Kings of Kauffman » 2011 » December

The Hidden Value of the Jose Mijares Signing

Paul Thompson — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 22:07:19 +0000

On the surface, the Royals’ recent acquisition of lefty reliever Jose Mijares is pretty vanilla. The 27-year old Mijares is a serviceable reliever, sure, but he’s not going to be swinging any playoff races. While Mijares owns a lifetime 3.16 ERA, it’s important to note that his ERA has risen exponentially in each of his four big league seasons.

He first appeared in the majors 2008, when he posted a 0.87 ERA in 10 appearances for the Minnesota Twins. The next season was his best, as Mijares recorded a 2.34 ERA in 61.2 innings, while striking out 55. But that was the high water mark. Mjiares threw only 32.2 (albeit solid) innings in 201o, sporting a 3.31 ERA, and then saw his strikeout rate dip dramatically in 2011 at the same time that his ERA soared to 4.59.

All this to say that Mijares isn’t, and won’t be, a miracle worker. But there are reasons to believe that his addition will prove valuable.

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Royals 2011 in Review: Kings of Kauffman Looks Back (Part 1)

Michael Engel — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:02:07 +0000

Hey, another year in review article!

In all seriousness, 2011 was a remarkable season for the Royals. Sure, they only finished fourth in the AL Central, but enthusiasm for the team hasn’t been higher since the summer of 2003. Unlike that crazy year, this time the excitement is based on something beyond smoke and mirrors (or at least we hope so).

It’s made for an exciting time in writing about the team, and as I reflect on the last 12 months, I’ve been reminded of many past articles that have shaped the narrative of the year, offseason and all. I wanted to compile those that I was particularly proud of. All of us here do this in our spare time – we have a group of regular guys who have jobs, families, classes (in some cases) and share our opinions and passion for the Royals because we can’t help it.

If you’ve had half the fun reading Kings of Kauffman in 2011, well, we’ve had twice as much fun writing as you have had reading.

If you’d like to take a trip down memory lane with me, check out a month-by-month rundown of our best links for the year:

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Cursed

Ryan Wood — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:04:32 +0000

The Fateful Call - 1985 (SI)

You hear a lot about curses when it comes to some of the most storied franchises in baseball. For 86 years, the Boston Red Sox were tormented by the Curse of the Bambino. The Hapless Cubs blame The Curse of the Billy Goat for their 103 year championship drought. Even the Cleveland Indians lay claim to the Curse of Rocky Colavito for being the reason that they haven’t won a World Series since 1948.

Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that The Royals are under the Curse of Don Denkinger.

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