Archive for August, 2009

I make no secret of my hatred for the White Sox, but you have to respect the hell out of GM Ken Williams.  On top of trading for an injured Jake Peavy in the 11th hour of this year’s trade deadline he has now added the hefty salary of the extremely talented, yet underachieving, Alex Rios for absolutely nothing other than having to pay the remainder of his 7 year $69.835 million contract.

I’ll start this edition off with some random news, notes, and player movement around MLB.  Then I’ll share a couple of my favorite links from other Royals blogs over the last several days, and close with a TPJ update.

Yesterday Sam Mellinger wrote a post about the impressive company the 23 year old Butler is keeping statistically and posed the question, “when should the Royals start thinking about locking him up long term?” The answer is plainly written all around Kauffman stadium and the Royals organization.  The Royals should start thinking about locking him up long term right now.  In fact, if they haven’t already started thinking about it, then they are already behind the 8-ball.  In the alternate world where I am GM of the Kansas City Royals, Billy Butler has a long term contract offer on the [...]

Since I attended the Royals game last night with my wife and a group of 14 others and didn’t get home till just before midnight, I didn’t have a chance to get a post up last night.  To make up for it, today will be another double post day.  For the morning post I wanted to share some exciting news regarding Lee Roberts.  If you haven’t already read the interview that I did with Lee, click here.

Today RHP-Juan Cruz was placed on the 15-day DL today and the team activated RHP-Doug Waechter to take the open spot on the roster.  After today’s win, the Royals are a dreadful 42-66 and still trail the Nationals, who also won, by 5 games for the worst record in MLB.  Yet today, the Royals are better than they were yesterday.

Today the Kansas City Royals designated OF-Ryan Freel for assignment effectively ending the brief Royals chapter of his career.  He was acquired from the Cubs for a player to be named later on July 6th.  The end result of the trade is that the Royals got a little bit of cash and 30 days of service from Ryan Freel and gave up a player in the process.  Even if the PTBNL is a nobody, with no shot of ever reaching the majors, this transaction is just another in a series of puzzling moves by Dayton Moore.

A semi-short post tonight for everyone on the heels of the 15-0 three inning beatdown the Hamfighters’ mens squad took this evening.  A brief memo/PSA to the team we played; it is called a “D” league for a reason, we’re just out there to have fun and get together so please go find another league.  Anyway, in the last week there has been a relatively steady stream of players being designated for assignment or giving their outright release.  Here is the rundown:

Yesterday a small cheer erupted from Royals fans around the globe.  When the news got out, it spread like a wildfire with no hope of containment.  RHP-Sidney Ponson, just 32 years old, was designated for assignment and RHP-Kyle Davies was recalled from Triple-A to take his place on the roster.  In theory this ends his time as a member of the Kansas City Royals, but whether or not he ever pitches again as part of this organization is immaterial.  What is of significance, is the mark that Ponson left on Royals history.

Due to lack of motivation and needed recovery from the Hamfighters softball party, I didn’t write a post yesterday.  To make up for my laziness, today will be a double post day.  In this issue of Crown Gems I will recap some news items from the previous week and drop a few links as well.  Tonight’s post will deal with recent DFA moves in baseball and of course the DFA of Sidney Ponson.

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up that there will not be a substantive post beyond this notice today.  I am about to depart for the annual KC Hamfighters softball party.  While there, I plan on partaking in several adult beverages and will be in no condition to write until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. If last year’s party is any indication, I will also become reacquainted with my brother-in-law’s trash can. The co-ed version of the Hamfighters opened their fall season with a rousing 7-6 victory on Thursday night.  The game also marked the return of yours truly [...]