SB Nation User Blog: djk royal

Keith Law's Take on Crisp Trade

djk royal — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:36:39 -0000

Keith Law's Take on Crisp Trade

That said, they're getting a good player in exchange for a relief arm who has probably already had his career year in the big leagues, and Crisp's salary isn't out of line with his actual production when we consider his defensive value. He'll probably be the best defensive player in the Royals' everyday lineup, and there's some value in having a few good defenders out there when you're running as many young pitchers out there as the Royals will be in 2009. If they manage to trade Teahen and keep DeJesus, they'll be a better club offensively and defensively as a result of this deal, and with Ramirez unlikely to repeat his 2008 performance anyway, their pen isn't likely to miss his innings as much as you might think. It's a good exchange of value, but not quite the offensive prescription that the Royals need, and eventually they're going to run out of decent right-handed relievers to deal.

Jim Callis at ESPN Weighs in on Crisp Trade

djk royal — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:57:20 -0000

Jim Callis at ESPN Weighs in on Crisp Trade

Terry, NY: Who won the Crisp-Ramirez deal today?
Jim Callis: (2:04 PM ET ) I was surprised the Red Sox didn't get more for Crisp, and relievers are volatile, so I'll say the Royals. This deal will help Kansas City more than it will help Boston.

Dave (Raleigh, NC): I felt the same about the KC deal, not because I am a Royals fan, but that Ram Ram was the ultimate buy low (acquired for Jorge De La Rosa, essentially) a year ago. Now, what about Teahen and Buck to the Cubs for Fontenot, Theriot or Cedeno and a reliever?
Jim Callis: (2:10 PM ET ) Sounds like a Teahen for Fontenot or Cedeno deal is in the works.

Mike (CT): Is Hochevar ever going to pan out?
Jim Callis: (2:48 PM ET ) I'm far from the biggest fan. I'll put it this way: I don't think he'll justify being the No. 1 overall pick or a high first-round pick.

No Major Increase in Payroll for Next Year

djk royal — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:41:13 -0000

No Major Increase in Payroll for Next Year

"Club officials expect no major increases in a payroll of roughly $60 million, which likely limits Moore to one impact free-agent addition — and probably a second-tier one at that."

Keith Law pans Jacobs deal

djk royal — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:04:27 -0000

Keith Law pans Jacobs deal

"The Royals' trade for Mike Jacobs was a profoundly wrongheaded move. Jacobs should not get regular playing time from a major league club, period. The fact that the Royals looked at him and thought, "Wow, everyday first baseman!" is terrifying, because it's so wrong. Jacobs:

• Is a horrendous on-base guy. He posted a .299 OBP in 2008, and even that was inflated by 10 intentional walks. Take those out and his OBP drops to .285. In the National League, no less. Players who make outs in over 70 percent of their plate appearances can't play every day in a corner spot unless the team's goal is to score as few runs as possible.

• Has a massive platoon split. In 338 career plate appearances against left-handed pitching in the majors, Jacobs is hitting .235/.275/.414. He's not any great shakes against right-handers -- his OBP against righties, removing intentional walks, was just .297 in 2008 -- but he is useless against lefties.

• Is a terrible defensive first baseman, possibly the worst in baseball. He has bad hands and no range and is bad enough that he probably needs to DH."

If the Royals and Chiefs were physical beings of your desired gender, which would be more dateable?

djk royal — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:54:30 -0000

If the Royals and Chiefs were physical beings of your desired gender, which would be more dateable?

Your 2008 KC Royals and Chiefs everyone:

"If each frachise was an eligible man or woman, depending on your taste, who would they be and which would you ask out?

The Chiefs I think would be Pam Anderson. Way past her better days, worn out where it counts, even has a few diseases you want to stay away from, but still trying to make a name for herself on TV.

The Royals are a little tougher. Maybe Star Jones? Lost a bunch of weight, working hard to make it, but still struggling to get anything more than a niche, local following? You guys can do better than that."

JoePo on Beltran

djk royal — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:28:12 -0000

JoePo on Beltran

"This is but a small sample of what it is to be around the Kansas City Royals year after year, and an explanation of why I fell so hard for Carlos Beltran. I used to go to a terrible late night diner that had one good item on the menu; the tuna melt. Every other choice on the menu might get you sick. Carlos Beltran was my Royals tuna melt. He could do everything — who could hit and run, throw and chase down fly balls, crush homers from both sides of the plate and steal bases so easily, like he was ordering them from a drive-thru window."

Boom! If video gamers ran the Royals...

djk royal — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 14:15:20 -0000

Boom! If video gamers ran the Royals...

- "Zack Greinke would lead the league in hit batsmen. One of my favorite, underrated storylines this year is that of Zack Greinke, emerging bad@$$. Remember how that pitch "got away from him" and into Delmon Young's grill, the at bat after Young pimped a monster homer off Greinke at the K?

And who could forget the plunking of Nick Swisher in the Miguel Olivo Game, where Greinke explained he'd had trouble with that inside fastball to lefties all game long?"

This isn’t the Hillman we were expecting

djk royal — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:53:14 -0000

This isn’t the Hillman we were expecting

"The troubling part is that all of those things that Dayton Moore and so many others saw in Hillman — his bustling energy, his likeable personality, his sense of perspective, his ability to inspire and motivate the players — those things have been missing in action. The Royals have played lackluster baseball. They have gone backward defensively. They are so unfocused that Hillman last week made a point to say they’re catching pop-ups better. They have by far the worst plate discipline in all of baseball. The Royals’ young players have not improved enough and in some case regressed. This is not a well-managed baseball team.

And everyone seems to know it, especially the players. It should be said up front that Major League Baseball players often grumble about their manager. But multiple sources who are around the club every day say that these Royals openly mock him. A new Trey Hillman joke is almost a daily occurrence, and it’s hard for a manager to recover from being a clubhouse punchline."

Mike Aviles Defense is Analyzed by Clark Fosler

djk royal — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:34:11 -0000

Mike Aviles Defense is Analyzed by Clark Fosler

The following rankings appear at Royals Authority and show some very good results for Mike Aviles. I don't know how much this really tells us but it's encouraging none the less.

"Stats Inc. Zone Rating: .843 - That is fourth among all AL players with 500 or more innings at the position (Erick Aybar is first at .857). Two regulars, Orlando Cabrera and Jason Bartlett post ratings of .845. Tony Pena Jr. has an .829 zone rating.

Stats Inc. Range Factor: .468 - Second in the AL, again behind Aybar and ahead of Cabrera’s 4.63.

Hardball Times Revised Zone Rating: .860 - Best among all those in the AL with 500 or more innings played at short, edging out Aybar (.859) and Cabrera (.851).

Hardball Times Outs Made Outside of Zone: 24 - That is the same number of outs that Derek Jeter has made in 1103 innings (Aviles has 576 innings at short), two more than Yuniesky Betancourt has made in 1123 innings. Aviles makes an ‘out outside of zone’ once every 24 innings, virtually the identical rate of both Cabrera and Bartlett."

Rob Neyer Once Again Manages to Depress Me

djk royal — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 19:35:04 -0000

Rob Neyer Once Again Manages to Depress Me

The following is a snippet from his blog on ESPN today:

"This is not the foundation of a contending team. The farm system is mostly empty, and even if Dayton Moore has drafted particularly well last year and this year -- there's no real evidence that he has -- it wouldn't really show up in the majors until 2011 or '12, at the earliest. Sure, in the short term they might go out this winter and spend $60 million on Adam Dunn or somebody, but to what end?

I'm afraid this organization remains stuck in neutral, unable to understand the importance of power and patience, unwilling to trade veterans like Mark Grudzielanek and Ron Mahay, unwise enough to blow $36 million on an untalented malcontent like Jose Guillen."

He goes on to call Guillen one of the worst everyday players in major league baseball due to his 284 OBP.