Catching Up

It’s been a hectic week – I know too many people in Lawrence who asked for help moving (but there was free beer in most cases).  That, coupled with switching internet services, left me a bit cut off from passing along the latest in the Royals world.

So let’s catch up a bit and see some solid work by other folks out there:

• The trade deadline came and went, but it unlike last season, it was a quiet year for the Royals.

There may be a lot of rumbling about how the Royals should have traded Melky Cabrera, Jeff Francoeur, Jeff Francis or Bruce Chen – and I agree that someone should have went – but it’s not always so simple as clicking “Accept” in a fantasy baseball league.

Rany Jazayerli runs down the top trade options the Royals had and the context that led to their remaining in Kansas City.  Solid stuff as usual.

• If you hadn’t heard, the Royals will have the All-Star Game in 2012 and unveiled the logo on Tuesday.

I like it myself.  It echoes the Royals logo, which I’ve always thought to be one of the better ones in baseball (and has undergone few changes over the years).

• I hope that by now you’ve heard the story of  “Country Breakfast” – the new nickname for Billy Butler.

The quick version is this: in the rain-delayed, extra-innings game against the Red Sox on Monday July 25, Fox Sports Kansas City switched over to a broadcast of Ball-up Streetball at midnight.  Royals fans following on Twitter expressed outrage, then, after the game came back, started to come up with Streetball nicknames for the Royals.

Ross Martin of the St. Joseph’s News-Press coined the name “Country Breakfast” for Butler years ago, but tossed it out on that fateful night.  Since, it’s been embraced by Butler himself – who included the sound of sizzling bacon in his walkup music – and ended up on Baseball Tonight.

We got a chance to talk with Martin on the Royalman Report about the name.  Give it a listen.

• In that Boston series, Butler started to heat up, homering in four straight games.  Royals Authority looked at a more pull-happy Butler and his increase in power.
• Rustin Dodd at the Kansas City Star’s Ball Star Blog has been busy.  First, there’s a piece about the rare company that Eric Hosmer may join in his rookie year – a group with 15 homers and 25 doubles as a rookie before the age of 21.

Then he has a collection of various statistical nuggets about the 2011 Royals.  FanGraphs is a hell of a drug.

• James Lamb, father of Royals lefty prospect John Lamb, has some updates on John after his recent Tommy John Surgery.  He also discusses the trip to recovering from the procedure and overcoming obstacles.

Remember, John Lamb suffered a broken elbow in a car accident before his senior season of high school, but the Royals still took him in the fifth round in 2008 and rebounded to be mentioned among the top pitching prospects entering this season.

• Last, and by no means least, Aaron Stilley at I-70 Baseball looked at the leaders in bWAR (Baseball Reference’s Wins Above Replacement) in rolling five-year periods of Royals history.

The names you expect to see are all there: George Brett, Amos Otis, Mike Sweeney, Carlos Beltran, John Mayberry.

What I find interesting, though, is scrolling down the page and watching as some players start to rise in cumulative WAR, then fall.  It’s like a quick trip through Royals history along the whole timeline.

Also, there were other solid third basemen aside from Brett who were among the leaders in WAR over the years- Kevin Seitzer, Joe Randa, Paul Schaal.  No pressure, Mike Moustakas.

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