Comments on: The Monday Rant – Butler Is An All-Star, Gordon Continues To Star, Francoeur Still Struggles

By: jim fetterolf

jim fetterolf — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 00:57:56 +0000

@Kevin Scobee Bourgeois is temporary, he’ll be back down in a few days. It would be nice if Mitch could hit anything at all this year and make such moves unnecessary, but Bourgeois has done exactly what they brought him up to do for a week, so I don’t think him an issue, although others do.

On Betancourt, I didn’t want him signed and hope he’s traded or released when Getzie gets backs, but am forced to recognize that he both drives in and scores more runs per PA than Hosmer does. We can always find a stat to support a position, but for a team scoring about 4rpg, I’ll take whatever brings some runs across. Billy’s great OBP didn’t do him much good when he struck out with two on late nor did Alex’ when he grounded out with the tying runs on. As I remember, Yuni has about the same RBIs as Alex in half the PAs.

Getz’ 0.8fWAR has him at 25th or so on half the games. Prorated over 75 games he’ld be in the top half of 2nd basemen. He’s been having a pretty good year, his batting changes having helped and I think he’s looked smoother and a little quicker in the field. He’s not the future but we don’t know who is. Doesn’t really matter though. In baseball all he has to do is be better than other 2nd basemen in the organization. With Gio a bust and Colon on the DL his only real competition is Falu. I expect the Royals to try to convert Tony Abreau to 2nd sometime. He’s a slightly below average SS with a little stick and some speed and SS blocked for the foreseeable future, so a move might be an idea. I do hope Betancourt gets traded and Falu stays when Getz comes back. Best defense, adequate offense. Not everyone gets to be a star.

Agree it’s probably time for Frenchy to move on. They’ll wait for awhile to see what Cain can do, whose rehab is healthy but he’s not hitting in Omaha. They won’t move Frenchy until they’re fairly certain on Cain. Cain has a setback, Myers comes up to CF.

By: Kevin Scobee

Kevin Scobee — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 00:26:31 +0000

@jim fetterolf thanks for the heads up on the Gordon WAR/left field thing. I honestly never thought about that. You’re right.

By: Kevin Scobee

Kevin Scobee — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 00:25:36 +0000

@jim fetterolf Re Bourgeois: so the Royals have catered a roster spot for some contrived Lefty/righty matchup for a player that most likely doesn’t belong in the majors. Maier is still a better player than either Dyson or Bourgeois, and he sits behind the both of them.

Re Gordon: he’s the best player in the major leagues. By far. I will not agree to anything to the contrary. (I don’t really mean that.)

Re Getz: it wasn’t snark. He performed well, for him, but not well for a major league second baseman. Even if Getz was healthy and playing, his limited range, poor arm, and non-zero power would still hurt this team. He’s just the lesser of three evils at this time.

Re Betancourt: his OBP is .288. He’s still one of the worst players in baseball because of that. It’s no coincidence that his RBI total looks good when he’s been batting behind Gordon and his near .400 OBP over the past month.

Re Frenchy: this is one I don’t think there is a clear answer to. If I were a betting man, I would bet that Myers would hit better than Francoeur over a long stretch right now. That has more to do with me knowing exactly what Francoeur is at this point rather than knowing what Myers is though. It would take an awful lot to be Francoeur bad at the plate while playing a premium offensive position. BUT, without any real home for Myers at this point, waiting and seeing may be the best tactic. It just stinks it has to be that way.

By: jim fetterolf

jim fetterolf — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 00:10:35 +0000

Bourgeois was called up for a stretch of facing left handers, as Ned Yost said at the time. His line was .375/.500/.375 for this stint. He will likely go back down, as Royals normally don’t face enough lefties to justify a CF platoon and he can’t hit righties and isn’t a great CF.

Gordon is doing well, so the chants of “regression to the mean” have died down, but it would be nice if he’ld drive in a few runs in key situations. His fWAR is nice, but much of it is driven by the sky-high defensive numbers for playing the second-lowest defensive skill position. I don’t think he’s worth wins above Escobar with the glove.

Not sure if Getz-snark is justified. And Betancourt does drive in runs and score a few, something rare on this team. I do prefer Irving Falu til Getzie gets back.

As for killing the line-up, Frenchy is slipping and will be replaced soon enough, then we’ll get to see how many Werner Field homers, like last night, are fly ball outs at the K. Royals may be a little gun-shy on a quick promotion after Giavotella and Hosmer, who probably should be back at Omaha with his negative WAR and poor defense.