In honor of the upcoming movie Moneyball I present to you the salary and OPS for the six highest paid Oakland hitters this year:

1. Matt Holliday: $13.5 million with a 654 OPS

2. Eric Chavez: $11.5 million with a 262 OPS

3. Bobby Crosby: $5.3 million with a 664 OPS

4. Mark Ellis: $5 million with a 503 OPS

5. Jason Giambi: $4 million with a 629 OPS

6. Orlando Cabrera: $4 million with a 571 OPS

I know it's still somewhat early in the season but I was a little surprised to see these results.

• Consistent Progress - I still have nightmares regarding the Allard Baird Regime and am grateful for the ever increasing win totals (62, 69, 75 & roughly 80 projected wins in 2009). That my friends is a trend I can get behind.
• Improvement of Minor League System - Gone are the days of signability picks at the top of the draft and $1,000 bonuses to college seniors. Jim Callis has our system ranked 9th while Keith Law has it ranked 12th. This is very impressive considering we have so few prospects in the upper levels. Look for this ranking to increase when GMDM players eventually filter through every level.
• Gil Meche, Zack Greinke & Joakim Soria - This 1/2 punch at the top of the rotation is the best since Appier/Cone and can compete with any team in baseball. The Mexicutioner is quite possibly the best young closer in baseball. All are signed for at least two more years.
• Renovated Kauffman Stadium - I loved the stadium as it was but am really looking forward to seeing the improvements. It also nearly guarantees the Royals will remain a fixture in KC for the forseeable future.
• Increase in Payroll for 2009 - While much of the industry is cutting payroll the Royals were one of the few clubs that significantly opened their wallets. Couple this with a record setting financial payout in the draft and maybe there is hope for Mr. Glass yet.
• Royals Review, Rany on the Royals & Joe Posnanski - Royals fans are truly blessed to have so many quality options to discuss and learn about their favorite team. Two years ago I only had the KC Star.
• Mike Aviles and Kila Ka'aihue - How often do two fringe prospects who were considered too old for their respective minor league levels explode with seasons like those two had in 2008.
• David DeJesus - The Royals best position player handles a position switch from CF to LF with complete class. Maybe Michael Young and Jose Guillen could learn a few things from watching David.
• Tony Pena Jr., Ross Gload & Joey Gathright - Barring something drastic happening, there is a real chance I may never have to watch those three bat for the Royals ever again.
• Increase of Royals Baseball on TV - There are so many opportunities to watch games than ever before. Not to mention many are in HD now!
• 1B/DH Logjam - At a position the Royals have been almost comically bad the last two decades the Royals actually have 4 players who have the potential to be at least average and possibly more.
• Slugger - For the second year in a row I attended the Royals Caravan and Slugger made by daughters day. Kudo's to the Lion!

2009 Salaries:

Coco Crisp: $5.75 million plus $.5 million buyout

Kyle Farnsworth: $4.25 million plus $.75 million incentives

Miguel Olivo: $2.7 million plus $.1 million buyout plus incentives

Ho-Ram: $1.8 million plus incentives

Willie Bloomquist: $1.4 million

Esteban German: $1.2 million plus incentives

Mike Jacobs: $3 million estimated arbitratrion amount

John Buck: $3 million estimated arbitratrion amount

Mark Teahen: $3 million estimated arbitratrion amount

Cue the parade now.

General Manager Dayton Moore has made it no secret that the key to winning in his eyes is pitching. He has focused heavily on pitching in the draft in order to re-stock a depleted farm system. This philosophy has substantially increased the minor league pitching depth but predictably has left a dearth of positional prospects (roughly one). Moore has indicated from the onset of his tenure as General Manager that pitching is the currency of baseball so it stands to reason that once enough pitching depth is accumulated he will spend some of that currency to balance out the organization.

The question becomes how successfully Moore will spend that currency. While it is still too early to know the answer to that question we have been provided with some data to evaluate. Below is a list of trades in which Moore has cashed in pitching and the results of those trades using admittedly simple statistics (mainly OPS+ and ERA+). I have added a verdict below each trade which states my opinion on whether the trade has been a win or loss. In many instances it is too early too call it one way or another but I gave it a shot.

1. Jeremy Affeldt and Denny Bautista for Ryan Shealy: Affeldt ERA+ 71, 137, 123; 2006-2008. Bautista ERA+ 91, 38, 124; 2006-2008. Ryan Shealy OPS+ 102, 55; 2006-2007 and 2008 OPS of 861 at Omaha.

Verdict: Loss. One solid set-up man and one with potential for a guy who couldn't crack a big league roster if it had a Gload of Crap playing first there (wait...). Apologies to any South Floridians with man crushes on Gload that may be reading this blog.

2. Elmer Dessens for Odalis Perez, Blake Johnson & Julio Pimentel: Dessens ERA+ 96, 65; 2006-2007. Perez ERA+ 83, 84; 2006-2007. Blake Johnson 2008 ERA of 4.66 for Arkansas. Julio Pimentel 2008 ERA of 5.58 for Arkansas.

Verdict: Win. Although no prize, Odie was less awful than Dessens after the trade. Plus there are two prospects who have a chance to make this a very one-sided trade for Moore.

3. Mike MacDougal for Tyler Lumsden and Daniel Cortes: MaDougal ERA+ 264, 70, 215; 2006-2008. Lumsden has a 7.14 ERA for Omaha and Cortes has a 4.18 ERA for Arkansas this year.

Verdict: Loss. Mac the 9th was lights out for the Sox the year of the trade and had the vaunted "closer" label. Cortes is a legit prospect but is still a ways from the majors. As Lumsden is almost certainly a bust Cortes must produce to redeem this trade.

4. J.P. Howell for Joey Gathright: Howell ERA+ 90, 60, 177; 2006-2008. Gathright OPS+ 72, 88, 52; 2006-2008.

Verdict: Loss: Howell has been lights out this year for the AL's best team. Gathright is on the DL for sucking.

5. Andrew Sisco for Ross Gload: Sisco ERA+ 57 2007 (Hurt? 2008). Gload OPS+ 95, 73 2007-2008.

Verdict: Slight win. Only Gload could barely edge out a guy who was released from his team in the Mexican League mid-game for going to the concession stand to eat tacos. Mmmm.... tacos.

6. Ambriox Burgos for Brian Bannister: Bugros ERA+ 124; 2007 Injured; 2008. Bannister ERA+ 121, 83; 2007-2008.

Verdict: Win. Despite the growing Banny backlash this is still a clear win for the Royals. Burgos could still rebound from Tommy John surgery and pitch well but Banny should eventually become a solid #4 starter for years to come. Plus we get treated with a weekly Banny Log from his "BFF" JoePo.

7. Erik Cordier for Tony Pena Jr: Cordier was hurt in 2007 but has ERA of 1.54 in A ball for 2008. TPJ OPS+ 66, 1; 2007-2008.

Verdict: Loss. The odds are against Cordier ever pitching in the majors but TPJ has an OPS+ of 1. That's right 1. Plus we wasted all that money on bobble-heads.

8. Octavio Dotel for Kyle Davies: Dotel ERA+ 91, 138; 2007-2008. Davies ERA+ 71, 95; 2007-2008.

Verdict: Draw. Dotel was a rental but it's hard to believe a below average fringe starter is the best we could do. Without knowing the other offers Moore had to choose from I will call this one a draw.

9. Billy Buckner for Alberto Callaspo: Buckner ERA+ 114; 2008. Callaspo OPS+ 81 DUI +1; 2008.

Verdict: Slight Loss. Too soon to tell but Callaspo's off the field issues scare me.

10. Jorge DeLarosa (The Mexican Rose) for Ramon Ramirez (RAM RAM) (we'll ignore pending PTBNL's): DeLarosa ERA+ 74; 2008. RamRam ERA+ 156; 2008.

Verdict: Big Win.  The nickname upgrade alone makes this a clear winner. Ramirez could step in and close if it is determined that Soria switch to the rotation.

Final Tally 4 wins, 5 losses and 1 draw.  A pretty mixed bag but I come away with two observations one being good and one being bad. The good news is Moore can trade away a lot of bullpen arms and still have a good bullpen from year to year. The bad would be that most of the wins involve flipping pitching for pitching which doesn't help answer the question of whether he can build an offense. The trades where we have acquired offense have netted us Gload, Pena, Shealy, Gathright and Callaspo. Maybe we should ask for our money back on those.

With the 2008 season nearly two thirds complete the question becomes how to utilize the remaining games to prepare for next season. I have bulleted a number of items below which could and in some cases should be done to accomplish this objective.

• Move Soria to the rotation: This has been debated ad nauseaum but if it is going to happen now is the time. Soria pitched 69 innings last year and could increase to 99 innings this year and still be in the "safe zone" regarding injury. He has pitched 45 innings so far this year leaving 54 available innings for the 10-11 starts he could hope to make yet.
• Create roster room: The lack of options for position players has hurt the teams flexibility this year. Gathright (career 630 OPS in 1,100 AB's), Gload (739 career OPS) and Pena (571 career OPS) could be DFA'd or traded. It might be surprising how many would clear waivers. They all may have a niche in pro baseball but not for a non-contending team. Grudz could also be traded for a marginal prospect and a salary savings of nearly 1.5 million.
• Utilize new roster flexibility: Play Butler at 1b to develop and evaluate his defense. Call up Shealy and DH him everyday to evaluate if his bat speed makes him a viable long term option. Utilize Mitch Maier as a 4th outfielder. With his defensive reputation he could lock down the 4th outfield spot for the next 6 1/2 years.
• Hold onto Miguel Olivo unless you receive a great trade offer. If I understand correctly he contains a player option for next year. He will likely decline it and if his at bats over the past two years are sufficient we would receive a sandwich pick (ala David Riske).
• Move Mike Moustakas to catcher. He has the arm and body type to become a great defensive catcher and this would only make his bat all the more valuable. Keith Law is a huge supporter of this idea. Right now he is a marginal infielder. It would be great if he could spend the next two years learning the position and take over in 2011 when we no longer control John Buck.
• DFA Jimmy Gobble: He is making over $1.3 million which would only go up in arbitration next year so we would probably be non-tendered anyway. If DFA'd someone would probably claim him to get a lefty out and we would at least save a 1/3 of the salary for this year. Between this savings and the Grudz salary savings noted above that is an additional $2 million to throw in the Greinke/Gordon extension fund.
• Move Kila Kaaihu up to AAA to replace Ryan Shealy. Let's see what he can do at the next level the rest of the year. He has earned it.

I sorted all AL pitchers who had thrown a minimum of 60 innings by ERA to determine how we stacked up to the rest of the league. There were 66 pitchers who met this threshhold. The results are as follows:

Greinke - 23rd out of 66

Meche - 51st out of 66

Bannister - 54th out of 66

Hochevar - 56th out of 66

Tomko - 66th out of 66 (Congratulations San Diego Padres!)

This was more surprising to me than the offensive rankings and frankly quite alarming to me.

I sorted all American League players by position for those that had at least 150 plate appearances on the season and came up with the following information:

1b Gload 15th out of 15

2b Grudz 8th out of 17

SS TPJ 13th out of 13

3b Gordon 9th out of 14

LF Teahen 11th out of 18

CF DDJ 3rd out of 17

CF Gathright 17th out of 17

RF Guillen 9th out of 14

DH Butler 10th out of 12

C Olivo 6th out of 18

C Buck 12th out of 18

It was surprising to see that we only had 3 players above average (Grudz,  DDJ & Olivo) and had 3 that were last at their positions (Gload, Gathright & TPJ). Thankfully TPJ has already been replaced with AVILES NOW. Maybe it's time for some SHEALY NOW (Gload replacement) and COSTA NOW (Gathright replacement).  

For fun I went down the current MLB roster and assigned a grade to all of the players he has acquired since he became GM.

Current Year:

• Jose Guillen - B 785 OPS. He received a huge contract and stumbled badly out of the gate. For a solid month now he's been one of the hottest hitters in baseball. Overall numbers, considering salary and bad OBP, probably warrant a C+ but his current hot streak earns him extra credit.
• Miguel Olivo - A- 858 OPS. Received a modest contract to back-up Buck (according to Royals, not him). He's also seen significant time as a DH against lefties and has exceeded all expectations with his slugging and strong throwing arm. 
• Alberto Callaspo - C- 688 OPS. I was probably most excited by this acquisition but with Grudz playing reasonably well he has not been given a fair shot. He has over a 350 OBP this year and this grade could rise given more playing time.
• Ron Mahay - B+ 2.67 ERA. Has been every bit as excellent as expected. The only reason he doesn't receive an A is due to his high salary. To whom much is given much is expected.
• Ramon Ramirez - A- 3.30 ERA. Has struggled a bit recently but overall he's a young strikeout machine who we gave up nothing for (i.e. DeLarosa).
• Shake Yabuta - C+ 4.91 ERA. Started out awful but has posted a .77 era in his last 11 innings. Is crossing the threshold into B territory.
• Brett Tomko - D+ 6.34 ERA. Tomko has been old and hittable for a long time now. The results don't match the stuff should be carved into his tombstone. Didn't like the deal at the time and it looks like a loser now. We'll see if a trip to the bullpen will bolster that ERA.
• Hideo Nomo - F. Only pitched 4 innings but they were a memorable and predictable 4 innings.
• 2008 draft - B+. Looking good depending on if we can sign everyone.

Previous year (performance numbers are for the current year only):

• Brian Bannister (internet sensation, text buddy of JoePo, son of Floyd)- B 4.98 ERA. Stolen from the Mets for THE Ambrioxjfdjssd Burgos. Expectations have been tempered somewhat but still a major coup for the Royals.
• Joakim Soria - A+ 1.61 ERA. Extra credit for GMDM getting him locked up and for Soria sporting an Abe Lincoln beard.
• Gil Meche - C+ 5.54 ERA. The $55 million dollar man has struggled this year. Is it due to overuse last year or playing slightly over his head last year? Save for a great first six weeks last year he hasn't set the world on fire. To be determined.
• John Bale - C- 7.63 ERA. Terrible this year with a temper tantrum to boot. Hurt most of last year but when healthy was reasonably effective out of the pen.
• TPJ - F - 367 OPS. I will bite my tounge (or would I have to bite my fingers?) and hold my rant for another day.
• Joey Gathright - C- 543 OPS. He's fast. In addition to being fast he's also... fast. He also seems better on defense this year. Extra credit for car/pitcher jumping is negated by the resurgence of J.P. Howell.
• Ross Gload - D-. 569 OPS. Last year I would have given this a B- as we only gave up Sisco and he played OK. Then GMDM decided to lock him up to a two year extension. BOO.
• 2007 draft - B. Light on hitting but strong on pitching. Looks solid so far.

Overall performance (drum roll) B. Nice job so far given where the organization was. It will take a few years yet to start reaping the rewards of better drafting.