In a related story, Royals batters only walk once in two intrasquad scrimmages. Yes, it means nothing. Nothing at all. This team will be better than last year's. I believe that. But this lineup, even at its best will be an out-making machine. The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs. Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party. You'll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking.

It's called Commie Ball, by Michael Lewis, and I have no idea how I missed its publication in the July '08 Vanity Fair. 

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This quote by Dayton Moore about Trey Hillman was met with honest to goodness howling by anyone who follows the Royals but who isn't employed by the team.  It seems ludicrous on the face of it, but is there anything in Hillman's record that would seem to preclude him eventually earning a reputation as one of the very best baseball men in a generation?  I thought I'd take a quick look at the early records of some men who could be considered the very best of their generations to see if Hillman's record in any way disqualifies that possibility.

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I wanted to write this after game 1 after reading Hillman's defense of Farnsworth because his comment illustrated perfectly the difference between performance analysts and scouts.  Unfortunately, I have another opportunity to write about it today, following an equally heartbreaking and damaging loss.

Recall Hillman's (approximate) quote after Thome's HR on opening day:  The problem wasn't the pitch, the problem was the location.  Well, we all pretty much agreed that that analysis was pretty much worthless, which is fine.  Hillman has zero obligation to criticize his players or share his unvarnished thoughts to the media.  In fact, it's counterproductive.  It does no good to rip on players in the media.  But what has made the whole Farnsworth signing and subsequent conflagrations so frustrating is just how damn predictable it has been.

My point:  Most of us reading and posting on this website are performance analysts out of necessity (we have the tools to analyze stats, but very few of us have the tools to scout), and though we deny it, we view PECOTA (or CHONE or MARCEL etc) as destiny.  We all know in our core that Kyle Farnsworth will always be flammable because that's what he's almost always been.  On the other hand, the Royals braintrust are scouts and as such they don't believe that projections are destiny or that past performance guarantees future results.  They believe that with coaching and with patience players with tools can be turned into players with skills.

Sometimes this approach works beautifully:  The Gil Meche signing was viewed as an abomination by any performance analyst worth his pocket protector.  The trade for Kyle Davies was widely viewed as a huge disappointment based mainly on Davies' peripherals as a Brave.  Those two pitchers are now cost-effective parts of this team's cornerstone for the next three years and they never would have been acquired by a less tools-savvy organization.

Sometimes it works poorly:  Joey Gathright was a bust (although it's important to note that JP Howell seems to be a fungible commodity at this point).  Jose Guillen is vastly overpaid.  And of course, Farnsworth is proving to be what he's always been, combustible.

Anyway, that quote above by Hillman is incredibly instructive.  Baseball Men (BM) will say that if only Farnsworth would locate his pitches better, he would be a dominant pitcher.  And that's certainly true.  BM argue that Farnsworth can be taught to locate better either by landing on his toe or by clearing his hips or rotating his shoulder or whatever.  And maybe they're right.  Maybe there is some mechanical fix that can turn Farnsworth into something more than he's been for the last 5 years. (Incidentally, this is also the defense for Farnsworth's usage.  The Royals think that Farnsworth can be a dominant reliever so of course it makes sense to use him in game-critical situations.)  But from where I sit PECOTA is destiny.  Farnsworth can't locate better.  He simply can't.  He is what he's always been.  And that it seems so obvious from the outside looking in makes the whole deal triply frustrating.

The Royals under Dayton Moore will continue to make these kinds of mistakes. That's the cost of doing business in this way.  Farnsworth, Guillen and Jacobs are the cost of Meche, Davies and Callaspo.  Maybe it's worth it.  Today it doesn't feel like it.  

Greinke has single-handedly recouped nearly all of that money Moore blew on Farnsworth. If Moore had waited to make the extension offer until after the season started (like how he did it with Soria) the numbers would have likely been significantly higher. $1M/year? $2M/year? In any event, by getting the Greinke extension done this off-season, Moore saved Glass a boatload.

One other thing: I bought my Greinke jersey in 2004. He's my favorite Royal. Last night's game made all of his frustrations and fits and starts worth it. That was one of the most entertaining games I've ever seen, and certainly one of the most satisfying.