I don't post that much here.  I only post maybe once a month over at Royals Review.  But I read every day, and I'm just kinda shocked by the lack of confidence Chiefs fans and the lack of opportunity the national media is allowing the Chiefs this weekend in Philadelphia.  So here are my 5 reasons we can win and why we should at least not write ourselves off yet.

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Like any famous, or infamous in this case, group goes, a nickname must be given.  It's a sports rule or something.  As we know, our line is awful.  Over the last few years, with the retirements and departures of Will Shields, Willie Roaf, and Casey Wiegmann, our line has turned a perennially dominant five man blocking unit (we had several streaks of starting 5 linemen extending more than one season, which is rare) into a carousel that has turned the record setting LJ into Jamal Lewis and sent many QBs to the injured lists.  But if this preseason is any indication, the 2009 incarnation of the Chiefs line could take this level of suck to a new and expensive low.

via cdn2.sbnation.com

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Much has been made about the post-Moneyball era where the small-market teams are in the continuous struggle to find the next market inefficiency to exploit.  Most of us are familiar with the Royals idea and the process in place: dramatically increase funding for draft-picks (ignoring slotting, drafting on talent only, not money) and international scouting and signings.  On the surface, this seems like a good idea, mostly because the Allard Baird regime (David and Dan Glass included) practically ignored these areas as useful as far as building the organization as a whole.  But in reality all that is going on is high stakes gambling.  Further, it is not innovative; it is how baseball works.

via www.missourinet.com

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Baseball has long been about tools.  Hit for power, hit for average, throwing, fielding, and baserunning.  Well, there's one group of guys that scouts often overlook because they lack one of those things: speed/perceived lack of baserunning ability.  But in a recent conversation with my friends, and now I've had it several times, I believe a commodity in baseball (after all, the lesson in Moneyball was exploiting the market, not necessarily OBP...as most people would assume) is fat guys.  If a fat guy makes the Majors, it is likely because he is extremely talented in one or more of the other four tools (usually the sixth too...plate discipline).  In general though, scouts and those watching don't often envy the fat man, because he often looks goofy and out of place in pro sports.  But I decided it would be a fun exercise to make an All Fat-Guy Team because I think it would be the best in the majors if assembled, and it wouldn't be all that hard to dupe scout-type GM's into obtaining this type player early in their developmental track, or late for that matter.  This stems from a societal stereotype that fat guys aren't athletes.  And while that usually is the case, they are irregularly good, if not GREAT, baseball players, making baseball unique in sports.  My hunch is this is why Americans love MLB more than the NBA, because, frankly, I don't relate to or possess one skill LeBron has...and most baseball fans are the same.  While most of the guys on the list won't enjoy being mentioned, they should.  So here it is...the All Fat-Guy Team.  Tell me if they're winners.

via bloggingaboutbaseball.files.wordpress.com

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With the Yuniesky trade behind us, he is soon to join the Royals.  Alex Gordon is done reminding everyone that he owned the minors and is set for a return to duty with the Royals.  Several players on our roster have the attention of other teams.  So who will have the most impact?  Who will no longer be with us?  Here's a look at each scenario and what I think will, or should, happen.

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As ESPN and others try to make some kinds of all-time all-star teams, I figured it would be an interesting exercise to find the best all-stars the Royals have produced.  So, by position, here they are.

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Do you hate the Minnesota Twins?  Your response is most likely like mine.  "Yeah, they're in the division...and they're always doing things without money just like we should be, but I don't HATE the Twins...their fans seem nice and there's nothing all that threatening about the Twin Cities."  So my answer would probably be no, but there is something to the relationship between the Royals and Twins.

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Farnsworth sucks, sucked, and is overpaid.  Anyone who follows the Royals gets it and has said to their friends, family, pets, and dead relatives.  But what pisses me off the most is that we had/have the same player.  In fact, a younger, better version just rotting without being used.  That man: Robinson Tejeda.

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