From Jim Callis:

Pitching has become the strength of the Royals system. Third baseman Mike Moustakas and first baseman Eric Hosmer entered 2009 as Kansas City's two best prospects but both had disappointing years. Meanwhile, Danny Duffy had a strong season in high Class A; 2008 draftees Mike Montgomery, Tim Melville and John Lamb all showed considerable promise; and Crow and Chris Dwyer signed out of this year's draft.

None of those guys has advanced past high Class A yet, and attrition takes a heavy toll on pitching prospects as they advance through the minors. Thus I can't put the Royals in the first tier of pitching-rich systems. The Indians, Orioles, Rangers, Rays and Rockies (in no particular order) have quality arms and depth and guys on the verge of helping their big league clubs, so I'd put them all ahead of Kansas City. But the Royals would fall in the next group, and if their arms continue to progress, they might have the best collection of pitching prospects in baseball at the end of 2010.

From Keith Law chat: "Someone I know well with KC told me after I wrote that the Royals shouldn't give Dayton an extension that we're not friends any more. The entire organization has gone mad - you are simply not allowed to criticize them."

The following is from the most recent Craig Brown column:

I missed this quote from Gil Meche following Jose Guillen's Excellent Right Field Adventure on Friday night that led to Howie Kendrick's inside the park home run:

"If you want to call it an inside-the-parker, you go ahead, but I'd rather not even comment on that one."

Hmmmm. Had to travel all the way to the LA portion of the internet to view that little dandy.

Think Meche was a little perturbed with the effort? I'm with Gil, I don't care to comment.

"I will share this Instant Message that I sent to young Sam Mellinger, the Star’s outstanding baseball writer. Sammy had been assigned to write some sort of instant analysis piece from back home in Kansas City, and we were just sending some smart aleck thoughts back and forth. And then, in the sixth inning, with the Royals leading 2-1, I wrote him this:
"For your instant analysis, why don’t you beat the rush and right now write ‘After Kyle Farnsworth blew the lead in the eighth inning …’"
I don’t write this to, in any way, overpraise my own ability to see into the future (though I have been on a bit of a roll lately). I write this because it was THAT obvious."

12. Kansas City Royals: Another improved system, boosted by an outstanding 2008 draft led by Eric Hosmer, lefty Mike Montgomery and sleeper Tim Melville, a projected first-rounder who fell after a mediocre spring. The Royals have good pitching depth but are a little light on impact talent after Hosmer.

Nobody in Kansas City will be happy if 75 wins is the best that comes of this.

The honeymoon is over.

The real marriage is beginning -- for better, for worse, in Joakim times and in Gload.

I was not, however, wrong about Meche's contract, which was not a good one for the Royals.

Why not? Because big contracts don't make sense for losing teams. In Meche's two seasons the Royals have finished 69-93 and 75-87, with a .500 record still just a fantasy. Now, the argument that has been made is that while Meche might not push the Royals into contention all by himself, signing him "showed the Royals are serious" and would thus attract both fans and free agents.

Fans? The Royals finished last in attendance this year, next-to-last the year before. Free agents? The only notable free agent they've signed since Meche came aboard is Jose Guillen (about whom the less said, the better).

snip

Someday, the historians will look at Gil Meche's statistics and his salaries and conclude that the Royals got their money's worth, and then some. Today, though, those dollars are just another example of the mismanagement that has plagued the franchise for nearly 25 years.