with Baylor, and Brady started in place of Tyshawn.

3. Tyshawn did not check in to the game until the second half.

4. Bill Self, in his postgame conference, declares that Tyshawn played “fine” but did not offer any additional information.

5. Media outlets seized on the above events to generate stories about Taylor potentially transferring from KU.

6. Taylor’s facebook account is taken down.

7. Bill Self addresses the media regarding the entire chain of above events:

 

 

Regarding Taylor’s facebook account - "It won't be a problem from this point forward. It won't be a problem from this point forward. Ever."

 

Translation: Our staff made Tyshawn shut down his facebook account. 

 

Regarding rumors that Taylor confided in others that he will be transferring from KU:  "I don't think that that's even remotely true," Self said. "But, if he has said that, which I do not think to be the case, then that's the reason why he's not playing. Because his head's not right. But I don't believe he said that. What I think has happened is he's probably frustrated, probably said some things because of his frustration. Because of his popularity and things like this, everybody can take anything that any one of my players say and spin it in a direction that it wants to be (spun).”

 

Translation: Tyshawn has not told me that he is transferring, but regardless of what he does he is not giving us what we need from a mental standpoint.  Tyshawn did not start and play many minutes in the Baylor game because he is not where we need him to be mentally.  Period.  He’s obviously frustrated, but I’m pissed off that the media has spun his public demonstrations of his frustration into rumors and speculation.

 

Regarding a scenario where Taylor does indeed transfer from KU: "I'm not remotely concerned about that. If any of our players are thinking about that (transferring), trust me, I will be the first to help them find a place when the season is over."

 

Translation: If Tyshawn wants to transfer, we don’t need him.  That goes for all of our players.  I don’t need players who put themselves above the team, and I will help those players find a new program when the season is over."

 

Regarding the actual facebook posting: "Some of the things posted on Facebook ... I heard yesterday somebody reported on Facebook, but didn't even know the exact deal, what they were reporting," Self said. "I'm not going to even comment on that, because I've talked to him about that. That's a non-factor."

 

Translation:  Fuck you, J. Brady McCullough.  The Facebook issue is done, we’ve handled it in-house.

 

Regarding Taylor’s role on the 2009-2010 team: "I think he's been in a funk, and I think he's a good player that hasn't played as good as he's capable of playing. He'd be the first to agree with that…I thought against Baylor, I thought he gave us some good minutes. I thought he played well defensively and gave us some good minutes (defensively) against LaceDarius (Dunn). That's got to be his role for us first. He's a creator for others, a creator for himself as a secondary player. He's got to be a lockdown defender for us. He'll get it."

 

Translation: Tyshawn has not had a good year, but he can play much, much better than he has been playing.  The Baylor game was a test of Tyshawn's mental toughness, willingness to sacrifice for the team and ability to give the team what it needs, and he played pretty well.  Tyshawn, if you’re reading this, you’re not going to be a primary scoring option for us like you thought you would be after your performance for Team USA this summer.  You’re not even going to be the third or fourth scoring option for us like you were last year.  Tyshawn, listen to what I’m saying.  If you want to play significant minutes for us this year, you have to be better than Brady Morningstar at everything that Brady does well on the defensive end.  That is the bottom line.  If you do not do this, Brady is going to start.  Elijah, Tyrel and others will take some of your minutes away from you.  I am not doing this to pick on you... I am challenging you to succeed because I believe that you can succeed in this role in a big way.

 

On any conversations with Tyshawn about his role: “"He's had a little bit of a sophomore funk, so to speak. You know what? I told Tyshawn what people sometimes don't realize, we've played 50 percent of our games, but 95 percent of our season remains, because nobody cares what you do in November and December. So we've still got 90, 95 percent of our season left, so he has a chance to impact that last half, that last part that everybody cares about in a big way. His head's got to be right. I think he's on the verge of having that come through."

 

Translation: Tyshawn’s not going through anything that unusual.  Sophomore year drop-offs are common, but no one outside of our team (fans, press, the media, ESPN) will cut you any slack for it.  The good news for you, Tyshawn, is that you have a great opportunity before you to turn your season around, if you get your head on straight and embrace the role we need you to play to win the National Championship.  I believe in you, and I think that you’re going to be a big part of our success in the last half of the season.

 

On Sherron Collins:

 

Offense:

 

On offense, KU will have a more potent and bigger group on the floor than it did last season, as the stronger and more versatile Xavier Henry will no doubt consume most of Morningstar’s minutes from last year and the Morris twins are a year older and wiser.  In any case, they definitely look stronger and more aggressive around the rim.  This can only be a good thing for Sherron, allowing him more freedom to set teammates up for good shots and resulting in fewer instances where he has to generate tougher shots late in the shot clock.

 

Sherron will no doubt be fine on offense.  The key for him is how he adjusts from being the man last year and throwing up 14-18 shots per game to deferring to the talented weapons around him this year while still getting his 15-20 points per game off of 10-12 shots.  I also hope that Sherron will improve in taking care of the ball.  His A/T ratio last season wasn’t bad (1.51) but if he can make some better decisions with the ball and push that ratio up to around a Ty Lawson-esque 2.0 or better, KU becomes an even more dangerous team.  

 

Defense:

 

On the other end of the court, Sherron seemed to be less aggressive during his junior year than in years past.  Most of this, no doubt, can be attributed to needing to conserve more energy after seeing a huge increase in minutes from his sophomore to junior years (23.8 to 35.3 per game).  This year, Sherron should be able to not hold anything back.  I would not be surprised to see Sherron’s minutes decrease by just a bit, as Taylor and Johnson can spell him at the point with no decrease in the team’s tempo.

 

On Tyshawn Taylor

 

Offense:

 

Look for Tyshawn to improve tremendously from his first season to his second.  Specifically, he’ll need to be smarter with the ball in his hands and demonstrate more consistency with his outside shot.  He showed flashes of being unstoppable on the dribble-drive last year but also had horrible body control at times, which led to a lot of charging fouls and ill-advised turnovers.  He shot a decent percentage from 3 (36.4%) but seemed hesitant to take the outside shot at times and never commanded absolute respect from opposing defenders behind the arc.  He shot very well playing for Team USA this summer, so I hope that is a sign that his shooting has improved.

 

Overall, Tyshawn is already an effective third scoring option, but he has unlimited potential on the offensive end, as evidenced by his scoring outbursts against Syracuse, Kansas State, and Oklahoma last season. In terms of raw athleticism, he is not far behind Elijah Johnson.  He is very explosive and if he plays under control, few guards in the nation will be able to contain him.    

 

Defense:

 

Tyshawn needs to become a more consistent defender. He has a terrific wingspan for a combo guard and needs to use that physical tool to disrupt passing lanes and generate more steals.  He’ll need to do a better job of communicating and being a leader on the floor on the defensive end.  Against teams last season with physical guards such as Michigan State, he had trouble fighting through screens and doubling down in the post. While Tyshawn’s starting spot is de facto secured Kansas has more depth this year on the perimeter, so he knows that the heat is on for him to be smart and effective on defense at all times lest he spend more time getting an earful from Coach Self while sitting on the bench.

 

On Brady Morningstar

 

Offense:

 

Note that Brady’s minutes per game didn’t drop at all as his shooting percentage fell precipitously during the last third of the season. Self’s confidence in Brady actually seemed to grow, which is a testament to how much Brady improved on defense (despite being a non-factor on offense in the MSU tournament game his defense of 6’7” Raymar Morgan was masterful) and to a lesser extent how KU really lacked a big wing who could play consistent and effective minutes.

 

Defense:

 

Bill Self did not hesitate to label Brady as KU's best on-ball defender, and Brady did not disappoint.  His defense was solid all year and he drew the toughest defensive assignment game-in and game-out except at the 1 and 5 positions.  Throughout the year, Brady frustrated and limited the following professional-caliber players - Syracuse's Paul Harris, Temple's Dionte Christmas, Arizona's Chase Budinger, Tennessee's Tyler Smith, Kansas State's Denis Clemente, Michigan State's Raymar Morgan, Oklahoma State's James Anderson, Baylor's LaceDarius Dunn (first game), Colorado's Cory Higgins, Oklahoma's Willie Warren, Texas' A.J. Abrams, and Dayton's Chris Wright.   Brady, perhaps more than any player, compensates for a lack of speed and strength with superb vision, anticipation, and an understanding of spacing on the court.  He also sticks to his man like glue and is a great help defender on the ball.  His defense may be missed in non-conference season tests this season - Memphis, Cal, Michigan, UCLA, etc.

 

This year, Brady looks to be the odd man out in the backcourt rotation.  He really shot himself in the foot with the DUI conviction and subsequent suspension, as it’s going to be difficult for him to crack Coach Self’s nine man rotation in January.  Barring an injury and/or extremely poor play from the guys ahead of him in the 2-3 spots at this point – Taylor, X. Henry, Reed, Johnson, C.J. Henry, Marcus, and one of the Little/Releford redshirt candidate duo - Brady will spend more time on the bench this year than last.

 

On Tyrel Reed:

 

Offense:

 

Tyrel’s offensive game is limited but valuable.  Essentially, he shoots open, spot-up threes and shoots them well.  He can’t really create his own shot on the dribble and is not able to elevate over taller defenders to get his shot off.  Despite the one dimensional nature to his game, Tyrel thrives at hitting big shots in high-value possessions.  I do not think I can count the times that Tyrel hit a three at the end of a half or right before the shot clock was to expire.  That takes mettle and mental toughness, and by all reports Tyrel possesses both.

 

Defense:

 

This is Tyrel’s bugaboo.  His playing time would increase tremendously if he were even an average defender.  Tyrel is very strong, but not as strong as Xavier or Sherron.  He does not possess the lateral quickness of Tyshawn or Elijah, and he does not have an intuitive knack for spacing and being glued to his man like Brady does. 

 

Overall, Tyrel is still going to see lot of time as long as those shots are going down.  He’s a great leader and a good zone-buster, which KU will probably see a lot of this year.   

As we traverse through the annual September Royals' equivalent of the "surge" in Iraq that leads the front office to undue optimism for 2010, let's take a reflective but proactive lens back in time through the Dayton Moore era (June 2006-present) and take part in a fun exercise.

You are a more humble, self-aware GMDM.  You wake up in the morning and realize that you've created a mess and your franchise is in shambles at the MLB level.  Miraculously, the baseball gods, as gritty and dirt-stained as ever, take mercy on you and allow you to travel back in time to undo one of your decisions for each year of your tenure, assuming that you know all that you do about the franchise now.  What do you decide to do to strengthen the long-term health of the franchise? 

I'll go first to get this started:

2006: I do not trade J.P. Howell for Joey Gathright. 

Rationale:  Really a no brainer.  This is the move GMDM made in 2006 that significantly hurt the team.  Gathright didn't do much of anything well during his time in KC, including stealing bases.  Howell would look awfully nice in the Royals bullpen right now and would just be coming up on arbitration eligibility. 

2007: I do not name Alex Gordon my opening day starting 3B and stash him in Omaha for 200-300 PA's (roughly until the MLB All-Star break). 

Rationale: Anointing Gordon the starting 3B before a single PA in AAA was a mistake in retrospect.  He looked lost at the plate for the first half of the season and has not lived up to his potential since.  Keep in mind that he was the unanimous #1 prospect in baseball at the time, and as the Royals had Mark Teahen to play third there was really no reason to rush him.  It's a tough call - maybe Gordon would neither fix the holes in his swing that were so apparent at the time nor give any sign in AAA that he would initially struggle at the MLB level, but you have to wonder 'what if' here given the aggressive approach and the pressure of initial expectations.   

The Guillen signing and hiring of Trey Hillman are tied for a close second here, and as flawed as those moves have played out over the past two years I truly believe that the lack of devleopment from Gordon has had a more signifcant long-term negative effect on the franchise.

2008:  I darft Buster Posey with the third pick instead of Eric Hosmer.

Rationale: Picking Hosmer wasn't exactly a popular move at the time given his excessive bonus demands and the fact that there were numerous cheaper, polished, close to MLB-ready college-power bats available for the taking with the third-pick in the draft, including Posey, a catcher out of Florida State, Justin Smoak a first-baseman out of South Carolina, and Yonder Alonso, a first-baseman out of Miami. 

It's hard to judge Hosmer after only a year, but his first season of professional baseball was particularly unimpressive (.241/.334/.361 combined between low A and high A).  Posey, meanwhile, wasted no time in tearing up both AA and AAA (.325/.416/.531) and rigthfully earned a September call-up to the Giants.  Hosmer could still end up being the superior player but it's unlikely for him to even sniff the Majors until 2011 at the earliest.  Posey's position of catcher, meanwhile, is one position where the Royals farm-system is incredibly thin, and Olivo, Buck, and Brayan Pena are not even close to long-term solutions for the position.

2009: Incomplete, mission unaccomplished.

Rationale: We'll have to wait to see how the offseason plays out, but not trading MLB-level talent for prospects at the trade deadline is inexcusable to me.  Even worse, there was no indication from the front office that they were really trying all that hard to shop their MLB players. Oh, I will admit their hands were tied to a certain extent as they have few viable trading chips other than DeJesus, Teahen, Soria and Bannister.  But really, whose fault is it that Yasuhiko Yabuta, Ron Mahay, Kyle Farnsworth, and Jose Guillen have such toxic contracts as to be untradeable in the first place?  Oh my goodness, duh...I need to look deeper into my soul and judge this franchise on something bigger than wins and losses!  How silly of me.  Well, how about judging the franchise on how well it jettisons sunk costs to prepare for a brighter future? 

The bottom line is:  I refuse to believe that a Mark Shapiro or Billy Beane would not have figured out some way to cut ties with the present big-league pieces, regardless of present value, for players of potential value to the franchise in the future.   Dayton took the opposite approach and traded prospects for Yuniesky Betancourt, and the #10 prospect in the organization in Danny Gutierrez for two fringe prospects.  Neither trade  sense at the time and although more information has come to light with Gutierrrez regarding attitude and lifestyle problems, the timing and execution still seem sloppy.  

The sad thing is, there is still plenty of time left in 2009 for Dayton to screw this one up even more.

I am extremely disappointed in the Royals’ response to Rany Jazayerli’s blog post of June 24, 2009. Blacklisting Rany Jazayerli from Kauffman Stadium is fundamentally upsetting to me. This shows a lack of class and lack of respect for the basic right of free speech, and the Royals’ response should be protested.

I would have been able to tolerate, even understand, a response of blacklisting someone if Rany Jazayerli were employed or associated with the Royals in any professional capacity. But he’s not. Rany identifies himself on his blog as a dermatologist, blogger, and Royals fan. For years he’s been extremely articulate, incisive, and at times, critical of the Kansas City Royals organization from an outsider’s perspective, and my personal fandom of the Royals has been made all the better by his independent contributions to discussions of my most beloved sports franchise. It is very sad to hear that as a result of his love for the Royals (admittedly, sometimes a "tough love" as in his 6/24/2009), the powers that be have deemed him a pariah.

I’ve been a Royals fan all my life, but this lack of acceptance of freedom of speech by the Royals offends me as a person and citizen of this country. It’s not about whether Nick Swartz should be fired or not. At this point, I could care less, because freedom of speech comes first for me, before fandom. In result, it pains me to say this but I am no longer a fan of the Royals until they issue Rany a public apology. As such, I will no longer provide any support to the Royals – whether that be be monetary, emotionally, and sadly, contributing to this website.

The Royals’ front office response to Rany fundamentally offended my sense of right and wrong, and I will not sacrifice that for anyone, even the franchise that I have loved for so long. It’s time to move on. I wish the Royals all the best, and I extend a warm thank you to all of the contributors to Royals Review. This is an excellent online community – the Royals have such a wealth of intelligent and thougtful fans, it amazes me that so many bright people have been able to tolerate so many years of managerial and company executive ineptitude. But alas, that’s part of being a fan, and I have such a deep respect for you all. It really saddens me to leave this behind. Hopefully, this will not be a permanent self-imposed exile.

All the best,

Jonah Gillespie
Washington, DC

Thanks to the global economic crisis, I'm round tripping to Reykjavik this evening for a far cheaper price than flying to Kansas City. I will do all the obvious touristy stuff there, like going to the Blue Lagoon, volcanic springs, horseback riding, whale watching, and the like.  But I would really appreciate  some less well known Iceland travel destinations from someone who has been before. 

Also, any good restaurants or bars/pubs to recommend??

I'm guardedly optimistic of the Royals in 2009, but I'm not sure exactly what to expect from this team. As some on this site have noted, this team has an outside shot at 2nd place in the AL Central but could easily finish in any slot lower and are more likely to finish last than 10 games above .500. A lot will depend on injuries, player development, and how injuries shake out. I need more Royals fodder to ponder, so let's consider some questions that relate to those categories. I have ready-made answers in my brain but would appreciate to hear how the RR community takes on these topics.

Question #1 - Player Development

To improve upon last year's finish, the Royals will likely need at least one young starting pitcher and one young hitter to take a huge step forward in 2009 from average to very good.  Of the young pitchers, Davies, Hochevar, Bannister, who is most likely to do so?  What about the hitters, Gordon, Butler, Teahen, Callaspo?

My answer: It's possible that all of these players could stand pat or be even worse than last season, but I think someone from each group is poised to greatly improve.  Of the pitchers, I would select Bannister.  We all know of his intelligence and I expect him to be closer to 2007-esque form with a lot of hard work and self-reflection in the offseason, not to mention some better luck on balls hit in play.  The acquisition of Crisp should help him as well.  I don't trust Hochevar yet; I think he will be a #3 starter someday but he needs more experience.  I want to see Davies sustain success for a longer period than 5-6 starts before I feel comfortable. 

Of the hitters, I've been anticipating a Gordon breakout for two years now and I'm sticking to it.  The near-.400 OBP post-All Star break and drastic improvement against LHP makes this one much easier.  In order for the Royals to contend next season I really think Gordon needs to take a step towards stardom. A .275/.380/.500 season may be optimistic but is well-within reason.

Question  #2 - Offseason Acquisitions

Dayton Moore was no doubt one of the most active GM's this offseason, trading young, cheap relievers for established position players and replenishing a bullpen with high-priced veterans.  Of the newly acquired players, Jacobs, Crisp, Farnsworth, Waechter, and HoRam, who are we going to be most pleased with, not now but at the end of 2009?

My answer:  I'm as disappointed with the amount of money thrown at Farnsworth as everyone else, but I think he will end up surprising us as a good RH set-up man for Soria.  If there is one thing I have learned, GMDM knows how to build a bullpen and, more importantly, Bob McClure knows how to take a cast-off power arm and make it effective out of the bullpen. Granted, I'm putting a lot of faith in the brantrust here, but Farnswoth still has the stuff to be an effective power reliever (95 mph fastball and a hard slider).  A season similar to Nunez or Bale at their best before injury would not surprise me. 

Question #3 - Offseason Acquisitions Pt. 2

Is Dayton Moore done wheeling and dealing until April?

My answer:  I think so.  The Royals are above their payroll target and due to the uncertainty of today's economic climate this year's FA signings are going to take much longer to sort out than usual.  It's no secret that Dayton wants to trade Guillen but there is ZERO chance that he is able to trade him and get someone reasonable in return by Opening Day.  The most we will see between now and April are additional spring training signings and possibly a waiver wire acquisition or two.  I hope that Dayton is able to find some additional starting pitching insurance somewhere.

Question #4 - the 25-man roster

Who on the 25-man roster at the end of 2008 is least likely to be in a Royals uniform on Opening Day?

My answer: My heart hopes for Pena or Gload but I think the braintrust values whatever it is they perceive these two as providing more than I do.  They will start the season on the 25-man as reserves.  So, I'm going to go with Esteban German here.  He had a disappointing 2008 season and never seemed to find a niche with Treyball.  If the Royals can't trade Guillen, Teahen becomes the primary supersub which means that someone else has to go.  I don't see where German fits in the Royals plans.

Question #5 - Back to the Bullpen

The Royals have a surplus of relief pitchers at the moment, carrying 12 viable candidates on the 40-man (Bale, Farnswoth, Gobble, Lowery, Mahay, Peralta, HoRam, Rosa, Soria, Tejeda, Waechter) and inviting some intriguing non-roster candidates to Spring Training (Lenny DiNardo, Franquelis Osoria, Duckworth, Yabuta, and Oscar Villareal).  They can carry seven of these guys maximum when the regular season opens.  Who gets a spot?

My answer:  The way I see it, there are three guaranteed occurences here.  One, Soria, Farnswoth and Mahay start the season on the 25-man.  Two, at least one would be favorite to win a spot will get hurt and start the season on the DL or in rehab in Omaha.  Three, at least one NRI makes the squad.  This happens nearly every season.  So, taking those three things into account, here is my MLB bullpen projection for Opening Day 2009.

Soria, Farnsworth, Mahay, Bale, Waechter, Tejeda, Villareal.  Either Tejeda or Gobble or both start the season on the DL. Rosa starts 2009 in Omaha.

Question #6 - Happy New Year

Which current Royal would you most like to ring in the New Year with?  

My answer:  I've thought about this one a lot.  Do I enjoy a gritty New Year with Ross Gload, or go for a pretty boy one with DDJ?  Do I get into fights with random guys in Westport with a blacked out, amped up Kyle Farnsworth or do I get a Chipote burrito with Zack Greinke and then go back to his apartment to watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force?  Such a tough question.  But I'm not going with any of the above.  I would like to ring in the New Year with Miguel Olivo.  In interviews he seems like a fun-loving guy but someone who can definitely be an enforcer if some idiot at a party tries to start something aggressive with your crew. He's also Tony Pena's second cousin, which makes me think that he knows how to have a good time on the town in KC.  It's in his genes. 

I'm up for this again, and this time it's an MLB.TV broadcast.  Who's with me?

By and large, this game is just as meaningless as the last one, perhaps even more meaningless considering that the opener versus the Rangers at least exposed how vulnerable Arkansas is to torn Texas-KC loyalties. As Will said, in time, it will be ours.

This game nevertheless holds some sentimental value for me as Nomomania will finally be coming to KC.    When Nomo broke into the league with the Dodgers he was a baseball sensation with his tornado wind-up and killer split, not to mention a cool name and legendary status as the Japanese trailblazer.  I can still recall donning my Nike Air Nomo cleats to take the mound during Pee Wee games, and while I tried to learn how to throw a split using one of those cheap color-coded balls with the different pitch grips, it never worked out.

Anyways, to get to my point: Being a KC fan as a kid was not that fun because it was precisely these types of sensations that the team, and we as a result, collectively "missed out" on. For those who grew up in the 80's you had Bo, and in the early 90's George Brett was still an icon, though an ageing one.  But for those who came to be in the 90's, there wasn't much to go on.  Hammer Hamelin was maybe the closest thing, and he only had one strike-shortened season in the sun.

So forgive me if I'm somewhat excited that Nomomania has arrived, albeit 10-15 years late.  He may be washed up and have a .0000001% chance of making the 25-man, but just seeing him on the mound again will bring out the kid in me.

From the diaries... We had a few Spring Training Open Threads last year, so lets give it a shot.-RR

Anyone going to be at the game?  Anyone listening on Gameday Audio? I will be amongst the latter.  If we have enough ppl perhaps we can do an open thread.

The weather sucks outside, but not in Surprise!  

FILLER HAIKUS:

true blue tradition
our new captain is hillman
good things await us

Ross Gload will explode
but today is Shealy's day
and never Huber's

Info Link for the official site. Mellinger's blog also has some Surprisey Goodness.

My friend, a Cardinals fan, made this claim to me a few nights ago.  I dismissed it as rivalry-fueled bias.  After seeing foxsports.com's Dayn Perry make the same claim, however, I decided to stop rubbing my eyes and actually do the research.  

My findings shocked me.   It's difficult to think about, but in reality there is a legitimate argument to claim that Mark Teahen was 2007's WORST offensive RF (amongst regulars).  

I defined a "regular" RF as a player who received at least 225 PA's as a RF, 225 being an aggressive estimate of 1/3 of a team's entire PA's from the position over a 162 game season. Here are how last year's regular RF's stack up by OPS:

1. Magglio Ordonez, DET 1.029
   
2. Vladimir Guerrero, LAA .950
   
3. Brad Hawpe, COL .926
   
4. Jack Cust, OAK .912
   
5. Matt Kemp, LAD .894
   
6. Corey Hart, MIL .892
   
7. Jeremy Hermida, FLA .870
   
8. Ken Griffey, CIN .868
   
9. Rick Ankiel, STL .863
   
10. Luke Scott, HOU .855
    
11. Alex Rios, TOR .852
    
12. Travis Buck, OAK .851
    
13. Nick Markakis, BAL .847
    
14. Nick Swisher, OAK .836
    
15. Ryan Ludwick, STL .818
    
16. Bobby Abreu, NYY .814
    
17. Marlon Byrd, TEX .814
    
18. Jose Guillen, SEA .813
    
19. Xavier Nady, PIT .806
    
20. Jermaine Dye, CHW .803
    
21. Andre Ethier, LAD .802
    
22. Randy Winn, SF .798
    
23. J.D. Drew, BOS .796
    
24. Cliff Floyd, CHC .795
    
25. Franklin Gutierrez, CLE .790
    
26. Michael Cuddyer, MIN .789
    
27. Brad Wilkerson, TEX .786
    
28. Jeff Francoeur, ATL .782
    
29. Shawn Green, NYM .782
    
30. Brian Giles, SD .777
    
31. Shane Victorino, PHI .770
    
32. Juan Encarnacion, STL .769
    
33. Austin Kearns, WAS .766
    
34. Mark Teahen, KC .763
    
35. Jacque Jones, CHC .735
    
36. Delmon Young, TB .724
    
37. Trot Nixon, CLE .678
    
38. Carlos Quentin, ARI .647
    

As you can see, the results are not pretty, and I think you could subjectively yet rationally exclude all but one of the guys behind Teahen from the argument.  Jacque Jones, for example, platooned in RF with Cliff Floyd and Matt Murton.  Trot Nixon split Cleveland's season in RF with Franklin Gutierrez, and essentially sat the bench the entire second half of the season.  Quentin was the NL's version of Ryan Shealy. 

The fact remains that Delmon and Teahen were the only two of the bottom five to hold down RF almost exclusively for the season (sadly, Shane Costa can't be included in the conversation. Sorry folks).   One could say that Teahen barely beat out Delmon Young for the dubious honor of worst-offensive regular in RF in 2007, and this is only because of Delmon's complete inability to take a walk as evidenced by his Tony Pena-esque .316 OBP (Teahen slugged .410 to Delmon's .408).  

Personally, I am close to certain that Teahen will be better in 2008, but this comparison study does put his disappointing 2007 in perspective (that is, MUCH MORE disappointing than I originally perceived). Teahen's performance would have been passable at  3B, but in the outfield, his offensive production was comparatively poor. The most frustrating thing about this is that although the numbers speak to how he was completely outmatched offensively in RF compared to the rest of the league, I stubbornly believe that he can and will do better. In other words, the 2007 Mark Teahen was not the career Mark Teahen, whatever that means. Then again, neither was the 2006 Mark Teahen that for an isolated period of two months neared a 1.000 OPS.

I love Teahen, and I'm quick to give him a pass especially since the move to RF wasn't his choice in the first place.   Hopefully 2008 will be a launching pad season for him in establishing himself offensively.

January, to me, is like suffering through an annual purgatory between the gossip feast of the winter meetings and ST reporting date for pitchers and catchers.  Quite frankly, it is the worst calendar month to be a baseball fan.  News is sparse. Nourishment via juicy signings are few and far between. As a baseball fan, January is my Stalingrad. Or perhaps Napoloeon's Russian campaign. Or whatever dismal and dreary Eastern European war I can pretentiously think of and list and reference on a baseball blogging site.  In my mind, I hunker down in my bunker, hoarding any bit of news or discussion or fanfare I can get my hands on.  

Frankly, without RR I would not survive.  We let our beacons of obsessive fandom shine in the face of the frigid and stale January days.  We use discussions of arbitration signings as chapstick, and the rehashing of Scott Pose's exploits as a space heater. January be damned.

Here's the recent news:

The Royals have announced their non-roster ST invites

Pitchers - Roman Colon, John Foster, Roberto Giron, Ben Hendrickson, Hideo Nomo, Matt Peterson, Chin-hui Tsao and Matt Wright.  

Catchers - Adam Donachie, Damason Espino, Ken Huckaby, Kiel Thibault.

Infielders - Mike Aviles, Angel Berroa, Jason Smith, Mike Stodolka

Outfielders - Chris Lubanski, Damon Hollins

Non-roster invites are always interesting to me.  The players themselves are underwhelming, but the randomness of this motley crew of day laborers fighting for a job appeals to my human nature.  For the dreamers, there is the allure of younger, unknown, potential-filled commodities who could miraculously put it all together (see Lubanski, Stodolka, Tsao).  For the grizzled veteran in us, there is the dogged stubborness of the hangers-on who just can't bring themselves to hang up the cleats (see Nomo, Hollins, Huckaby).  For the tragic, there is the has been who was once on top of the world only to lose it all so quickly (Berroa).  And for Will, there is Jason Smith. Bow to him.

Realistically, I can't see any of these guys breaking the 25-man out of camp, except for possibly Nomo and Tsao.

Nomo has a fighting chance if he pitches well and someone else guaranteed of a roster spot on the pitching staff goes down with an injury. He is also aided by the fact that it seems like he's mainly in camp to provide some comfort to Yabuta, who is like that foreign exchange student from your high school who thought it would be romantic to come to rural America only to realize after he arrives that he has no one to hang out with.  I can't see him smriking his way through the Westport clubs with Alex Gordon, for example, or jumping over cars with Joey Gathright in the K parking lot.  Hopefully, Hideo can make him feel comfortable.  

Tsao has a shot because, by all reports, his stuff is incredible when harnessed and healthy.  He's kind of like a Jorge De La Rosa part 2.  Great stuff, poor track record, volatile or incredible at any moment - the gambling man's stock buy. If he pitches lights out in ST, he could find himself in the pen on Opening Day.

Everyone else, I think, can beginning looking at renting condos in Omaha or exporing options with another club.  

Jimmy Gobble settles prior to arbitration

...to the tune of $1,312,500.  That's a bit more than I expected (no more than $1.1 million) but in today's bling bling-awash with cash- Seligized-MLB spending culture, that's peanuts for a LOOGY who posted an 3.02 ERA and 11.87 K/9 against LH batters in 2007.  In other words, Gobble's value in his role is limited but important, and I don't mind the Royals slightly overspending for that.  That's right, GMDM and Jimmy Gobble, make it rain.

In the immortal words of Randy Moss after settling with that parking enforcement officer that he ran over in Minneapolis, "ain't nothin but 20 grand."

Octavio Dotel signs with the White Sox

Reportedly, O-man fleeced two years and $11 million from rotisserie league owner...i mean, excuse me, White Sox General Manager and President of Operations Kenny Williams.

Kenny Williams baffles me, and quite frankly he is beginning to remind me more and more of Herk Robinson, which is a good thing for the Royals.  Williams is guided by the stale aftertaste of success in his mouth instead of the rational thought process one would need to fix his roster personnel problems.  He seems to have convinced himself that the Sox can win the AL Central now at the expense of selling the farm, literally, for Nick Swisher.  He has not drafted well in recent years.  His sluggers are aging more quickly than I think he is willing to accept.  After Mark Buehrle and the always-dependably league average Javier Vazquez, his rotation is a series of question marks due to age; Contreras - too old and perhaps older than his reported age.  Danks and Floyd -  too young and perhaps rushed to the MLB.  

Most alarmingly, KW has done what almost always signals, at least to me, that a team is in decline.  That is, he is buying a bullpen with reckless abandon, spending a collective 6 guaranteed years and $30 MILLION on two aging relievers (Linebrink and Dotel) who have shown signs of breaking down at any moment.   Other than a premier closer, bullpens can and should be built on cheap and low-risk options, perhaps not with the Andy Siscos of the world, but smart GM's build them and spend their money elsewhere.

After the Garland for Orlando Cabrera trade, I predicted that the White Sox would finish last in the AL Central in 2008, and I'm sticking to my guns.

Sound off please!      

kcroyals.com ran a Hot Stove article assessing the Royals options at first base for 2008.

http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080107&content_id=2341249&vkey=news_ kc&fext=.jsp&c_id=kc

First base is the Royals looming question mark in the field this year, other than perhaps shortstop, where according to some faithful RR'ers, Pena may end up being uprooted by Callapso.  Personally, I think the job is Pena's to lose and he will not lose it unless he does his best Angel Berroa impression or ends up with an injury.

But getting back on topic, first base is a big  question mark.  Does Butler have the chops to handle the position on a daily basis?  Does Shealy roar back from a horrible 2007?  Does Teahen spend more time at first this year?  Do Shealy/Gload LH/RH platoon at first?  Finally, does the least sexy yet most predictable option, Ross Gload, get his chance as an every day player?  

The good news is that it seems Hillman is not discounting any of these options.

"It's not quite so cut-and-dried," Hillman said. "Some days it could be [Mark] Teahen. Butler could get some time there. I don't want to count out Ryan Shealy. You've also got Ross [Gload]. Ross could be in left, Ross could be in right, he could be at first base."

The BETTER news from this is that the Royals are not ruling out Butler at first.  I was afraid that he would break camp more or less destined to be a lifetime DH.  On the contrary, it sounds like he held is own in the Dominican League and it is encouraging that he is reporting to Surprise on January 14 to continue to learn the position.

The BEST news is that I learned something about Shealy's health that I did not realize prior to reading the article.  Although he spent most of his time on the DL last year with a supposed groin pull, he apparently had a broken bone in his foot without his knowledge.  Such an injury would seriously mess with his balance at the plate, and subsequently, his swing, which must have contributed to his collapse last season.  

"Actually, he had a broken bone in his foot," Hillman said. "He's a tough kid, and they didn't even know it was broken."

The bad news about this is it once again speaks poorly about the Royals training staff.  How do you diagnose an injury as a groin pull and not realize that someone's foot is broken?  Paging Dr. Joyce and Nick Swartz, are you even in the f--king building?  To me, such an error is not just a benign mistake; it's a mix of sloppiness and incompetenece that we've come to see too much of from the Royals training staff.  

The status quo news - remnants of Buddy Bell will always be with us. It must be a requirement for MLB managers to love grit, or in the new Hillman vocabulary which we must learn - grind.

Like Teahen, he's a left-handed hitter and, after coming off the disabled list, Gload did a nice job in the second half (.293 in 71 games).

"He's a grinder, too, and I'm a liking-grinder-kind of guy," Hillman said.

Alas, some things remain so familiar.

Poll

What is the most likely scenario for the Royals at first base in 2008?

16%

Butler holds his own and adds defensive value to go along with his bat.

10 votes

8%

Ross is Boss, and grind wins over grit.

5 votes

19%

Ryan Shealy proves the doubters wrong and bounces back in a big way.

12 votes

13%

LH/RH platoon - Shealy and Gload join forces the likes of which have never been seen.

8 votes

29%

Some unfathomable combination of Butler/Shealy/Gload/Teahen

18 votes

0%

An unknown commodity - FA signing or trade.

0 votes

13%

Hal Morris comes out of retirement.

8 votes

61 votes | Poll has closed

Where a Royals outfielder received a concussion trying to chase down a fly ball that subsequently hit off his head for a home run?  I was in a bar in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of DC and the bartender  started telling this story about the above game he attended after taking notice of my Royals hat. He believes this game took place in the mid-1990's sometime, which brings me to think that Felix Jose or Kevin McReynolds may have been the perpetrator, but those are simply hunches.  

Were any of you there, or can any of you recall this any detail?

Yeah, that's what I thought. But MLB.com thinks otherwise:

"Drawing the ire of critics, GM Ken Williams didn't pull off any blockbuster moves at the Winter Meetings in Nashville. Instead, he made shrewd moves to acquire Scott Linebrink and Carlos Quentin, which should put the White Sox in contention in the AL Central." - from the White Sox MLB.com page -

I realize that the media has an unspoken obligation to write on the sunny side of things, but do they exercise any common sense?  Even if you think that grossly overpaying for Linebrink and acquiring a prospect-has been in Quentin were "shrewd" moves, where does the leap to 'those moves = contention in the AL Central' come from?  The White Sox are not a good team. Personally, I think they currently have the worst starting rotation in the AL Central. Their sluggers are aging. Their farm system is dry.  Linebrink and Quentin are marginal upgrades at best. At worst Linebrink, with his age, mileage on his arm, and shift to the AL, becomes the worst FA reliever signing since (gulp) the Royals paid record money for Mark Davis.  I'm all for optimism, but this seems pretty ridiculous.

He seems very surprised in a "chip on the shoulder way" that the Royals didn't protect him on the 40-man.  Personally, I do not blame him.  It is highly likely that he will be selected by someone.  Whether or not the Royals are able to get him back will partially depend upon his performance but more so upon that team's needs.  In all, it seems kind of silly to DFA Colby Lewis less than a week after you could have used that spot to protect Lubanski. My only thinking is that this is further evidence that GMDM wants to literally cut ties with remnants of the Allard Baird era. Then again, if you adopt this theory it still makes no sense considering that the Royals are protecting ex-Baird draftee and 27-year old Shane Costa on the 40-man when a 22-year old Lubanski could probably provide the same 4th OF production, with better power, on the parent club or have a full season at AAA to further his development.

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071204&content_id=327531&vkey=news _milb&fext=.jsp

...To be 2008's Rockies. Exciting.  I nonetheless think that's a stretch, and Verducci bases his conjecture on the Royals signing one power-hitting outfielder (likely Guillen, with Andruw Jones as a darkhorse contender) and one starting pitcher (Kuroda or Silva).

The thing is, when I look up and down the Royals roster a contending season is not out of the question at all.  The problem is it is based on a lot of faith on the Royals' young guns improving on their 2007 performances.  To my mind, if the Royals are to contend for the AL Central in 2008, here is what would have to happen in terms of player development and FA signings.

FA Signings:

1. The Royals would need to sign Guillen or Jones.  This has to happen if the Royals are to contend. The lineup is desperate for someone who is reliable to put up 30-40 home runs.
2. The Royals would need to sign one starting pitcher - Silva, Kuroda, or Lohse - who would pitch like a solid AL #3 starter.
3. The Royals need to rebuild a bullpen that will be able to absorb the loss of Greinke, deal with an entire season without Soria as the set-up man, and deal with the potential loss of Riske. Of all the things on this list, I'm most confident that GMDM will get this one done.  

Player Development:

1. Greinke would have to pitch an entire season as a staff ace.
2. Soria would need to replicate 2007 in the closer's role.
3. One homegrown pitcher will need to develop into a bonafide AL swingman who can spot start if needed and stretch out the bullpen with regular 2-4 inning outings, similar to what we had with Greinke last year. Top candidates at this point are Hochevar, Buckner, or Nunez.  I think Davies and/or De La Rosa are also possibilities if they do not work out as starters. I could see JDLR being very good in this role.
4. Meche and Bannister would need at least have replicate their 2007 performances, especially if we do not get AL #1/#2 type pitching out of Greinke.
5. Teahen needs to improve in the power department as well as defensively in RF - say a .290/.385/.480 season.
6. Gordon would need to perform the same as the Teahen line above or better.
7. Butler would need to at least replicate his 2007 MLB performance for an entire season.
8. Someone needs to provide a Ryan Garko like season, say .280/.360/.490 at first base.  Personally, I think a healthy Gload/Shealy platoon is the best possibility for this to happen.
9. John Buck will need to stay healthy for an entire season and catch 130+ games while (at least) replicating his 2007 offensive performance.  

   Notice that DeJesus is the odd man out here. If the Royals sign Jones or Guillen, in a perfect world DeJesus would be traded. He's the most valuable trading chip that we have that I, personally, would be willing to part with. If you want to contend, you have to make tough personnel decisions while getting + value out of what you are giving. DeJesus fits the bill. Packaging him for slightly logjammed prospects ready for MLB play (a lot of Dodgers position prospects are in this position - Matt Kemp, Andy LaRoche, Chin Lung-Hu) would be ideal. Otherwise, go for pitching help.

So that's it.  If all or almost all these things happen (and there's a lot of wishful ifs here), there is no doubt in my mind that the Royals could win 90+ games.

Would I take a bet on this though?  No. I have too much uncertainty and scarring left over from the mid to late 1990's.  

Here's a link to Verducci: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/tom_verducci/11/27/inside.baseball/1.html

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3088062

The anabolic raping of our pure and grand pastime continues, this time with Padres outfielder Mike Cameron testing positive for a banned stimulant.

Cameron's mugshot will forever be associated with the likes of other un-American antiheroes such as Neifi, J-Grims, Betancourt, and Alex Sanchez.

Rank the Royals top 10 prospects heading into next season.  Here's the catch - create one list based upon long-term potential/upside, and create another list for the top 10 prospects most likely to spend time with the Royals by the end of the year.  I think that anyone on the 25 man roster or anyone on the Royals 40-man roster who's spent time in the MLB should be excluded for consistency sake, lest we get into arguments as to Huber's or Brazell's prospect status.  According to my count, this excludes Huber, Brazell, Hochevar, Buckner, Musser, Braun, Blanco, and Maier.  

Here's mine:

Potential/Upside:

1. Mike Moustakas, INF (Idaho Falls)
   
2. Dan Cortes, SP(Wilmington)
   
3. Daniel Duffy, SP (AZL)
   
4. Sam Runion, SP (AZL)
   
5. Blake Wood, SP (Burlington/Wilmington)
   
6. Derrick Robinson, OF (Burlington/Wilmington)
   
7. Matthew Mitchell, SP (AZL)
   
8. Jeff Bianchi, INF (Burlington)
   
9. Blake Johnson, SP (Wilmington)
   
10. Chris Lubanski, OF (Omaha)

Closest to a Call-Up:

1. Chris Lubanski, OF (Omaha)
   
2. Jarrod Plummer, RP (Omaha)
   
3. Tyler Lumsden, SP (Omaha)
   
4. Mike Stodolka, INF (Wichita)
   
5. Mike Aviles, INF (Omaha)
   
6. Angel Sanchez, INF (DNP 2007)
   
7. Carlos Rosa, SP (Wichita)
   
8. Matt Tupman, C (Omaha)
   
9. Greg Atencio, RP (Wichita/Omaha)
   
10. Dusty Hughes, SP (Wichita)

What do you guys think?  A few notes - I'm sure some people feel that Rowdy Hardy belongs on at least one of the two lists. But, due to the striking difference between his limited velocity and age on one hand, and the stellar results on the field on the other, I think he has more to prove than any other minor leaguer in the Royals system in that he's ticketed for a boom/bust scenario.  He'll either survive with control and moxie for ages and follow a Paul Byrd/Jamie Moyer career path, or he'll be completely overmatched as he moves up to AA/AAA. I'm rooting for him, but when your fastball tops out at 82 mph, you have a lot to prove. I like that the Royals are starting to build some pitching prospect depth at the lower levels. The more depth, the more likelihood that someone like Hardy or Cortes or Joe Grit pans out as a MLB starter.

Although these lists are only my opinion (and I'm not a scout nor a stathead) I think it's obvious that the Royals talent hopes lie at the lower rungs of the minors rather than higher up.  Lubanski is the only one who appears on both lists, and amongst the prospects closest to the Majors he's the only potential MLB level impact player in my opinion.  Stodolka could develop into a serviceable platoon player but he's 25 and his power, while decent, is not spectactular.  Lumsden will have one chance to redeem himself after an ugly 2007 or he's done as a prospect.  I see Plummer, Hughes and Atencio as potential serviceable relievers. Sanchez, Aviles and Tupman are likely MLB backups.