Archive for November, 2010

Twitter more or less exploded a few times with a few reports that Zack Greinke would be willing to accept a trade to a big market team. Jeff Passan at Yahoo Sports reported a quote from a source (anonymous, of course) that Greinke likes the Yankees “because they’re winners” and that the 2009 Cy Young winner just wants to win. This is a change from past reports that Greinke has a number of big-market teams on his no-trade list, but if this source is correct and reliable, Greinke could approve a deal to the Yankees.

I’m a sucker for baseball books.  I work in a bookstore and thankfully we’ve moved the sports books section so that it’s against the wall on the outside of the building.  It used to be set up right along the walkway towards the front exits, so I’d find myself walking towards the door to head home when out of nowhere, a beacon of light would shine on the bookcase, the songs of angels beckoning me to approach.  Time stood still. Inevitably, I’d buy something.  Great for entertainment and enjoyment, but man, it adds up. I can tune out the siren [...]

You may have read an article on The Hardball Times recently that wasn’t very kind to Kansas City ace Zack Greinke. It wasn’t quite a screed against the 2009 Cy Young Award winner, but the article was quite pessimistic about Greinke’s ability to be the starter he’s hyped up to be. Much of the article is focused on the shift from 2009 to 2010, and to compare the two seasons, it’s obvious that his follow up season was a disappointment. But, as the article states in the opening, Greinke’s 2009 was the season with numbers that “come along only about [...]

Now that we’re past the turkey and stuffing phase of the Thanksgiving season, the focus shifts to Christmas/Hanukkah/Festivus/What Have You. So while you’re out shopping for gifts for loved ones, you might consider another cause that gives to so many in the country. Fansided.com (which you’re reading right now) and Site5.com (who host what you’re reading right now) are glad to announce a holiday charity drive to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of America.  The BGCA mission statement is below:

This will be a departure from most posts.  It’s Thanksgiving, and considering a large part of my week involves discussing, reading about and writing about baseball, it’s a nice time to show some gratitude. So here goes (I’ll try to keep this from being too stream of consciousness but I can’t make any guarantees):

Maybe you’ve heard this line: “Only losing teams have innings eaters”. So I guess it stands to reason the the Royals would be interested in former Brave, Phillie, Indian, Ranger and Oriole Kevin Millwood (so sayeth MLB Trade Rumors).  In 2011, it’s pretty likely the Royals will still be a losing team, though making the first strides towards changing that while acclimating younger players in the organization to playing in the big leagues. And to look at the projected Royals rotation next season, they could probably use a guy like Millwood, who has started 25 games or more in 12 [...]

So the Royals farm system is as close to a lock for Baseball America’s top ranking when their Prospect Handbook comes out in late January/early February. We’ve discussed at length who these prospects are, who they could be and we have a general idea of when they’ll arrive in Kansas City. But what does any of that mean?

Dayton Moore hasn’t always been the most fan- and criticism-friendly guy. This has been shown in several ways, my favorite of which was the banning of Rany Jazayerli from, well, everything. This has made fan relations difficult and has created a lot of animosity toward Dayton and several other members of the front office/management. Well, Dayton didn’t help that when he started bringing up “the process.” If there’s a way of transforming the trickle of fan criticism into a firehose, Dayton nailed it on the head. We’ve had various sparse details over the time since we first learned of The [...]

On Saturday afternoon, Peter Gammons tweeted something that hasn’t been entirely clear in its meaning. Here’s the tweet: Agent:”3 years Buck, Benoit. Pirates, Royals offering big. This is a great market. Angels, Red Sox, Mets could be left behind” To break it down, the comment from this agent has its obvious elements – Joaquin Benoit and John Buck just signed three year contracts.  The confusing part is where this agent seems to think the Royals and Pirates will shut out the Angels, Red Sox and Mets. Huh?

So the other day I threw out a hypothetical trade idea to send a solid major league hitter in Billy Butler along with a strong (but not TOO strong) pitching prospect, Danny Duffy, to the Arizona Diamondbacks who are reportedly shopping outfielder Justin Upton aggressively. It’s probably going to have to stay a hypothetical because Ken Rosenthal reported on Twitter that Upton has veto power over any trade to Oakland, Detroit, Cleveland and, yes, Kansas City. Good grief.

Friday marked the final day for the Royals to add players to their 40 man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft.  The result: four players out, four players in.

In light of the recent rumors, trades and other commentary going on right now involving the Royals and their prospects, I didn’t want the other moves that go on to go unnoticed. After all, if you weren’t paying attention this time last year, you’d have ignored the signing of Wilson Betemit to a minor league contract.  A year later, he’s a candidate for arbitration and may start the 2011 season as the Royals third baseman.  Is there another rags to (relative) riches story in store for someone this year?