But, UL could hit the ball pretty good. Am I forgetting a great shortstop from that era? Onix Concepcion? Nah. Who am I forgetting?

David

I want to comment on a couple of the comments. First off to Mr. Lowe, UL Washington was not a great defender; he wasn’t even average. I believe he had a nick name back then: Hands of Stone. However, I agree with you: Cain should be playing CF on opening day.

Secondly, to Bryan, and I admit some level of ignorance on this subject, so I’m really just asking for clarification. If Cain came up last year with the Brewers, hasn’t his service time already started? The situation with Moustakas is different, since he has never been up. Do the Royals gain something in terms of service time by sending Cain to Omaha?

I have done a lot of thinking and fussing about this promise also, and I have come to the conclusion that it is all about Cain’s service time and not really about any promise to Melky.

What I don’t understand is that if this is the case why they don’t just come out and say this.

I guess we just have to not watch the first two months of the season. If it weren’t for service time we would have Moose as the starting third basemen. We would have Cain in center. And possibly even have Hosmer playing now. He seems ready. And some of the pitchers would be here also.

At the end of the day I don’t think service time will really matter too much either. I think it will matter less than getting these guys up and giving them big league experience now.

I would make the argument that if you get more of these guys up now, it makes for a much more likely chance of competing in 2012. If that is the case, the park is full through September and that added revenue, and added revenue in 2013 and beyond would trump any additional costs brought on by service time issues.

By allowing service time to control it causes less heartache and makes decisions easier. You don’t have to think of doing any creative contracts, like the Longoria contract or anything else that might work and might be smart. Why not make the hard decisions now and start doing some creative contracts and start making some real attempts at truly competing this year?

But I forgot. It is an old school league. No need to think beyond what is already dictated. No need to make any waves.

Isn’t that what Moore is doing with the farm system. He has abandoned some old traditions and done his thing and had success. I say he has to continue to do that in other phases, like with service time. If he doesn’t and won’t allow himself to go against the grain, the Royals can’t be competitive.

I like what Moore has done. But if he doesn’t continue to grow and continue to challenge conventional thinking he is destined to fail in Kansas City.

So Cain plays every day in Omaha for a few months. What will it hurt? If Melky gets hot, we can trade him prior to the deadline. If he fizzles by early June, welcome to the big leagues, Mr. Cain.

I grew up in the championship years of 1975 – 1989 watching Willie Wilson take over in CF and dominate the league. He was constantly on base, wreaking havoc for the other team. He was leading the league in hits and stolen bases.

The Royals desperately need this again, especially with the big ballpark (still).

The Royals need a lot of other pieces that the championship team had. Awesome defense up the middle (Frank White, UL Washington, Patek, Amos Otis, Willie Wilson, Darrel Porter, Jim Sundberg). Legit all-stars who can drive in runs (Brett, McRae, Aikens, Balboni, Tartabull, Bo Jackson, Mayberry). Great starting pitching (Gura, Leonard, Gubicza, Jackson, Saberhagen, Cone, Gordon, Quisenberry, Montgomery). Guys at the top of the lineup who can hit for high average and get on base (Wilson, Patek, Seitzer).

Will this young crew be able to become what these players were in the past? I sure hope so.

Moustakas = Brett
Cain = Wilson
Hosmer = Seitzer
Kaiahuie = Aikens
Clint Robinson = McRae
Christian Colon = White
Escobar = Washington
Perez = Porter
Lamb = Gura
Mike Montgomery = Danny Jackson
Jeffress = Gubicza
Crow = Gordon
Duffy = Saberhagen
Dwyer = Cone

It would great if most of these prospects performed like these former Royals greats, but I kind of doubt that will happen. But its a good start and with the right kind of moves, the Royals brass could actually come close to making this team watchable again.

David