Kansas City Royals: Homer Bailey not shy about his options

The Kansas City Royals brought in veteran starter Homer Bailey on a minor league deal. As far as the team is concerned, he will be vying for a spot in the starting rotation during Spring Training.

Early on in his tenure, he is already comparing the the Kansas City Royals to the Yankees in some ways. In other ways he was being realistic about teams interest in him. Either way, some of Homer Bailey’s first comments came off as a subtle dig to his knew organization.

DISCLAIMER: These comments were not actually a subtle dig, they can just be interpreted that way.

Bailey has played for the Reds his whole career. That means there was not a ton of winning, but he did not exactly help that with his performances. Especially given how much money was invested in him.

So, in a joking manner, he let the public know that the Royals were the only team to give him an opportunity.

It is likely that Bailey’s intent was not to be negative towards the Kansas City Royals. And this does seem to be a joke. But it also makes it seem like Bailey is settling for the Kansas City. Like he had dreams of New York, but landed elsewhere.

To get this part out of the way, I firmly do not believe that is what he meant to say. This, to me, seems like a little self-deprecation for the purpose of humor. Playing in pinstripes is a fairly universally accepted dream for youngsters.

But, this is a blog so let’s dive into the nitty gritty of Bailey’s words. If you choose to interpret this as a dig…which I implore you not to…there is still humor to it. The humor is that he is saying he settled for an option that does not guarantee him a job in the bigs. That’s right, he might not even make the team.

Also, according to that tweet, he did have other options. He CHOSE the Kansas City Royals. This feels like another good spot to remind everybody that there is no bad intent in his words.

One way or another, this makes a strong statement to the fan base. No matter how it get’s interpreted, there will likely be strong feelings about the Royals newest pitcher.

Welcome to the Kansas City Royals, Homer. You’re off to a great start.