So I've been away for awhile and I have really missed a lot in the past couple weeks, a lot of losing, but still a lot. And what do I have to show for it? Well....a new job that will require me to move to KC and now a fiancee. Yep, another one takes the plunge!

I've got a ridiculously busy next few weeks with 2 weddings to attend and the move, but hopefully I'll get to catch up on RR soon. Keep up the good work everyone, and hopefully the boys can turn things around!

I've noticed a lot of new Royals Review members lately, either that or a lot of people changed their name when we switched over to the new format. Regardlesss, it's nice to see new names and read new opinions. I'd like to know if Royals fever is catching on in any new areas. So if you're new to RR or maybe just started posting regularly, let us know where you are cheering from.

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First off, please accept my early apology, JQ, for the good-natured ribbing that I am about to extend your way.

From the University of Missouri Athletics website:

Mizzou Moves up to No. 2 in Baseball America Poll
The Tigers have won 13-straight games and are 18-2 on the year. March 24, 2008

Following its three-game sweep over Baylor last weekend, Missouri has moved up two spots to No. 2 in the latest Baseball America Top 25 poll, released on Monday. The ranking is the highest ever for the Tigers, who have won 13-straight games.

The Collegiate Baseball Top 30 poll, also released on Monday, has the Tigers ranked No. 5.

Mizzou is 18-2 on the year, it best ever start and is 3-0 in the Big 12 Conference. The Tigers will travel to Minneapolis for a pair of games against Minnesota on Tuesday and Wednesday, before taking on Texas Tech in a three-game series this weekend in Lubbock, Texas.

BASEBALL AMERICA TOP 25

1. Arizona State
   
2. MISSOURI
   
3. North Carolina
   
4. Miami
   
5. Long Beach State
   
6. Arizona
   
7. UC Irvine
   
8. Florida State
   
9. Vanderbilt
   
10. South Carolina
    
11. California
    
12. Rice
    
13. Texas
    
14. San Diego
    
15. Mississippi
    
16. Wichita State
    
17. Stanford
    
18. Kentucky
    
19. Nebraska
    
20. Baylor
    
21. Virginia
    
22. Coastal Carolina
    
23. UCLA
    
24. Florida
    
25. Michigan

Nate Silver is chatting over at BP right now.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/chat/chat.php?chatId=433

So far, only about three questions posted, so he should be on there for a while. It is 1:28 EST right now by the way. I like these chats, not always the best questions, but entertaining usually while I'm at work.

FOX Sports latest edition of their MLB Power Rankings did not look at our Royals in a positive fashion. In fact, one could say they didn't look at them at all. They have ranked KC as number 30, as in worse than the Giants, Orioles, Pirates, and Marlins....oh, and also as in the worst team in the league! Now I don't claim to be anything special when it comes to evaluating MLB teams pre-Spring Training, but I do think I have done enough evaluation to justify the Royals as better than at least a few teams. But I guess a decade, or two, of losing tends to put you in situations like this.

For a complete rundown of the FOX MLB Power Rankings, click here

Sorry for posting 2 diaries in a row, but I thought I would just add some fuel to the fire and get some more long discussions going. Found this article today on the effects of HGH, as told to Congress by four different doctors today.

So as you can see, the mystery has been solved....or has it? Go ahead and let the debating begin, this should be fun.

This should help out with who is going to be in camp with the big league club this spring.

Courtesy of the KC Star

I actually agree with pretty much every evaluation on there. Should be a lot of fun to watch and see how this spring plays out. I know I am excited to get it under way as I'm sure all of you are as well.

Found a write up done by Craig Brown about the 4 teams that consistenly finish at the bottom of the league. Being the knowledgeable Royals fan that I am, I just knew that our Royals would be included. Talks about our key gains and key losses using Win Shares. I was actually impressed by the knowledge of the Royals displayed in this article, albeit very short. Usually these guys don't take the time to research much more than the minimum.

Anyways, here's the link

This leaves only Teahen and Greinke still eligible for arbitration. Looks like German got the typical median figure between his request and the Royals offer. Not big news but it's Royals related, so there.

Sorry if someone already posted this:

link

fillerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Kenny Williams gives some insight to the 2008 White Sox. I found it amusing as I'm sure some of you will as well. Are we missing something about this team?

You can find the article here

My favorite quote from the story:

"We have some of the most balance in the division" What??

Does that not make sense to anyone else?

link here

Apparently he was offered more money from other teams, but wanted to go back to Chicago. Guessing the Royals probably had an offer out there.

Also, the Tigers signed Nate Robertson to a 3/21 deal buying out 2 years of arb and 1 year of FA. Pretty good deal for them if you ask me.

link here

Bob Dutton was recently chosen as Rumor Royalty for the Royals over at MLBTR. This means that he was chosen to do some question/answer sessions with the moderator. You will have to scroll down to get to the first one, I think there are four posts including the one introducing Bob.

Link here

I think the answer regarding Teahen and DeJesus is pretty accurate. He states the obvious, DDJ is proven and has a great contract. Teahen needs to do a little more to prove himself but has more potential.

Looks like somebody has started to pick guys off of the comeback train. St. Louis signed Matt Clement, don't know the figures or anything, just saw a brief mention of it over lunch. If anybody has more detail, please feel free to post it as this may be a little important as his deal may give an indication of other come-back players possible deals.

Just brushing up on some reading and rumors and ran across this little tidbit:

"According to Eduardo A. Encina, the Rays explored a contract extension for ace Scott Kazmir last year.  Nothing came of it, and now Encina says "there's already talk that Kazmir's days as a Ray are numbered."

The dominant lefty, who turns just 24 in January, has three years left before free agency.  His monster second half in '07 (2.39 ERA) may indicate an upward trend that could result in Cy votes in '08.  As far as I can tell, Kazmir is still represented by Scott Boras.  That could mean Kazmir goes year to year with the Rays, waiting for a massive free agent payday preceding his age 27 season in 2011.

Back on November 5th, Joel Sherman of the New York Post said the Rays were even considering shopping Kazmir this winter, depending on the bounty for Johan Santana.  Marc Lancaster suggested the following day that the declaration of Kazmir's availability was "dubious at best."

So he is under team control for the next three years, which I would think the Rays would utilize him for at least 2 of those years. But if they could get a nice package for him now, would they? Should they?

And if they were to put him on the block, would the Royals have anything to offer the Rays? If so, would you want to see DM pursue it?

I personally really like the kid, I think the only thing that is standing between him and a Cy Young award is the team he is on.

Per mlbtr.com the M's are in serious talks with Silva, something about a 4/44 deal. It is also being reported that the Royals have offered 3/30 to Silva. I wouldn't be too sure of the M's offer though, I've seen the preliminary rumors on their offers to be false for most of the winter.

I'd consider 3/33 but I don't know if it will get the job done.

Okay, first of all I want to know who on RR submitted this trade proposal to the Rumblings & Grumblings e-mail:

2. Yankees-Royals (from Billy in Olathe, Kan.): "The Yankees should trade A-Rod to the Royals for Emil Brown!!!!"

This came from this article on ESPN, along with the following:

* Speaking of the center-field market, it's amazing how little you hear Andruw Jones' name these days. But two front-office men we spoke with said they've figured out the perfect dark-horse destination for him -- the Royals.

"Think about it," said one of them. "The GM [former Braves executive Dayton Moore] has ties to him. They have money to spend. They want to make a splash. And they desperately need a center fielder. The fit there is better than you'd think."

I found it to be a not so great read but it did have the Royals mentioned a few times so I thought I would share.

First off, I understand that this is a sports blog and more importantly, a Royals blog. But, even with this being my first offseason as one of the RR faithful I am already getting a little tired of the repetitive talk about the same topics every week. I am very interested in the offseason moves that the Royals will make and I like to keep up on the possibiliies, but sometimes it seems like I read the same information over and over on the same players.

So with that being said, I would like to add that I really enjoy the off-the-topic-of-baseball posts that have come up during the offseason. I feel that they are a very good way to help bring all of the RR faithful closer and that they make this blog feel a little more like my own.

I would like to encourage any of you that feel the same to keep up the occasional 'fun' posts. (Of course I would like to make sure Will is okay with them since this IS a Royals blog as I mentioned.)

For some reason, ideas of screen names that I would like to see on RR came to my head about an hour ago. Thought I would post a couple, feel free to add if you have some creative ones.

DiscipleOfDayton
IHitchhikedToKauffman (just thought it would be cool if someone actually did that)
CardinalsSuck (simple yet very attractive to me)
IDrinkFromTheFountains

Now I wish I'd have put some more thought into mine.

Not that it comes as a surprise to anybody, but here is the latest on some Royals free agents. All from MLB Trade Rumors:

David Riske had a $2.9MM player option.  He declined it given his stellar 2.45 ERA in 69.2 innings this year.  He'll get a nice Bob Howry/Jamie Walker type of deal for three years.

The Royals took a $1.5MM buyout rather than pay Odalis Perez $9MM.  It was a nice gamble at the time but they don't need him for '08 at effectively $7.5MM.  His season ended with a knee injury in late August.

And I found something else that all you Glendon Rusch fans might be happy to know about:

Southpaw Glendon Rusch missed the 2007 season because of a blood clot in his lung.  He's one of the good guys in baseball, and we're rooting for him here at MLBTR.  

According to his agency, Rusch is ready to go and has declared free agency.  The 33 year-old will throw a bullpen session for teams on Friday.  He's been throwing for a couple of months now.  Rusch has never had an arm problem, and he's lost weight recently.  He's been throwing 86-88 with good command and should be considered for open fifth starter gigs.  At worst, he makes a good swingman.  I'm guessing he'd sign for $1MM with maybe another million or two in incentives.

Interesting read, at least I thought, from MLB.com:

"link"

I had no idea that they lived together while Hurdle was with the Royals. Actually, I did not realize Hurdle was a first round pick.

Wish I knew that George was gonna be at that Game 4 here in Colorado. I would have taken in a sign to say hi from Royals Review in Denver since I was there as well.

Over on MLBTradeRumors there is a link to a spreadsheet showing the 2007 and 2008 salaries for what appears to be all catchers. It also notes if there is an option. Thought some of you might find this interesting, though I wish I could find the same thing for other positions. Here is the link if you are interested:

"Catcher Salaries"

I thought that there would already be something posted that I could add to on this, but I didn't see anything. So if anyone is interested, MLB Trade Rumors has some info on the contract discussions between the Braves and Jones. It appears that he is asking for more than the Braves care to pay. I don't think he will get what he's asking for, but something close may not be out of the question.

Now before I get accused of being a traitor and not being loyal and blah blah blah, I have to say this. I was born in 1982, was only 3 years old when the Royals won the Series. Don't remember it, had no idea it happened for at least 5 years after. Of course now I spout it out like it was the greatest event in the history of the world. My point is this, I've been to well over a hundred Royals games in my 25 years and have followed them every season since I could actually understand what was going on. But in that time, I never witnessed a game that was actually more than just another game.

Last night, I attended the first game in my life that I will actually remember forever. I was so excited on Sunday when I found out that the Rockies had forced a play-in game against the Padres that I sat on the Internet for hours trying to get through for tickets. As luck would have it, one of my co-workers ended up with an extra ticket and I was the man to take it. All I can say is "WOW, that was amazing!!!". The stadium was packed, the atmosphere was like nothing I've ever seen before. They cranked up the volume during the pre-game and just rocked the place up until the first pitch. There was a standing ovation for the first out of the ballgame! There were so many things that stick out in my mind about that game I can't even get to them all. But one that I have to mention is this. Bottom of the fifth, Tulowitzki leads off the inning with a double. Matt Holliday steps to the plate and the entire stadium starts chanting M-V-P in perfect unison. I was amazed when the crowd did not stop chanting after the first pitch, just seems like a huge distraction to me. But with the chanting still in unison as Peavy's second pitch came to the plate, Holliday ripped a single up the middle to score the tying run. The crowd didn't miss a beat, the chant continued through the entire play and afterwards as Holliday stood on first base. It was truly one of the most electrifying moments I have witnessed in sports.

I actually felt like I was a part of the game, especially when it hit the 13th inning and I had been standing in Coors Field for what felt like 5 hours. Nobody left that stadium, even after the two-run homer for the Pads in the top of the 13th. It was like everybody just knew the Rockies were gonna come back and win that game. And when they did, I don't even remember the first five minutes afterwards. It was complete chaos, jumping and screaming and hugging. I just know that when I finally realized what had happened I was standing on my seat looking back at the crowd with my Rockies hat proudly raised above my head and my other hand on top of my head in sheer amazement.

What a game, what a memory, what a hangover!

So I left for what turned out to be a very nice vacation back home to MO. I got to go see a game at The K on Thursday, albeit not a very good game for the R's. But it was just fun to be in the stadium nonetheless. Also, got to do some huntin since dove season opened on Saturday, always happy to break out the shotgun.

So it seems as if a lot has happened while I was gone. Just a few things that I've noticed in looking at the box scores for the past week.

-Sweeney came back from the DL

-Musser got some work in the pen

-Huber got some AB's

-Teahen came back from the DL

-Buckner started in place of Nunez

-BB moved Gload to the 3 hole and tried Gordon at cleanup (both appeared to work well)

-Davies threw a half decent game

-Greinke and Banny threw wonderful games

-Gordon started hitting some BOMBS!! (and he is over .250 Avg now I believe)

What am I missing? I haven't read any articles or any previous posts on RR yet to catch up so fill me in please. I'm dyin to know what I've missed.

Disclaimer: THIS IS FOR FUN, DON'T GET YOUR PANTIES IN A WAD IF YOU DON'T AGREE WITH SOMEONE'S IDEA.

So I was thinking, wouldn't it be kind of fun if we had our own little inside rules for RR. You know, stuff that only the regulars really knew and would get a kick out of. Nothing major, just innocent little things that would promote more enjoyment. I'm going to start with the first idea:

Rule #1: If you mention a female in your post, you have to either include a picture or a link to a picture of said female. (L2 - no offense to you, but since you like to post pictures of the ballplayers and sometimes mention how they look, then I figured it would not bother you)

Remember, just for fun on an off-day. Now who's got some creative ideas?

Found on RockyMountainNews.com

HANGING ON

Left-hander Mark Redman, an eight- year major league veteran, has signed a minor league contract with the Rockies and pitched for Double-A Tulsa (Okla.) on Monday.

He gave up five runs, five hits, two walks and struck out seven in five innings in Tulsa's 6-5, 11-inning loss to Midland (Texas).

The Rockies are his fourth organization this season.

Redman, a 1995 first-round draft choice, is 64-80 in his career and was an All-Star for Kansas City in 2006.

He was unsigned this year until the opening days of spring training, when Atlanta signed him after losing Mike Hampton. He went 0-4 with an 11.63 ERA in six games (five starts) with the Braves.

The Rockies have three starting pitchers on the disabled list, but manager Clint Hurdle said Redman was not signed with major league needs in mind.

"This is something the minor league people did and made us aware of," he said.

MLBTradeRumors.com says that the BoSox just traded WMP to the Nationals for some scratch and a hooker to be named later. Looks like a dump by the Sox, no room for Wily in Boston any more. He should fit in quite nicely next to D'meat Hook in D.C.

Oh, and Big Z went ahead and signed with the Baby Bears after all.

Well, Barry Bonds finally did it. He captured the most prolific record in all of Major League Baseball, if not all of sports. He hit it off of Mike Bacsik of the Washington Nationals. It was a no-doubter off the bat into the deepest part of the field out in center. Some dude wearing a Mets jersey came up with the ball, how fitting. Bruce Bochey trotted him out there in the top half of the next inning for some extra applause and then pulled a double switch and replaced him. Now I guess the debate will go to whether Barry gets inducted into the HOF, which I believe he will regardless of whether it is deserved or not. So I leave ya'll with this: When somebody who does not know baseball asks you who the greatest home run hitter of all time is, how will you answer?

Not real big news, but another trade is in the books. From MLB. com:

Righthander Kyle Lohse was acquired by the Phillies from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for minor league lefthander Matt Maloney, Senior Vice President & General Manager Pat Gillick announced today.
Lohse, 29, was 6-12 with a 4.58 ERA in 21 starts for Cincinnati and had the fifth-worst run support in the National League at 3.69 runs per game. In his last five starts, Lohse is 3-2 with a 3.27 ERA, a .231 opponents' batting average and a 9.0-inning complete game. He pitched at least 6.0 innings in 15 of his 21 starts, including seven of his 12 losses.

"Kyle is a durable righthanded starter who has postseason experience," said Gillick. "We feel that with our offense and his ability to keep us in games, he will add pitching depth to our rotation."

Lohse pitched in the postseason with Minnesota in three consecutive years (2002-04) and went 0-2 with a 3.00 ERA in five games (one start).

A resident of Scottsdale, Arizona, Lohse was originally selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 29th round of the 1996 draft and was traded to Minnesota in 1999. He made his major league debut with the Twins in 2001. In his career, Lohse is 60-74 with a 4.83 ERA, six complete games and four shutouts for the Twins (2001-06) and Reds (2006-07).

Maloney, 23, was 9-7 with a 3.94 ERA in 21 starts for double-A Reading. He was 5-1 in his last six decisions. Maloney was a third-round selection by the Phillies in the 2005 draft.

Here's the link:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20070730&content_id=2118897&vke y=pr_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi