Now while you could provide an argument, and possibly a compelling one, about 42 games into a season not being all that much in the grand scheme of things and there still being plenty of games left to played, the very same red flags there were before the season about a roster built largely on contact-dependent production, still remains and has finally started to even out the team’s luck.

Coming into this year the main reason provided for why the Royals would and could contend was the progression of two players that were drafted higher than anyone else while Dayton Moore has been in charge,* Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer. And while there were very real concerns about both of them after the 2012 season, Moore and Co. still felt as if now, 2013, was the time to “go for it” packaging four prospects for two pitchers to bolster an ailing rotation.

*Excluding Luke Hochevar because if Royals can use his being picked when convenient to their argument, so can I.

Nothing about the motivation behind the acquisition of James Shields and Wade Davis was or is unsound – I’ve written a number of times about there needing to be some point in which wins were paramount – however there are a lot of things about the application of that trade, along with targeting nothing but pitching in the offseason while expecting major progression from more than half of the position players on the roster, is unsound.

And now with the two focal points of expectations and hopes struggling more than anyone could have imagined, the organization is defensive, without answers, and acting like a petulant child stomping their feet when questioned. (More on that shortly.)

Mike Moustakas is currently hitting .178/.252/.311 on the season with seemingly no end in sight. His plate discipline coming up through the minors was always a cause to relax on the projections for what he would be as a major league hitter, but it never seemed to be this bad or be cause for this much damage.

Moustakas is now a career .240/.294/.384 hitter in 1,130 plate appearances, far past the mythical 1,000-plate-appearances-mark Moore had previously laid out as the time to pass judgment on a hitter, and for all the struggles the third baseman has with patience and drawing walks to allow him to tap into his power, it’s his actual swing that’s cause for concern due to his 17.8 infield pop-ups percentage. His top-hand dominant swing creates far too pronounced downward and upward angles of bat path, resulting in a small zone for solid contact and a small margin for error.

Hosmer is currently batting .266 with a .340 on-base percentage, which isn’t terrible, but he’s slugging .345, a number so low for him that it should make everyone question whether 2011 actually happened or not.

His swing has completely changed from 2011 when he used an open stance, got his front foot down early, and let his hands fly.

Now, the only chance he has to drive the ball is to the opposite field (as evident by his spray chart), lucking into solid contact because he is such a gifted hitter, in spite of his long swing.

Take a closer look at this swing as compared to Gordon’s from their home runs in Baltimore.* Hosmer’s hand load is far too active and twists around his body as his shoulders turn. Gordon’s is near still, with just the slightest push straight back.

(click gif to view)

The more the hands over-rotate disproportionately to the shoulders, the more likely it is for the hands to swing out and around, instead of straight through, to the hitting zone. This makes it harder to catch up to higher velocities. But, if timed currently, and with advanced hand-eye coordination and special talents like those of Hosmer, he can still square up pitches to drive the other way, simply because his zone for contact has been moved deeper across the plate.

Both hitters have flaws right now hurting their production; both have flaws that are entirely fixable. The question becomes now if those flaws need to be fixed in Triple-A. And that talk has just about started up.

The question the Royals have to ask themselves is if spending the next however many months helping their two cornerstone players fight through their struggles stunts their overall development, and how much they’re willing to sacrifice Hosmer and Moustakas’ long-term potential for a shot at the playoffs this year.

Because there needs to be a conversation about when is the appropriate time to send both players down in hopes that they can turn back into the players they’re capable of being. The most prime example of this type of decision is currently playing left field.

Alex Gordon was sent down to Triple-A not necessarily because he was a bad player, he wasn’t, but because he wasn’t the player he could have and should have been. Sure Gordon could have competed in the big leagues as a .260/.351/.432 hitter (his numbers his last full year before injuries took much of 2009 and 2010) but he was capable of better, and if the Royals were ever going to move forward as a team, it needed to be with a better Alex Gordon.

Right now, Moustakas and Hosmer are competing (Moustakas obviously less so) as everyday players, but if the Royals are truly a contender for the playoffs either this year or next year, it will only be with an Eric Hosmer and a Mike Moutakas that are living up to their full potential.

There needs to be a conversation how much of a detriment it is to that potential to have both players almost completely overmatched for much longer at the big league level.

The Bad

I’m skipping The Good for this edition because this is already nearing 2,000 words, and there were these gems of quotes from Ned Yost over the weekend:

“But I’m going to tell you something, if I’m wrong on this kid, it’ll be the first. I’ve never been wrong on one of these kids who I’ve had conviction with. None of them. We’re talking about 15 guys over a 30-year career”

“There is no third baseman tree. You don’t go grab another one. You let him develop. Look at Gordy (Alex Gordon). When I came over here (in 2010), all I heard (from fans) was this kid is never going to be anything.

“No. You’re wrong. Give them time to develop. But I understand it. I know what the fans want. They want it, and they want it now. Instant gratification just doesn’t work (in baseball).”

Oh spare me.

By now everyone has undoubtedly heard these quotes by Yost as appeared in Bob Dutton’s piece in the Saturday edition of the Kansas City Star.

The tonnage of narcissism and self-gratification it takes to make statements like that, with such arrogant conviction, is really quite astonishing. It’s astonishing that a man steeped in the muck of his own bravado, can be so condescending towards a fan base that has expectations only because he himself and his organization have told the fans to have those expectations.

To say “I’ve never been wrong” is on the one hand a brilliant public relations ploy because there’s no true way for such a blanket and empty statement to be questioned; there’s no way anyone could ever research whether it was true or false. But on the other hand Royals fans should be rolling their eyes at a man who earnestly believes he’s never been wrong in an industry in which people are wrong all the time.

In no other industry can a man stand so defiantly against questioning about his job performance, and in justification of that job performance, reference work he’s done at previous jobs, one in which he was fired from during a pennant race in September.

With just 12 games left in the season Yost was relieved of his position in Milwaukee because the organization felt he would make that much of a difference in the team’s performance across the final two weeks. Granted that was five years ago now, and people across all walks of business are allowed to grow and learn from past mistakes, but there aren’t many individuals who are willing to point to those past mistakes as a reason for their being right today.

To repeatedly use a past performance that your employer deemed not worthy of future employment with 12 games left in the season, is the same type of arrogance displayed by an organization that continually moves the goalposts on their own success and acts as if it is somehow the fans’ fault for wanting “instant gratification”.

But that’s where we are. This is now the second manager that has used the same phrase (which is more than mere coincidence and leads to believe that it’s a topic of conversation among the organization itself) as a means to antagonize and condescend a fanbase that just six weeks ago, largely felt this team was a playoff contender. A fanbase that felt this team was a playoff contender, because the organization itself planted that flag in the ground.

This is the seventh full season for the Royals under Dayton Moore, the third with Ned Yost as manager. In those seven seasons the Royals have yet to win more than 75 games, the team’s best players were either part of the last GM’s drafts or brought in from outside the organization, and the guy that is the most visible employee of the franchise has taken to throwing barbs at the fans for not being patient enough.

Royals fans may not deserve a winner – I’m not sure any fanbase really deserves anything, that’s not how it works – but Royals fans deserve better than that.

The Kansas City Royals on Sunday officially announced that Miguel Tejada has been added to the roster and will be traveling to Chicago to start the season as part of the big league club.

At the time of the announcement, the Miguel Tejada acquisition was the most #Royaling thing the Royals could do: allow a player to be put under contract that was not only old, not only not any good anymore, but he hadn’t even played in over a full season. Surely the initial reaction was just overblown, right? This was just a depth move for depth’s sake, and Tejada still had to do enough to prove he deserved to be on the roster.

Well that, and those of us that have followed the Royals under Dayton Moore, knew there was no way Miguel Tejada wasn’t breaking camp on the 25-man roster.

Tejada played in 16 games for the Royals in Arizona, collecting 12 hits and walking only once (no surprise there).* He played in another seven games for the Dominican Republic in the highly irrelevant, and oddly timed preseason tournament forcing allowing players being paid by an employer to risk injury for someone other than them, World Baseball Classic, collecting another six hits and walking one more time.

*pun not intended. Death to puns.

So in all it only took 55 spring at-bats for the Royals to determine that Tejada was fit for major league playing time? Or, was this move predetermined?

“We got great reports on him in winter ball and I wanted to see the whole package and I was very impressed,” Yost said in the story posted by Dick Kaegel.

“Whole package.” What the Royals really saw was a near-40 year-old playing games in the Mexican League against meh competition, and a handful of scattered at-bats in the spring, against meh competition, and decided $1.1 million was a fair price for the player.

Or was it…

“He still has plenty of bat speed, he’s versatile in terms of being a kid that can play third, second and first base, and shortstop. And tremendous leadership and tremendous experience,” Yost said, in the same story.

There’s the magic phrase: leadership and experience.

Miguel Tejada was last a good player in 2009, which was four years ago. He last played in the major leagues in 2011, which was two years ago. But somehow his “leadership and experience”, on a team that all of a sudden is filled with leadership-and-experience-narrative dudes, overshadows any tangible value or any very tangible risk.

Baseball payrolls and player acquisitions – especially for a small market – is about playing the odds. Odds are Jeff Francoeur will not repeat his “great” 2011 (in which he was just perfectly average), because he’s had more awful seasons than average ones. And odds are that Miguel Tejada will be little more than a drain on the payroll with limited production both offensively and defensively. Maybe there’s a chance this a good pickup and Tejada is actually production. There just aren’t any objective measures that say that’s possible.

And the bigger issue is there’s a player in the organization in Irving Falu who could provide exactly the same value, for half the cost.

Gordon still has some of the most potential for homerun power out of any batter on the Royals roster. His natural loft swing and patience would normally lend themselves to significant power production, but for most of the past two seasons Gordon’s extra-base pop has been relegated to doubles status, not unlike Billy Butler. The disappointing aspect of that comparison is that Gordon is three years Butler’s senior, and at 29 years-old now, Gordon’s time to fulfill his homerun potential is running thin.

In 2012 Gordon finished 32nd among all outfielders in slugging-percentage, finishing behind power monsters David Murphy and Dexter Fowler, and with only 14 homeruns, his production in the category still leaves a bit to be desired.

Maybe it was the move to lead off that cut Gordon’s development of homerun power, though, you’d be hard pressed to find any objective evidence that Gordon’s approach has really changed much from what he was known for before the 2011 breakout season.

Plus, a hitter’s approach really shouldn’t change much dependent on his position in the lineup. Goal No. 1 is to not make an out; goal No. 2 is to hit the ball really hard. That’s really as far as it should ever go. And the fact that Gordon’s skillset doesn’t make him the prototypical leadoff hitter has to do more with the idea of the “prototypical” leadoff hitter is a really nonsensical ideal more so than any logical reason. Gordon has the most patience and plate-awareness on the team, and is the best base runner. His skills are ideal.

And yet, there’s still a tad missing.

Gordon’s ascension to the game’s elite – if it hasn’t happened already with back-to-back seasons in the top 8 in fWAR among outfielders – hinges on his ability to be a 25-plus-homerun guy, which his talent and swing say he should be.

So why should this spring be indicative of what is to come? Well, other than me being a huge Gordon-homer? Because he’s found left field again.

Gordon is a classic top-hand swinger with an (at times) overactive top hand that causes him to cut balls off resulting in a weekend ball flight. This was a huge problem early in his career, and it’s the same problem Mike Moustakas has now.
By the top rolling too soon (think when you were taught to “shake hands at contact”; that’s wrong, that’s awful, and really, really detrimental to a batters ability to drive the ball) the top hand’s palm doesn’t stay facing upward, allowing the barrel to stay through the hitting zone, resulting in a truer ball flight.

The batters whose top hands are too dominant have a smaller hitting window, finishing the swing around the body too soon, or worse, getting a bad upward angle finish (Moustakas) forcing pop-ups, rolled over ground balls, or well connected pulled balls that hook foul.

In his small-sample at-bats so far this spring, Gordon’s power has shown up, and shown up to left field, which is a huge indicator.

Watch here:

Gordon takes a low-and-away, sinking fastball and hits a homerun to straightaway left. His natural power has never been in question, but his willingness to use that power to all fields has been. Now that he’s shown that willingness, for the most part, the last two season, his ability to keep his swing integrity on opposite field contact is allowing the ball flight to stay true, and carry over the fence.

Here’s another example, this time, off a left hander:

Keeping the front shoulder in and staying through the ball at contact is a tough thing to do for a left-handed hitter and a left-handed pitcher. But it’s swings like these two that show Gordon’s improvement as his career has gone on, and why this year could be yet another step forward for him, this time in the HR column.

Of course, it could also be because he works out like a best.

Nom noms.

At that point in his career Getz had a .254/.315/.307 line that would suggest he should be little more than a back-up, if a back-up at all. With just 46 extra-base hits total (!) in those plate appearances, a rather overrated glove at second base, and an inability to play any other position on the diamond, it isn’t as if Getz brought some extreme trait to the table that suggested he should remain an option.

Yuniesky Betancourt entered the 2012 season with 3,641 plate appearances (3,446 at-bats), and a .268/.291/.391, an average of 40 extra-base hits per year, and an 82 OPS+. His defense was atrocious, his base running was bad, and on top of it all he was being asked to play other positions, something he had never done.

In each of those players the Royals saw potential, saw the possibility of improvement, or at the very least stability at a position the organization has been weak at* for a number of years.

*Well, one of the many.

Entering the 2012 season Johnny Giavotella had 187 plate appearances, or just 178 at-bats. He was called up on August 5^th for a game in Detroit after having a terrific year in Triple-A posting a .330/.391/.438 line with 9 homeruns and 34 doubles. He was always a tad suspect with the glove, but what he could do was hit, hit for some power, and get on base. All of those things that neither Getz nor Betancourt had proven capable of to that point in their careers.

What Giavotella didn’t do though in his first 46 games of his career in 2011, or in Spring Training 2012*, is hit the ground running.

*It is still one of the more ridiculous notions in baseball that a good or bad Spring Training can either win or lose a position battle.

By the time he got his chance again in 2012, fans and the organization had already written Giavotella off as a failure in a big league uniform. Of course, he didn’t help matters much when he finally did get his chance again and in 21 games  (71 plate appearances) went .210/.260/.261 from May 9^th to June 10^th. Then after being recalled on Aug 18^th and going .250/.276/.330 in the seasons final 32 games, that seemingly was all she wrote for the career of Johnny Giavotella.  The Royals signed Miguel Tejada for the role as the “veteran backup”, Chris Getz is still “mistake free” and this year might actually hit a homerun, and Giavotella is the guy that just can’t make it in the major leagues.

Except, there’s that whole “1,000 at-bats” thing.

Dayton Moore has made a habit of using that phrase as his benchmark for how long it takes a player to fully establish who he is, and what he will be as an every day player. Chris Getz was at that mark before 2012 and couldn’t do enough wrong to be removed from contention as the starting second baseman despite having just 46 extra-base hits. Yuniesky Betancourt was at that mark during the 2007 season, had already established himself as one of the worst position players in baseball, and the Royals had just acquired him for the second time.

In a recent interview with Sports Radio 810, while Moore was talking about Giavotella and praising him for what he could be, he interrupted his thought to make sure he mentioned Chris Getz and how much he’s going to continue to improve. The question had nothing to do with Getz. He then went on to say: “We know it (takes) 2-4 years of playing every day at the major league level to become a consistent producer.”

If an organization doesn’t think a player is talented enough to get the job done, for one reason or another, that’s one thing. It’s something completely different to continue to prop up that player who has proven to be mediocre-at-best performer by using some arbitrary measure, and then not apply that same measure to develop another player who has a greater history for success.

Johnny Giavotella may not ever amount to much in a Royals uniform. He may not ever amount to much in any big league uniform. But, he was a second round pick that did nothing but produce in the minor leagues, and is 600 at-bats away from the mythical proving ground that is 1,000. And yet he’s the one that still has so much to prove.

It’s quite the double standard.

Hit us up at KoKMailbag@gmail.com. On to the bag:

Should Kelvin Herrera move to starter? Why won’t Crow? – Jeremy in Blue Springs

I love the idea of Herrera as a starter and I’m not sold on the reasons being given that he wouldn’t be able to do it. Just because a reliever transitions to starter doesn’t automatically mean that they need to start pacing themselves in an effort to get deeper into games. Of all the pitchers I’ve coached, trained, and all the innings I’ve thrown myself, to have the thought that pitch No.2 needed to be thrown with any less conscious effort than pitch No.88 is befuddling to me. And if I have a pitcher that’s worried about pitch No.88 in the first inning, then I don’t want him pitching for me.

And if there’s a worry that he’ll run out of gas, train better. The biggest misconception about pitchers is that they need some kind of outwardly endurance that can only be acquired by running lots and lots of miles; that pitching is a marathon. It’s not. It’s just not.

Pitching is just a bunch of sprints run one after another with somewhere between a 5 and 10 minute break every 18 or so. If you’re telling me that Herrera’s 100 mph, or any other pitcher’s fastball, can’t last for 6 to 7 sequences of 18 pitches over the course of 2 ½ hours, then I’ll show you an pitcher and an organization that doesn’t know how to condition.

What’s your deal with Gordon? – Steve in Wichita

I’m assuming this one is for me personally since I’m the resident Gordon fanboy around these parts.

I’m a sucker for elite athletes, and as much as I use statistics to frame my arguments, at my core I’m still a baseball fan with a player/coach/recruiter/scouts eye. And because of that the first thing I look for before anything else is the natural body control and movement skills that are unmistakable in terrific athletes. Gordon is one of those guys. There is no weakness to what his athleticism can do – except elite speed – and those are the guys that turn into All-Stars and top tier players. Those are the ones you bet on to fulfill their potential.

How would you have advised Dayton Moore this offseason? – Jordan in Ames

Use the only resource you are truly in abundance of: money. Not talent.

Wil Myers may or may not have been better than Jeff Francoeur this season, but given what we know of Francoeur and his career, the odds are not in his favor. And the idea that prospects are just prospects and they bust is the most self-fulfilling form of dis-logic imaginable. Under that same line of thinking Billy Butler would have never been good, Alex Gordon would have never been good, and any star on any team would have been, and will never be good. It’s the easy way to defend the players that are currently on the team without ever establishing who will be next…

I’m off the rails now…this offseason…

Attack with offense. This is still a lineup that is vastly unproven in the spots that need to improve, and incredibly proven in other spots that will most certainly see 600 plate appearances. The central focus on pitching and pitching only never made much sense to me. There are still at least three glaring holes in the every day lineup with at least two more that could easily be. That’s not a recipe for success.

Wil Myers may have been what the Royals needed to get a return like James Shields, but in the immortal words of Dr. Malcom in Jurassic Park: “you were so preoccupied with whether or not you could that you didn’t stop to think if you should.”

Yet because it’s spring and because there’s seemingly two camps you can be in as a Royals fan, the We’re Going To The Playoffs! or the Negative Pop Tart Brigade (rational thought is usually confused for the latter), the rewriting of history has begun and it’s being centrally focused on right field.

The entire 2013 Royals season is being built on the what-ifs and progressions and the career rejuvenations of more than half the projected 25-man roster, but no player has fans arguing against logic more than Jeff Francoeur, especially with what he’s done in a Royals uniform.

So now we continue the series that was started a couple months ago, and to further show just how average-at-best Jeff Francoeur is as a major league baseball player, despite how very much some fans want to make it seem as if he was an All-Star caliber performer in 2011. The reality is, Jeff Francouer wasn’t in 2011 (and certainly isn’t now) even one of the best right fielders, not even counting all outfielders.

Here are some more facts about that fabled 2011 season in which Jeff Francoeur lost weight, changed his approached, and still was exactly average among players at his own position:

In 2011 Jeff Francoeur finished with a 2.9 fWAR good for 14^th among just right fielders.

In 2011 among all outfielders, Jeff Francoeur finished 32^nd in fWAR.

In 2011 Jeff Francoeur finished with a negative-3.5 in FanGraphs Ultimate Base Running, good for 97^th out of 102 right fielders.

If traditional stats are your thing:

In 2011 Jeff Francoeur finished with 87 RBI, good for 8^th among just right fielders.

In 2011 Jeff Francoeur finished with a .285 batting average, good for 10^th among just right fielders.

In 2011 Jeff Francoeur finished with 20 homeruns, good for 13^th among just right fielders.

In 2011 Jeff Francoeur finished with a .476 slugging percentage, good for 12^th among just right fielders.

In 2011 Jeff Francoeur finished with a .329 on-base percentage (second best in his career over a full season), good for 20^th among just right fielders.

And then there’s this:

Jeff Francoeur’s fWAR rank among qualified right fielders each year of his career starting in 2006: 20^th, 6^th, 22^nd, 23^rd, 22^nd, 14^th, 22^nd.

To put it another way: in seven full major league seasons Jeff Francoeur has finished 20^th or worse among just right fielders in fWAR five times.

Our first visit to the latter camp comes via James Shields with his quote in this article on ESPN.com earlier this week.

“I feel like I have an old-school soul,’’ Shields said. “I pride myself on going deep in games. I don’t care if I give up four runs or no runs. I like saving the bullpen. I think it’s very important.”

Let’s ignore for a second that everyone should care whether James Shields gives up four runs or no runs, and James Shields giving up no runs is far more important than James Shields going nine innings, and focus on the first nine words of what’s sure to be the swoon-inducing phrase of the season.

“I feel like I have an old-school soul.”

For all the good that Shields brings to the Royals, and there’s plenty of that as Matt Klaassen writes, one thing that will not be fun to listen to all summer is the overreaching narrative that he’s a “bulldog” or a “gamer” or in this case, an “old-school soul”.

This is a thing with the Royals — especially the Royals under Dayton Moore — the pumping up of semi-meaningless or superfluous traits as somehow meaning more-than. There’s been no shortage of detractors of the regime that has yet to win even 76 games since it took over, and one of the major reasons for that is their crippling focus on the things that cannot be defined, cannot be measured, and cannot be used to predict future performance. The last of those things being the most important.

Because in James Shields the Royals now have something they haven’t had in nearly two full seasons, and have really only had one of in the last decade: a legitimate No.1 starter.

While I could argue that there really are only ten No.1 starters throughout baseball (there are, though I’d let you talk me into there being 12), at the very least there is a clear-cut difference between Shields and the rest of the staff. That’s a nice change.

He’s finished with below a 3.30 xFIP the last two seasons, and he’s only finished higher than a 3.90 xFIP once, his rookie season. The guy can pitch and pitch well, there’s no need to pump him up with these undefinable buzzwords.

But that’s what’s going to happen and the people will love him for it. Sure, the quote was his words and not the organization’s, but given what fans have endured during the past seven years, given the hyperbole surrounding Yuniesky Betancourt’s “defense”, Chris Getz being “mistake free”, and Jeff Francoeur’s “leadership”, James Shields’ “old-school soul” will be another marker down the road of irrelevant storylines the Royals will have this season.

Besides, when I think old-school soul, I don’t think James Shields, I think Al Green.

The rest of this story is 5 minutes and 46 seconds of pure swoon-inducing enjoyment as Gordon beasts out on some ankle straps, makes an agility ladder his bitch, and reps through some side-to-side pull ups while the “And 1” hype dude does a voice over.

Commit to be fit. Enjoy yourselves. (h/t @speck60)

So with that comes the time to open the KoK Mailbag to flush out of the bad mojo that may still be left from an offseason that saw a questionable trade, an encouraging signing, and a Dayton Moore patented “WTF” veteran presence acquisition.

As always, have a question, shoot it to KoKMailbag@gmail.com

On to the bag:

I can’t wait until James Shields comes to town, wins a Cy Young, and shuts up all you stupid bloggers. – James, Raytown.

Two things: 1) I’m just going to assume the name is a coincidence 2) so do I. As do most of us “bloggers”, I’m sure.

And that’s the strange disconnect in this odd little battle of one side versus the other that typically involves one side shouting at the other simply because they happen to view things differently: we all want the Royals to win.

Now there are some that will argue that the Royals “winning” in 2013 – which most likely won’t result in more than 85 wins – will do more harm than good for the future of the franchise, and their argument is not without validity. If your position is that Dayton Moore is not a competent general manager – and that argument is not without validity either – anything that shows the existence of real progress only sets the organization back because it would almost assuredly mean more Dayton Moore.

With more, uh, Moore, means less J.J. Picollo. By that, I mean, the true architect of the success the Royals are about to enjoy will be lost to another organization and a promotion, because there’s no way a man of Picollo’s resume continues to be just a Scouting Director for long. No way.

That’s just how one side sees it.

The other sees wins as wins, and as long as this year’s wins are more than last year’s wins, well then that’s better. And that argument isn’t without validity either.

The only issue with that argument though is you have to still be objective. If you hope upon hope, and wish real hard, maybe the Royals win 90 games in 2013. Sure there are some projections that have them doing something around that, but let’s be honest, right field and second base will be among the worst positions in the game, there are still people that think Jarrod Dyson should be playing centerfield and leading off every day, and the starting rotation picked up one above-average starter this offseason to give them a total of one above-average starter. Ninety wins is asking for a lot.

So even if the Royals win 85 games this year, improve on 2012, at what benefit is it really in relation to the cost if they don’t make the playoffs?

And sure 2014 plays into the picture, but the argument of “well if they make the playoffs in the next two years, this trade is a win” is utter nonsense. In order for this trade to be a “win”, the Royals need to either make the World Series, or come within a game or two of it. Why? Because the value to the next five years after ‘14 lost in Wil Myers and Jake Odorizzi, and having them cheaply coupled with hopefully mid-peak Eric Hosmer, Billy Butler, Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez, Alicides Escobar…. you get the picture.

“The Process”, actually, worked. It just worked later than expected. And before the Royals could really capitalize by using their considerable resources – money because of a large group of cheap players, instead of players themselves – Dayton Moore panicked because there are fans that see a win total, and only a win total, as signs of progress.

Which, oddly, is the same group that four years ago was saying that it was the wins that didn’t matter, but all the behind the scenes stuff did.

Every year is the time to win, but you still have to be objective about your chances. I once heard Keith Law on a podcast say that teams that didn’t have a legitimate shot at making a title run should be in constant rebuild mode. (Or at least something to that effect.) Teams shouldn’t sacrifice long-term potential for moderate short-term gains. It’s a waste of resources and assets that ultimately doesn’t amount to much.

This is all a long way of saying yes, I hope James Shields does win a Cy Young. But I still got the 2013 Royals at 80 wins (as of right now), and I don’t see even a dominant James Shields really mattering all that much.

If you could compare the Dayton Moore regime to one current television show, which one would it be? – Josh, Austin.

No brainer: ‘How I Met Your Mother’.

The show has had a longer run than intelligently justifiable. For all the things that it’s supposed to be (funny, or a winner) it’s not, there’s one excruciatingly unlikeable character (Robin or some combination of Chris Getz, Ned Yost, or Luke Hochevar) among a gaggle of forgettable parts, and the one piece of the puzzle that’s supposed to be the comic relief and the most recognizable of them all (Barney or Jeff Francoeur), is so far-and-away, eye-roll inducing annoying, it’s unbearable.

Other than that, both ‘How I Met Your Mother’ and the Dayton Moore regime have been real gems.

What’s your pre-Spring Training prediction for the Royals record? – Brian, Georgia

As I said above, 80 wins. Of course that’s movable up or down dependent on Spring Training and who wins the position battles coming out of it.

By the way, there is no more overrated, and insanely archaic baseball philosophy than the idea that 20 scattered at-bats a week for four weeks, against mediocre pitching, is a true barometer for which player deserves more playing time than another. Spring Training as a playing time determinant is a farce and not enough media members do a good enough job of calling out organizations on that fact.

Also, as it stands now I’m 80% confident that Miguel Tejada is named the starting second baseman by the middle of March. And 80% is probably too low. That’s the Dayton Moore “WTF” move of the offseason, and while the laughable “there’s nothing to see here” people continue to give these kinds of acquisitions a pass, I’ve seen this movie before. Like every Ben Stiller or Farrelly Brothers vehicle: second verse, same as the first.

I was there to see you drafted, Jeff. There to buy you out of your Clemson scholarship because you held hostage all other organizations saying you’d only play for the Atlanta Braves. How classy. How great. Here was this hometown kid willing to alienate an entire industry just to play for his hometown team. Needless to say, I was smitten at first sight.

Since then, the attraction has turned to a deep yearning. You’re all I can think of, and I’m willing to derail a roster to make you know it.

This mirror holds my eyes too bright
I can’t see the others in my life

I can’t avert my gaze. I can’t stop my thoughts. You’re all I can think about. I rushed to the market to commit two guaranteed years to keep you as my over day right fielder; just as you rushed to the depths of my heart with your infectious smile.

Were we too young? Our heads too strong?
To bear the weight of these lover’s eyes.
‘Cause I feel numb, beneath your tongue
Beneath the curse of these lover’s eyes.

There are times I think we’ve gone too far. Heck, your Wikipedia page was updated to say you were a member of my underwhelming major league roster before you actually were. Our bond, while over-the-top and insanely predictable, knows no bounds.

But do not ask the price I paid,
I must live with my quiet rage,

Wil Myers. Needed. To. Go. There’s no way I could stand by and watch the fans and the media tear you apart as you flailed and flopped your way through another season. I had to remove their temptation. I had to remove your competition. Now you’re front and center, as you should be.

Tame the ghosts in my head,
That run wild and wish me dead.

Stupid bloggers.

Should you shake my ash to the wind
Lord, forget all of my sins
Oh, let me die where I lie
‘Neath the curse of my lover’s eyes.

So what if I took a 72-win team, traded one of baseball’s best offensive prospects and your inevitable replacement, for two arguably marginal upgrade pitchers for the cost, and left you in line to get 600 more plate appearances. I will be forgiven because I’m driven by my affection for you. If that’s the worst that can be said about me, then we’re doing alright, me and you.

‘Cause there’s no drink or drug I’ve tried
To rid the curse of these lover’s eyes
And I feel numb, beneath your tongue
Your strength just makes me feel less strong

I tried it for a couple of years, Jeff, being without you on my team. From the moment I took this job there were jokes made at our expense that our hook-up was only a matter of time. Well, they were right. I inherited David DeJesus, I tried Jose Guillen, but it was always you that I wanted.

But do not ask the price I paid,
I must live with my quiet rage,

Sixteen million of the best dollars I’ve ever spent. I bought high on you in every way possible.

Tame the ghosts in my head,
That run wild and wish me dead.

Stupid bloggers.

Should you shake my ash to the wind
Lord, forget all of my sins
Or let me die where I lie
Neath the curse of my lover’s eyes.

When Wil Myers becomes an impact bat with plus-level plate discipline at a fraction of your price, it still won’t matter. I got two years of a 31-year-old pitcher, and back-and-forth reliever-starter…and I got you.

And I’ll walk slow, I’ll walk slow
Take my hand, help me on my way.
And I’ll walk slow, I’ll walk slow
Take my hand, I’ll be on my way.

{Instrumental interlude complete with dreams of field-frolicking happiness}

And I’ll walk slow, I’ll walk slow
Take my hand, help me on my way.
And I’ll walk slow, I’ll walk slow
Take my hand, I’ll be on my way.

Forever, me and you. Forever. My leader. My winner. My Jeff.

La la la, La la la, La la la, la la
La la la, La la la, La la la, la la

I hate starting columns with a quote. It is rule No.1, or at the very least it’s in the top three, of things not to do in journalism. It’s the lazy man’s game of trying to engage a reader. Either you can write a lede, or you can’t, and if you can’t, then you don’t have the passion for what you’re writing.

But in this case, I can’t resist.

“I want to prove to Kansas City fans that what they saw two years ago is what they’re getting this year.”

A striking display of bravado and delusion (though, I guess I wouldn’t expect less from a professional athlete when asked to talk about himself by a reporter), Jeff Francoeur thinks no one is able to do a simple search for his 2011 numbers, and comparison to the rest of the league in that year, as well as look at his career numbers and not come up with an objective measure. Either that or he’s directing his comments to the front office of the only team that feels about him the way they do.

When Francoeur says it’s “back to the drawing board”, I’m sure he’s referring to his lifetime supply of Etch A Sketches.

In 2011 Jeff Francoeur ranked 14^th among 23 qualified right fielders in fWAR. Not first. Not second. Not even in the top 10 as the hyperbole surrounding the player that has spent most of his career being one of the worst everyday players in the sport would suggest. Among players with at least 1000 games played from 2000-2012, he ranks 163 out of 183 in fWAR. That’s not good.

Yet despite all the evidence to the contrary, the media (not all) fail to hold the Royals and Francoeur accountable by writing glitzy articles glossing over just how bad he’s been for most of his career by recounting meaningless stories about naked batting practice and openly, affectionately, calling him “Frenchy”. The Royals fail to hold the Royals accountable for being (hopefully) the only team in baseball willing to give Francoeur an uncontested starting position by trading away – at the very least – an equal player, who’s seven years younger.

But the time to compete is now. Or something.

Hyperbole is what this brand of Royals organization does best. When your regime has never won more than 75 games and every move comes across as more wheels spinning, non-definable rhetoric, hyperbole can be a necessary public relations tactic. The Jeff Francoeur hyperbole train that’s about to come rolling in as Spring Training starts is going to be a fun game of misdirection and illusion.

But, just as this article on FOX Sports KC sums it up nicely: “(Francoeur) ain’t a magician”. The Royals aren’t either. There’s no making this elephant disappear.

But 2013 is the year the Royals think they’re ready to compete for a division title, or at least a year they’re making an all-out effort to compete, if they can just find enough pitching and the right mix of veteran defensive back-ups to provide the necessary leadership for a young(ish) roster in need of guidance. If they can just find enough pitching and defense.

Pitching and defense win championships and the reason we know this is because there is no shortage of sound bites and articles of people surrounding the industry telling us every chance they get. Pitching and defense: it’s the “currency of baseball”, or something, and without it, presumably, you can’t contend for a divisional title. Contend for a divisional title.

You see, there is a difference between “competing” and “contending”. Long have fans just wished the Royals would finish somewhere near .500, just to have the hope that each night there was at least a 50/50 chance of seeing a winner. That’s from a fan perspective. That’s competing.

From an organizational perspective, however, finishing .500 probably does more harm than good because it gives the appearance that progress is being made, steps are being taken, when in reality, finishing .500 in a weak division is something that should be the norm, not the outlier.

Finishing .500 is really no different than finishing with just 70 wins, because you’re not contending. There’s an argument to be made that if your team isn’t close enough to contend for a playoff spot with a major push for a championship, then the focus should be on acquiring and hoarding as much future talent as possible. There’s an argument.

For 2013, that’s not the approach the Royals chose to take.

In addition to the futility of 2012, in 2011 the Royals finished 27^th in baseball with a 4.45 ERA. In 2010, 29^th. The last time the Royals finished in the top 20 in baseball in ERA was 2007. Five full seasons ago.

So because pitching and defense win championships, and the Royals have been so bad at developing their own starting pitching while Dayton Moore has been general manager, it is understandable how the organization would come to the conclusion that their only hope of competing in 2013 is to acquire starting pitching and lots of it (or at the very least, acquire some kind of an upgrade over what is currently in the rotation), and sign some kind of insurance for a defense that has two very glaring weaknesses to supplement the pitching as much as possible.

When the going get tough, though, the tough don’t trade 25 years worth of controlled contracts for a 31 year old pitcher with two years remaining, and a swing man who has never stuck in the rotation for two contract years and three option years. That’s what the Royals did, however, and out the door went their only legitimate replacement to one of the worst everyday players in baseball.

Then that move has since been compounded by adding some defensive bodies to the mix after the signing of Endy Chavez, which is mostly of little consequence unless Jarrod Dyson falls on his face in centerfield, and Miguel Tejada, which is so over-the-top astonishing, yet at the same time predictable, it makes perfect sense.

When first announced, the Tejada deal was a minor league contract with an invitation to the big league camp in spring training. Basically, a flyer on a guy as insurance. Which in itself is reasonable until you remember that Tejada didn’t play in the major leagues a season ago, is going to be 39 years old, and hasn’t been any good for at least three seasons. Then, as if the shear notion of Tejada wasn’t enough, reports are out now that the deal will come with a guarantee of a spot on the 40-man roster once the Royals clear space for the former MVP to be added. That’s $1.1MM given to a player that serves little purpose other than to fulfill the “veteran leadership” quota.

So in an effort to assemble a competing roster for the first time in his tenure as general manger of the Royals, Dayton Moore has traded for Wade Davis (who will make $32.6MM over the next five years if all his club options are picked up), James Shields ($21MM over the next two years if his 2014 club option is picked up), and Ervin Santana ($12MM), and signed Endy Chavez (minor league contract) and Miguel Tejada ($1.1MM).

In all, Moore has acquired upwards of $74.7MM worth of players this offseason in exchange for the reigning Minor League Player of the Year and the organization’s closest and most polished starting pitcher candidate, for a chance to compete in a division where they’re still probably the third best team on paper.

Going all in is a reasonable organizational directive if the team is coming off an 85-win season and there are clear signs of contending for a division title and a push for a championship. But when the team is coming off a 72-win season and the 70+ million dollars worth of players acquired merely guarantee a shot at .500, then you’re relying more on the dealer than your own cards.

And with that, it’s as if no one has been paying attention for the last six seasons.

Original reports of the deal were of a guaranteed, $1.1MM contract – giving the impression that Tejada was signed to a major league deal – but those rumors were dispelled as the shortstop (in name only) that enters his age 39 season, was signed to a minor league contract, which would mean his salary is only guaranteed if he makes the team out of spring training and spends the entire season in the major leagues.

So in that respect, this deal makes sense on account of depth and depth alone. But c’mon, this is the Royals, and this is the same organization that acquired Yuniesky Betancourt a second time, with the intentions of playing his as a utility infielder, when his ability to play the infield defensively was apparent only in the fact that his name could be written on a lineup card next to a number that designated an infield position. With Tejada, well, it’s the same thing.

To be “meh” about this acquisition is understandable. The Royals have been searching for utility/backup infield help that they felt could adequately play shortstop. Irving Falu’s name had been mentioned, but tweets by Bob Dutton have referenced there’s concern within the organization that Falu could not be shortstop on an extended basis, if need be.

With Tejada the Royals get a “veteran presence” that further allows them to build a roster of mentors and fatherly figures to the young(ish) players on the roster that so much is riding on for the 2013 season. Of course, this is contingent on him actually making the big league roster out of spring training. (A key, and most likely the most important, point.) And when this type of acquisition is looked at solely on that fact, and without the perspective of what has happened over the past six seasons, signing Miguel Tejada to a minor league deal is of little consequence.

Except, when you look back at the past six seasons and more directly at the signing of Betancourt a year ago, the signing of Tejada is emblematic of the systematic failures of the organization during The Process.

Tejada hasn’t played in the major leagues since 2011. But because of his playing in the winter league, and because he’s a “nice man”, spring training at-bats and infield reps will be given to a player who arguably shouldn’t have the time of day wasted on him, in favor of some younger player, or at the very least someone who has proven some ability to shortstop at a competent level.

And then there’s this argument: Johnny Giavotella and second base.

Given what we know, what we’ve seen from the Royals, if you can’t foresee a scenario in which Tejada starts taking reps at second base and makes the team out of spring training – for reasons that go beyond any objective measure – and Giavotella once again is removed from any possibility of consistent, legitimate playing time, because Tejada “gives the team a better chance to win” while putting up a sub .300 on-base percentage, then you haven’t been paying attention for six years.

Mostly likely, any negative reaction to a signing like this is overreaction to a non-issue. At least, hopefully.

But there’s been too many head-scratching acquisitions to give the benefit of the doubt without first being skeptical. Miguel Tejada is exactly the type of player for which excuses for poor performance will be made out of some ruse of leadership or intangibles.

And if that happens, he’ll be owed 1.1 million dollars.

*After posting, there are now some reports that the deal will in fact be upgraded to a major league contract, as soon as there is space to place Tejada on the 40-man roster. We will update this post as more information is available.

*Bob Dutton is now confirming that Tejada indeed will be added to the 40-man roster just as soon as the Royals clear space. This is a guaranteed $1.1MM deal for a to-be 39 year old “infielder” that hasn’t played in the major leagues since 2011, and hasn’t had an on-base percentage above .312 since 2009:

#Royals confirm minor-league deal with SS Miguel Tejada. AP first had report and says Tejada will be added to 40-man roster when…

— Bob Dutton (@Royals_Report) January 1, 2013

…club clears space. Says MLB portion if deal is for $1.1 million with $400,000 in performance bonuses.

— Bob Dutton (@Royals_Report) January 1, 2013

It isn’t like Royals fans haven’t been through this before. Tona Pena Jr. was heralded for his defensive genius, and that genius “made him a more-than-suitable every day shortstop” in the major leagues. It didn’t.

Yuniesky Betancourt was acquired the first time (!) in a trade because the Royals felt (well, we can only assume this is how they felt) they were buying low on a starting caliber shortstop with the potential for an elite glove and the occasional production at the plate. He wasn’t. Betancourt was then acquired for the second time (!!) because of some kind of attitude that the team and coaches really liked, and they thought would be helpful and willing to except a backup role. Again, he wasn’t.

In all, each of these scenarios were, and are, entirely understandable. There’s no reason for a team to be open and honest about how bad a player is, even when the stats prove the case. But, when the defense of those stats is predicated on some mythical understanding of the World of Baseball, well then there’s an issue. And that is the territory we’ve entered into with the Royals.

A recent press conference about the 2013 Royals and the acquisition of two pitchers at the expense of Wil Myers (the obvious and eventual replacement for Francoeur in right field), took an expected turn. Questions were asked about the status of right field with the implications that a team going “all in” can’t possibly be unaware of the damage they’ve done to the offense by trading the replacement for what was one of, if not the, worst players in baseball a season ago.

Now whether or not you believe trading Myers at this point in The Process was a shrewd move (it wasn’t, really, given all the dynamics) or not isn’t the point. The point is that Dayton Moore and the Royals have so convinced themselves, so brainwashed themselves, so believe in the unicorn that is Jeff Francoeur, that they are willingly aligning their reputations with him by being so steadfast in their commitment towards him.

Which would be fine, if some sort of objective measure did the aligning. It’s not. Francoeur is a “winning type player” despite the fact that he’s played on more teams in his career that have lost 90 games than haven’t. Despite the fact that he was once traded in mid season from a team, and then that team played nearly 10-wins better without him. Despite…well you get the idea.

And so, here are just a handful of statements about Jeff Francoeur, factual statements, about his career in the major leagues. No editorial comment accompanies these statements other than to say simply: they are facts and are easily acquired by a couple of mouse clicks and pivot tables.

• Jeff Francoeur fWAR rank among all right fielders since 2008: 2008: 22nd of 22; 2009: 23rd of 25; 2010: 22nd of 26; 2011: 14th of 23; 2012: 22nd of 23.

• Jeff Francoeur fWAR rank among all outfielders since 2008: 2008: 62nd of 62; 2009: 57th of 62; 2010: 54th of 62; 2011: 33rd of 62; 2012: 56th of 57.

• Since 2008 the only right fielders with 1500 plate appearances or more with a lower SLG than Jeff Francoeur: Kosuke Fukudome, Ichiro Suzuki, Ryan Sweeney, and Mark Teahen.

• Since 2008, of all outfielders in baseball with 1500 plate appearances or more, there is only one with a lower wRC+ than Jeff Francoeur: Mark Teahen.

• Since 2008, Jeff Francoeur ranks last of 62 qualified right fielders in Win Probability Added, at -9.66. Next to last is Austin Kearns at -5.21.

• Since 2000, among right fielders with at least 2000 PAs, Jeff Francoeur ranks 71st of 73 in wOBA. Rob Mackowiak is higher.

• From 2000-2012, there have been 183 players play in at least 1000 games, Jeff Francoeur ranks 163rd in fWAR.

• Francoeur has 84 stolen base attempts in his career. During that same time, 114 players have at least 80 stolen base attempts. Francoeur is second-to-last with a 58% success rate.

• There have been 521 outfielders receive at least 4000 plate appearances since 1900, Jeff Francoeur ranks 502nd in OBP.

• From 1900-2012, 1,202 players (all positions) received at least 4000 plate appearances, Jeff Francoeur ranks 1,078th among them in OBP.

• In 293 games as a Royal, Mark Quinn had 2.7 fWAR. In 301 games as a Royal, Jeff Francoeur has 1.7 fWAR.

• In seven full major league seasons, Jeff Francoeur has been on a team that has lost at least 90 games, four times.

What rumors can also be is terrifying, worrying, and head scratching. Rumors can make a fan’s head spin with joyous confusion, and blood boil with angering rage. The Royals, it would seem, are at the center of all rumors that do this on a daily basis.

The most prevalent of rumors for the past, oh, two months now, is that the Kansas City Royals are willing – if not eager – to trade for a top-of-the-rotation starter at the expense of some offensive firepower. It’s been said that the team is reluctant to part with established major leaguers, but the deeper into the offseason we get with names coming off the availability board, the more worrisome it gets that Dayton Moore will push the panic button and do something drastic that may do more harm than good.

The three most mentioned names in the rumors are Wil Myers, Eric Hosmer, and Billy Butler. Each has the reasons for and against trading (most against) yet the appeal of acquiring a pitcher to dress up a flawed roster, seems to be too alluring.

As long as the Royals are in the mode to spend something they don’t have much of – talent – in lieu of something they actually have available – money – the possibility of trading any of these three hitters goes up immensely.

I’ve already touched on the case against trading Wil Myers, as did Dave Cameron at FanGraphs (much better than me), but as reluctant I would be to trade Wil Myers, the idea of trading either one of the other two players is absolutely frightening:

Billy Butler – the team’s best pure hitter and only one of two in lineup that’s willing to be patient enough to take a walk at the rate of a player that’s played baseball after the decade of the 80s. Butler represents all that the Royals have avoided over the past six years: players with at least one extreme skill.

As a player, Butler is flawed. He’s not the “well rounded” (well, not in terms of talent) player the Royals seek, and because of that what he does well – damn well – has been ignored by the organization and fans.

Trading Butler makes sense in theory. The Royals need pitching if they’re expected to compete in 2013, and teams with pitching that can make a difference (Tampa Bay for instance*) will only part with that talent if it allows them to still compete next season as well.

*I’m doubting the Rays acquisition of James Loney means they wouldn’t still be interested in Butler.

To get something you have to give up something, and if the Royals do trade their most proven hitter who will be just 27 years old in April, they’re going to be creating a bigger hole than the one they had to begin with. The lineup is flawed as it stands now, and Butler is one of two dependable bats the Royals have.

Eric Hosmer – the enigma. Hosmer two years ago was a top three prospect in baseball and widely regarded as “can’t miss” as can’t miss can be. And then 2012.

Hosmer struggled, badly. And the problem with Hosmer struggling in 2012 as a sophomore instead of 2011 as a rookie is that’s it’s fresh. It’s the most recent group of statistics we have of Hosmer and because of that, his pedigree and resume are being completely forgotten. If there truly is a need to “make a trade that hurts”, as some have written, trading Hosmer would hurt.

Teams do all they can to acquire stars. Stars are what win championships because they’re the ones that can provide the most impact from a single spot on the roster. Stars need to be given every opportunity to become stars; they don’t come around often.

Eric Hosmer two years ago was a can’t-miss star. He was everyone’s darling with the athleticism, bat speed, plate discipline, defense, and attitude. If his rookie season and last season were flipped, no one would be saying a word. But they’re not, and they are.

The Royals (especially with their self-imposed small market ideals) need stars. The Royals need to wait until they just can’t anymore to allow Hosmer to be what he profiles out to being.

The Royals may see their window as wide open entering 2013, but in reality, it may not even be cracked yet. Panicking and trading three pieces that are all difference makers, or potential difference makers that provide talent that isn’t on the roster elsewhere, may just shut that window for good.

Some other night, I guess, Royals fans.

Official word was just released by the best damn beat writer in the History of Whatever, Bob Dutton, that all remaining unsigned Royals players have been tendered a contract. That list of remaining players included Luke Hochevar.

Now official. #Royals did tender contracts to all remaining unsigned players and, yes, that includes Luke Hochevar.

— Bob Dutton (@Royals_Report) December 1, 2012

For each of his five seasons pitching for the Royals, Hochevar has been the very definition of disappointment. He’s never finished the season with an ERA under 4.60, and in three seasons he’s finished with an almost unimaginable 5.51, 5.73, and 6.55.

Hochevar has the 16^th worse ERA in the history of recorded data (that’s 1871, y’all) for all pitchers with more the 500 innings pitched at the major league level at 5.39, which isn’t that bad when you consider it was as bad as 12^th among 500 inning throwers as recently as May. So, improvement?

And despite all evidence to the contrary, despite that Luke Hochevar has been dubiously bad enough to have a hashtag named after him for which inning he’ll implode in on that night, the Royals still believe that he can harness his potential that made him the No. 1 overall pick in the draft in 2006. They have to be the only ones left that believe this.

When Dayton Moore was hired to be the GM of the Kansas City Royals he famously said, “pitching is the currency of baseball”. For six seasons the Royals have chased a competent and consistent starting rotation while giving 771 innings, and Opening Day starts, on a pitcher that is better than only six players in the history of the sport.

Trust the Process.

News broke earlier today that the Kansas City Royals had reached an agreement with second baseman Chris Getz on a contract that would have him return to the team for the 2013 season. To sum that sentence up another way: more blog post fodder!

Over the past couple of years Getz, along with Jeff Francoeur, has been the player fans and writers following the team have pointed the majority of their frustrations. Most of the pointing done, and words written, fall under the category of extreme hyperbole, but for the most part the angst isn’t all that misplaced when you consider the hype surrounding the player that has done little on the field to justify it.

That was, I suppose, until last season. The new and improved batting stance unlocked the “power” that had been hidden in his swing for three full seasons (he still hasn’t hit a homerun since 2009), helping Getz push his slugging percentage to a career high .360.* The improvement from Getz was so profound (that’s how bad he was in 2011 and 2010 with a bat in his hands) that fans actually began to use the phrases “not that bad” and “he’s the least of the Royals worries” when trying to justify the playing time of a batter with 13 extra-base hits all season and average-at-best defense. Getz may not have been the least of the team’s worries, but his playing time is a symptom of what has ailed the franchise for six years now.

*LOL

Not that it’s all Getz’s fault he’s been forced into duty he’s probably ill-suited for; he’s not a starting second baseman in the major leagues. It’s near impossible to argue that at this point. Johnny Giavotella was penciled in as the starting second baseman, but a poor spring and the acquisition of Yuniesky Betancourt created an opening to use the Getz Grittiness every day. These things happen when self-imposed low budget teams (heh) don’t have their first laid plans workout the way they had planned. A lack of depth hurt them, and hurt them in a bad way, at the pivot position last season.

And this season, there’s a worry it could happen again.

The contract given to Getz isn’t all that scary for a player of his, um, talents, provided his playing time is handled accordingly. But the same main competitor for the position he had last season is the same he has this season, and the Royals have already shown a clear distaste (and odd bias) for Giavotella’s defense, making it appear far too many plate appearances will be given to a player whose only offensive skill seems to be to be able to put the ball in play, weakly.

Getz’s value as a backup is near non-existent because the only position he can really play is second base, and a backup infielder that’s stuck to play one position that isn’t shortstop provides very little value.

So it’s Getz vs. Giavotella II. Or something. May the best man win.

No matter how it’s sliced, this is good news for those that search to find Royals subjects to write about on a weekly basis. Because no matter which side of the fence you’re on, you can always come up with a good 600 words Chris Getz, and the subplots that surround him.

(I sincerely apologize for the title of this post.)

However with the Royals as we look ahead to 2013, there should be more questions asked about whether or not the offense can sustain any subtractions to its future, instead of just assuming that an acquisition of any pitcher will make this team better. Chances are, with subtractions from the offense (here’s looking at you, Wil Myers trade rumors), the Royals would have traded from one part of the team to another, and not amounted to much overall gain.

Somewhere during the last two months of the 2012 season and into the offseason, fans and pundits have decided the Royals offense was fixed and/or headed in the right direction. Some, you would think, have decided that it’s already arrived, thus resulting in a surplus of talent that needs to be traded in an effort to fix a starting rotation that has been laughably underdeveloped during the six years of Dayton Moore’s regime.

What’s so wrong about that? The offense isn’t good either.

In 2012 the Royals ranked 10^th in the American League in wOBA, and 9^th in OBP. If you want to be one of those people that say advanced stats are meaningless, then fine, the Royals finished 12^th in runs scored. Couple the Royals well documented inabilities (or blatant unwillingness to evolve with the rest of the industry) to take walks or show even average plate-discipline, along with their bad base running and questionable offensive game management, you get a team that struggles to score runs. Trading offensive talent – especially the talent that has more cost-controlled years available than any other piece of the “core” – may result in a zero sum. The type of impact pitcher needed to make a difference would cost too much of the current offensive roster (in terms of value to the organization) plus payroll dollars, not allowing those gaps created to be fixed.

Of course, at the center of all of this is the right field situation, where the incumbent was one of the worst every day players in baseball a season ago, and is blocking a better talent that happens to be center of trade speculation. In most other situations the idea of a blocked prospect used as trade bait to strengthen another unit of the team would be looked upon as good news, but in the case of Myers v Jeff Francoeur, the term “blocked” is more of an honorary term and not one of practicality.

Jeff Francoeur at this point in his career, with all we know of him as a player, should not be looked upon as an answer to any positional question, and serious discussions should be had over whether trading for any starting pitcher matters as long as Francoeur is still the every day right fielder. Because not only does his level of bad take away from whatever level of good the Royals would receive in a trade in terms of pure value from performance, there should also be very real concerns from within the organization about what it says when a well-known GM favorite continues to get a free pass when he continues to play so poorly.

The argument against trading Myers – or a few other Royals offensive pieces – isn’t just an argument that the difference between Myers and Francoeur would be greater than the difference between Pitcher Currently On Roster and Pitcher To Be Acquired, but that the Royals are operating as if they’re a team that has a surplus of talent. They don’t.

What they do have for 2013 – or at least what they did have before they spent $17MM for two back-of-the-rotation starters – was a surplus of money.

If the Royals were truly looking to make a “splash” this offseason by acquiring starting pitchers to make a run at the divisional title in 2013, then their window to do so was to spend in free agency on a front-loaded contract for a difference maker. Take advantage of the young, cheap talent while they could, while still also making an effort to compete.

What they did instead was trade for, and pick up a $12MM portion of an option on a lottery ticket that’s been getting worse for three years in Ervin Santana, and re-sign a 34-year contact reliant right-hander to three years guaranteed, in Jeremy Guthrie. It’s one thing to have the restraints of the market back you into a corner; it’s another to willingly back yourself into that corner by spending money recklessly. That corner, seemingly, is named Trade Wil Myers.

The case for keeping Wil Myers isn’t simply that it would keep from having to watch Francoeur swing a bat for another full season (though that would be compelling enough), it’s that a trade of an impact potential bat with six full years of cost-control left needs to be countered by real impact in return. With offensive holes in right field (if he’s traded), centerfield, second base, and legitimate question marks at first base and third base still left unanswered, the “window” for the Royals would close a little more by trading a piece that could help to answer some of those questions, than it would open by acquiring a single starting pitcher.

Too often bloggers and commentators that follow the Kansas City Royals get put into the box of being critical without ever examining the other side of the equation. Too often bloggers and commentators that follow the Kansas City Royals are labeled as negative, or a troll, without ever asking the most important questions on the subject about the validity and competence of an organization that cannot get out of it’s own way. And too often bloggers and commentators that follow the Kansas City Royals can get caught up in their own fandom, their own emotions, and their own desires to finally to cheer and write for a winner.

After the Royals acquired a pitcher for whom there is little compelling argument that he is definitively better than any arm currently on the staff, I was overcome with my own subjective likes of Ervin Santana’s stuff, delivery, reputation and past to see it for what it really was. No doubt, the Royals were in the same boat, otherwise the trade of a minor league arm and the committing to a percentage of the payroll a team should never commit to Ervin Santana, wouldn’t have happened.

At first glance the trade seemed to be a win. The Royals acquired a pitcher that would have been sought after (to what extent is arguable) in the free agent market, and there is a glaring need in at least four of the five starting rotation spots. But the concern before any of the offseason musical chairs started, was that Dayton Moore would enter the market too soon, overpay for a talent that would have been readily available for less, and not really find anyone that would make that much of a difference anyway.

Sadly, that is exactly what happened.

Over the past four seasons there is no discernable difference between Santana, Luke Hochevar, and Bruce Chen. Sure there’s the occasional peak in strikeout numbers, but other than 2008 when Santana had the best year of his career, he’s gotten steadily worse and bottomed out in 2012 with a -0.9 fWAR.

Say what you will about Hochevar, and fans will, he’s been remarkably consistent (just barely over average) throughout his career, and he was better than Santana last year. Oh, and he’s a year younger.

So when it comes to justifying the acquisition, fans should take what they know and what they think of Luke Hochevar, and then ask themselves if they would approve of giving him $12 million next season. Changes things a little, doesn’t it?

But this is to be expected. The history of Dayton Moore as general manager of the Royals lends itself to predicting these kinds of scenarios; boxing himself into a corner of perceived need, only to come out swinging with large sums of dollars given to Willie Bloomquist, Horacio Ramirez, and Jeff Francoeur.

Sure there’s the idea that players don’t want to play in Kansas City (because they’re perennially a loser, and who’s to blame for that?) and they’ll have to overpay for lesser players on the open market, but that argument is a cop-out, an easy excuse for why role players and bad players are handed more money than anyone else in baseball would do.

This is also where the flaw in The Process rears its ugly head. Not everything can be built entirely from within, and while small market teams that struggle to get out of the bottom of the standings will spend their time telling you that free agency is a bad route to go when building a team, they ignore the fact that it is a necessary one.

The idea that teams “cannot be built through free agency” is a laughable cause continually trumpeted by organizations that show ineptness in how to use it correctly. And the organizations that routinely use that phrase as the answer to a question that wasn’t asked, like the Royals, are also ones that are so afraid, so petrified of spending their available dollars poorly, that they back into situations to do just that by convincing themselves that there is no other way.

It’s what happens when you draft Luke Hochevar No.1 overall (think whatever you like about that subject) and fail to develop him. It’s what happens when your top two organizational draft picks, whom you’ve touted as sure-fire stars, both put up on-base percentages lower than .310 in their sophomore seasons. It’s what happens when, entering year seven of a regime, the entire starting rotation could be swapped out for five new names, and no one would bat an eye.

Ervin Santana being acquired isn’t the problem, solely. He’s a sign. He’s yet anther worrisome acquisition that shows where the Royals current administration is lacking, and how far behind the rest of the league it puts them.

Trading for and picking up the option on Santana wouldn’t be that much of a head scratching move if we didn’t know what we already know. Dayton Moore is the one that talks more than most about the payroll limitations laid upon him as general manager of a small market team. And he’s also the one that just agreed to pay 12 million dollars next year to a pitcher that was statistically worse than all the starting pitchers in the Royals rotation. And he did so before the rest of baseball showed him if he should.

You see, this season was just about like the rest for writing and following the Kansas City Royals. Lots of head scratching post-game comments, lots of mysterious amounts of playing time being divided amongst (mostly not good) players, and lots of frustrations over losing games with the same formula overnight. So because of all of that, and because this is almost November which means free agency season, trade season, and a whole-host of what-will-happen-next intrigue, I’ll stick with the emails that have been sent after game 162 was played.

As always, have a question for any of us on staff, or just like to vent about your children to someone, you can write us at KoKmailbag@gmail.com.

On to the bag:

What will you do if Alex Gordon is traded? – Fearless leader, @michaelengel

Part of me thinks Engel is sincere and legitimately concerned about my potential state of mind if such a transaction did go down. Most of me, however, thinks he’s actually rooting for an Alex Gordon trade to take place just so we can make some popcorn, crack open a frosty beverage, and watch my mental meltdown happen.

I can certainly understand the type of thinking that would lead Dayton Moore to trade his (by far) best player in hopes of not only trying to improve the team for 2013, but in an effort to better setup the 2014, ’15, and ’16 clubs for contention before Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer leave via free agency. I really can.

But that type of thinking is also symptomatic of an organization that continually makes odd decisions, and spouts empty rhetoric, that would trade their best player during his peak seasons, in an effort to get better. Nothing about trading Gordon makes this team better, because doing so robs the lineup of one of only two players that have above-average on-base skills, and there’s no one in the system that is ready to replace him. (Moving Wil Myers to left field just means more Jeff Francoeur, and that’s not good for anyone.)

I gotta hope Moore sees things the same way. Gotta. Because as much as it’s increasingly clear the process (or Process) of trying to establish a 25-man roster entirely of your own draft picks (taking some liberties there) isn’t working and never was going to, trading key players from the offensive side of the major league roster for pitching now only moves deficiencies from one part of the team, to the other.

Plus, if Gordon is traded, I don’t really have a schtick any more.

There’s rumors that the Royals would be willing to talk about including either (Eric) Hosmer or (Mike) Moustakas in a trade for pitching, isn’t it too early to give up on them? – Jeremy

I’d have to say yes, absolutely. In the case of Eric Hosmer, you can’t look at one season of him after all the years of relative dominance in the minor leagues, coupled with a near Rookie of the Year campaign, and declare him a “bust” or tradable. Let’s not forget he, just like Gordon was before him, was considered as “can’t miss” as “can’t miss” can-be. The industry was unanimous that Hosmer was headed for stardom, and that even if he didn’t ever reach elite status, he’d still be a high on-base guy with power and plus defense at first base.

You can’t let one year cloud your mind of the three strong years before it.

Moustakas on the other hand, he’d be the one that I’d at least consider trading for the right piece. At third base, his defense makes up for his lack of offense (weird saying that) but because that was never the case with him, I’d be worried that he’s going to have trouble repeating that type of season with the glove. And his corner infield mate, Moustakas was never really the “can’t miss” guy that Hosmer was among all the “prospect guys” because he’s plate discipline has always been suspect. There’s nothing he’s done to dispel that notion, either.

That being said, he’s still young, cheap, and playing a position that is incredibly weak throughout baseball. Moustakas is going to have an easier time being an above-average third baseman than Hosmer is being an above-average first baseman because the pool is so shallow on his side of the diamond. Trading him is going to have to come with a steep price tag as well.

What are your thoughts about Jeff Francoeur being named a finalist for a Gold Glove? – Mark, Leawood

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

No seriously. LOLOLOLOLOLOL.

It really just goes to show you that the Gold Glove awards, just like the Coaches Poll in college football, is conducted by a bunch of people that don’t really watch games.

This just went down, but Ervin Santana? I’m not sure whether to be excited, angry, (ticked) off, or think this is another sign that GMDM can’t put together a roster at the ML level. Maybe all of the above? – Eric

This is a tough one because I’ve gone there and back again with this trade and what I feel about it.

On the one hand Santana is a velocity decreasing, ERA increasing, homerun allowing factory that is going to make $13MM ($12MM covered by the Royals) in 2013 in the last year of his contract. He’s shown upside throughout his career with some quality stuff, a sound delivery, and the type of stretches that you could normally associate with a solid No.3 to No.2 starter. Though because the Royals already have a guy like that on their roster and in their rotation, and tried to change of scenery guy last year when they acquired Jonathan Sanchez, this acquisition would seem to be a reach and an awful ton of money to be giving to a guy that might not be all the good.

On the other the Royals have money to spend and positions to fill, and it is only a one-year contract, so maybe this is exactly the type of move the Royals need to be making. Let’s not forget this is a rotation that features Bruce Chen prominently, and if you think Santana isn’t an upgrade over Chen, then God, Jed, I don’t even want to know you.

When all arguments are laid out on the table regarding this trade you’re in one of either two camps: camp No.1 that says this is just another sign that Dayton Moore can’t put together a major league roster because he spends what money he has foolishly and on bad players. And you’d be right. And camp No.2 that says the Royals needed somebody for the starting rotation, and for what they gave up, for a pitcher on a one-year contract, this isn’t all that bad. And you’d be right.

I think for the time being I’m leaning towards camp No.2, but the more I think about it, I’m getting that sinking feeling that Moore acted before the market established (like he’s done so many times before) and the price he paid for an average-at-best pitcher will prove to be entirely too much.

Here’s to hoping I’m not right.

(That would be a fun game, let’s try: Luke Hochevar, starting pitcher. Nope, see, that doesn’t work.)

So much has been made of the Royals need to “finally commit to winning”, that if money isn’t spent then the owner of a business who is entitled to make money on his business greedy David Glass might just have to rewind himself straight out of town. (Because that’s how it works.) The time is now and the division is ripe for the taking, because it’s really quite terrible after all.

But at what cost comes this pursuit of starting pitching? Is it by any means necessary? Is it overspend for a product that you know isn’t worth the cost? Is it, as some have written, making a “trade that hurts”?

Hopefully, the answer to all of these questions is “no”.

While there was supposed to be a window to complete this “Mission” – a window that keeps getting moved every year or so – opening and going through that window still needs to be done with some semblance of responsibility, just in case the effort to jump through isn’t met with a blue ribbon, but rather a deafening silence.

Payroll is a commodity just like service time for young, cheap players, and in Dayton Moore’s tenure one thing he’s struggled with doing – the thing he’s struggled with the most – is appropriately allocating his available payroll dollars to players that can and will produce. (Say what you will about Glass, he’s spent more. Much more. He’s not been the one choosing the players.)

Because of this track record there’s a concern, a much deserved concern, that the starting pitching targets acquired will either a) not be much better than the arms already on the roster for a higher cost b) be a much higher cost but not be the type of difference makers to matter, saddling the organization with sunk costs in future years or c) be acquired by trade that cripples a preserved strength – offense – that really isn’t a strength to begin with.

There should almost be a “homerun or hope” approach to the arms targeted to better help this team moving forward. Have two or three names that can be acquired at the top of the free agent costs in baseball (Zack Greinke?) and try to get one of them. (One difference maker sets this team up better than two or three middle of the road guys.) And have two or three names that can be acquired by using pieces in the low minors to a rebuilding team (Calixte, Mondesi, Ventura, etc.).

If none of those work, then try and find the “change of scenery” guy with the chance to be more under the Royals system, the same way the scouts saw something in Felipe Paulino. This way the organization isn’t crippled with the contract of a pitcher who’s probably no better than a No.3 with a roster that’s really not quite there yet, and there are pieces still in place from June and July of next year to use as pieces to really make a splash.

The main concern is a panic move at this point. While everyone wants to see a winning team for a change, overpaying for a pitcher just for the sake of making a move and getting someone you don’t truly want, would be a big mistake.

C’mon, you just knew I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to write about Alex Gordon.

The Kansas City Royals best player is a finalist again this season for the honor of being named best defensive player at his position*, and if you’re basing the vote off of all objective measures, it really isn’t close.

*presumably the best defensively player at his position, except for the people that vote for the award don’t watch all the games, and base their tally on offensive numbers too. See: Palmeiro, Rafael.

A couple days ago The Fielding Bible released their award winners and featured this little nugget about the Royals leftfielder:

“(Gordon) lapped the field with his 24 runs saved defensively, his nearest competitors being Martin Prado of Atlanta with 12 and Tampa Bay’s Desmond Jennings with 9 runs saved. Gordon was a unanimous choice for the 2012 Fielding Bible Award, finishing first on every single ballot cast by the panelists.”

No surprise really, to Royals fans, that Gordon gets the love he does with the advanced fielded metrics and to the highlight reel junkies. What is a surprise though is that Gordon actually improved defensively in 2012 over a season ago, which is almost remarkable when you consider the 2011 defensive campaign for Gordon could have been chalked up to a combination of luck and a perfect storm of events.

After posting a 10.5 UZR in 2011 – which was heavily weighted with his arm and ability to throw out runners – Gordon increased his overall numbers to a 14.1 UZR in 2012 thanks to a vast improvement in the one area that received the most criticism, his range (-2.1 RngR in 2011; 4.4 RngR in 2012).

And he would only figure to get better.  Gordon is entering his age 29 season and, after showing the type of durability that is more expected from a player of his level of athleticism and conditioning, we should only figure that he’ll continue to perform at the high level he’s been at the last two seasons. Plus, having yet another year under his belt at a new position could (hopefully) only lead to more good things to come.

Gordon should receive his second Gold Glove award when the announcements are made tomorrow. Now if we could only figure out how Alcides Escobar was left off the list of finalist for shortstops.

“It’s been four weeks since the last Monday Rant and the reason for the absence is really quite obvious: what is there, really, to write about?

The #OurMissionTime2012 season is barreling towards yet another uneventful close to yet another worse-than-mediocre record, and the same missteps and pratfalls that have plagued a losing franchise continue to do so because they just can’t seem to get out of their own way. Reasons are given for moving players in the lineup that make little logical sense, excuses are made for historically bad pitchers for reasons why their future is bright, and a “fiscally responsible” move is glossed over and painted with a “smart” brush when a compelling argument could be made that it really amounts to the organization being cheap.”

I wrote that lede a week ago as I tried to sit down and bang out yet another award-winning post. (unroll your eyes, that was sarcasm) After further reflection on where I am with my fandom and where the Royals are in their evolution to semi-relevance, I have to stop myself a little. Yes those same head-scratching moves are made, and the same illogical reasons are given by the Royals for decisions that seem to never pan out (“Jason Bourgeois and Humberto Quintero for a left-handed reliever with over a strikeout per inning, yes!”), but it is the final two months of the season and they are once again playing good baseball. Well, overall, I guess, before a pretty dreadful September

And so the reflection comes at a time when columns and articles and tweets are written after a 17-11 month of August about what could have been. And even after a 12-17 September, there are still some making the argument that if, just if, the Royals had played this “well” (.447 winning percentage) during the devastating 12-game losing streak in April, they would be 76-83 on the year. A perfectly justifiable way of thinking if you’re willing to tilt your head and squint your eyes just right. But those 12 games still count, and the glaring holes in a team whose success is built solely on contact, both offensively and defensively, doesn’t scale well over a full season.

Plus, doesn’t this happen every September? Even if a quality stretch run after the Royals have long since been eliminated from playoff contention isn’t a true annual occurrence, it sure as heck seems like it is. Whether it’s the “Kyle Davies is finally good” months or the will he/won’t he wishy-wash of whether Luke Hochevar has finally figured out why he’s so historically bad at throwing a baseball, September is always a time for optimism around Royals-land, at least that’s what the narrative wants fans to believe.

There are always a lot a lot of words written across the Internet about whether September performances are relevant or not, but in the Royals case it mostly is the latter of those two answers. With everyone losing their minds that maybe, just maybe, this time it’s the former.

This, fortunately, it’s not one of those posts.

Because, the Royals final two months this year is largely irrelevant due to three main storylines that show the symptoms of bad baseball with the decisions being made. Decisions that have put the Dayton Moore-led Royals at 87 loses or more in each of his six seasons as General Manager.

Alex Gordon is moved out of leadoff to the number three spot in the order

For the most part, lineup order has been proven to be a near meaningless aspect of run scoring from game-to-game. However, one of the main tenants of lineup order is that the guys that make the least amount of outs per plate appearances need to bat more often. Thus, they need to bat higher in the order.

Now there’s a certain dance managers must do in order to balance their on-base guys with their power guys in order to maximize those times runners are actually on base. That being said, the Royals have only two guys in their lineup that fit either description (well, that’s being generous, as neither is really a “power guy”), and both are currently hitting No.3 and No.4 (Alex Gordon and Billy Butler) and both for the better part of the last two months have been batting behind some combination of on-base-averse Jarrod Dyson, Lorenzo Cain, Jason Bourgeois, and to a lesser extent, Alcides Escobar.

What we were told at the time is that Alex Gordon is a “run producer” (whatever that means) and that he profiles more as a No.3 hitter than a leadoff hitter (he doesn’t), so moving him to the middle of the order now gets him more acclimated to a spot that figures to be his long-term home. Except, there’s no evidence to support either the argument that Gordon is better suited outside of leadoff or that he’s a “run producer” (whatever that means).

Since moving down two spots in the order to a more “run producing” role, the Royals also moved at least one player ahead of Gordon who rarely gets on base and doesn’t profile as a leadoff hitter, unless we’re talking 1970s baseball.  Also, Gordon’s numbers have shown him to be less patient and thus, a less productive player:

Previous 70 games before the move: .334/.398/.500

The 43 games since the move: .287/.344/.461

What’s most telling about these numbers isn’t that there’s a near 50-point difference in on-base percentage, and a near 40-point difference in slugging, it’s that they’re entirely predictable.

Obviously there’s a difference in sample sizes but the root cause of drop in production is because Gordon has been officially #Royaled into the hack-away approach to run producing. It’s how they do things. They don’t want guys up there taking walks; they want guys looking to “drive in runs”. Which brings up two very important questions:

How is the so-called “run producer” supposed to produce runs when you’re batting guys in front of them that never get on base?

If walks are bad, does that mean outs are good?

This lessening of production isn’t affecting just the player being moved either. Over that same time frame, here are the overall numbers for team production:

Previous 70 games before the move: .271/.319/.412

The 43 games since the move: .261/.310/.381

Not a drastic shift, but a shift nonetheless, especially when you consider that for much of the 70 games with Gordon batting leadoff the Royals were without Salvador Perez or Lorenzo Cain, and playing Jeff Francoeur’s black-hole bat every day instead of the occasional day off he has been getting.

Maybe this is all much ado about nothing. Maybe. But the fact that this is 2012 and nearly every other franchise is Major League Baseball has at least acknowledge the importance of on-base percentage, the Royals continue preach and practice things that only make winning more difficult.

And for those that don’t think moving Gordon down three spots in the order amounts to much: in his 70 games batting leadoff he average 4.62 plate appearances per game; in his 43 games batting third, 4.25. Spread out over the course of 162 games, that’s 60 plate appearances.

Now, would you rather Alex Gordon be seeing those plate appearances, or some combination of Dyson, Cain, and Bourgeois?

Luke Hochevar still has what it takes to be a quality pitcher on a championship rotation

#LOL

We need to figure out what we have in Johnny Giavotella Irving Falu and Tony Abreu

Filed from the “let’s give playing time to the 30-year-old, career minor leaguer” department, there’s this gift that keeps on giving.

The argument against Johnny Giavotella to begin the year was a fairly simple one: Chris Getz was performing at a half-way decent level and Giavotella wasn’t.

See, everyone can get behind that.

At this point though not playing Giavotella is, well, that’s so Royals.

Nevermind what you may think of a player’s defensive abilities, when the team is fighting off another 90-loss season, is the argument over what a player “can’t” do even valid anymore? This is exactly the time to figure out if that player can get any better, and if he can be a member of the team next season.

But no, the Royals must find out what they have in either Falu or Abreu, because 30-year-old second basemen that can play just a little defense are never readily available. Except, well yeah, they kind of are.

Giavotella has never really performed to his expectations of what his minor league numbers suggested at the big league level, but his opportunities have never really been there either. There’s always been inconsistent playing team, a sure emphasis on being more aggressive at the plate (judging solely on evidence provided everyone else on the roster), and what must be a world of pressure on Giavotella to order produce just to work his way into the lineup the next day.

Maybe eventually it will be proven that Giavotella just isn’t as good as either Falu or Abreu. The only problem with that is that the Royals may well never find out for sure, and even if he isn’t, what purpose is there to sitting him on the bench, now, when the team isn’t winning anything anyway?

It’s a constant two steps forward and one step back for the organization. A song that could be put on repeat until the tape wears out, and a problem the Royals wouldn’t have if they’d just move on to MP3s already like the rest of baseball, instead of continuing to sing along with cassettes. Each of these moves may be defensible when taken individually, but each of them fits the face-palming cloud that’s hovered over the franchise for nearly three decades now.

Until the philosophy that makes these decisions possible changes, I’m not sure anyone should be able excuse this year because of injuries or “one bad stretch”. Benefit of the doubt doesn’t extend that far yet.

Some of the names talked about most often are the obvious, Zack Greinke and Edwin Jackson, the uninspired, Paul Maholm, and now the darkhorse of the group: Dan Haren.

Just as the Royals plan for next season and their budget concerns, the Angels too have made noise sending signals that two of their current starters, Ervin Santana and Haren, may become casualties of payroll in order for them to keep this season’s Trade Deadline acquisition, Greinke. Because there seems to be a slimmer of hope upon wishes that Haren, one of the more consistent and productive pitchers over the last 6-8 seasons, might be available, that’s where Royals fans have planted their flag of who they want most to lead the starting rotation next year.

I’m not one of them.

I’ve said before I’m not entirely sure spending this offseason is the clear route to go in order to improve the 2013 Royals for a run at the AL Central crown. Mostly because there’s a worry that whomever the Royals would sign wouldn’t necessarily be a clearly recognizable upgrade over what is currently on the roster.  Sure most any player, especially pitchers, would be better than either Bruce Chen or Luke Hochevar, but if we’re talking in terms of pure impact, spending bulk sums of money is what this team needs to do.

I’ve long since held the belief that in order to win championships you need stars, difference makers, (and why the Royals absolutely did not win the Greinke trade) and the type of No.3 and No.4 starters the Royals would be in the market for wouldn’t make that much of a difference.

That concern, at least on the surface, would go away if the team were able to acquire Haren one way or another. At least on the surface.

A model of consistency throughout his career. Haren posted seven straight seasons of 200 innings pitched or more, and a SO/9 of at least 6.8. That’s pretty damn good.

However this season Haren has battled lingering issues in the one area of the body you would least like to hear your team’s favorite pitcher be dealing with (after the throwing arm, of course), his lower back.

At 32 years old Haren is no longer the sure bet to accumulate the innings or produce at the same level he’s done for so many years. Couple his age with an injury that could only figure to linger, and that’s worrisome for an organization that is already strapped for cash and has depth as an issue.

The back issues are even more of a red flag for Haren because (and this is strictly my belief) his mechanics have never been the easiest on the stress points of the pitching delivery. His pause at the top of his leg kick could aid and lead into any kind of lumbar or hip strain.

When a pitcher’s sequencing is thrown off even just a little bit, it causes other areas of the motion to fix or overcompensate to eliminate the inefficiencies caused. Haren’s pause, while it may or may not have been the cause, or may or may not have ever been an issue before, still leaves a slight crack in the kinetic chain, allowing injuries to occur. Whether it’s hip, back, or arm injuries, any unnecessary stoppage in the natural body movements can be the root cause.

So there’s a worry with Haren: age plus injury. Granted he’s better now than anyone currently in the Royals rotation, and possibly at 80% of full strength he is as well. But as the Royals currently stand, and the money it would almost certainly take to sign a pitcher like Haren with his career production, the Royals can’t afford to have him at 80%, or even worse, miss time altogether.

That isn’t to say that acquiring Haren (again, if he is even available) is a hard “no”, it’s just not necessarily the absolute “yes” fans seem to think it is.

What’s most puzzling about the move isn’t so much that Lough is seeing playing time in the Major Leagues – he’s probably better than Jeff Francouer at this point anyway – it’s that he’s seeing playing time ahead of Wil Myers, the Baseball America Minor League Player Of The Year. And, he’s batting leadoff instead of Alex Gordon.

Normally the latter fact shouldn’t concern a soul, but that is until Ned Yost unleashed a gem of a comment courtesy of this story on Royals.com:

“It’s not perfect. If I had a leadoff hitter, he wouldn’t be hitting leadoff. It’s just a spot where he kind of fits right now,” Yost said.

Read that back one more time and try not to cough up some Kool-Aid. The “he” Yost was referring to was Lough who had a .317 on-base percentage this season in Triple-A. The neon-colored elephant in the room wearing bells around its neck singing “Hello My Baby” like Michigan J. Frog Yost was referring to when he said “if I had a leadoff hitter…” is Alex Gordon.

The argument for Gordon staying as the leadoff hitter of an offense that struggles to score runs is compelling. The argument against Gordon staying as the leadoff hitter is flimsy. The argument that the Royals don’t currently have a leadoff hitter on their roster is insanity.

It’s one thing to send mixed signals to your franchise’s best prospect who is tearing apart the minor leagues the same way the two chosen ones did, and you pass him up for a promotion for some contrived Rule V, 40-man roster reason. It’s another to stick your head completely in the sand to having Gordon’s .360+ on-base percentage getting as many at-bats as possible in a lineup that shows no regard for the value of outs.

But, I guess that’s exactly why Gordon isn’t batting leadoff.

Ignore for a second the needs of the starting rotation. However apparent the holes are with the current 5-man setup, and they are apparent, there are equal amounts of questions that are yet to be answered surrounding an organization that continues to employ a swing first, second, third, and ask questions later, offensive approach.  And because of that offensive strategy added to a base running philosophy akin to the little league team whose runner keeps circling the bases because he represents the last run allowed to score in the inning, no matter how good the starting pitching becomes it might still be overshadowed by an offense that works itself into outs in any way possible.

Despite being 6^th in all of baseball in batting average at .268, the Royals are just 22^nd in runs scored. Surely a lot of that run-scoring disparity is due to so many outs being recorded on the base paths, but it’s also in large part due to the team’s inability to reach base without putting a ball in play.

The Royals currently are 29^th in baseball in walks drawn with 302. Major League average at this point in the season is 367. The Royals are so bad at drawing walks that the same amount that separates them from the Los Angeles Angels at 24^th, is just four less than what separates the Angels from the Los Angeles Dodgers in 12^th.

The distance between the Royals and a slightly above average team in walks drawn is really inexplicable when you consider the easiest way for a small market team to compete is to avoid outs any way possible, with drawing walks being a central component of that, and they are once again one of the very worst at it in the game.

But because the Royals do hit for a high average as a team the offense is looked at as a strength. And positions of strength are usually where teams look towards to trade from when attempting to improve other areas. Well, the most attractive trade pieces currently on the Major League roster are most likely the only two that are most helping the team’s cause of non-out making: Alex Gordon and Billy Butler.

In one you have a great athlete that plays Gold Glove (however meaningful a Gold Glove is) level defense while accumulating 6.9 fWAR last year, and will knock on the door of 5 fWAR this year. In the other you have a 26-year-old that’s turning into one of the better hitters in baseball. Both are under contract and are inexpensive, and both would figure to bring back the most in return if flipped for talent elsewhere.

But would it be worth it?

There doesn’t figure to be much of a difference in the offensive lineup that’s currently being fielded from the one that will be written on the scorecard in 2013. And with rumors circulating more and more that it won’t be until May of next year before Wil Myers takes the place of Out King Jeff Francoeur, there really isn’t much of a reason to expect much of a difference in run scoring and walks drawn.

This is simply an organization that doesn’t value walks, and because of that, it will always be difficult for them to score runs.

However much of an impact it would make on the pitching staff to trade either Gordon or Butler, the net gain might not be worth it when coupled with the crippling loss it would be to the offense.

I advocated last week on the Royalman Report that the best strategy at this point would be to stand pat and hope some of the young pitchers take a step forward, while also seeing if some combination of Aaron Crow, Kelvin Herrera, or even Joakim Soria can make an adjustment to the starting rotation. Would it be a gamble? Sure. But it’s one at this time the team can afford to make because the chance of any pitcher signing with Kansas City that’s distinguishably better than what is already in the rotation is slim.

The Royals are in need of a higher caliber starter than would be available for them in free agency, and possibly than would be better than available via trade. At this point, taking away from an offense that is already 40 runs below the American League average to make an insignificant upgrade over what is currently in the rotation, just wouldn’t be right.

There’s little chance any of the difference-making pitchers would sign with Kansas City. That’s just how it is. But unless there’s a real opportunity to sign one the next tier pitchers in free agency, there’s no sense in trading either Gordon or Butler for that guy.

The Good

Looking good, Billy Ray.

He’s been called overrated. He’s been called merely average. Some rather foggy-glassed fans have called him called a liability. What Billy Butler really is to the Kansas City Royals, is a remarkable rock of consistent and now, near elite level of production. (15^th in all of baseball in RC+) This season he’s no worse than the team’s second best hitter, and looking forward given the way things have gone this season, he would look to repeat that for at least the next few years.

As Butler’s power increases (homerun numbers anyway), his walk numbers would figure to do the same, even though they haven’t this season. And in a lineup and an organization that shows a complete disregard for outs of any manner on offense, having a batter that provides both categories in a lineup that’s rather void of either is invaluable.

The Bad

There’s an argument to be made for why Wil Myers has not, or is not playing baseball games in Kansas City. There is. I think. Maybe.

Whether it would be the 40-man crunch due to the Rule V draft in November, or the gaming of service time so Myers doesn’t hit free agency the year after Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas are scheduled to, the reasons for keeping Myers in Omaha are flimsy at best.

The organization already showed its hand in calling up players “when they were ready”. Hosmer was brought up a month into a season of clear non-contention to burn service time because he was deemed ready. Moustakas was the same, as was Danny Duffy. The Royals have already proven that they’re willing to shirk the normal rules of service time and money to get players to the big leagues once they’ve proven they’re ready.

So why is it that Myers continues to hit, and hit well, in Triple-A while Jeff Francoeur continues to be one of the worst players in baseball?

There’s probably a very, very good reason why Myers is still not in Kansas City. The worry would be, however, that the precedent has already been set by the organization that is now changing their rules to accommodate a player they’re well known to love, that just isn’t that good.

There were still those, though, that didn’t quite believe. There were holes in the offense – poor plate discipline out of key figures; still very little power; terrible base running – and relying on young pitching usually brings more headaches than high fives. No matter the amount of negatives however, the amount of positives coming from both a good September, 2011 record, and a great spring for a number of players, left just enough positive vibes to make fans and columnists anoint this season as the completion of some kind of “mission”.

Except, this is the Royals, and #Royaling is what they do.

It’s fallen apart. A house of cards built on intangibles and indefinable buzzwords like “the right way” and “process” has once again turned back into a pumpkin; back into a bumbling laughing stock worthy of the late night shows. Only this time, because this narrative is too old, too worn, too used, not even the good late night shows will have a run at it.

Before the season began the Royals signed Yuniesky Betancourt. A player that has been so bad throughout his major league career that writers have called him – not the lowly “bloggers” everyone loves to loathe – the worst everyday player in baseball. A player that, just a year ago, the Royals themselves knew just how bad, how below average, how much of a drain he was on their lineup because of his shear tonnage of outs created, the sieve he was on defense with his incredible lack of range in the infield, because he played for them. He played for them, and played poorly enough to amass a mere 0.9 fWAR, while playing in 151 games.

But that didn’t matter. Why? Because when the Royals signed Betancourt before the spring of 2012, they did so with the “intention” that he would be a backup. A backup, for multiple infield positions of which he had either rarely or never played, making $2 million on a team strapped for cash.* He was signed as a guy that could bring some right-handed pop to the lineup out of a backup role, and he was a good fit in the clubhouse. No, seriously, that’s the exact quote.

*We know the Royals are strapped for cash because they never stop telling everyone how strapped for cash they are.

Flash-forward to yesterday and Betancourt is no longer on the team. Designated For Assignment, relieving the fans from having to watch his uninterested, mediocrely-talented demeanor on the field in a Royals uniform again. But for all the good that comes of Betancourt being released comes the same red flags that have been surrounding the organization for the past six seasons, and beyond.

There’s speak of a process, a method of evaluation and determination that would set the Royals apart from all the other small-market-excuses of a mess of the past three decades. But as the Mission comes to an end, there’s seemingly little difference of this season from the last, or the many before it. And if you’re of the opinion that there’s an end in sight, a true end in sight, then the writing on the walls just isn’t the right shade of glowing neon for you to see.

As the goalposts continue to get moved further and further down the line of success, more and more head scratching moves of wasted money and market missteps continue.

Jose Mijares, a talented (at least somewhat), and presumably useful left-handed bullpen piece having a good season on an incredibly affordable contract, was placed on waivers and claimed by the San Francisco Giants. At the time of posting this, the details of the transaction are not fully known, but it appears the Royals gave Mijares away for nothing. There could always (and usually are) things that no one in the general public knows, but for the purpose of the Royals, for the purpose of how things have been both this season and the five before it, what reason would anyone have for giving the Royals the benefit of the doubt this time?

There’s talk of trying to “change the culture”. It’s a nice, cute thing to say. In any normal circumstance, in any other organization, a phrase like that could (and possibly should) be taken seriously. But this is year six of this regime’s run with changing the culture of losing, why is it still around at all?

Eli’s coming. Something is brewing – or at least, that’s how it seems at the moment – with the Royals. And if change is truly coming, some sort of alteration of the culture, then fans may yet have hope that the light actually is somewhere at this end of the tunnel.

But for six years-to-two-decades Royals fans have been promised change and continually get handed pennies in exchange. Let’s hope this time, for once, it’s actually meaningful.

The Good

Since returning from the DL, Lorenzo Cain has hit .325/.372/.506 with 4 stolen bases and played a pretty good defensive outfield at multiple positions. Not too shabby.

Given Cain’s swing and approach at the plate, his overall numbers probably won’t reflect this kind of production over the long term, but at the very least he seems to be the kind of player that can be penned into in the lineup somewhere in the foreseeable future.

Cain’s inclusion into the lineup has shown how much he was missed over the two months he was away. Jeff Francoeur has struggled (even by Jeff Francoeur standards) and being able to give him a day off to save the lineup for his almost certain four outs with Cain’s bat and base running would have been a welcomed addition.

Moving forward the question is, and always will be, if he can stay healthy. Health being one of the hardest player attributes to evaluate and predict we may never know how many games he’ll be able to play in a year without breaking down. But for the time being, Cain looks like an athletic, above-average-to-better defender that’s going to provide the lineup with some much-needed production for next season.

The Bad

This horse was beaten long, long ago. But if there weren’t enough question marks already about Dayton Moore and his ability to put together a 25-man, major league roster, there should be now. And no one should be able to argue otherwise.

Things don’t look to get much better before they get worse, and moves like the Betancourt signing and the trade for Humberto Quintero are at the forefront as why.

Perhaps a trade of one of the team’s better players is what’s needed. Perhaps either Billy Butler or Alex Gordon needs to be shopped in the offseason. Perhaps.

Let’s just not forget that the two best players on the team, those two, are also two that are leftovers from the previous regime that supposedly caused all this losing culture to begin with.

The Upcoming

The Royals hit the road with three games against the White Sox and four against the Orioles. A seven game stretch that, even if the team was playing well, would be tough. At the very least, fans get to see Camden Yards.

And as the Royals fade into oblivion yet again, there are rumors (aren’t there always?) that Dayton Moore is in talks with just about every team, about every player, as the trade deadline approaches. Of course, with those rumors always comes the caveat that the Royals need to be compelled to trade any of their players.

Yeah, because as this roster is currently constructed, contention is imminent, and trading players would negatively affect the future.

Aside from the obvious reasons to not hang on to a mostly untalented roster, there’s a stiff breeze blowing from the south from a franchise that’s wide-open for trading business, and looks intent on sending everything packing that’s not bolted firmly to the floor.

Jeff Luhnow took over the Houston Astros’ GM position in December – leaving the Cardinals organization and being a major player in their rising success over the past few years – and immediately became the (new) jewel of the saber-community eye. He interviewed Keith Law. He hired Mike Fast.* He immediately started unloading his over-valued, over-priced players nearing the end of their contracts.

*An admitted Royals fan. Poor guy.

And as this season’s trade deadline is nearing, the Astros have traded their closer (ahem), their first baseman, their third baseman, and their best starting pitcher. What each deal brought in return doesn’t matter as much as the reasons for doing so.

The Astros are a bad team, and holding on to players who a) can easily be replaced by a minor leaguer (Chris Johnson) b) serve little purpose on a losing ball club (Brett Myers) or c) just aren’t that good anymore past their recognizable name, would be a huge mistake (Carlos Lee). Huge.

Granted, where the Astros are in their process of rebuilding is (presumably, at least in narrative) different than where the Royals currently are in theirs. But the correlation between each of those causes for trades with Houston and Luhnow serves as a stark reminder of the missteps so far with Dayton Moore during his regime, and ones that hopefully he’s not repeating as the clock ends the deadline tomorrow.

A)   Jeff Francoeur, Yuniesky Betancourt: two players currently on the roster that can, and most assuredly would, be more than adequately replaced by younger, cheaper players currently in Triple-A. Of course, at this point, another team would have to want either of these players, and there’s little reason to think any objective mind would care to have Francoeur wounded-giraffing his way around their outfield and swinging at everything that moves at the plate, or Betancourt Betancourting everywhere.

B)   Jonathan Broxton, or, Joakim Soria redux: the “closer” is a largely overrated role on a pitching staff anyway, but especially one on a regime that has yet to finish a season less than 10 games under .500. There’s no place for Broxton on this team anymore, given how bad that been over the past month-plus, and now would be the ideal time to find out if Aaron Crow, Greg Holland, Tim Collins, or Kelvin Herrera can step in to fill the role in order to prepare for next season.

C)   Jeff Francoeur, again: this one is just too easy.  Francoeur at this point in his career is quite possibly the worst everyday player in baseball. His negative 1.7 fWAR is the lowest in the major leagues, and there’s no amount of contrived leadership or naked batting practice that can make up for that. The contract offered to Francoeur was a mistake then, and remains a beacon for the reason teams should never pay for a player coming off a career year, before his positional market establishes. Dayton Moore beat the market to the punch when he signed Francoeur to his 2 year, $13MM deal, and the market punched back with a right-hook from hell.

If the Royals really wanted to be daring they would take this opportunity of over-valued relievers, and float the idea of a Broxton-plus package that consisted of both he and one of the other very cheap, and very young, bullpen arms.

Losing Holland, Collins, Herrera, or Crow could be a tough pill to swallow simply from a salary stand point, but there’s few other players currently on the roster that the Royals could flip in exchange for actual talent, and not have it be a major setback to the overall goal.

No matter the case, whether the Royals choose to be daring or practical as the final hours of the deadline approach, they cannot afford to stand-pat. Patience in The Process has been preached each year at this time, and because of that, moves that could have made a dramatic impact on the roster haven’t been done.

For this season, one in which more questions were raised than answers given, it would be nice if the Royals took a page out of the Houston playbook and made a concerted effort to trade everyone that doesn’t look to figure into the 2013 roster plans.

The Good

Well, um, there’s…well there’s…and there’s…

Billy Butler was named AL Player of the Week? Yeah, I guess that works. In his last 21 games Butler has been – well he’s been Billy Butler.

If it weren’t for Butler (.378/.440/.561 in his last 21 games) and Alex Gordon (.352/.406/.473 in his last 21 games) there would be little reason to watch the Royals on a nightly basis. Heck, probably even a weekly basis.

The Bad

Where’s a good place to start? The Royals have lost 21 of their last 27 games and the optimizing that was brewing at the start of June, has quickly faded back to the normal KC-fan despondence. The Twins, whom all Royals fans got pleasure in (finally) being able to mock to start the season, have climbed ahead of the Royals in the standings by slugging their way to victories despite missing Justin Morneau and Trevor Plouffe for a handful of games.

Yes, Buddy Bell was right.

Is there anything to look forward to? Heck, who knows? The quick answer would be “yes” because with each passing day the Royals are that much closer to calling up Wil Myers, but because that roster move has been inexplicably put-off for over a month now, it’s more likely that it won’t happen until September.

The Royals keep using the argument that a spot needs to be created for Myers before he can make his trek to Kansas City, but when the player he’s replacing is Jeff Francoeur, that would be like a TV network saying they just can’t find a place for the new Louis C.K. pilot because they already have ‘Whitney’ in that time slot. A change is a necessity, not a burden.

The Upcoming

The Royals next six games are against a Cleveland team that’s looking to unload some of its veteran, high-cost players, and a Texas team that’s likely to come into Kauffman Stadium and hit 27 homeruns in their three-game set.

So, a mid-summer home stand watching an (again) basement dwelling team on a massive losing stretch? That sounds super fun.

The Royals lost on Sunday in a fashion that bad teams make a habit of losing: with the same formula they always do. A team came into Kauffman Stadium over the weekend losers of five of their last seven and last in the division standings, only to outplay, out hit, and out execute the home Royals.

Sam Deduno, who might be the only player in baseball whose Baseball Reference page does not come up on the first page of a Google search, anonymously took the mound Sunday with just 21 career innings to his name, and no career victories. He is also 29 years old.

A career journeyman minor leaguer if there ever was one, Deduno is the quintessential “all arm, no feel” pitcher as evident by 15 walks in his 21 career innings in the major leagues, and a 5.1 BB/9 in 780 minor league innings.

He is everything that a Royals offense can’t defeat.

Even though Deduno did walk 3 in his 6 1/3 innings of work, 8 of the 27 batters he faced saw three pitches or less, and 17 of his total pitch count was thrown to Alcides Escobar alone. The Royals offensive approach of “swing first and ask questions later” struck again, and to no shock to anyone, they could only muster a single run against a pitcher who, in eight seasons of professional baseball, had only pitched 15 major league innings.

Every player is entitled to have a bad game. Every team is entitled to have a bad game. It’s when those bad games pile up, when the bad at-bats string together, when the bad seasons stack on top of each without any discernment of where one ended and the next began, that questions need to be asked.

This is year six of the Dayton Moore regime and while all Royals fans can disagree about the how long it takes to get a major league team up and running and playing at least .500 baseball, there should be no argument to the contrary that it shouldn’t take this long. Bad personnel decisions aside – each probably defensible when looked at on their own, but not collectively – after seven drafts, six off seasons, and six trading deadlines, an organization should have at least lucked into a few difference-making players at this point to help push the team’s record to respectability.

But where are they? Joakim Soria was taken in the Rule V draft, and for as much credit as the Royals deserve for drafting him, they deserve just as much credit for not cashing in and selling-high on a borderline useless player for a losing team at the peak of his value. Melky Cabrera performed well but was then traded to San Francisco (a trade I wholeheartedly agreed with), only to perform even better.

There are other solid personnel moves, sure. Mark Teahen for Chris Getz at this point looks like a “win” simply because Getz is still playing baseball (and playing well) and Teahen is not. Alex Gordon, Billy Butler, and Zack Greinke all signed extensions at one point because they wanted to stay with the organization, but those signings felt a little more like effects of circumstance because they were already in uniform.

The Royals are 40-54 and mere percentage points are all that keep them out of last place in one of the worst divisions in baseball. For all negative comments directed at blog posts such as this one, and those on other Royals blog sites, for the piling on the Royals organization for all their wrong turns and missteps, shouldn’t there at some point be an equal amount of negativity directed at the organization that gives us the mountains of material? Shouldn’t there be some responsibility and accountability taken from the organization that, in year six, has yet to play within at least ten games of average?

No. The fans that are upset and desire success for a change are called condescending names like “critical spirit”.

The line of success has been drawn, erased, and drawn again for what must be the third time now. Continually reestablishing the goal line is either the best job security ploy in the history of success, or the greatest sign of futility in the history of business. Either way, it isn’t working.

It shouldn’t be about blame. The time for blame has passed. At this point it is about getting it right. Unfortunately for those currently running the Royals they’ve been saddled with the disappointment and disgust of a franchise that spent two decades in irrelevance before they took their positions. They’re both blessed and burdened for having one of the most engaged fan bases in baseball, so the amount of scrutiny they’re under can border on the ridiculous. But that’s not an excuse.

This, is year six, and while other perennially losing organizations have built and lost, and built again in the same time frame that it’s taken the Royals to not quite build, fans are being told that it’s still going to take just a few more years until the results will actually be tangible. Oof.

This is year six. It is time for results.

The Good

Well, I guess we need to start looking towards the future again, huh?

I don’t often get caught up in the hoopla over draft picks. Perhaps I’m a cynic (don’t roll your eyes) but I’d like to see a young player have at least a year of success before I start to concern myself with whether or not he’s going to be an impact big leaguer.

But when Kyle Zimmer was drafted I was incredibly happy (which for me is saying something) and downright giddy to see how he would translate into pro ball.

Attempts to actually sit down and write something substantial about what it is I like about him have proved fruitless, but Kyle Boddy of Driveline Baseball summed up all kinds of good stuff at The Hardball Times. In short: oh my.

Arm speed isn’t simply the natural gift that baseball people want you to believe (you can improve and change arm action, significantly), but Zimmer has it in abundance. And the ease with which he creates torque with his trunk by getting down the mound into his kick is beyond impressive.

Zimmer fits the profile: hard thrower and a good athlete with projectable movement skills and body sequencing. He’s everything that could make my pitching heart swoon.

The Bad

For the month of July the Royals are 5-13. Yeah, that’s bad.

Echoing the sentiments from above: teams are allowed to have bad stretches and even bad months. I’m sure there’s a stat out there that gives the number of losing months playoff teams have had in any given year over the past decade, and surely there’s going to be a few on that list. But it’s when the losing months continue to happen without a change in the roster that’s the most concerning. Specifically: right field.

Jeff Francoeur is last in all of baseball among outfielders in wOBA, OBP, RC+, and fWAR.

Read that sentence again.

By almost every objective measure Jeff Francoeur is playing like the worst outfielder in baseball this year. The worst. Meanwhile, Wil Myers slugs his way from ballpark to ballpark in the minor leagues, and the big-league Royals sit 14 games under .500.

This isn’t about leadership anymore with Francoeur, it’s about production. It was a bad mistake to lock up a historically average-at-best player before the market established. It’s an even worse mistake to continue play a player every day that is having such a negative effect on the rest of the team, while a clear replacement is available at no cost.

The idea that there is nowhere to play Myers in Kansas City right now is preposterous. There is a place for him to play, and it’s a pretty obvious one.

The Upcoming

Each of the next four series the Royals play will be against teams that are better than them. Of course, that isn’t saying much when you’re talking about one of the worst records in baseball, but a West Coast road trip scorching hot Anaheim and Seattle, followed by a home stand against Cleveland and Texas, would only seem to make things worse in the win-loss column for Kansas City.

And things can always get worse.

If there’s one thing that most bloggers and writers should stay away from doing is questioning the effort being put out by any given player. No matter what can be perceived by simply watching a game, whether on the TV or in person, there is no way anyone could ever know what is going through the mind of another person. It’s a reason I hate the “body language” argument so much: you can only interpret what you see, and what you see is full of incomplete information.

But enough is enough with Jonathan Sanchez.

The Royals lost Monday night – effectively trying to ruin the swagger of my posting day – after Sanchez gave up seven runs in 1 1/3 innings.

I’ll have to admit it has been a while since I have sat down and actually watched a complete Royals game. Heck, it’s been a while since I’ve sat down and watched even a couple innings. This season has quickly turned into a replica of the many before it, and the same bad baseball, terrible plate-disciplined offense, and loud contact pitching staff has made me put forth very little effort to watch my favorite team. Apparently, the same has happened to Sanchez with how much effort he’s willing to put into his pitching.

When watching the highlights of the two homeruns hit off of the Royals left hander I was struck by how little effort Sanchez was using to throw. I’ve made the comment before about his outings on Twitter that it just doesn’t look like he’s trying out there. There’s no explosiveness. There’s none of the all-out, back leg flailing effort from him that I was used to seeing when he was one of my favorite pitchers to watch like in this highlight from 2010.

And this is where it gets sticky. No fan knows for sure whether or not Sanchez has been told to slow down his delivery in an effort to improve his command (which is an incredibly flawed way of thinking, as I wrote here). No fan knows whether or not if Sanchez is hurt. No fan knows whether or not Sanchez is truly and absolutely and without any doubt, over-the-top upset with himself over the way he’s pitched. All anyone has to go off of is perception.

The perception, in the case, is a damning reality.

Not every athlete needs to be a fiery personality. Not every athlete needs to wear his or her emotions on their sleeves, showing the joys of victories and the pains of defeat. Not every athlete is built the same that way.

But what the fans see can sometimes unfortunately twist the narrative of how much a player cares. Continuing to get pounded by opposing teams, and then getting blasted by one of the worst offenses in all of baseball, and then not showing even the slightest hint of frustration or pissed-offness, will wear on a fan base.

What’s worse is it has started to turn higher up. Jonathan Sanchez’s 2012 season to this point is no longer about Melky Cabrera and the trade that brought him to town. It’s about his lack of success, his lack of effort, his lack of production, and how the organization keeps going to him to start games.

Basing personnel decisions on a fan reaction is no way to run a franchise. But when the reaction is so perversely negative to a player’s attitude and perceived lack of desire to improve his production, onus is on the organization to act before their lack of desire to improve the team’s production is questioned.

That time may already be here.

The Good

Alcides Escobar.

I was wrong.

Escobar has been great this year; better than expected. The rise he’s taken from noodle-batted (h/t @devilfingers), all glove shortstop to near-elite level bat at the shortstop position is really quite something.

Yes, his batting average is largely a product of an obscenely high BABIP (nearly 100 points higher than a season ago), but that is just as much due to a near 5% increase in line drive percentage, as it is pure luck. And even though he’s never been known or perceived as a patient hitter, his walks are on pace to better last year’s (although still just for over 30, which leaves much to be desired) so there’s improvement in that area as well.

Even though I’m not of the opinion that the Royals “won” the Zack Greinke trade – that’s too much value to lose out of a single spot on the roster to have it not be replaced by four players – having Escobar as the every day shortstop is a nice security blanket to have. And even if this BABIP infused offensive statistics may be even the littlest bit misleading, Escobar is at least filling into more of the player profile he was supposed to have when he was first acquired.

The Bad

When I first started doing this format I thought it would be a good idea to force myself to come up with a “good” category, so I would have to write something positive about the team I am mostly negative about. However when the same movie is being played out on a nightly basis, the same movie that has been played too often over the past two decades, it gets difficult to continue look at the positives when they’re clouded by all the bad things that make the ending scene incredibly predictable.

These couple paragraphs of “bad” could again be spent on how the Royals continue to waste at-bats on Jeff Francoeur (who has turned back into Jeff Francoeur ), the overwhelmingly confusing struggles of Eric Hosmer, or the starting rotation that continues to spin in perpetuity in the sea of mediocrity, but there’s really one very succinct way to sum of the bad, courtesy of Carrington Harrison’s tweet this morning:

The Royals wins and games back totals on July 16^th in each of the last six seasons:

2012 – 38 (10.5)

2011 – 38 (12)

2010 – 39 (11)

2009 – 37 (11.5)

2008 – 43 (11.5)

2007 – 39 (16)

That should be knock-you-on-your-heels staggering. It caught me by surprise.

No matter how much talent is in the farm system, no matter how much talent is on the major league roster, no matter how much the perception may be that the organization is headed in the right direction, at some point, that perception needs to lead to reality in the “wins” column.

This is year six of the Dayton Moore regime. And while there are excuses to be made – some with validity, most without – about where the franchise was when he took over and injuries, there is no excuse for a team to be this depleted of starting pitching talent, and there is no excuse for this team to continually freely give away outs on offense whether through terrible strike zone judgment (look at this!) or awful base running.

Even if – if – the overall talent on the major league roster is better at this point than it has been at any point in the last five seasons, this team on the field still can’t get out of it’s own way in terms of the category that matters most. Wins.

And wins are the only thing fans should trust.

The Upcoming

Rather than preview the upcoming Royals schedule, which at this point looks to be pretty meaningless, I’ll just say these two words: Wil Myers.

Hopefully, hopefully soon, he’ll be what’s upcoming.

Sure, you could make the argument that losing games – in any sport, at any level – has to do mostly with the deficiencies of the roster and/or the flaws of management strategies, but with the Royals over the past six years (or 25 years) the same story gets written far too often during a loss. It’s just how it is.

What’s started to happen though is while there are fans that are upset with watching the same base running mistakes, the same awful plate discipline, and the same pitch-to-contact bad starting pitching, there are also those that point endlessly to the positives (of which there are many) as a reason for hope.

It’s understandable, and in some ways admirable, but when the rays of hope are continually clouded out by the storms of unoriginal bad baseball, there shouldn’t be much of a reason to fault the many that are still skeptical of progress.

This isn’t about the Royals, it’s about a fan base that has grown tired and weary from all the losing.

While trying to think of a proper opening to this week’s Rant I kept finding myself coming back to that phrase as a way of justifying, – no, explaining – the feelings and tensions among most Royals fans after a loss. No fan base likes losing and when the losing turns to being just as laughable as it is predictable, there’s often nowhere else to turn with the disgust than to continually point to all the other (losing) instances that look the same, and categorizing it as such. It would be like watching a Farrelly Brothers movie: the jokes are the same, the writing is the same, and inevitably, the ending is the same.

Is there progress? Yes. Billy Butler has turned on the power this year and is finally being recognized for the truly special hitter he is, and is an All-Star. Despite Alex Gordon’s first three weeks of the season, he’s been great and continues to get on-base at a ridiculous rate (non-Joey Votto Division) and play terrific defense. Mike Moustakas has exceeded expectations and the bullpen has been spectacular. Alcides Escobar deserved an All-Star nod as well.

All of these things are points of progress and reasons that the future looks bright. Presumably. But there are still questions.

Questions about the roster construction,* questions about the rotation now and looking ahead, questions about this teams ability and lack of concern for walks on offense. To completely ignore these questions because either a) the Royals won a few games last week or b) because there are still positives out there, is irresponsible to the overall cause of the process.

*Why is Jason Bourgeois on this team?

One of my many complaints of sports media and the state of journalism in general in today’s landscape is the unwillingness of the writer or broadcaster to ever ask “why”, or challenge the status quo with the pertinent questions. Questions that, if posed correctly, are needed to hold those accountable that need to be so. Questions that if asked to the Royals would hold them accountable for a brand of baseball that still far too often looks like it did six years ago.

Teams lose games all the time. Good teams don’t lose games the same way all the time. And good franchises don’t lose games the same way all the time, for years and years in a row.

As a whole, the Royals fan base does tend to be a negative one, I think we can all admit that. I’m guilty, other writers on this site are guilty, and certainly writers on other sites are guilty. But that’s about a fan base that has grown tired and weary of all the losing.

The Royals will win a few games this week. The Royals will probably win a few games next week too. But when another three-to-four game stretch like the one that was just played in Minnesota happens (and it will happen), the “negativity” will not be the fault of an overzealous, ignorant, jump-to-conclusion fan base; the fault will be of an organization that continues to lose games the same way it has for six years.

The Good

As much fun as it is to continually drive the Alex Gordon bandwagon, I can understand that it does tend to wear on the reader from time-to-time. I can.

But I also don’t think it gets talked about enough just how good a player Gordon is, or that this year’s version of the Royals would look far different, and far worse, if he were not on the team.

Gordon is currently sixth among all American Leaguers in fWAR, and according to advanced metrics (take those for what they’re worth on a two-plus-month sample) he has been the best defensive player out of any position. Holy schnikes.

Since finally breaking the .200 batting average mark on April 26, Gordon has hit .296/.388/.438 in 59 games.

Even though the power isn’t where it was a year ago, Gordon’s plate discipline and walks have far exceeded his career norm, making him almost the perfect type of leadoff batter. Plus, with the improved discipline, there’s more hope that the power will come too, putting him back into the “star” category that he was in a year ago.

The Bad

Even though one of the strengths coming into this year was supposed to be the offense (though, not by me) and it has thus far been an extreme disappointment, there’s really only one position that can be looked at as the biggest problem of them all: right field.

The struggles of Hosmer at first and the never-ending Getz/Betancourt experience at second and the noodle-bat of Jarrod Dyson in center are bad in their own way. But, all of those positions don’t have a clear answer, and at least in one of those cases the season-beginning starter at least performed well – to some degree of “well” – before being lost to injury.

The right field problem continues to be a mystery though as Wil Myers continues to be a terror in Triple-A, and the only reason (or at least presumably only reason) that he’s not currently in a major league uniform is because he doesn’t have a natural position that isn’t already being occupied by either an a) equally talented player or b) by a player that is better suited to perform defensively.

There is the Super Two argument, to be sure, but what seemed before as something that was more monetary and cost controlled in reason, seems to border more on the absurd now that Jeff Francoeur continues to see every (freaking) day playing time with little justification to do so. Especially now, that Myers seems all but perfectly ready for the next challenge, and most likely Super Two is out of the picture.

Francoeur’s re-signing with the Royals at the time was incredibly perplexing not solely for the reason that a player with a history of being average-at-best was locked up to two-years guaranteed before the outfield market established itself, but that Dayton Moore and the Royals were paying on a player’s career BABIP-induced year and not his historic norm. Hey, it happens, and at the time when Melky Cabrera turned down the same contract to stay in Kansas City, it may have seemed prudent to keep Francoeur around on a similar deal if for no other reason than to have a legitimate, everyday big-leaguer in the lineup.

But that would also call into question Francoeur’s relevance to be an every day major league player.

This season he’s been down right dreadful, and there’s no arguing that. The fact that he’s batted fifth every day without change is comedy fodder alone, but also that he’s accumulated a negative fWAR to this point shows just how unproductive he has been at what is supposed to be one of the more offensive positions on the field.

What’s even more discouraging is that even though there are numerous stories out there now about Francoeur’s impending departure via trade, the Royals seem to not really know if giving up Francoeur at this time and replacing him with Myers would be beneficial to the club.

Aside from Francoeur’s two, two-week hot streaks each year that make his numbers seem better than they really are, there doesn’t seem to be much at this point that he offers in terms of real value over a younger, cheaper, more athletic, and better hitter in Myers. But, in the #OurMissionTime2012 season, the supposed leadership (and already committed marketing campaigns) Francoeur brings to the table was thought to be a difference maker. Well, it is, just not in the way the Royals, and probably Royals fans, had hoped.

This thought isn’t meant to be reactionary, though in some ways, it probably is. Even though the Royals peaked last week at just 4.5 games out of first place in the AL Central, the roster overall most likely isn’t good enough to compete or finish for the division crown. So dealing with Francoeur’s deficiencies with range, plate discipline, contact abilities, base running abilities, and consistency, may be buying an extra year of non-arbitration for Myers. May be.

But at some point it has to be about winning and winning now. Free passes are given far too often to players that are underperforming for the Royals organization, and this would appear to be another one of those occasions. Though, you could make the argument that the decision to continue to play Francoeur (though the decision to continue to bat him fifth is indefensible) is about winning – just winning three years from now while Myers has still yet to hit arbitration.

No matter the reason, a right fielder batting .256/.293/.387 (not all the far off from his career numbers, mind you) is killing the lineup.

The Upcoming

The Royals sure do know how to ruin a good thing. Just when it appeared the organization was back on track, there’s a hurdle thrown out in front of them and the players collectively fell over themselves. And it doesn’t get any easier.

After a favorable June schedule that resulted in another winning month for the club (14-12), July starts out with a punch to the stomach with four on the road in Toronto, and three on the road in Detroit before the All-Star break.

Any time Jonathan Sanchez has taken the mound this year it has been a guaranteed frustrating outing, and today was no different.

Sanchez walked six batters in just 4 1/3 innings of work while allowing 10 hits and 6 runs today, all earned. In a month that set up prime for the Royals to make a run at the AL Central lead, Sanchez has thrown 21 innings and given up 27 hits, 18 walks, 16 earned runs, and struck out just 14. Ouch.

A stretch of stats that’s normally reserved for the Mac Suzuki’s or, gulp, Luke Hochevar’s* of the world, Sanchez’s lack of production and perceived lack of desire or care has turned him into public enemy No. 1. With good reason. Each passing day that Melky Cabrera continues to perform above expectations, the once-justifiable trade turns more and more into a disappointing laugher. A laugher, in which the only real “win” for the Royals at this point, would appear to be a release of the left-hander.

*I know, he’s pitched better of late. His career numbers are still pretty ugly.

But that can’t quite happen, really.

One glaring weakness of the Royals roster is the starting rotation, and while a replacement in Everett Teaford, Nate Adcock, Vin Mazzaro, or others, might seem to be a viable alternative to the struggling Sanchez at this point, all of those arms will be needed to help out a struggling bullpen that’s being asked to take on a load that no other bullpen in baseball is being asked to do. For the time being, the best option for the Royals may be to wait and hope that Sanchez can turn things around.

Of course, that sentence changes, if they announce a move of Sanchez sometime soon.

Tomorrow the Royals send Bruce Chen to the mound in hopes of splitting the series against the Twins. The bright side after the doubleheader loss is that the Royals have still guaranteed themselves a winning month of at least no worse that 14-12. Rad flags still surround this team, like being outscored this month despite a favorable win-loss record, but back-to-back winning months is something to be proud of.

Also tomorrow the All Star Game rosters will be announced. Alcides Escobar, Billy Butler, and Mike Moustakas all have the numbers to justify their selection at their positions, so it’ll be fun to see if more than the requisite bullpen arm, charity selection, is taken from the Royals.

“It takes a different kind of skillset to play baseball. You don’t have to be a good athlete to be good at baseball.”

Originally this was supposed to be a post about Kyle Zimmer and why I love the pick, and the potential of the athlete, so much. I was going to break down his delivery and his stuff (with some help from some Internet friends) and project his future from my rather limited perception of him. However after overhearing what I was sure was just a father repeating some Neanderthal narrative about how the kind of physical shape baseball players are in, I couldn’t think of anything else.

In that instant amidst, Tweeting something obnoxious and having our grocery list recited to me, my brain called an audible and I couldn’t get the phrase “you don’t have to be a good athlete to be good at baseball” out of my head. I was stuck.

Everything that I had ever fought, every traditional mindset, every head-in-the-sand nonsensical outlook on the training of pitchers and baseball players was summed up in that father’s seemingly insignificant sentence.

Too often people confuse athleticism with strength or the ability to jump high, or run fast. Those traits do play a role in being an athlete for sure, but to mischaracterize baseball players as “non athletes” or “not very athletic” because you don’t see them at an NFL-style combine in their underwear running and jumping does not mean they’re not athletes. They’re some of the best athletes.

Baseball is a stagnant sport. There’s lots of standing around, lots of explosive movements required from a standing start, and lots of hip flexibility and reactionary skills that a “non athlete” couldn’t do. Do not confuse physical shape, or how a player looks with how athletic he is.

As I mentioned on the podcast I was on recently, in my opinion the true definition of athleticism is how well someone controls his or her body.

In order to generate the necessary torque to throw a baseball or swing a bat, the level of body control to fire reflexes and the body sequencing required to turn on a 99 mph fastball to hit it 400 feet is super athletic. The ability to repeat pitching mechanics to generate high velocities with control is super athletic.

Stop it with the idea that baseball players aren’t athletes. And if you’re having this opinion, please don’t repeat it out loud, there might be someone the next table over who just wants to enjoy a quiet night with his wife.

The Good

Well, winning is a lot more fun than losing. After the horrific start culminating in a 12 game losing streak, the Royals have been one of the better teams in baseball (at least record wise) and have pulled themselves to within 5 games of the division lead. How’s about that?

In the Rant a couple weeks ago I said that June (admittedly an idea stolen from someone else) would be a huge month for the Royals because the schedule turned in their favor, and the offense couldn’t be that bad for very long. Well, the offense still isn’t great, but with Alex Gordon going all on-base machine since returning to the leadoff spot, the offense has turned things around to help the bullpen win some games.

Yes, the bullpen.

Because, this is going to be the theme of the entire season, the bullpen continues to be amazing. Simply. Amazing.

Led by Tim Collins (imagine that visual) the revolving door of the final three-to-four spots in the bullpen haven’t been as big a detriment as one would normally associate with the taxi squad. Stability in Collins, Aaron Crow, Jonathan Broxton, Jose Mijares, and now Greg Holland, has allowed the Royals to not only stay in games to come back to win late, but have logged multiple innings to protect leads.

For all the negative things I’ve said about Dayton Moore’s roster construction over the last year-and-a-half on this site, one big positive has been his ability to put together a bullpen. And this year, he’s done one helluva job.

The Bad

For all the talk about Billy Butler not being “clutch”, and for all the talk about how Billy Butler doesn’t drive in runs, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot being said about how Jeff Francoeur only has 18 RBI, and we’re more than two months into the season.

Sure there are some things to like about Francoeur’s game like his arm or his occasional hot streaks, but his negative points get overshadowed by the media perception of him being such a great guy/baseball player, for what really only amounts to him having a recognizable name.

While I don’t pay much attention to stats with runners in scoring position they’re still fun to look at, especially when they can be manipulated to prove the point I’m trying to make.

During his career Francoeur has hit .270/.325/.419 with runners in scoring position. For Butler, during his career, he has hit .309/.392/.471 with runners in scoring position.

You know what’s great about those numbers? With runners in scoring position Butler’s stats are actually better than his career numbers (.297/.360/.462), contrary to what the narrative would have you to believe because of some arbitrary RBI total.

I only bring this up because the highly esteemed, and incredibly readable Jeff Parker brought up yesterday how during the broadcast, the Royals announcers went completely out of their way to talk about how Butler went a stretch of eight games without registering an RBI. Meanwhile, as Jeff pointed out, nothing is ever said of Francoeur for what he doesn’t do well.

This isn’t yet another way to sneak a Butler post into a post about something else (or maybe it is), and this is probably much to do about nothing. The reason Butler gets so much scrutiny from fans and the Royals might be because he has the potential to be one of the very best hitters in baseball (he already is), and the reason Francoeur skates by with nary a word of his deficiencies is because he has the potential to be merely one of the very average players in baseball (he already is).

Francoeur shouldn’t be given the pass that he seemingly is, and he shouldn’t have his spot in the lineup granted to him without competition, also like he seemingly is.

Jeff Francoeur is what he’s always been: a player that should probably be platoon-only as a lefty-masher that plays some decent defense. And if he’s the reason for either a) keeping Wil Myers in Triple-A or b) forcing Wil Myers to a position he mostly can’t handle everyday at the major league level, then the Royals need to find a different reason.

The Upcoming

It would be foolish not to mention the weekend home series against the Cardinals, but I’m sure we’ll have enough of that here over the course of the week to more than fill the readers’ appetite.

What has to be mentioned though is how the Royals are this close to playing really meaningful games again, and despite the depletion of the bullpen and the lack of production from the rotation, six more against NL opponents and three of those being against a team that on paper they’re better than (Houston), leaves even me optimistic.

And for me, that’s saying something. This is starting to get really fun.

Last week on Twitter I was challenged to write 7,500 words on Yuniesky Betancourt and why he isn’t the best option for the Royals to be playing second base. I’m sure I could come up with a few descriptive things to say about Betancourt, and I’m sure if pressed into action, I could come up with 7,500 on why he shouldn’t be on the Royals roster. I’m sure of it. But there’s little reason to go there now, that horse has been beaten dead for a while.

The first acquisition of Betancourt via trade was at least justifiable from the standpoint of there not being any other shortstop in the system capable of playing the position, and there was at least some buy low characteristics of the deal. In the end, it wouldn’t prove to be a complete disaster because at the very least Betancourt’s ability to stay healthy allowed the Royals to buy time to find his replacement.

The second acquisition last offseason made little-to-no-sense given his history as a below-average defensive shortstop, his history with the Royals as a negative-2.1fWAR(!) in 2009* and 0.9 fWAR in 2010, and the Royals really already had someone on the roster capable of doing what he does in Johnny Giavotella. Oh, that, and he creates a whole lot of outs offensively.

*Admittedly part of that season was with Seattle

Sure the fans were told that Betancourt was only being acquired to be a backup (which was a laughable argument) and that good backups cost money, especially ones that were coming off a year they were starters. The Betancourt signing was simply a move to create depth on the major league roster.

Flash forward to today and because of the injury to Chris Getz, Betancourt has supplanted Johnny Giavotella as the normal second baseman. The problem with Betancourt receiving most of the playing time isn’t so much that he’s actually playing, it’s that he’s getting the majority of his plate appearances by batting second in the order. No seriously.

We know enough now through lineup studies that the batting order holds less significance than we originally thought in terms of where guys bat, but the one caveat to that is that at the very least, batters at the top of the order have to make less outs than players at the bottom, because they will bat the most often. It’s pretty simple.

Betancourt will enter tomorrow night’s game with a .309 OBP on the season, and a career on-base percentage of .292.

Two. Ninety. Two.

No matter what you think a No.2 hitter looks like, or having one that can do all the “little things”, there is no hitter in baseball that can make up for having a .292 on-base percentage and be valuable batting second. It just doesn’t happen.

The subject of Betancourt’s playing time, or even his roster spot, has probably been hashed around enough at this point that there’s probably little need to go further than that. Any argument to Betancourt’s viability can immediately be countered with “.292”, and the argument would be over.

That wasn’t quite 7,500 words, but I think the point still remains: Betancourt’s playing time should still be strictly as a backup, if at all, if he can’t avoid making so many outs.

The Good

Well, the bullpen. And the bullpen. Have I mentioned the bullpen?

The Royals bullpen has thrown the most innings in all of baseball this year and has the sixth best ERA. That’s doin’ somethin’.

Led by Tim Collins, one of the strengths heading into the year has really been just that. The worry of course is how long they can keep it up.

At 225 innings through the team’s first 58 games, it’s hard to imagine the group either a) staying effective for a full season or b) not having multiple guys breakdown with injuries. The starting rotation was known to be the weak link of the roster to start the season, but I don’t think there’s anyone that could have foreseen this bad a performance, and it’s putting a lot of pressure on the bullpen to log so many innings.

If the group could keep up this production for a full season, given the workload, it would be nothing short of remarkable. Though, as good as the bullpen has been, I think everyone wishes they’d been called upon a little (a lot) less.

The Bad

While it would be nice to write about a 12 for 18, 3 homeruns, 3 doubles week for Alex Gordon, hereby officially busting him out of his year long no-power funk, I am not and the offense continues to struggle. What was thought to be one of the major strengths of this team coming into the season has proven, yet again, to be a major annoyance as there’s been no consistency, and the same hack-away style at the plate and give-away style on the bases approach is still being implemented.

The numbers have been beaten to death at this point but they always bear repeating: the Royals are 7^th in the American League in batting average (.258), 11^th in on-base percentage (.314), 12^th in wOBA (.309), and 13^th in runs (224). That 13^th place ranking in runs, mind you, is only ahead of the Oakland A’s, who consistently get made fun of for how bad they are offensively.

So what’s to blame? At this point in the season it’s too late to continue to fall back on the lack of production from Gordon or Eric Hosmer, or the injuries to Salvador Perez and Lorenzo Cain. Remember, there were doubts a year ago of Cain’s ability to hit at the major league level, and there have always been doubts of his being able to stay healthy. That isn’t to say giving him the starting centerfield position was a bad idea – in many ways it was the right call – there just should have been a better option to replace him than Jarrod Dyson if the need arose. Which is was almost assuredly going to happen.

Even though the struggles of the two more potent bats in the lineup hurt, that isn’t necessarily the reason to the overall production of the lineup being so bad. The fundamental flaw of the Ned Yost era – or, in fairness, baseball in general – is the complete disregard for offensive outs and the willingness to give them away without contention.

This isn’t merely from a bunting perspective, which has been taken apart on this site as well as many others, but from a base running point of view where “aggressive base running” leads to far more harm than good. The Royals, metrically speaking, rank as the third-worst base running team in the American League, and there doesn’t seem to be much of a sign of that turning around, because the same mistakes keep happening.

Suffice it to say, if there’s a sarcastic hashtag named for you on Twitter (heh), there’s something you’re not doing right.

The Upcoming

It doesn’t get any easier this week. Last week I wrote that the Royals really had a chance to make some noise in the AL Central with their upcoming June schedule. That noise turned to a faint whimper as a 1-win, 5-loss stretch against Minnesota and Pittsburgh has ruined any good vibes there was entering the month. A very #Royaling feat indeed.

This week, it’s three at home against Milwaukee and three on the road against St. Louis. Oof.

Making things more interesting is a Zack Greinke v Luis Mendoza matchup tomorrow night that, on paper, looks more like playing MLB The Show 12 on the beginner level against a Triple-A call-up.

What will be fun to see is the over-reaction of fans to the “traitor” Greinke, and then the subsequent hyperbole if he does well – “Hey, he could have been doing that here, quitter!” – or if he does poorly – “See, he can’t handle the pressure, he’s too weak!” or “See, he’s not a true ace!” Either way, it should be interesting, and entirely predictable.

Before this week you could have made the argument that a six game stretch against the National League would be a huge benefit to the Royals, given how well the American League teams usually do during Interleague play. Now, given the pretty thorough dismantling at the hands of the Pirates, there are some doubts.

One thing Royals fans will see this week is stars (much like they did with Andrew McCutchen) and the impact those stars have on teams. It’s long been my contention that stars win championships, not “well rounded” players, because those great players can make up for the deficiencies of a couple average players. The Brewers have Greinke, and Ryan Braun; the Cardinals have Carlos Beltran (ugh), and whatever category you’d like to put Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright in. The Royals are still trying to find theirs.

Even though stars don’t make the complete difference in baseball, they make a huge difference. And as long as the Royals are still searching for one, it’s going to make things a lot harder, and 1-5 stretches harder to avoid.

For as much credit as Dayton Moore and Co. get for their drafting strategy over the past six seasons, the first round hasn’t been all rainbows and roses as the narrative would lead to believe.

The drafting of Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas would seem to be a success simply from the point that the Royals have two starting position players under contract for six years. There’s value there. Where those two picks become franchise-altering (perhaps some hyperbole there) is when one or both become the superstars fans want them to be.

The other four first-round picks however haven’t been all that great.

The best of the bunch so far is Luke Hochever* and no matter what a fan thinks of Hochevar, selecting him No.1 overall while not the kind of thing you write in your organization’s record books, but at the very least he’s provided innings for the team while there were so many to go around and not enough talent to take them.

*Yes, I know that Dayton Moore says he had nothing to do with that draft, and that’s fine. It was a point of debate in a post I did last year that we don’t need to get back into now. Moore gets credit for the pick because at the time of the draft he was already hired/an employee of the Royals. If he didn’t have anything to do with that draft, well then, he should have because he was already hired/an employee of the Royals.

Aaron Crow, Christian Colon, and Bubba Starling are where things get a bit foggier and look at the drafting narrative with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

Crow was drafted, presumably, with an eye towards getting a pitcher that could move quickly through the system to match up with the same window as the position players in the organization. Not a bad idea if the college guy you’re drafting can stay a starter, but drafting a reliever that high in the first round isn’t the greatest use of the selection because he’s unlikely ever to see more than 80 innings in a year.

Colon, due to a perceived positional need of shortstop at the time, was plucked along with the fabled “leader” trait even though many had their doubts he would ever a) stick at short or b) hit enough to be considered a major league starter. So far it would seem that both concerns are valid as he’s now 23 and in Double-A and has yet to establish himself as a top prospect. Colon is having a good start to his season this year with encouraging power numbers, but a move off short remains eminent and taking a second baseman as high as Colon was taken is not usually a recipe for success.

Starling is the mystery. Not that the Royals drafted him but that he’s almost 20 years old and he’s yet to play a professional baseball game. Read that sentence again. We’re a year from the 2011 draft now and the local hero has yet to put on a pair of cleats in a game that matters. The tools are obviously there and many are incredibly excited about the prospects of a 6-5 centerfielder than can remain at the position, throw, hit, and run enough to be a star. But, there’s still much worry tied to his selection.

The Royals have had a great run of paying over-slot for post first-rounders to really bolster the overall value of the system, but now with the changes in the CBA that will make it harder for them to continue that strategy, the focus on the top pick becomes all the more important.

There are plenty of mock drafts out there, like the one Greg Schaum did or the one at BullpenBanter, with the consensus seeming to be that there is no consensus. This year’s top picks seem to be less predictable than in the past which may have more to do with the overall talent of the 2012 crop than the CBA, but no doubt a little of both are a factor.

The real question will be once all the chips fall where they do if the Royals take the best talent available again like they did with Hosmer and Moustakas, or if the reach on the talent and future projection of a player in hopes that he fits the time frame of contending, and can move faster through the system. It should be interesting, and something to keep an eye one.

The Good

Over their last 32 games, the Royals are 20-12. How about that? Twenty wins in 32 games is a far cry from losing the first 10 home games and only having seven five home victories through the latest series with the A’s. Can the Royals keep it up? Gosh, do we all hope.

The bullpen has been consistently fantastic this year even though there’s still worry that at some point they’ll all fall off the Being Productive Cliff because of being overworked. The Royals bullpen has been used the most in baseball this season, and it’s not particularly close. That they are as a group still as good as they are is nothing short of remarkable. Something, or someone, somewhere, needs to step up.

And perhaps it’s on offense. Alex Gordon seems to be slowly pulling his way out of his 6-weeks of slumps, but Billy Butler has found his way into one at the same time. That’s just bad timing.

Since there aren’t any reinforcements on the horizon for the starting rotation (here’s looking at you, Mike Montgomery) the offense needs to catch fire and have some high scoring games, allowing the rotation to get into the later innings, giving the bullpen a rest. And with the schedule coming up, they should be able to do just that.

The Bad

Yuniesky Betancourt. There’s no longer an excuse for the crowd that said it was a good thing to sign one of the worst everyday players in baseball this offseason as a backup. Why? Because it should have been known from the start that there was no way we would ever be relegated to backup or utility roles, and most of us knew better.

The amusing part of the Yuni Experiment is the correlation between the position battle at second to the position battle in center. Of course, in Royals terms, “battle” amounts to little more than firing Nerf Guns at each other while sitting on opposite couches in a living room. There’s never a clear winner and it’s really only something to do to pass the time away.

What’s funny about the situation between Jarrod Dyson versus Mitch Maier in center is that some KC media members, well one in particular, was fond of using the reasoning: “we know what Maier is and need to find out what Dyson is, so Dyson needs to play.”

Now while we could argue circles around that…ah screw it, I will.

We also know what Jarrod Dyson is at this point. He’s an all speed player with little other tools to either a) play up his speed or b) make his speed useful for being something more than a novelty. But, because the Royals need to find out what they have in Dyson, he plays. No harm, no foul. His speed is a better bet to impact games than any of Maier’s tools, so the reasoning is understandable.

The problem with the whole thing is the philosophy of player usage that is applied to one position – where the skills of the players is a relative wash – and not at another position where the skills are not a wash at all.

We know what Yuniesky Betancourt is, and we’ve known for awhile now. A limited (zero) range infielder with an inconsistent glove and a visceral aversion to walks and/or offensive outs in general. Betancourt giveth; Betancourt taketh away. And it rarely benefits the Royals.

But there sits Johnny Giavotella. A 24-near-25 year old who’s shown ability at every stop to get on base at a high rate and hit for enough power as a second baseman to be a valuable player. Is the defense shaky? Well sure, I don’t think anyone is arguing that it isn’t. What people are arguing however, and rightfully so, is that if you can watch Betancourt play and watch Giavotella play and come away thinking that Yuni is a far better defensive performer, well then you’re just not watching.
Even if Betancourt is better with the glove his career .293 wOBA more than proves that he isn’t capable of swinging a bat well enough to be considered a starter.

And if this is just some clever ruse to build value in Betancourt for a potential trade in July, I’m not buying. Utility players are usually somewhat of a commodity around the Trade Deadline, but Betancourt’s versatility centers around his ability to have his name written next to next different numbers on a lineup card, not his ability to play any of those positions well.

Sure, this is #OurMissionTime2012 and all, and it’s been pinpointed as a year to compete. But if you’re going to use the excuse of “we need to find out what we have” in a player that’s two years older than Giavotella, why isn’t that same reasoning not being used to find out what we have in him?

The Upcoming

The spelling of “Twins” really needs to have more “o’s” and “l’s” so I could make some variation of TwiLOLns. Yeah, that doesn’t work. Shucks.

What is a bit of fun though is watching the Twins circle the drain back to the Royals in the standings. The years of the vast superiority and the managerial genius of Ron Gardenhire has been replaced by his team’s talent being unable to overcome the fact that he can turn a 27 offensive out game into a 22 offensive out game like nobody’s business.* Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer are fine, half of the time at least, it’s just the rest of the roster that leaves much to be desired.

*By the way, I was on a podcast and said this exact thing. I’m stealing from myself! Pretty neat. And, give it a listen.

As Rany Jazayerli pointed out a couple days ago, the Royals schedule for June sets up pretty nicely for them to really turn things around. Enough was said after the Royals slow start (well, it was said after the 12 game losing streak, conveniently) that the team would probably struggle for the first half of this season because of their youth. A 20-12 record over the last 32 games would lend some hope to the youth figuring some things out, and that anticipated second half surge has been bumped up a few weeks, and now the Royals are ready to make some noise.

Six games against the Twins and three against Pittsburgh, Houston, and Milwaukee should help the team rebound from a slow April. Then six against St. Louis and three against Tampa Bay and of the toughest nine games during the month, six are against a National League opponent and six are at home, where you would think things would start to turn around.

The Royals are currently 23-29 and 7 games back in the division. Another good month and (hopefully) the gap closing to the top of the division, and a month of July which would have ordinarily been looked at as the time to start unloading players for younger minor league talent, could drastically change. And a July where the Royals are actually knocking on the door of contention would be awesome, weird, incredibly, confusing, emotional, and a lot of fun.

Now the comment that sparked that rant was said with the disclaimer “right now” – as in at that time of June a season ago – Escobar was playing as the best.

Aside from how ridiculous it is to claim that any shortstop is the best during any stretch of a season as long as Troy Tulowitzki has his name written next to a “6” on a lineup card, the mention of Escobar isn’t wholly without understanding given the amount of hyperbole that usually comes with Royals shortstops and their talents.

What was a beyond laughable sentiment a year ago because Escobar finished the year with a .290 on-base percentage*, has started to gain just a little bit of steam again this season because of his BABIP-fueled start at the plate which has lead to a plus .300 batting average.

*And no matter what you think of a player’s defense, it’s pretty damned impossible to make up for that many outs on offense.

And really, it makes sense. Royals fans have always had the propensity to overvalue rather ordinary skills from some players because of either a wry smile or because they hustled just so gosh darn much, but at the same time undervalue skills like being an awesome hitter for…well there really aren’t good reasons why for that. And Escobar is no different in that his defense – which is pretty good, I’m not arguing that – somewhat overshadows that he makes a ton of outs on offense. (And that the Royals received him by trading Villian #1, even though that villain did nothing but speak honestly and have a three year run of almost 20 fWAR)

(TWENTY fWAR!)

So I decided I would take a quick look at Escobar’s stats for this season to see if anything jumped out at me to make me believe that he has in any way changed himself offensively to be considered more of an all-around great shortstop. In short: not really.

We’ll start with two numbers:

2011: 4.2 BB%, 12.2 K%

2012: 3.7 BB%, 15.7 K%

Understandably Escobar’s season isn’t yet 200 plate appearances old, so the goal horn (that’s for you, McGannon) of Small Sample Size Alerts is going off in the background as I write this, but the picture of “Shortstop Jesus” somehow being a different hitter isn’t accurate. He may not be worse, but there’s not really any telling evidence that he is better either.

Two more numbers:

2011: .081 ISO, .285 BABIP

2012: .101 ISO, .361 BABIP

These two sets of numbers possibly paint a little more fair picture of what Escobar currently is as a hitter. Granted his 2011 BABIP is low and part of that may have something to do with his rather substantial lack of power. It should stand to reason that batted balls hit with more force should be harder to be turned into outs, but a 2012 near 80-point increase in BABIP while strikeouts are up and walks are down? Eeesh. Holy unsustainable, Batman.

None of this is to say though that Escobar can’t keep up this string of luck and ride out another couple months hitting at this level. It’s possible. But there’s very little about Escobar’s career in professional baseball that should lead to a belief that he is something other than a very low walk, highly reliant of balls-in-play batter, because he’s not. That is exactly what he is.

Escobar is great fun to watch play defense and his athleticism at least leaves some hope that his bat will take major leaps forward into being a more valuable asset, but as with many things in Royals’ land, be patient until that day actually comes before planting a flag into the ground declaring it has arrived.

What would be nice is if fans would finally realize that Billy Butler planted that flag into the ground four years ago. Which I guess – yeah, why not – I guess is the point to this entire rant: just another way for me to write about how Billy Butler is a really good hitter, disguised as an Escobar post. Suckers.

Butler raised his season OPS to over .900, but what’s better is the 11 homeruns and we’re not through the month of May just yet. The power, which fans have always (wrongfully) used against Butler to tear down his offensive credibility, is starting to show. His season pace of 39 homeruns is probably unlikely, but it’s still nonetheless encouraging that the “professional hitter” is professionally slugging as well.

Not to be outdone in the victory was the outstanding work of the Kansas City bullpen after Luke Hochevar failed to make it through the fifth inning.

The Royals bullpen has been abused all year. Called upon to throw the most innings in baseball so far (and 12 more innings than the next closest team) it’s a wonder how the group can be as consistent as it has been.

Despite a worrisome 3.69 BB/9, the bullpen’s 3.28 ERA is tenth best in the Major Leagues, and when you consider how many innings they’ve thrown without ever having the benefit of a night off, that’s pretty impressive.

The star of the group? Tim Collins.

After battling control issues last year Collins has rebounded to start 2012 with 34 strikeouts in his first 22 1/3 innings, and he hasn’t allowed a run in his last 7 outings.

Jonathan Broxton earned save number 10, improving his trade value just a little bit more.

With the win the Royals improve to 19-27 on the season and pull within 6 ½ games of first place Cleveland, who just happens to be next on the schedule. It’s a dangerous dream to dream, but a good showing against Cleveland and then struggling Minnesota, and the Royals can start to make some noise in the standings.

Things are not going well. It’s pretty obvious. The smile and the swing you had last year seem a distant memory, and now everyone is clamoring to jump off your bandwagon from a year ago to adopt the phrase “same old Gordon”. It’s been a rough couple of months, I know, but I’m sure things will get better.

I’m not sure why it’s you, Alex, that others choose to use that phrase for. Why, there’s another player on your team that is performing exactly how he always has (not well) but everyone makes an excuse for him, because he smiles or something. You could smile too, but that’s just not how you are. People should forgive you; I forgive you. But I want my Alex back.

I want my Alex that doesn’t miss belt high fastballs. Remember when you used to get your foot down and stayed inside the ball? I do, and boy was it glorious. You were clearing the centerfield wall with plenty to spare, and lacing doubles to both gaps. You were a star; the star I always knew you could be.

Now, you’re not getting your foot down, and you’re not hitting belt high fastballs. You’re not hitting much of anything. And it’s starting to wear on people.

Sure you’ve been jerked around the lineup once you finally found a comfortable home hitting leadoff. Sure fans like to talk about how the batting order is all about comfort, and once a player finds his comfort level, the best thing a manager can do is leave him where he’s productive. But you had to know you weren’t going to hit leadoff forever, Alex. You don’t look like a leadoff hitter. Jarrod Dyson looks like a leadoff hitter. It doesn’t matter that you posted a 139 OPS+ and a .376 on-base percentage last year batting mostly leadoff, you don’t have the gift of blazing speed and singles-only power, so you were never destined to bat No. 1.

You were destined to be a star, and a star you were last year.

You were a star to the point that the team gave you a new contract worth nearly $40 million. With that kind of contract (especially in a market like Kansas City) comes expectations, the kind of expectations that cause a grown man that wears tights and a cape to berate me on Twitter.

Ignore him Alex. Ignore all of those that don’t continue to believe in you. I believe in you. I always have believed in you.

Today is the day. You’re back hitting leadoff despite Dyson’s best efforts to play his position incorrectly and knock you out of the lineup. Today is the day you get hot (as if you weren’t already. Wink.) and take back your place as this team’s best player.

Forever yours,

Kansas City

With the loss the Royals fall to 17-27 on the year, and in the hashtag and catchy slogan season, 10 games below .500 is magnified when the other teams in the division aren’t all that good either. Plus, what the heck happened to supposed to be star players on the Royals roster?

Oh well, that’s a discussion for another time. What went down tonight wasn’t shocking after a first inning debacle of a call and not one, but two, potential defensive outs were lost on botched pickoff attempts. If ever there was a definition of #royaling, that was it. Well those two plays, and Jeff Francoeur being thrown out at home with the infield pulled in.

Not a whole lot else noteworthy happened. This was the type of game you fall asleep in the second inning, wake up in the eighth inning, and you haven’t missed a thing. That is of course, unless you’re interested in watching a team that finished worse than the Royals last year (and the year before), and so far this season looks light-years ahead of Kansas City in terms of both talent and on-field philosophy.

After a 12-win, 6-loss run that started to breathe some life and hope into the fanbase, the Royals have answered by losing 6 of 9 games and haven’t looked pretty doing so.

A positive? Felipe Paulino starts Saturday. And hopefully, just hopefully, Alex Gordon has a huge game.

The game that was scheduled versus the Tigers was rained out and postponed until Monday, Sept. 24, officially ruining everyone’s TV watching and Twitter fun for tonight. In doing so, the three-game series turns into a two-game set in which Royals fans can only hope Jim Leyland decides to give his ace Verlander an extra day’s rest. Sadly at this time, Verlander is still scheduled to go for Wednesday.

A positive however is the extra days rest this rainout gives to a struggling rotation, and the flexibility it gives to the team as Mendoza can head back to the bullpen in a long-relief role, in preparation of Felipe Paulino making his season debut on Saturday.

Mendoza already figured to be the odd man out of the rotation when Paulino returned from the DL, but being able to push everyone back a day allows Ned Yost to keep Bruce Chen on his regular rest for Friday’s game, and not have to scramble to find someone to start on Thursday.

Paulino’s return scheduled for Saturday couldn’t have come at a better time. The Royals pitching so far this year has struggled to the tune of a 4.58 ERA (good for fifth worst in all of baseball, an all too familiar trend), and even though Paulino isn’t known for going deep into games, anyone that can give them quality innings by limiting contact at this point is much needed.

What today’s cancellation also does is allow Jonathan Sanchez and Danny Duffy another day’s rest.

Sanchez was already pushed back a day for experiencing flu-like symptoms, so getting him another day to see if he can not only get healthy, but try and find a fix to the control issues that have plagued him so far this year, is much needed. He’s never been a control guy, but he’s never been this bad either. Sanchez will pitch Wednesday.

Duffy’s extra day couldn’t be better timed. Already having been skipped last Friday for experiencing “minor elbow tightness”, allowing Duffy to get as much non-mound throwing in as possible to work through his ailment is just what the doctor ordered.

For his start on Thursday Royals fans should watch closely because “elbow tightness” is never a phrase you want to hear in regards to one of your best pitchers.

You can stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed. Want to be included in the Mailbag? Email us at KoKMailbag@gmail.com. Follow Kevin on Twitter @scobes15.

April hasn’t been so kind to the Royals – again – and all the warm and fuzzies coming into 2012 were quickly dashed after the club thought it to be a good idea to roll off 12 straight losses, and be the first team in a century to lose as many at home to start the season as they did. So, that’s something.

Alex Gordon has stunk. Greg Holland has stunk. Joakim Soria and Salvador Perez got hurt and no one seems to know what to get Millie or Jimmy for their wedding present.

All of that being said it is May, and May means new beginnings in the form of flowers from April showers, or something. And with that hopefully some things will start to turn around for the team like Eric Hosmer’s BABIP or the starting rotations out-making ability. One thing we do know for sure though is Alex Gordon no longer stinks and is back on track to winning the 2012 AL MVP award.

On to the bag: (more…)

Take that small sample sizes.

Now though, sites have turned to Eric Hosmer, even to the point of a ridiculous notion – again started on Twitter – a few days ago that the 22-year-old first baseman, should be sent back to Omaha so he can get back on track. (These no doubt are the same people that think Clint Robinson could hit just as well as Billy Butler)

After the loss to the Twins on Sunday, Hosmer is hitting a rather unsightly .198/.286/.407 through the season’s first month, and while there is some cause for concern that Hosmer may allow the numbers to get to him mentality, there really hasn’t been much evidence of it. (more…)

It’s been a fantastically under-marketed last few days around the world of baseball (a total MLB move) but we, as Royals fans, have been waiting for this day for a while now. The offseason is finally over and all the arguing and bickering about just how bad Chris Getz is, the worrying about the injury to Joakim Soria, and the excitement over all the new contracts can be put aside and we can all sit down to watch a game. Phew.

One thing that I started last year on this site was a Live Blog for those that couldn’t watch the games to stop by and enjoy some commentary. (And to try and steal some pageviews.) The same rules apply as last year with the main points still relevant. As I said last year:

“There’s sure to be some hiccups along the way as we, well I, figure out what the heck it is I’m doing here…For now we’ll just roll with the normal blog style that I’ll update with quick thoughts or reactions from the game. Or, in case Mark Gubicza says something really stupid.”

Because I’m in California I don’t get the honor of listening to Rex Hudler eloquent explain what a “piece of cheese” is, or really just hear him try and set baseball back 20 years. Lucky me. However I do get treated to the stylings of whomever the Angels (or as Cardinals fans spell it, “Angles”) are putting on their broadcasts – I’m not optimistic – so if any of you feel so inclined to give me updates on the caliber of the new broadcast tandem for the Royals, please do so.

For now though, this is just a primer. The game doesn’t start for another hour or so and I’m sure there’s quite a bit of pregamming going on. As there should be.

So for now, go grab yourself your favorite cold beverage and fire up your PlayStation for some Home Run Derby on MLB The Show ’12, and I’ll see you back here in an hour.

Oh yeah, and, Happy Baseball Season e’rybody!

9:01 – We’re nearing gametime and, like I said, I have to watch the Angels broadcast. It’s already off to a roaring start as the Joel Goldberg equivalent referred to Jeff Weaver as “Weave”. You know, because that extra syllable is just too much to handle.

9:03 – Broadcast is showing replays of Albert Pujols running onto the field. Everyone lost their minds. These are also the same people that thing Mark Trumbo is good, so I’m skeptical if this Pujols guy is good too.

9:04 – Side note: the lady friend will be joining me tonight during the live blog. She’ll handle when the Royals pitch, mainly, because I don’t what to have to hear the phrase “pitch to contact” when Bruce Chen pitches, which is definitely going to happen. Also, she’s a Giants fan, and is losing her crap right now because they lost. Joy.

9:07 – The Angels bumper graphics cost roughly a third of Pujols yearly salary. I’m guessing.

9:08 – KC car commercials = Chevy and Ford. Orange County car commercials = Lexus and BMW

9:09 – Mark Gubicza swam to the stadium. At least, that’s what I’m guessing by looking at his hair.

9:09 – The Royals lineup is on the screen. My reaction: *swoon*. Eh. Yay. Yay. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

9:10 – Vernon Wells in left. #LOL

9:11 – Mark Trumbo at third. #LOL

9:12 – My Guy Alex pops up. Total regression so far. Total.

9:12 – Another “Weave” reference from the Angels guys. Seriously, don’t these people know I hate stuff like that?

9:14 – “Weave”. #drink

9:15 – Ugh. Well that was an uneventful first inning. Hosmer pops out to Fat Vernon Wells. Royals down in order.

Royals 0, Angels 0. Bottom 1st

9:17- bunt…out

side note: extremely sad Getz isn’t starting. I wonder who the Royals have in the line up to hit ground balls to the infield?

9:19- Chen is throwing strikes. I like that. I also like blue more than i like red, so I am rooting for the Royals tonight.

9:19- Stand up double with an 0-2 count… not great Chen

Albert’s first at bat as an Angel

9:20- strike, ball 2 upstairs, strike 1 ripped foul, ball up

9:22- Albert hits into a double play

Royals 0, Angels 0. End 1st

9:24 – I summarily ridiculed Sara for not bringing the funny that last inning. I apologize, everyone.

9:25 – “Weave”. #drink

9:25 – Country Breakfast goes down meekly and then Jeff IWillCertainlyRegress Francoeur lines out softly to first. This season is off to a promising start.

9:27 – Yuniesky Betancourt is batting. Yuniesky. Betancourt. UGH! Life just isn’t fair sometime.

9:27 – Yuni grounds to Trumbo and third and…you’re kidding me, an error? No way. #LOL

9:28 – Moustakas is up. Now, I’m not a Moustakas fan and never have been, but I’d be okay with a homerun right here.

9:29 – You know, for as much attention as Mike Scioscia gets for being a good manager, he’s really not.

9:31 – After what was really a pretty decent about for Moose, he pops out, weakly. Fantastic.

Royals 0, Angels 0. Bottom 2nd

Sara left the room. She’s not as committed to this venture as she should be

9:34 – Torrriiii Hunter is up. The most overrated player in baseball over the last 20 years. No, I’m not kidding.

9:35 – Hunter grounds out. See, I told you.

9:35 – Fat Vernon Wells is up. Sara is back in the room now. She should probably take over.

9:36 Vernon base hit up the middle. Pulled a change away, it was not a good swing and he is fat.

9:37 – double play

Pena is up, I like Pena, Kevin doesn’t really. But i think that he has a nice complexion and I have a soft spot for catchers.

9:40 Pena base hit. I had a courtesy runner when I was playing. its a cute softball rule that allows the catchers and pitchers to not have to run. Pena could probably use a courtesy runner

9:42 – I get the computer back in time to see My Guy Alex hit. I have concluded swooning.

9:43 – Angels announcers talking about bunting with two on and none out right now with Gordon up. That’s right, folks, it’s 1967 again!

9:44 – Although, I’m sure there’s some kind of nonsense Polk Points for laying down a bunt with in the third inning.

9:45 – My Guy Alex strikes out. “Weave” (#drink) had one helluva sequence there. Damn.

9:46 – You know, Jeff Weaver is not attractive.

9:47 – Lorenzo Cain swings really hard. Somewhere, there’s someone in their 50s complaining that he needs to not “try and kill the ball”. Somewhere, that person would be wrong.

9:48 – And now Cain strikes out. This is super exciting. #OurTime

9:49 – Selfish note: I’ve been retweeted 11 times in the last two days. I’m super popular, or something.

9:49 – And now Hosmer strikes out. Just how they drew it up: bottom two slap their way on, top three all strike out on balls out of the zone. #OurTime #Overreacting

Royals 0, Angels 0. Bottom 3

9:51 – Mark Trumbo #LOL is batting. Who wants to bet he doesn’t walk here?

9:53- Bruce Chen‘s first strike out of the game. I wasn’t watching so I can’t tell you if it was anything good.

a lot of these guys seem like they are putting more effort into chewing their gum then the are making a play or hitting the ball. kind of disgusting.

9:55- #17 foul tip strike out. Back to back strike outs for Mr. Chen.

announcer just said something SO stupid when he was talking about Chen… “for him to be successful he has to stay away from the middle of the plate.” Thanks for that observation.

9:56- base hit to right for Bourjos, I am positive that my best friends special needs cousin has a better swing than him. I wouldn’t have even called it a check swing.

I wonder how many real housewives of Orange County are in the stands tonight?

9:58- Bourjos picked off for out number 3.

Royals 0, Angels 0. End of 3rd

10:01 – Country Breakfast leads off. I’ve drafted Butler in every fantasy league each of the last three years. I haven’t decided it if it’s my own craziness, or his goodness. I’m betting goodness.

10:02 – Maybe not. He popped out. That’s another one. This is super enjoyable so far.

10:02 – Jeff Francoeur tapped on three feet. Angels TV guy tells us that a better feeling than a strikeout. He’s wrong.

10:03 – Also, when Francoeur hits .260 this year with a .300 OBP, will we hear everyone talk about how they were wrong last year when they said he was TEH AWESOME? I’m doubting that.

10:04 – Yuni pops out because he’s Yuni and #thatswhatyunido. Yes, I’m starting this.

Royals 0, Angels 0. Bottom 4th

10:06- Bruce Chen is still pitching. I know its only the 4th inning but it feels like the 12th. But a strike out for Chen brings us to one out in the bottom of the 4th. I am imagining his jaw feels like its the 12 inning too. he is still chomping on that gum.

10:09- Chen strikes out #47 but Pena miss handles the ball and now there is a runner on 1st with Albert P. coming to the plate.

10:10- Albert pops up to 3rd for out #2. I have a problem with the size of Albert’s necklace but we can talk more about that later.

10:15- Hunter lines out to the man that I will never be able to live up to (not that I am a man, just that Kevin loves him more than he will probably ever love me…) Alex Gordon.

Royals 0, Angels 0. End of the 4th

10:19 – Some minor Internet issues caused us to miss the three minutes the Royals were batting. It’s super cool to see the team’s patient, work the count approach, has carried over to 2012. Man, when Dayton Moore says he values on-base percentage, he means, amirite?

Royals 0, Angels 0. Bottom 5th

10:21 – Fat Vernon Wells lead off and grounded out weakly. Somewhere, Mike Trout is raking and being a much better player. Thank you, Tony Reagins.

10:23 – Kendrys Morales flies out to deep right center. No word yet if he hurt himself in celebration of solid contact.

10:24 – Mark Trumbo #LOL is now up.

10:26 – The Angels have interrupted their Mercedes-Benz commercials to bring you a baseball game.

10:26 – Mark Trubmo #LOL pops out to center. Fans loose their minds because the ball went into the air. It was still caught. Still no score.

Royals 0, Angels 0. End of the 5th

10:27 – My Guy Alex is up. Let us all now pause in enjoyment.

10:29 – My Guy Alex strikes out. This has not been a good night for me.

10:29 – So remember when the Royals traded a 9 WAR pitcher and got an all glove shortstop and some other pieces? Yeah, Cain’s not looking so hot tonight. #snapjudgements

10:31 – And Cain strikes out for the third time. This game is moving right along and the Royals have yet to hit a ball hard. Yippee.

Royals 0, Angels 0. Bottom 6th

This whole 3 up 3 down things for the Royals offense is really cramping my bejeweled blitz time. I guess “Weave” is just that good tonight.

10:33- Eye-a-netta is up. pop up to center for out # 1.

10:35- I wonder if Chen gets a new piece of gum in between each inning? Out #2 ground out to second.

10:37- Out #3- pop up to my player of the game Hosmer. This game is pretty boring, but the announcers will just keep calling it a pitchers duel.

Royals 0, Angels 0. End of the 6th

10:40 – The 38th Lexus commercial of the night is just two behind the commercials for Mercedes.

10:41 – Billy Butler leads the Royals 7th.

10:41 – Billy Butler promptly strikes out.

10:42 – Jeff Francoeur has seen two pitches and has yet to swing. I may faint.

10:42 – Well how’s about that. The Royals first hard hit ball of the night is a 2-0 double off the bat of Captain Smiley. Now, let’s take advantage of this, folks.

10:43 – Oh wait, Yuni is up.

10:45 – And, on a 3-0 count, Francoeur is picked off of second base. Ooooof.

10:46 – A foul pop towards Mark Trumbo #LOL is missed. Who’d have thunk it? You know, except everyone?

10:47 – Yuni bloops one into left field. The signing is now justified.

10:47 – Moustakas takes a curveball high for ball one. This is a big spot here. The Angels have the middle of the order due up next inning and Chen is running late into the game. This is a big spot that a supposed superstar needs to come through.

10:49 – Man, and people wonder why I’m not a Moustakas fan. His 1-0 swing was a ball away that he can’t drive. His 2-1 swing was a ball away pull on the ground to second. I really hope he turns into a star, but everything about that swing and approach say he’s going to have a tough time making consistent contact.

(obligatory patriotism segment of the game)

Royals 0, Angels 0. “Good” game. Middle of the 7th

Sara has taken off to make me dinner, cause that’s how this works. (Well that and she’s hungry and I can’t leave the couch.)

10:54 – Aaron Crow enters the game for the Royals. So Chen goes 6 innings and because baseball doesn’t know how to train its pitchers properly, he’s unable to go more than 84 pitches.

10:54 – Dang. Crow goes fastball, slider (nasty) and a 96 mph fastball to strike out Howie Kendrick. Then starts Pujols with a slider and a dirty 2-seamer for 0-2.

10:57 – And then throws a diiirty slider for strike three. Wow. This is impressive.

10:58 – AND THEN starts Torii Hunter with two dirty sliders, and then ties him up with a 96. Strike three. That was one impressive inning. Very.

Royals 0, Angels 0. End 7th

11:02 – The Royals continue their fantastic team hitting approach and have two pitches, two outs. Yes, be aggressive, and never work a count. This style always works. (It doesn’t)

11:02 – My Guy Alex is up. Hopefully something positive happens here.

11:04 – Beans. My Guy Alex strikes out. Again. Jeff Weaver, or “Weave” (#drink), is on tonight.

Royals 0, Angels 0. Bottom 8

There’s still no score and there’s been a total of two balls hit hard tonight. This is baseball at it finest, I guess. This is not, however, Live Blog game watching, at it’s finest.

11:06 – Crow returns in the 8th for his second inning and will start facing Vernon Wells. I’m pretty sure we’ll see a slider here, somewhere.

11:08 – I think, think, Crow threw something without a bend in that at-bat to Wells. Can’t confirm it though. He did hang a slider though and Wells popped out weakly. Who’s shocked, really?

11:09 – Morales singles to right, through the whole, just after the Angels announcers say the Royals have an infield shift on. The ground ball passed to the left of Yuni. #Yunirange #thatswhatyunido

11:10 – Mark Trumbo #LOL lines a fastball middle-middle to center and now there’s something brewing. Uh-oh. First and second, just one out.

11:12 – And, here it comes. Chris Iannetta lines sharply to right but the Angels are afraid of My Guy Alex’s arm. Still not good though, the bases are loaded, one out. Crow comes out now for Greg Holland, who hopefully has the same slider that Crow had in his first inning.

11:14 – Holland comes in and immediately throws 96 mph to Bourjos who’s really quite an awful hitter. No pitch-to-contact here please.

11:16 – A nasty slider for strike two. 0-2 to Bourjos.

11:16 – Holland gets his thumb all over one and pulls a fastball. Ball away. 1-2

11:18 – Holland makes a decent pitch and Bourjos grounds weakly to third. Unfortunately, Moustakas isn’t a good third baseman and can’t make the play and then shields Escobar into a booted ball. A run scores.

11:19 – First ball, fast ball and Erick Aybar triples down the right field line. All three runs score. It’s 4-0 and this game looks just like every other game of the last 15 years.

11:20 – This is why you define roles in your bullpen and stay with them. Crow should have only gone one inning and Holland start a clean 8th — Kendrick is down 1-2.

11:22 – Kendrick strikes out on a good slider. Albert Pujols is up. Royals intentionally walk him. Good decision.

11:23 – Torii Hunter bats now with two outs. Remember how Hunter —

11:25 – Ah crap. Hunter bloops one in because, you know, that whole “pitch to contact” thing always works. 5-0 Angels now. I’m too sad to continue on with this.

11:25 – Vernon Wells is up. Mike Trout should be.

11:27 – Wells pops out. No one is surprised. I’m still sad.

Royals 0, Angels 5. End of the 8th

11:30 – Lorenzo Cain leads off. He’s looked awesome so far tonight. (He hasn’t)

11:31 – Cain grounds out on a fastball down the middle. This game is the same movie I’ve seen a number of times. Sad trombone.

11:32 – I looked away for 25 seconds and Hosmer struck out. He didn’t look good at all doing it. Ooof.

11:32 – Country Breakfast bats. I’d give anything for a hard hit double here.

11:35 – Not so much. Billy flies out to right field. This game was an incredible let down.

Royals lose, 5-0.

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I haven’t done a very good job of hiding my devotion and fandom of Alex Gordon. Then again, I haven’t really tried. I’ve written about him enough on this site that there’s really little need to link all the posts again again.

But when the Royals announced on Friday that they had agreed to terms on the long-awaited long-term extension with the left fielder, I was left to do nothing more than smile.

We don’t really know what this means for the team this year, or next year, or the year after that. We don’t really know if this is the first, or I guess the third or fourth, sign that the organization truly is started to take a turn towards putting a competitive team on the field year-in and year-out. We don’t know if this contract will end up looking bad a couple years down the road like the Gil Meche and Jose Guillen contracts, or largely irrelevant like the Zack Greinke contract.

What we do know though is that through all the negative things Dayton Moore has done during his tenure as General Manager of the team, he at least has been true to his word when he said he was going to be aggressive in retaining the homegrown talent.

Everyone by now knows the story of Alex Gordon and how he came to be the lightning rod for fan interaction. Heading into last year, most fans couldn’t stand the guy both as a player, due to underachieving, and as a guy, due to some perceived attitude problem. He had troubles staying healthy, which didn’t fit with an athlete of his caliber and the kind of shape he keeps himself in, and he struggled at his natural position of third base, which he was supposed to be the next George Brett.

But heading into last year (with a bandwagon headed by me, I’m proudly to say) Gordon transformed not only his career, but also his image with a fanbase primed to want to believe again. His play in 2011 led to a Gold Glove at a new position, and “dominance” at a new spot in the lineup, lead off. Both new ventures in his career, both successes, and the fans were back on his side.

Quite a few Royals writers and bloggers have been leading the charge to get a new contract signed with Gordon. (Forgive me.) There wasn’t ever a big worry that it wouldn’t happen, but as Spring Training rolled on with very little news either way on the negotiations, there started to be some doubt. Come to find out, Dayton Moore and Co. were just doing what they’re very good at doing: getting things done behind the scenes, without the fans and media attention.

This contract means a lot to this organization. I’m not usually one to think that a contract with one player, in any terms, has a reflection or influence on any of the other players, but maybe in this case it does. Maybe now that three (!) Royals this Spring Training have signed new contracts it will only turn some media attention to the other young players on the roster to do the same. Eric Hosmer would be the most logical next target, and the national and local media have already set their sights on that story. Is it far-fetched? Possibly, but who among us really saw either Alcides Escobar and Salvador Perez coming? It’s a nice dream to dream.

The only worrisome aspect about the Gordon contract is how the money is broken up over the next four years. Being back-loaded for $10MM and $12.5MM in 2014 and ’15 respectively, that money will be cutting into the budget that will also have to be used to cover arbitration years and other new contracts to the likes of Hosmer, Danny Duffy, Mike Moustakas, Greg Holland, and others. But those are small worries.

For now, this is something to just sit back and enjoy. Sure there are risks involved in giving this type of extension.  Mainly, it’s Gordon’s potential to regress back to the player he was before 2011.

But the risks are greatly outweighed by the commitment of the Royals organization, and the effort to follow through from the organization, to put a winning team of the field by retaining one of its best players.

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And I guess, that is where the analysis of these moves should stop.

As Royals fans, we’re all lucky. Not lucky that we get to cheer on a winning team mind you, but lucky that we’re all part of what has to be the most engaged and impassioned fan base throughout baseball. (As Michael Engel wrote about here)

And because of that we often argue with one another over moves and decisions that are made for a baseball team that only amounts to being a really bad one. Maybe this year will be different, maybe next year will be different, but all along the way we’ll have each other to read, discuss, debate, argue, and get mad at. Sometimes it’s fun, sometimes it’s productive, but most of the time, it’s just all of our angst to get the damn season started already. And to see some wins, for a change.

So when I originally sat down to write this piece I wanted to snipe at the fact that yes, indeed, Chris Getz is going to get lots of playing time (still accomplished that, actually) and 12 freaking pitchers are being carried without Louis Coleman being one of them. But I just don’t have it in me tonight.

The move to send Coleman to Triple-A, while still inducing eye-rolls and head shakes, isn’t really as frustrating as some of the things we as fans have had to deal with in the past. It’s simply a “meh” move stuck at the end of a series of “whatever” moves. It’s been a long offseason. (#yuni’d)

The thing is, now, even though there are still plenty of reasons to believe this “Mission” won’t really take place for another year, at least we’ll get a full season to watch Eric Hosmer swing, Alcides Escobar play short, Alex Gordon wear a uniform, Billy Butler not be clutch while getting on-base a ton, and Jeff Francoeur smile. And for this night, and maybe this night only, I’m okay with that.

I want to get worked up over Louis Coleman and Johnny Giavotella being sent down and having Bruce Chen‘s 86 mph fastball start opening day – cause let’s be honest, that’s kind of my place here – but frankly I just don’t care.

I’m ready for the season to start. I’m sure most of you are too.

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Sometimes organizations never get outside of their box. Their schema is ingrained in every aspect of their operations and they are never – out of presumably fear, but possibly ignorance – altered for any reason, despite what evidence there is to do so.

On Sunday the Royals announced that Johnny Giavotella was optioned to Triple A and they plan to start some combination of Chris Getz and Yuniesky Betancourt at second base.

This should come as no real surprise to any fan. The Royals, who have made questionable decisions with the roster over the past five seasons and have already established a loose understanding of how outs work, have elected to field what may be the worst hitting middle infield in baseball.

The idea that a young pitching staff needs to have a quality defense behind it in order to not lose confidence, or whatever reason may be given, is nice. But when a lineup will consist of No. 7, No. 8, and No. 9 (and possibly No. 6 as well) batters that will all struggle to post on-base percentages of just .300, just how important is their defense, really? Hitters that struggle at baseball’s most fundamental skill of not making outs on offense can’t be considered valuable to the team as everyday players. But, in the case of Getz and Betancourt, all of that is ignored because of some indefinable, and statistically disproven, ability to make plays on ground balls.

When all is considered of Betancourt’s inability to get on base or Chris Getz’s inability to bat a ball into the outfield, none of that is nearly as frustrating as it is to know that this decision was made before Spring Training. Because, don’t kid yourself, it was.

Responsible organizations don’t make roster/playing time decisions in a year that they’re supposed to contend or have some “Mission” to attain, based off of what amounts to 40 at-bats in scrimmage games. If so, there would be no greater argument given to the idea of sample sizes.

If Giavotella came into camp with a bad attitude, out of shape, or some other trait detrimental to his production, then sending a player down for a “wake up call” could be warranted. But nothing of the sort has even been hinted at over the past month.

Instead, stories of Getz’s completely revamped offensive game or Betancourt’s transition to second base have littered the Royals narrative. This was never a position that was Giavotella’s to lose, as it should have been, but instead it was his job to win. And the decision of whether the younger, more talented Giavotella had won the job or not, was made before camp ever opened. He doesn’t fit in the box of the type of player the Royals like. He’s not safe enough. He gets on base too much.

As Rob Neyer wrote, this is the status quo for an organization that has continually circled the parking lot around the arena of interesting. There are no surprises; there are no changes. There is only a process in which to operate in the same manner that the operation has always been done.

Just as there are those defending the Phillies for their decision to let go of Ryan Madson while overpaying for Jonathan Papelbon, simply because now Madson is hurt, there will be those that defend the decision to play Getz and Betancourt if, somehow, they out-perform their histories and are at least slightly below league-average. It will be credited to some kind of “human element” and some kind of knowledge that baseball people possess that no one else ever could. It will be defended because the outcome was favorable.

But, just as is the case with the Phillies, favorable outcomes do not excuse bad process. And the process that concludes with Giavotella in Triple A and Getz and Betancourt sharing time at second base, was a predictable one.

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At first glance there isn’t much to disagree with in a move like this. Fans overly romanticize the roles of good defensive catchers and slick-fielding shortstops, so in locking up both of them there’s hardly any PR downside. Championships are won with pitching and defense – or at least that’s what Baseball drills into the media coverage despite some evidence to the contrary – and a team can ensure their pitching and defensive prowess when they lock up a premier defensive shortstop. Surely that makes the team better, and the contract a steal, right?

Well only if you’re in the camp of fans that thinks having a shortstop that fields like Escobar outweighs the ones that hit like Escobar.

In a reaction to the signing, R.J. Anderson at Baseball Prospectus broke down the extension (subscription required) and the risks involved with signing an offensive performer, regardless of his defensive abilities, like Escobar. The highlight of the piece is summed up with this line: “There have been 25 seasons since 1980 where a shortstop 25 or younger hit no better .260/.300/.350 in each of the three slash lines.”

Twenty. Five.

Escobar is a fan favorite in Kansas City, and for good reason. His shortstop play is better than anything seen around Kauffman Stadium in a long time. And, when the team talks in hyperbole about how good he is with the glove – although it can still border on the ridiculous – at least there’s some evidence that it is actually true, unlike with other players like Yuniesky Betancourt and Tony Pena Jr.

But, there’s still enough lacking with Escobar’s bat to at least raise the question if his glove is good enough to overcome.

Out of 20 qualifying shortstops last season, Escobar finished 14^th with a 2.2 fWAR. (Betcha can’t guess who was last – oh who am I kidding, yes you can.*) Even though WAR isn’t the great equalizer amongst stats, when you take into account that Escobar rated at least no lower than third on defense, that’s quite the drop in overall value. And it’s directly related to just how bad he was offensively.

*By the way, how great is it that the Royals are thinking about playing two of the worst infield bats in all of baseball, everyday? Betancourt and Escobar. Outs? Who needs outs?

Escobar’s defense is a cut above the rest, and with that there is some value, especially when you consider the Royals will be running out a young pitching staff in the very near future. But when that level of defensive greatness is offset by that level of inept offense, you have to really wonder just how much it is worth.

For every supposed run he saves on defense with a sparkling play, just how many is he leaving on the bases by being in the lineup for 600 plate appearances?

Unless you’re in the camp that thinks signing young players to new contracts increases the ability of the team to sign Eric Hosmer, Danny Duffy, or Mike Moustakas longterm, there’s really very little reason to do this now. As Anderson points out, Escobar’s only real skill is his defense, which, to this point, isn’t overly valued or measured in the arbitration process. Plus, there’s very little reason to believe signing either Perez or Escobar will have any effect on the future contract negotiations with Hosmer, unless you think it merely takes his price from $180MM to $165MM, which the Royals can’t afford anyway.

There’s nothing wrong with the Escobar contract. The Royals at the very least have a player whose name they know they can write into the lineup for the coming five seasons, and there is some value in that. But when you also take into account that Escobar was acquired for a top tier pitcher, is really the only return in that trade that fans can reasonably assume will be an important piece to the roster, and he was an historically bad offensive performer last season, that should speak a lot more than some highlight defensive plays.

It’s a nice signing. It feels good that young players will actually be around for a while, for a change. But when you look at Escobar as a whole, this contract should be met with little more than an “eh, that’s nice”, instead of excitement that the Royals have locked up a potential star.

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All the stories about expectations, exciting new contracts, and the first of what will probably be many lineup projections have been written, it’s time to answer some of the emails. As always, drop a line to KoKMailbag@gmail.com. On to the bag: (more…)

But quickly making his way of my ladder of affection is a certain Royals left handed pitcher that I’ve spent more time than usually necessary, talking about over the past week: Danny Duffy. (more…)

Danny Duffy. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Okay, so the title may be a bit misleading for all of you that clicked hoping to get some sort of in-depth break down on the Pitch F/X of Danny Duffy’s curveball (for that, you’ll need to go here) but there will be none of that here. Sorry.

Since the Royals traded Zack Greinke there’s been a hole at the top of the rotation that is in sincere need to be filled. It’s much of the reason that the team and fans alike spent this offseason with their sights site on acquiring, in any way possible, a “front line” starter to both take the pressure of the rest of the rotation, and the bullpen.

But with the guy currently sitting at the top of the 5-man being so enigmatic and inconsistent, there’s an opening for that one pitcher that can give a dominating performance and beat an opposing team on his own. And, do so more than once every five or six starts. (more…)