Being a self professed non-math person (just the thought of balancing my check book gives me the chills), I will say that I fully appreciate their importance to life in general, and specifically the great game of baseball.  However, as is continually lampooned on this site;  there seems to be a massive resistance to stats/sabermetrics in the baseball establishment.  Things still being entreched in the "old school" ways of the game. 

My question for discussion (during a typical boring light newsday Wednesday) is:  what manager/GM combo (or individual) will be the first to manage their rosters and construct their teams based purely off the stats & sabermetrics.  Will it be a current GM or manager of an MLB team, or is their someone lurking in the depths of A ball or Japan who will break the mold?

Or will it just be Brian Bannister???  Side discussion, how many years before we see this occur, are there already teams leaning heavily in this direction???

Watched the Army Navy game this weekend, one of the greatest sporting traditions in our country.  Every year the game is a tough contest and every year the passion of the fans (cadets and midshipmen alike) bleeds through the television and into my livingroom. 

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No, not the Chiefs drafting Tebow;  that would be insane.

On Yahoo, they have an article about the Jacksonville Jags drafting Tebow in an attempt to resurrect their franchise.  The Jags financial situation/fanbase has gone from bad to worse; unable to sell out any home games they are slowly circling the drain and may have to move.

As shown in the article the Jags owner has basically come out and said that they are already planning on moving up in the draft to get him.  Reportedly there are already Draft Tebow bumper stickers coming out in the Jacksonville area.  This may be a dream come true for Pioli. 

I'm as glass half full as the next guy, but I reallistically see the Chiefs only winning 6 games this year;  and if we get bit hard with injuries it could be worse on our extremely depth deprived roster.  Unfortunately, 4-12 is a realistic possibility.

If the Chiefs do underperform this year and are stuck in the top 6 of the NFL draft, then this would be a golden opportunity for this kind of a blockbuster trade.  This just seems like a (future) win-win for our beloved Chiefs as the team grows and develops under Pioli & Haley's watch.

Sorry for the topic that is just so out of left field, but I found it very interesting how much pure economics has begun to effect the sports world.

No QB controversy here.  Cassel is the man and he will QB all year barring any serious injury.  What I feel is important is to gauge our expectations of this young man in his new surroundings. Going by gut feeling alone I thnk Cassel will have decent numbers this year, but unspectacular.  My prediction:

3000+ YDS, gonna be throwing a lot cause we're gonna be behind a lot

21-23 TD's,  decent for a starting QB,

18 INT's,  our boy is gonna be feeling pressure all day behind our line, this will lead to sacks & picks & fumbles

He will create a solid relationship with the premiere target on the team D Bowe 10-12 TD's

No TD's for any of our scrub TE's, they will spend the next 16 games blocking their asses off.

Couple of TD's for Lelie & Bradley

Couple receiving TD's for Jamaal Charles, I can see him becoming a Priest Holmes type coming out of the backfield for short passes and making LB's miss. (Nowhere near the talent or production of Holmes but used in the same style IMO).

What do you guys think, and sorry if this has been discussed at length, I have looked and haven't seen this topic before.   Look forward to your feedback and predictions.

I have looked over the older posts and todays front page and have not seen this topic brought up.  For those of you who listen to Petro on 810 may have heard this, and it seems like a pretty good topic to me.

In his first drafts GMDM was going after young players with better upside.  In the recent draft and in Petro's discussion with GMDM, he says he is now going for college level experienced players in the draft.

A caller brought up the point, that as far as The Process goes;  the best case scenario would be for the Royals drafts to all hit at the same time.  The younger players should be ready for the bigs at the same time as the college draftees; giving the Royals a glut of MLB ready talent all at once.

Perhaps this is a total accident, perhaps intentional, whatever.  What do you guys think about this and how beneficial will this be to the Royals over the course of the next 2-3 years.  Is this beneficial at all or is this just the same old Royals tripping over themselves at every point in a continuingly futile attempt to effectively compete.

So listening to 810 and apparently a reporter out of NY has reported that the Jets are interested in Brandon Marshall from the Broncos.  However, if they can't make Marshall happen then #2 on the list is Dwayne Bowe is next.  I find this hard to believe, but didn't know if any of the regular posters from the east coast have heard anything about this or not? 

As an interesting question, do the Jets have any pieces that would be a great fit for us or draft picks that would suit us for next year?

For some time now we the Royals fans have been subjected to yet another depressing season of "professional" baseball.  The only reason we are not the sole laughing stock of MLB is because the Nationals exist.  For the past few months many of us loyal yet increasing angry fans have been stalking up and down the dark alleys and sidestreets of the world wide web.  Well my friends our time has come.

If like me you already have sharpened your pitchfork and have a ready on hand supply of well oiled torches;  then the only thing left is to find a singular victim or our ensuing mob.  I stand resolved that this type of Mary Shelley-esque justice is all that is left to us (at least using mob logic as a basis;  come on everyone else is doing it!).

Rather than a Harvey Dent flip of the coin I say we break down logically, who gets the rope and why?

For me it is GMDM.  A string of questionable moves has moved him to the forefront of my ire.  I honestly feel he learned his lesson when dealing with Baird, the less involved in the field the owner is the better.  He has dusted off the check book and shelled out the benjamins.  Unfortunately, GMDM has done nothing recently but throw good money after bad.  I feel Glass has improved, albeit marginally as an owner.  However if his money continues to be pissed away as it is now, this will need to an unfortunate regression.

My vote, dump GMDM, keep Glass, get somebody else to spend his money.

This was brought up earlier in recent posts but, how is Dayton doing with the minor league system?  Furthermore, how long does it take to build an effective minor league system that will continually feed talent to the major league club.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Dayton has been building the minors for 3 years now.  Is it perhaps more of a focus of his energy than the major league club? 

With the cupboard being as historically bare as it was can we reasonably expect any GM to be able to produce a winner on the field with virtually nothing to trade and a comparatively limited amount of cash to bring in free agents to a losing club.

GMDM believes that pitching is the currency in baseball, his signings and draft picks I feel have shown this to be his true philosophy (even though Farnsy, HoRam and Ponson are below Mexican pesos).  I foresee more impactful moves down the line when all the pitchers we've drafted start to flourish.  When someone can step in and take over for a Meche or a Greinke (both awesome signings), then we will be able acquire in more legit trades, what we need to be a true competitor.  Instead of hoping to catch lightning in a bottle (hope Farnsy, Ponson, HoRam don't suck as bad this year philosophy).

Personally I expect a 2-3 year window from this date before serious results will be seen on the field at Kauffman stadium.  What are your thoughts on this?

Canseco claims he was ostracized

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none stat geek, geeks.  First of all please let me say how much I enjoy this site and all of the contributors to it.  Being that we are blogging at all let's all of us release the baseball geek that lives in his mom's basement (however that may refer to your current situation, it is meant to be figurative, but if it does refer to you literally, then power to you mooch of the realm).

2Legit, I call upon you not to quit the site.  I stand resolved that this site can use more fans like you, and dare I say me.  If I read you correctly, you are not a stat head, a quality that this site seems to be rather top heavy with.  That over abundance of stats makes this site unfortunately unapproachable to many fans who are just as passionate as everyone else.  Keep in mind, the whole point of blogging is intended to give a voice to the voiceless, the "silent majority" if you will.

Stats are important, but they have a tendency to be overly relied upon, which inevitibly leads to folly for some and the ever popular underdog victory on the flip side of the bean counter coin.  Ex:  statistically speaking William Wallace should never have beaten the English in any engagement (who's not a fan of braveheart), the 13 Colonies  shouldn't have won their independence, the Texicans should never have been able to overcome Santa Ana's veteran forces (remember the Alamo bitches), the USA should have won in Vietnam (McNamara's failure as the chief war advisor is one of the biggest bean counter failures in history).

Going by the numbers is VERY important and an understanding of them is important, but it is something that I and other's like me will never get, we just don't have the wiring for it.  And for all of you who do, great for you, just do the rest of us a favor and don't crunch your numbers in a vacuum.  Let us not forget that FIGURES DO NOT LIE, BUT LIARS SURE CAN FIGURE. 

How many decades has big tobacco had medical researches "prove" that there was no connection between cigarettes and cancer.  I'm sure someone in a white lab coat can show me a formula that an elephant can safely hang off a cliff with it's tail tied to a dandylion;  thanks, but I'll stick with my own two eyes and common sense.

Going strictly by the numbers would have robbed us of some of sports greatest moments.  By the numbers, no way does THE MIRACLE happen with USA Hockey vs USSR Hockey, no way does Tommy Lassorda put Gibson in to hit by the numbers, Bill Mazeroski is not left in, in the bottom of the 9th to hit the first homerun to decide a World Series against the hated Yankees (lead by Mantle and Marris).

That is the beautiful thing about sports, it is something where unevenly matched opponents can meet on an even playing field.  No way can KC compare to New York;  but I tell you what, I'll get my best 25 guys, you get your best 25 guys, let's hit the field and see what happens.  For that brief period of THE GAME, THE MATCH, THE CONTEST, we get to transcend the indefatiguable, unarguable numbers.  Any given Sunday as it were;  that's why they play the games;  they don't just look at lineup cards and say well, the stats say you got me this time, see ya tomorrow.

With that said I have nothing but the greatest respect for the numbers, more often than not they are correct;  you don't get to become the language of the universe for nothing know.  But a little heart, a little guts and dare I mention GRIT, is also part of the equation;  that part that is in between the numbers.  That's all the space that guys like 2Legit and I need, and the multitudes like us.  From one fan to another, let's just approach the game from our respective perspectives and don't forget that we can always agree on our mutual hatred of all things Yankee, Cardinal and Mariner;  REMEMBER GRASS CREEK!!!!!

Thanks to those of you who bothered to read this rant, I look forward to your comments and any ensuing arguments (that's the other FUN thing about blogging).

Yours Truly,

Your_Moms_Boyfriend

with Michael Irvin? 

The setting is a little contrived, but damn it was inspiring last night.  May be I'm just a sucker for people competeing their hearts out for their dreams, but I thought the show was awesome.  I've been a fan of the UFC series for some time now, and that seems to have a lot more bullshit drama than this one. 

Watching these guys, push and get pushed to perform is awesome.  I assume many on this sight will disagree (I hate the Cowboys and Irvin with a passion), but for some reason the formula of this show works, I highly suggest giving it a chance.

As was posted in another fanpost I totally agree that we should start a countdown timer for how much longer Farnsworth will be on the team.  Not only Farnsy, but I feel that a Guillen timer will be required as well.

Maybe something like the national debt clock perhaps a combo of time spent and amount of money wasted on these two signings.  Cheers as the time counts down, groans as the dollar bills go out the door.

I don't have the technical know how for this type of feet, so I post this in the hope that someone on this site will have the ability to make this Royals fan's dream a reality.

I am seriously hoping that the Royals and GMDM, decide to bring Hochevar back up sooner than later. 

As the schedule sits we'll only be forced to see Ho Ram 3 more times before Hochevar is brought back up.  My question / concern is whether the Royals will actually bring Hoch back up in that short of time; will Dayton/Hillman pull the trigger?

Or will we get another month long dose of Ho Ram boosting opposing BA's?

Who are potential trade partners for LJ and what can we get for him?

Cleveland has 2 2nd rounders and likes a power running game.

There's always the ever present trade machine of the Patriots 3 2nds & 2 3rds.

The Giants, definitely see a package of LJ and later pick for a 2nd & 5th, they have 2 2nds.

Detroit has 2 3rds and needs RB help, (My God they picked up every piece of trash last year)

Cinci has 2 3rds as well.

Since Pioli has the negotiating cards, what's the likelihood of LJ sitting down to the old restructuring table, signing a 1 yr deal that is extremely cap friendly and getting traded to someone else.  To me this seems very likely, but then again I tend t look at the world through red & gold glasses while I sip my red & gold koolaid.

Could this end up affecting where the chiefs end up picking?  The Giants D is still solid, they have the running back they want, the O line is good, franchise super bowl QB, the only gaping hole is now big game WR. 

They have 2 2nd rnd picks, which gives them flexibility to move up, maybe swap 1st round take second this year and second next year?

With a huge talent drop of after Crabtree and Maclin and a bunch of WR hungry teams in the top mid of the draft (can always count on Al Davis to go for the showtime pick, and everyone knows that which helps us).

The question is will the Giants try and move that far up?

Stafford is pretty much locked in at #1, but never put it past those tricky Lions to pull a shocker.

Rams are going to go Smith at #2, most likely anyway.

Who will our beloved Chiefs take at #3, since it's gonna take a Ditkaesque draft day meltdown for us to drop down the board, as much as I would like to fantasize otherwise.

Who do you take if you are the Chiefs GM?

Check this out

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ys-top100prospects030909&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

these guys have Sanchez rated over Stafford, are you freaking kidding me.  By the way awesome article on Yahoo about Smith completely wiffing on his proday workout. 

Some of the scouts called it the worst workout they have ever seen.  He only did 19 reps on the bench press and his times were slow, some are saying that he may have lazy assed his way out of day 1.