I'm just being a philosophical jackass, but I've been thinking about just how near perfect the inventors of baseball designed the game.  Ninety feet between the bases is just right.  On most groundouts and infield singles you'll find the batter is just out or safe by a step or two.  How often do you see a baserunner thrown out stealing by more than 5 feet?  Hardly ever.  If the bases were only 80-85 feet apart, there wouldn't be much motivation to hit line drives and fly balls, folks would just get fast slap hitters, scoring would be too high and the game would need to be shortened by a few innings.  The distance between the pitching rubber of 60'6" is ideal as well.  Any closer and it would be too much for a batter to get a swing at a 90 MPH fastball and any further back would create too much of a hitters game.  Having 9 players on defense is ideal as well.  Only 2 outfielders would create too much room for each outfielder to cover and 4 outfielders would take away gaps for the hitters to find.  Three outs per inning is just about perfect.  Any fewer outs and players would get tired from running from the field to the dugout more than playing the game and 5 outs could keep a team out in the field for 30 minute stints in a given inning.  I couldn't see more than 4 balls for a walk and 3 strikes for a strike out, but I don't think it would hurt the game all that much if it were 3 and 2.  Maybe too many walks and strikeouts in that sort of a game though.  The inventors didn't come up with the extra innings idea, that rule was put in place later and was necessary.  Who wants to watch a game for 2-4 hours only to have no decision?  I guess if you were to change any thing about baseball, the only thing worth considering would be the number of innings.  To me, 9 innings is ideal, but it does get a little long when you see alot of middle of the inning pitching changes.  In the early years of baseball, the starter usually finished what he started and the games were averaging just a little over 2 hours.  Modern day games average just a little under 3 hours.  Two to three hours is just about right to me, so I say keep it at 9. 

One thing that makes baseball different than any other professional team sport is the size of the field.  Each stadium has its own distances between home plate and the fence.  If a team wants to they can construct their team to fit their park.  I like it because it gives each park its own charm.  Fortunately the difference between the hitter parks and pitcher parks is rather limited.   What team could land good power hitters if the shortest dimension is 390' or a good pitcher if the longest dimension was only 390' with 280' foul lines? 

The only imperfect thing I can find about the game is not in its design but in the numerous interpretations of the strike zone by the umpires.  The strike zone I learned when I played was the knees to the armpits or knees to the letters.   Its really hard for a human to call balls and strikes with more than 90% effectiveness when pitches are coming in at 90+ MPH with some break on it.  I guess to make the game perfect, you'ld have to let technology to call the balls and strikes.  This isn't my cry out for electronic home plate umpires, but I wouldn't cry out to hold back it from taking place either, because it would make the game...um, well....more perfect!

     As some of you know, I never write a blog exclusively about football because quite frankly I like baseball better and know baseball a hell of a lot better than football.  Even though I couldn't even coach a place kicker or his holder, I do know the rules of the game enough to form a strong opinion now and then.  Over the past 5 years, both the NFL and the NCAA are getting just silly and over the top when it comes to penalties on unnecessary roughness (primarily on quarterbacks) and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties (primarily on endzone celebrations).  I don't want to see players getting carried off the field any more than anyone else that has a heart, but the commissioner of the NFL and their referees need to apply some common sense and some simple physics before throwing a flag on a pass rusher why may have already left his feet as a quarterback throws the ball.  A referee should know enough about human behavior whether contact is purposely inflicted or incidental or accidental.  You learn from the first time you put on the pads that football can be a violent sport and you play it at full speed and you have to play by the rules.  Yet I see penalties in every game that aren't unnecessarily rough at all, it was a guy trying to make a play or a tackle and the contact was incidental and couldn't be avoided because of physics.  Similarly $50,000 fines are dealt out on a weekly basis by a commissioner with a God complex.  I'm getting sick of watching players being penalized and fined for just playing aggressive.

    Just last night I watched the K-State/Syracuse bowl game.   In the last 3 minutes a K-State receiver scored a touchdown to draw the Wildcats to within 2 points of a tie.  The youngster gave a short salute to the crowd after scoring and was penalized 15 yards for unsportsman like conduct.  Are you kidding me?  K-State was forced to go for the 2 point conversion due to the game clock situation and were forced to try it from the 17 yard line because of a narrow-minded referee.  Naturally they didn't make the conversion and subsequently lost the game by the 2 point margain.  So the kid who probably just scored the biggest touchdown in his life is going to feel like a goat for quite some time and his memory of that big play will be tainted because of the narrow-minded judgement of a jackass in a zebra outfit.   

    I implore the powers that be in the NFL and NCAA football to not take joy and fair, aggressive contact out of football. 

    I've been away from posting on CBS for over six months due to a computer freeze up and a subsequent crippling auto accident.   I'm not going to share any gory details of the accident and the hell that followed that as I don't care much for sympathy or pity.   Being without a computer for over 6 months was like trying to quit smoking or recovering from alcoholism.   What I do want to say on my blog is what I've learned and discovered over the past 6-7 months.   First off, you're never too old to learn something.

   I've never been a TV junkee or a talk radio junkee, but without the internet I was reduced to becoming both.  I did learn that TV outside of sports isn't all that bad.  I've fallen in love with Law and Order - SVU, Criminal Minds, NUMB3RS, Deal or No Deal and Medium.   As far as sports talk radio, I've grown to love the Tony Bruno show and think he has the best sports show on the radio.  On the other end of the spectrum, there's JT the Brick.  JT the Prick would be a much more suitable name for his show.   He proclaims to have the most interactive talk radio sports program yet he's rude to many of his callers, hangs up on too many callers and his so called "best callers" are just plain nut jobs who add very little value to his program.   

   Congrats to the Crimson Tide in winning the National Championship.   I totally slept through the game (coma), but Texas didn't stand a chance from what I heard.    I also learned that my Cornhuskers boatraced their opponents in their bowl game, so I'm glad they made me proud.  

    I was back among the coherent when the Saints won the Super Bowl.  Good to see a team that for many years strived for just becoming mediocre could pull themselves up by the bootstraps to win the BIG prize.  

    Oh those Jayhawk basketballers that I live and die by in Men's Hoops!   They play a Final Four caliber regular season only to be knocked out of the tourney early to a mid-major.   What makes being a Jayhawks fan so frustrating at times is also what makes the NCAA tournament great.    On any given day, anything can happen.  

     Question.  If Tiger Woods skips a week during golf season, was a tournament played?     Sports news has gotten every bit as single minded as the regular news/media.   The best thing that could happen for golf is for Tiger to make a break from Elin so he can go back to his routine of banging 18 different chicks and playing great golf.   If you don't use it, you'll lose it, Tiger!

     Personal message to Bud Selig:   Please overturn the call at first base on what should have been a perfect game for Armando Gallaraga.   Its in your power, do it!   Instant replay PROVES the call was wrong.   Jim Joyce has had a long and strong career as an umpire and is one of the best in the business and now he'll forever be known as the guy who cost Gallaraga a perfect game.   Perfect games are one of the rarest achievements in baseball.   GIVE THE MAN WHAT HE DESERVES!   By the way, I nominate Armando for the "Sportman of the Year" for maintaining such a good attitude over this situation.  

     To further prove how stupidly single minded the sport media has become, I totally tuned out this "The Decision" of LeBron James dog and pony show.   This is just as shallow as it was last season when these sports reporters were waiting outside of Bret Favre's house waiting for His decision.   I capitalized His for a reason.   Too much putting one athlete ahead of the sport they play in.   Ask Tiger Woods, the knife cuts both ways when you screw up.  

     Like many baseball purists, I wanted steroids out of baseball.   With the testing and suspensions, I think the most useful PEDS are out of baseball, and look what we have...a year of the pitcher.   Homers are down, scoring is down, shutouts are way up and we've already seen what should be 4 no-hitters and 3 perfect games.  Many more starting pitchers have sub 3.00 ERAs.   Unfortunately many younger fans like the 15-9 games, but I kind of like the 3-2 nailbiters.   

     I actually watched more World Cup soccer this year than ever before.  I still don't understand how this sport drives people into a frenzy.   Is there some whacky tobacky in that damn bubuzela they blow during the game?   I tried getting into it, but its frustrating to watch 20 guys run up and down the field and only see one goal in two hours.   Geez, thats two hours I'll never get back.  I can see as many surprises sitting on my front steps watching the grass grow.   

     I still haven't said one word yet on how I feel about Trey Hillman fired and Ned Yost being hired.   I really liked Hillman and wanted him to succeed and I suppose a good number of Royals fans considered me a Hillman apologist.  I really feel that Trey was used to having a better talent pool to work with when he managed in the Yankees farm system and in Japan.  In those assignments he was put in a position to compete for a league title to where he was put in a rebuilding situation here in KC.   His shortcoming, in my opinion was that he didn't show enough patience or confidence in developing players.  Instead he managed each game like it was the 7th game of the World Series.   He changed line-ups too often and ran scared of relief pitchers after they had a bad outing.  I do think that Ned Yost is better suited to manage this team at this time.   Trey left his players the impression that they were in the doghouse after a bad preformance to where Ned will write it off as a bad day for a talented commodity.   In other words, Trey wasn't helping much with the players' confidence, where Ned appears to try to stoke each players' confidence.   I think Trey has as good of a baseball mind as Ned does, but I think the players felt more under pressure with Trey.   I really feel Trey could become a successful manager in MLB, he just needs to relax.

      Lastly, I'll go over my feelings about what the Royals have done since my accident to this point in the season.   I just don't have any idea why the Royals paid what they did for Rick Ankiel.   Damn, if thats what your going to do with your profits Dayton, why don't you just try your luck with a farm hand in the sysem and pocket the money?  I wasn't around to find out what other Royals fans thought of this move, but the best spin I could put on it is that we got a Mike Jacobs with wheels and an arm.    Hindsight shows us we didn't even get that lucky.   I did agree that we could probably do better than Miguel Olivo and John Buck at catcher considering the monetary demands it would have taken to have kept one of them.  I did hope for better than Jason Kendall though.  Okay, he's better than Jason LaRue, but we're trying to upgrade here folks.   If we can afford to give Rick Ankiel that ridiculous contract, we could have given that money to Ivan Rodriguez.   I'm sure that signing for the Nationals wasn't exactly what I Rod considered his dream team.   I also wasn't exactly enamored with the signing of Scott Podsednik either, but for whatever reason, he is having perhaps his best season.   I'm glad to see that the blind squirrel that is Dayton Moore at evaluating free agents finally found an acorn.    

     I'm terrible at closing what I say.  I just want to let my fellow sports friends know that I've really missed the interaction with you and I'm glad to be back to share the sports talk again.  I wrote this to catch up on things.  You all know what I think about the last 6-7 months of sports, I'm interested in what you've all thought about it yourselves.

Well, I did this at the 1/3 mark in the season, so here comes the final report card.   There are some honor roll players and of course a number that get a failing grade.   As far as the entire organization, I'll give them a D-.   The only thing that keeps the Royals from getting an F for failure is that I'm taking in account the injury factor.   True, every team suffers through injuries during the course of the season, but the Royals lost some very key players.   Starting shortstop, third baseman, centerfielder, right fielder, number 1 starter entering the season and our closer for a spell.   Mark Teahen filling in for Gordon at third was the only adequate replacement we got for any of these positions during the injury process, and to a smaller extent Mitch Maier in center.  

Without further ado, lets get to the players, then the pitchers...

Billy Butler  A-   Billy is our only Honor Roll offensive player.   .301, 21 HR, 93 RBI, 51 2Bs.   He got better as the season went on and once the Royals get some productive hitters in front of him and an adequate clean-up hitter behind him, the sky is the limit.   He clearly showed the best approach at the plate and usually punished pitchers who fell behind in the count to him.  His defense was a bit under league average for first baseman, but according to Baseball-Reference he had FAR BETTER RANGE than his peers.   This surprised me.  If you don't believe me, look it up.   

Alberto Callaspo  B.   As a hitter for a second baseman, he's probably an A-, but the player gets a B.  .300, 11 HR, 73 RBI, 41 2Bs, 8 3Bs.  The .300 average doesn't surprise me, but the 60 XBHs do.   Alberto was the Royals offensive MVP during the hot start of the season and through the first half.   What drops his grade to a B is his defense.  His decision making got better as the season progressed, but he still bobbled too many balls.   He'll have to improve his defensive game or he'll find himself as a utility player or a part time DH.   The bat is good though and if his offense doesn't tail off, it'll be hard to knock him off of second.

David DeJesus  B.   I was about ready to run him out of town at the 1/3 point in the season, but he improved as the season progressed.  .281, 13HR, 71 RBI, 9 triples.   He is still far from an ideal leadoff hitter, but for whatever reason, he hits well in the leadoff spot.   David still needs to get his hands on the manual "Baserunning For Idiots".   For an athlete who's fast and a fundamentally sound outfielder, his baserunning is an enigma.  David also posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in 2009 and threw out double digit baserunners.   I may be in the minority here, but I feel he deserves a gold glove.

Mark Teahen  C.   .271, 12 HR, 50 RBI.  Was sizzling in Arizona in spring training, started the season strong then he tailed off as the season went along.   The most valuable thing Mark did this season was to hold down third base adequately while Alex was on the DL this year.  Hopefully the Royals will get good enough that Teahen will be a utility corner outfielder/infielder.   He just doesn't have the bat and clutchness you want in an everyday line-up.   I thought is was absurd batting him clean-up for as long as we did.  For a guy that hit 4-6 in the line-up all season, its sad he didn't post more than 50 RBI.   

Yuniesky Betancourt  D+.  .245, 6 HR, 49 RBI.  If you can't put up offensive numbers better than that, then you'ld better be an above average fielder.   Unfortunately Yuney is below average in the field as well.   Also unfortunate is the fact he's the best healthy shortstop in the organization right now.    Hopefully Mike Aviles will be healthy come February and challenge him for a starting spot.  Betancourt could be a useful 2B/SS reserve.  

Miguel Olivo  C.     .249, 23 HR, 65 RBI.   I love his power, but most of the rest of his game leaves a lot to be desired.   His plate discipline did appear to improve over the last 6 weeks of the season...he was no longer swinging at low flying aircraft and grasshoppers.  I think he did a pretty good job of calling a game.   Zack gave him a lot of credit for his success, but otherwise Olivo committed 10 passed balls, and the Royals staff far and away led the league in wild pitches.   Olivo's rate of throwing out base runners decreased from 42% in 2008 to 28% in 2009.   Miguel is on the wrong side of 30, so there probably isn't much improvement on the horizon, but...sigh... again, he's the best catcher we have.

Mitch Maier  C.   .243, 3HR, 31 RBI, 9 SB.  He played enough to be graded, yet I found him hard to grade.   His batting average and OBP are disappointing, but he does hit pretty well with men on base.   He also probably has 20 SB potential.    Offensively, he wasn't more of a D, but his defense was stellar.  Like DeJesus, Maier finished the season without an error and led all rookie outfielders with 11 assists.   If Maier can pick up the pace in power and OBP, he could have a future as a starter, but as of now, he's got fourth outfielder written all over him.

Jose Guillen  D-.   .242, 9HR, 40 RBI.  He only played in half the games and I'm not trying to hold injuries against him.   He did manage 40 RBI which would be an 80 RBI pace, but still far below the investment and expectations.  His defense has been in decline starting in 2007, and his .21 fielding percentage below league average may have been the worst in the majors this year.   Like Olivo, Guillen is on the wrong side of 30 and I fear he's breaking down and declining fast.  Will likely be the Royals DH next season.

Josh Anderson  C-.   .240, 1 HR, 24 RBI, 25 SB.   Played left field mostly for the Tigers, played mostly CF for the Royals.   I'd put him as average as an outfielder.   He looks a bit overmatched at the plate at times.   If this guy could figure out how to get on base more, he could be a very valuable player.   If he can hit his way into the starting line-up, he's got 75 SB potential.   At this point, he's not much more than Joey Gathright.  

Willie Bloomquist  C+.   .265, 4HR, 29 RBI, 25 SB.    Without a doubt, the best aquisition Dayton Moore made prior to the 2009 season.  No, he's not a guy you want in your everyday line-up, but he deserves all the playing time he got.   Played in 125 games as a utilityman.   With all the injuries the Royals had this year, the Royals would have surpassed 100 losses without Willie.   

Alex Gordon  D-.   .232, 6 HR, 22 RBI.   The D- may be a bit unfair, but I'm judging his overall game when he was on the field this year and not taking into account the ramifications of his hip injury.   His fielding percentage was .38 under league average and the batting average speaks for itself.   He did manage to raise his average .040 after coming back from his injury and he was rather productive at the plate in the final two weeks of the season.   I'd like to see him get in a month of winter ball this off-season to get some atbats and fielding reps to restore his confidence.   The season was a loss, and I'll give him a mulligan for the hip injury.   Perhaps next year?

Coco Crisp   D+.   .228, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 13 SB.   Much like Gordon, this grade is for his on field production, not taking into account the injury.    His production had a major drop off both offensively and defensively when his sore shoulder was brought to light.   His fielding percentage was .16 below league average and everyone was running on his arm.   His OBP was fairly decent and he's quite a distraction on the basepaths, but other than that he's nowhere near being worth the option on his next contract.   

Mike Jacobs  F.   .228, 19 HR, 61 RBI.   He's such a bad fielder that we gave the first base job to Butler expecting him to be a less than average first baseman.   He struggled so badly against left handers that he was frequently pinch hit for late in the game and frequently left out of the line-up against left handed starters.  He probably had more RISP opportunities than any other Royals player, yet he only got 61 RBI and got only one sacrafice fly all season.   You may think I hate Jacobs because I've been bashing him all season, but thats quite contrary.   From everything I've read and heard about him, he's a wonderful man and teammate and I was really rooting for him, he just had a horrible season. 

I decided not to grade the other cast of characters such as John Buck, Mike Aviles, Brayan and Tony Pena, Luis Hernandez, and Tug Hulett.   Aviles is the only one worth a look at getting a starting job next year.   Buck will cost more than he'll be worth and should be released.   Brayan Pena could be an inexpensive back-up, but I'd like to see the Royals find a good defensive catcher for that role.   Hopefully TPJ finds his calling as a relief pitcher...we could use it.

Zack Greinke  A+.   16-8, 2.16 ERA, 242/51 K/BB, .230 BAA, 6 CG, 3 Shutouts, 229 innings.   If he posted a 2.16 ERA as a National League pitcher I'd have given him an A+, to do it in a DH league is mind numbing.  One of the 3 lowest ERAs in the post DH era.   He broke or tied club records in strikeouts in a game and consecutive scoreless innings and fell just 2 strikeouts short of Dennis Leonard's 244 in 1977.   All 4 of the Royals starting infielders were below major league average in fielding percentage and all but Butler are below average in range.   We were next to last in runs scored and Zack's run support was a major league worst.   Do I need to even mention how the bullpen pitches in the 7th and 8th innings?   If the Royals were just average at the above categories, Zack would have easily won 23 games and his ERA could have challenged breaking the 2.00 mark.   There was absolutely no weakness in Zack's game this season.   His fielding was also Gold Glove caliber.

Brian Bannister   C.   7-12, 4.73 ERA, 98/55 K/BB, 154 IP.   Sadly, these numbers represent our second best starter this season.   Pretty decent for a #4.   Again, Brian got off to a great start to the season and tailed off as the season progressed.   He pretty much did what I expected this season...better than 2008, worse than 2007.   Season ended prematurely to a sore shoulder.

Luke Hochevar  F.   7-13, 6.55 ERA, 106/46 K/BB, 143 IP, .290 BAA.   When he's on, he's great.   Unfortunately those times are far too infrequent.   He's got the talent to be a #2 or #3 starter, but his make-up sucks.   Just prone to the big innings.   Makes his mistakes with men on base.  He doesn't walk a whole lot of hitters, but when he does, it leads to trouble nearly every time.   He needs to commit himself to be a sinker ball pitcher.   When he gets in trouble he starts overthrowing.    If you watch Zack, when he gets in trouble, he tunes it down.   

Gil Meche  D+.   6-10, 5.09 ERA, 95/58 K/BB, 129 IP.  Definitely a down year for Gil and cut short due to injury.   Had trouble in most of his starts with pitch efficiency.   Ran his pitch count up too high and too soon.   Usually a work horse...the horse broke down.   Hopefully he'll be healthy in 2010.

Kyle Davies  D.   8-9, 5.27 ERA, 86/66 K/BB, 123 IP.  Kyle creates most of his problems.   He either gives hitters to much credit or doesn't trust his stuff enough.   If he had the mental make-up of Banny, Kyle would probably be a sub 4.00 ERA pitcher.   He nitpicks far too much which leads to his bad BB/IP ratio.   Just let the damn ball go, Kyle!

Jamey Wright  C.   3-5, 4.33 ERA, 50/44 K/BB, 79 IP.  Started out as the nicest surprise in the bullpen this season.   Over the entire course of the season, he probably was the second best reliever in the pen after Soria.   Towards the end of the season he started walking too many batters.   He's better suited as a long reliever, but with Cruz, Mahay and Bale all failing at short relief, Wright became Trey's choice by default to pitch in LIPS (late inning pressure situations).  I hope the Royals bring Jamey back, but ideally as a long reliever or a 6th inning guy.

Robinson Tejeda  B-.  4-2, 3.54 ERA, 87/50 K/BB, 73.2 IP.   Tejeda was heading for a C- until Trey gave him a shot at a starting role.   Good decision by Hillman.  Much like Davies, Tejeda needs to cut back on the walks.   Davies needs to tune it up, Tejeda needs to scale it back, especially if he gets auditioned for a starting spot for 2010.   Tejeda may have the best stuff on the Royals not named Greinke, he just needs to know how to control it more consistently.   If Tejeda can harness his control he'd make a good middle of rotation starter or a set-up man for Soria.

Bruce Chen  F.   1-6, 5.78 ERA, 45/25 K/BB, 62.1 IP.   Failed miserably as a starter and didn't have much success in the bullpen either.   I almost gave him a D-, but he disappointed me.   One of a number of Omaha farm hands who had a good season at AAA that couldn't do anything on the big stage.   See Hulett, DiNardo, Yabuta and Hochevar.  

Sidney Ponson   F.   1-7, 7.36, 32/25 K/BB, 58.2 IP.   Desperate move by Dayton to find an experienced starter.   Experiment failed, Ponson sucked, got released and his career is probably over.

Joakim Soria  A.  3-2, 2.21 ERA, 69/16 K/BB, 53 IP, 30/33 in save conversions.  Not up to his 2008 standards, but still great.   Had some shoulder discomfort that put him on the DL for about 3 weeks and made him unavailable at other times.   He was called on a handful of times for 2 inning saves which also made him unavailable for then next game or two.   He was the only dependable reliever in the bullpen for the bulk of the final 4 months of the season.   

Roman Colon  C-.   2-3, 4.83 ERA, 29/22 K/BB, 50.1 IP.  He did okay.   Pitching in the 8th innings in close games is over his head, but it appears it was for nearly every reliever this season.  He had a better season than Cruz or Bale....but is that really saying much?

Juan Cruz  F.   3-4, 5.62 ERA, 38/29 K/BB,  50.1 IP.   I thought he'ld be the best signing of the year, but he turned out to be a big disappointment.   He got off to a nice start for about 6 weeks and then hit a wall that he never got over.   We have him for one more season, hopefully he'll rebound.

Kyle Farnsworth  C-.    1-5, 4.58 ERA, 42/14 K/BB, 37.1 IP.  Considering the bloated contract awarded to Farnsworth, Dayton thought he had a set-up man.   What he got was an overpaid mop-up man.   I gave Kyle a C- to balance how he did in his two roles this season.   He was an A when the outcome wasn't in question and an F- when the game was on the line.  

John Bale  F.   0-1, 5.72 ERA, 24/18 K/BB, 28.1 IP.   He sucked.  I hope our contract obligation with him is over.   Thats all he merits me talking about him.   

No grades for guys under 25 innings pitched due to the small sample size.   They included Horacio Ramirez, Lenny DiNardo, Dusty Hughes, Yasihiko Yabuta, Jason Lerew, Victor Marte, Carlos Rosa and Doug Waechter.   Lerew and Rosa were the only two who gave me a positive impression with a chance of landing a roster spot on the 2010 team.   

As far as Dayton Moore and Trey Hillman being evaluated, I'm not going to go in depth.  I don't think either of them deserve better than a D.    Moore's negatives in 2009 were for trades that didn't work out, not all his fault, but they still didn't pan out.   I do feel he did well in the amateur draft.   Aaron Crow and Wil Myers are my #2 and #4 prospects in the Royals organization respectively.   In case you're wondering, I have Mike Montgomery as #1, Mike Moustakas as #3 and Eric Hosmer at #5.   As for Trey Hillman, by biggest indictment on him was for the poor defense and situational hitting that the Royals displayed this season.   I was expecting better fundamentals.   The team is lacking in talent, so the fundies need to be strong.   I give him props that this team never gives up.   The effort is there every game and you never hear one word uttered from a player questioning Trey.   I approve of Dayton giving him one more season.   Hopefully there will be more talent on the team to evaluate him fairly.  

  

     Alot of things need to be fixed with this Royals club and if I was the GM, I wouldn't waste any time starting.   As far as the starting pitching goes, I wouldn't look to trade anyone away unless I got a mindblowing offer for Gil Meche or Brian Bannister.   I'd be more than satisfied to go into next season with our four primary starters of Greinke, Meche, Bannister and Hochevar and have a spring training competition for the #5 starter between Kyle Davies, Bruce Chen and perhaps any cheap free agent pitcher out there that could be servicable.   The starting rotation is one part of the team that is in good shape in my opinion and I would perfer to keep it that way.   In my opinion, you can't have too much starting pitching and that's why I'd be very reluctant to trade one of these four away to strengthen other parts of the team.

     Now as far as the bullpen goes, I'd blow it up as much as I'm able.   The only guy I'm certain to want back for next season is Joakim Soria.   The rest of them would be expendable to trade or release or demotion to Omaha.   Dayton traded away one of the best set-up men in baseball, Ramon Ramirez last year and another good reliever in Leo Nunez an it really came back to bite him in the backside.   There would be no such risk this off season.   We're probably stuck with Kyle Farnsworth for another year with that God awful contract we're paying him and I'm afraid Juan Cruz is signed for a second season as well.   Mahay's contract will be over at the end of the season and he'll be outta here.  I really have no interest in re-signing him.   I'm not a big fan of John Bale at all and if we're not obligated to him, he can be outta here as well.   Robinson Tejeda and Roman Colon are boarderline keepers.   Both have good stuff, but they also struggle with their control quite alot.  I don't see either one of them as the answer for being our 8th inning man.   Personally I'd keep Tejeda around and send Colon packing.   Tejeda has the arm to be a good set-up man and I'd give him a shot at it if he can harness his control.   Jamey Wright has had his hot spells and his cold spells this season.  Ideally he should pitch no later than the sixth or seventh inning of a close game.   I don't think we're obligated to him for next season, so I wouldn't go out of my way to re-sign him either.   I'd go after the best bullpen arm available in free agency, one righty and one lefty.   I'd like to fill out the bullpen with at least one pitcher in our system who we plan on being a starter someday.   I like the idea of breaking a promising starter into the big leagues in the bullpen.   He can earn his way into the rotation if it pans out.   If it doesn't, send him back to Omaha to work things out.  

     Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot we can do to improve the infield defense from my perspective.   The one infielder I would be willing to trade who still has some trade value is Alex Gordon.   I've rooted for him every since he arrived to the majors, but I don't see a budding superstar here at all.   I see a middle of the road third baseman who may never make the All Star team.  Unfortunately, with the way our team is configured with weak offensive production from our outfielders, we need more than that.   We don't have anyone ready to take his job in the minors so we'll probably have to play him at third if we can't trade him.   I'm not excited in the Yuniesky Betancourt trade at all.  We've got him and a rather lofty contract for the rest of this season and the next two years, so we can't move him.   Hopefully Aviles will be totally healed by the start of spring training and can compete with Betancourt for the shortstop job.   I think a healthy Mike Aviles is a better option.   I would look for an option to Callaspo at second base.   Alberto has been solid at the plate, but not so much in the field.  I'd look for a faster player, who can give us more range, a better glove and more stolen base potential.   If I can't, having Callaspo around is not a bad thing, but the right side of the infield will still lack seriously in defense and range.   Billy Butler has to stay.   Case closed.   I'd maybe replace him at first if Kila is the better fielder, but his bat needs to be in the line-up.   I'd make every effort to unload Mike Jacobs.   He can't field, he can't run, he can't hit lefties and he doesn't put the ball in play enough.   His OBP is pathetic and his power numbers aren't that good to make him worth keeping on the team.   I'd let him go and give Kila Ka'aihue his spot on the roster.   Kila strikes out alot too, but he walks nearly as often and he drives in runs.   

     I've had it with both of our catchers.  I'd let both Miguel Olivo and John Buck go.   Both are terrible at defense and getting on base.   Miguel does have a decent stat at throwing out baserunners, but he also airmails his fair share of throws to center field as well.   Olivo does a lousy job of blocking pitches and is the most undisciplined major league hitter I've ever laid eyes on.   John Buck just sucks.  He can't ever hit over .240 and he's one of the worst throwing catchers the Royals have ever had.   Let them both go.   I'd rather give Brayan Pena a chance and John Suomi who's in AA Northwest Arkansas a shot at winning the job next spring.   Perhaps we can make a trade with the Rangers for a catcher.   They  have 2 promising young catchers in Tyler Teaharten and Jared Saltalamacchia.   I believe they also have a good catching prospect in AAA as well.   

     The outfield is a problem as well.   First, we have a broken down right fielder who we spent way too much money on who'll never be the player Dayton Moore hoped he was getting.   We're obligated to him for one more season.  Personally, I'd love to trade him, but with his contract, he's virtually untradable.   I'd make him a DH, perhaps platoon him with Kila.  Here's where we're going to have to find a quality free agent.   We must pick up a quality free agent for one of the outfield positions.   I don't think Coco Crisp is worth the $8 million club option for next season, so I'd probably buy out his contract and let him walk.   Personally, I want to get the best centerfielder available on the market.   Someone who can cover the spacious gaps at the K and steal 40 or more bases.   I know there's always talk about trades when Mark Teahen's name is brought up, but we always need him to fill a hole for an injured player.   He's got no business batting clean-up, but until we can get some star power on the offensive side, he's a must have player on this team.   I would rather find a taker for David DeJesus in a trade.   In all honesty, DeJesus would be a fourth outfielder on most major league teams.   Players who can't hit 15 homers and steal 10 bases have no business being a starting outfielder.   I'd like to see the likes of Chris Lubansky, Jordan Parazz and Scott Thorman given a shot next spring at a corner outfield or 4th outfielder positions.   Mitch Maier has got to figure out how to hit major league pitching by the end of the season or I wouldn't even consider him in the major league plans for next season.    For now, I would consider Willie Bloomquist a keeper for super utilityman.   He's done the job very well and due to our misfortunes with injuries this season, he's playing more often than he should.   

    Comments and thoughts?       

     The 2009 Royals have been a disappointment to say the least.   We all expected to see some improvement over the 2008 campaign and I even felt that with the weak division we play in that if breaks went our way that we had a legitimate chance to make a run for the divisional title.   The Royals finished last season in a 18-8 flourish in September and flat out bashed the ball in spring training this year.   With the addition of power to the line-up in the trade for Mike Jacobs and the addition of speed in the Coco Crisp trade, one couldn't help but feel a bit optimistic heading into 2009 regular season play.   We got off to a great 18-11 start despite the hit of losing Alex Gordon to injury and subsequent surgery very early on.   Thank Mark Teahen for stepping into his spot and carrying his weight and thank Alberto Callaspo for taking over Teahen's spot at second and being our best hitter.

     The season began unraveling when Coco Crisp began struggling at the plate and Mike Aviles couldn't come out of his early season slump.   As it turns out, both players were probably trying to play through injuries which required surgery to repair and now they are gone for the season.    Right on the heels of this Joakim Soria's shoulder began acting up and he had to be put on the shelf for the better part of 3 weeks.   About this time, an effective Robinson Tejeda was also sidelined and the loss of these two bullpen stalwards really blew up the make-up of the bullpen and it soon became ineffective.  

     If the injuries weren't enough, David DeJesus is hitting about 30-40 points lower than what we should expect, Mike Jacobs became a .220 hitter instead of the .250-260 that we expected, Tony Pena has shown us that his .160 average last year was a fluke because he's nowhere close to being that GOOD this year.  Mitch Maier, the minor league and spring training phenom who was given the chance to spell Coco Crisp hasn't even played well enough to spell a 4th or 5th major league outfielder.    Jose Guillen looks like a player that needed the juice he used to use to be a good major league hitter.   His power production is down and his outfield range is perhaps the worst of any major league outfielder.   

     If the injuries and off-seasons of key players weren't enough, lets sprinkle in some poor defense into our little recipe for disaster.   Rather than the lengthy laundry list of errors from our skillet handed defenders, I think its safe to summarize that every Royals starter has cost the team to lose at least one game because of a defensive miscue. 

     So how much of this is Trey Hillman's fault?   Sure, he's misused the bullpen a number of times and has looked silly at times with some of the line-ups he's trotted out there, but the life of a manager is similar to the life of an umpire.   They only get noticed when their mistakes are highlighted.  Hillman got skewed and roasted like a shiskabob for using Kyle Farnsworth and having Farnsworth blow the games, but if he shouldn't use Farnsworth in pressure situations, why would the Royals pay him $9 million over the next two years?   Do you really think signing Kyle Farnsworth for that kind of money was Trey's idea?    My guess is that since Dayton Moore hired Trey for his first managing job that Trey's going to be a "yes man" until the Royals have a winning record.   My contention is that we can't really judge Trey until he gets more competitive talent to work with.   These guys that he's a skipper for are all professionals at the highest level.   His job is not to teach them how to pitch, hit, run or throw.   They should already have that knowledge and those skills.   His job is more about managing people.   A physcologist with some knowledge of Xs and Os.   Last year, it appears that for a while he had lost some control over the clubhouse, but there have been no such incidents reported this season, so I think he's doing a pretty effective job.   Trey has one hell of an ace and closer at his disposal but he doesn't have an offensive star capable of picking the team up on his shoulders and carrying them for a couple of weeks.  

     If you want a scapegoat for our current woes, look to the top of the ladder and David Glass.   He wouldn't pop for the money to keep Carlos Beltran, Jermaine Dye and Raul Ibanez in royal blue.   He made financial cutbacks in scouting and didn't send scouts to the Latin countries for years.   Kind of dumb considering that at least 1/3 of major leaguers speak fluent Spanish.   Its pretty hard to find the next Pedro Martinez or the next Vladamir Guerrero that way.   In short, Mr. Glass neglected the opportunity to maintain or build a good team for over 10 seasons out of greed until he hired Dayton Moore.  

     Dayton made some good moves out of the gate after coming to KC.  I think his first big trade was his best, trading Burgos for Brian Bannister.   That kind of took the sting out of the David Cone for Ed Hearn trade.   The Gil Meche signing was also a good one.   Since the Meche signing though, it appears that most of his biggest moves have blown up in his face.   Jose Guillen will go down as a failed signing.   Kyle Farnsworth's signing will go down as being mentally challenged.   The Mike Jacobs trade at best was unnecessary.   The Crisp trade and the Juan Cruz signing made good sense but aren't panning out.   It looks like his signing of utilityman Willie Bloomquist is the hook he can hang his hat on for the 2009 season.   I'm sorry, but signing a good utilityman isn't going to accomplish much if that's your best personnel move when you make as many as Dayton does.     One can only hope that Dayton's batting average in the amateur draft is better.    Moustakas and Hosmer aren't exactly setting the world on fire in the minor leagues yet.   I, for one am not getting my hopes up too high.   Jeff Bianchi is tearing it up in AA, I'm not sure if he's Dayton's boy or Allard's.   I think Dayton drafted him.   

     To summarize, I think we need to hold David Glass and Dayton Moore more accountable for the state of the team.   Presently they're sending Trey Hillman to a gunfight with nothing more than a pocket knife.   I think the owner and the general manager need to step up their game before we think about giving Trey Hillman a pick slip.          

     Since it is still a bit too early in the season to know whether we'll be likely buyers or sellers at the trading deadline, I thought I'd take a look through the Royals minor league ranks to see what players we have in Omaha and Northwest Arkansas that could contribute at some point during the 2009 season.   I think our strongest talent in the minor league system now resides in high A Wilmington, but realistically none of those players can be considered for this year.  Most of the Wilmington class won't be in consideration until mid 2010 or early 2011.  For the purpose of this blog, I'll give you all a look at the 8 most likely to be able to be of some help before THIS season is over.

Kila Ka'aihue.    Has to be considered the best hitting prospect to help out this season.  He's not playing to the standards of his 2008 numbers of .314/456/628/1.085 that he posted in 2008, but he's still putting up solid numbers in Omaha this season.  The 25 year old Ka'aihue is hitting .280 with 8 HR and 28 RBI this year.   He's walked 52 times already and is posting an impressive .424 OBP.   We probably won't be able to get him up to KC before September unless either Butler or Jacobs gets injured or traded unless we just want to bring him up as a left handed bat off the bench, which isn't too likely.  Personally, I'd rather see him on the team than Jacobs.  This dude walked 104 times last year and has already walked 52 times this season.  I'd love to see the Flyin' Hawaiian batting between Butler and Guillen.

Scott Thorman.   Thorman was drafted in the first round by the Braves in 2000.  Evidently he was just one of those prospects that never panned out for the Braves.  He was their minor leaguer of the year in 2005.   He's a 27 year old left handed hitting left fielder.   He's having a nice year in Omaha so far with 9 HR, 21 RBI and his averages are 282/373/564/937.   Better step up your game DeJesus!

J. R. House.   House has been around the block a time or two.  The 29 year old veteran catcher was drafted in the 5th round by the Pirates back in 1999.  He was in the Astros system last season in AAA and batted .306 with 18 HR and 60 RBI.  House is a right handed hitting catcher in Omaha who is hitting .274 with 4 HR and 23 RBI.  Brayan Pena got the call when Buck went on the DL, but House may be yet another catcher in the organization right now that will give the Royals even less of a reason to hold onto John Buck any longer. 

Bruce Chen.  Yes, this is the same Bruce Chen that you'ld call an Atlanta Brave retread.  This left handed starter is putting together a nice season in Omaha.  He's been used primarily as a starter and has recorded 2 complete game shutouts.  He's started 11 games and has a 3-2 record, 3.80 ERA.  In 71 innings he's surrendered only 53 hits, has a 62/22 K/BB ratio and has a 1.06 WHIP.   The league is only batting .209 against him.   He should be considered the next starter in line if one of our starters has to go on the DL.   He'ld also give the Royals a left-handed option in their rotation. 

Lenny DiNardo.  Lenny has been used primarily as a starter in Omaha, but he's also been asked to close some games as well.   He's started 9 games in his 13 appearances and he's also saved 2 games.  He's 4-2 with a 3.48 ERA.  In 64.2 innings he's fanned 52 batters and walked only 13.  His WHIP is an impressive 1.04 and the league is only batting .227 against him.   Chen 30 years old and DiNardo is 29 and probably aren't looked at as prospects, but either could help either the rotation or the bullpen if we get some injuries or ineffectiveness in our pitchers.  Like Chen, DiNardo is also a southpaw.

Chris (Disco) Hayes.  The Royals signed Hayes as an undrafted free agent in 2006 out of Northwestern University.   He's a submarining right handed reliever.   Yeah, over 1500 players were picked in 2006 and Hayes wasn't any one of them, but since the Royals have signed him, he's been nothing but effective and is marching right up the ranks in the Royals organization.  He was recently promoted to Omaha from NWA where he posted a 3-0 record with a miniscule 0.98 ERA and 3 saves.   In 2008 for Northwest Arkansas, Hayes posted a 5-2 record with a 1.64 ERA with 12 saves.  He's doing fine in Omaha.   In 6.1 innings he's only allowing a .227 batting average against.   Much like Quisenberry, Hayes doesn't strike out many, but he's a ground ball pitcher who seldom walks batters.  

Jose Duarte.  The Royals signed Duarte as a free agent in 2004 out of Venezuela.  He's a right handed hitting center fielder who was recently promoted to Omaha from NWA.  Between NWA and Omaha he's posted a line of 243/350/300/650, 0 HR, 15 RBI, 36 Runs and 10 steals.  In 2008 in Northwest Arkansas he posted 250/313/350/663 with 10 HR, 47 RBI, 68 runs and 28 stolen bases.   I'm not really impressed with those numbers and with this guy as our top center field prospect it makes the Coco Crisp trade look all the more understandable.  If Mitch Maier were to get hurt....this is likely the guy you're looking at next in center field. 

Jordan Parraz.   Parraz is still in AA Northwest Arkansas and has obviously passed at that level and should be called up to Omaha soon.  Parraz is a right handed hitting right fielder who is tearing it up in NWA to the tune of 357/454/523/975 so far this season with 4 homers and 4 stolen bases.  In 200 at bats he's walked 26 times and struck out 20 times, so he's an excellent contact hitter with a good eye.  The Royals aquired Parraz in a trade with the Astros for Tyler Lumsden.   Good trade in my opinion.  The Astros signed Parraz in the third round of the 2004 draft.  In 2008 Parraz stole 21 bases in the Astos system and had a .399 OBP.   He's a good contact hitter with plus speed.   The only drawback is his lack of power for a corner outfielder, but he appears to be an ideal #2 hitter.  

     When I took on the task of being the team blogger for CBS I thought doing this once a week would be easy.  With the turn of events over the past 4 weeks and trying to write about positives as well as negatives, I haven't found enough positive to write about to balance with the negatives.    So until I can come up with enough positives to balance my articles, I'll do a report card for the Royals for the first 1/3 of the season.   I'll start with the players, then the pitchers and finally the manager and general manager.

David DeJesus  -  D  After enjoying the best season of his career in 2008, he's following it up with a career worst.   His sub-.240 average and .286 OBP have done the Royals offense nothing but harm when he was batting 2nd and 3rd in the line-up.   He's on pace to stike out over 100 times which is a dramatic increase considering his career high is 83.   His above average as of late bring is grade up from a D- or an F.

Coco Crisp  -  C-  We've seen both sides of him.   When Coco was hot over the first 4 weeks of the season, the Royals were winning, but since he's been unproductive over the past 4 weeks, the team has been in on offensive free fall.   This points to the importance of the leadoff hitter.  His .224 average and .335 OBP are below what you want for a leadoff hitter.  I think his sore shoulder could be some of the cause of this and with 20/20 hindsight, the Royals should have probably put him on the DL to get his shoulder healthy.  Although Coco is chasing down balls that no other Royals outfielder could, he's had defensive issues.    To say that Coco has a week throwing arm is as obvious as saying a full grown St. Bernard poops more than a Manchester terrier.

Jose Guillen  -  C-  He's actually been an asset on offense.  His OBP is up from last year, and he's one of the few Royals who are enjoying success hitting with RISP.   However, he's perhaps the worst outfielder in MLB at present.  His fielding percentage and range are WAY below major league average.   If he could barrow a bit of Coco's speed and if Coco could borrow some of Jose's arm, you'ld have 2 decent outfielders there. 

Mitch Maier  -  C-  Serving as the Royals 4th outfielder and has not played well enough to have fans clamoring for him to start, so he deserves no better than a C-.  If the spring training or AAA Mitch Maier were to show up at some point, maybe he could replace DeJesus or Guillen, but apparently thats not in the forseeable future. 

Billy Butler  -  B-  One of the few Royals who have hit better the past month than the first month.   Of the 4 ideal #6 hitters that we have, Butler is the most deserving to bat in the #3 hole and Trey rightfully put him there.  He's not really shown an improvement over his hitting from late last season, but he usually has quality at-bats and gets the barrel of the bat on the ball more than most.  When this kid matures he will hit for 25 home run power.   Billy is surprising everyone with his defense this season.   His hard work at learning first base is paying dividends.  He's actually ranked as slightly above average defensively at this point in the season. 

Alberto Callaspo  -  B-  Was the Royals best hitter over the first month of the season and is still near the league lead in doubles.   He helped take the sting out of losing Alex Gordon to injury.   He's still not a honed second baseman.  His fielding percentage is a little over league average, but his limited range and occasional poor judgement knock him down to average to a little below average defensively.

Mike Aviles  -  F  -  I think I gave him an A at the end of the 2008 season.   Mike's .130 point dropoff in batting average is perhaps the biggest factor of the Royals offensive woes this season.  I don't know how much of his forearm injury caused his problems at the plate, or just the simple fact that the league adjusted to him and he wasn't able to make a counter adjustment.   I really didn't expect another .325 season out of Aviles, but I'm dumfounded by his sub .200 performance.

Tony F. Pena  -  F  -  I'm not even going to waste the time explaining this.   One base hit in 19 at-bats.   Why this guy is still on a major league roster is a mystery.

Willie Bloomquist  -  B  -  He's the most versatile and fundamentally sound player on the roster.  His .283 average and .350 OBP are higher than I expected out of him and 8 stolen bases playing in a part time roll is good.   Of the many moves that Dayton Moore made in the off-season, this one flew under the radar a bit but was the best move of them all in my opinion. 

Mark Teahen  -  C+  -  He got off to a nice start this season, but like many others, he's dropped off in production.  When he took over third base after Gordon's injury, it appeared that Mark was going to make the most of playing everyday in his old position.   Well, thats gotten mixed results.  Assessing the first 1/3 of the season, he's still the same Mark Teahen with just a little more power.   Once Gordon comes back Mark should probably be a super-sub, maybe playing some right field to help the defense. 

Mike Jacobs  -  C-  -  Frankly, I'm unimpressed with him.  One of the reasons we got him was because there was concerns with Butler and Kila's defense, yet Jacob's defense was so bad that Butler quickly replaced him on the field.   Jacobs probably won't see another 10 starts this season at first base unless Billy gets hurt.   The only reason I didn't give Mike a D is that he does lead the team in homers and RBI, but 26 RBI through 1/3 of the season is really nothing to write home about. 

Miguel Olivo  -  D+  -  To his credit, he's done an excellent job of handling the pitchers, especially Zack Greinke.   That's pretty much where it ends with Miggy though.  His 26% caught stealing is a career low for him.  He doesn't do a good job of blocking the plate and drops alot of pitches he should catch.  He doesn't save this pitching staff many wild pitches at all.   At the plate, he's just tough to watch.  He strikes out once in every 3 plate appearances.   Let me ask you all something.   Have you ever heard of a hitter who's struck out 43 times to 2 walks?   I'd be willing to bet that nearly every National League pitcher has a better ratio as a hitter.   He's got the worst approach at the plate of anyone I've ever seen not named Tony Pena.

John Buck  -  D-  -  His defense is getting worse every season, yet his hitting isn't getting any better.   He's already committed 5 errors this season and only thrown out 8% of baserunners trying to steal.   He's had 2 great games this year with 5 RBI each and the rest of his season has been garbage.   He's a great guy, but its time to find a replacement for him.

Gil Meche  -  B  -  Some will surely say that I'm giving him too high of a grade, but I'm sticking to it.   He's 2-5 with a 4.08 ERA.  If Meche got league average run support he'ld be 5-4.   He's also fallen victim to some lousy defense behind him, some charged as errors but several other cases they've been charged as charitable hits which have taken hits on Gil's ERA.

Zack Greinke  -  A+  -  8-2, 1.55 ERA.   Need I explain further?   With average run support he'ld be 10-1 or 11-0. 

Kyle Davies  -  D+  -  2-6, 5.13 ERA.  Maybe I'm grading him too harshly, but I'm seeing him doing the same thing he was doing prior to last September.   He fiddle farts with the hitters and gets behind in the count, especially in the early innings, then gets hammered for an inning.   This guy has the stuff but just doesn't challenge hitters enough early in the count.  He's maddening to watch at times.

Brian Bannister  -  C  -  4-3, 4.97 ERA.   He's looking too much like he did last year...strong start then as the weather gets warmer he gets colder.   Hopefully history doesn't repeat itself, but the signs aren't good.

Sidney Ponson  -  F  -  1-5, 7.27 ERA.   He gave the Royals a few quality starts before Luke Hochevar was recalled from Omaha and several non-quality starts as well.   He was a disaster as a relief pitcher.   He's on the DL right now and unless Luke or Brian get injured or get bombed out of the majors, I don't expect to see Sir Sidney back in a Royals uniform. 

Luke Hochevar  -  D-  -  1-2, 7.85 ERA.  He's only got 4 starts so far, so its not much to grade on.  He has gotten a little better in each start, so there's hope.  

Joakim Soria   -  A  -  1-0, 1.74 ERA, 7 saves in 7 opportunities.   He's done everything we've asked him to do, unfortunately he still hasn't logged 12 innings yet this season.   His importance to the pen was best exhibited by the fact that at the same time he went on the DL the entire bullpen became very ineffective.  

Robinson Tejeda  -  B+  -  0-0, 2.65.  Tejeda went on the DL shortly after Soria did and that was a 1-2 punch to the gut of the Royals bullpen that they haven't recovered from yet.  Tejeda has the best K/IP ratio of all Royals pitchers.   His walks are rather high, but his ability to strikeout his way out of trouble have made up for his one week point.

Kyle Farnsworth  -  B-  -  1-3, 3.15 ERA.   Got off to a horrible start in which he cost the Royals dearly in some heartbreaking losses and to the delight of the Royals faithful fans was relegated to a mop up role.   Since that has happened, Kyle has strung together 15 consecutive scoreless outings and its getting very tempting to increase his role of responsibility in the bullpen with the sudden drop off in production out of Jamie Wright and Juan Cruz.   In Kyle's 20 innings pitched he's struck out 20 and walked only 4.

Jamey Wright  -  C+  -  Got off to an incredibly effective start to the season, but after committing a throwing error in a game against St. Louis a few weeks back, he's not been the same.   He still has a nice K/BB of 20/7.   Like the acquisition of Willie Bloomquist, the signing of Wright to a minor league contract just before spring training appears to be a good move.  

Ron Mahay  -  C  -  1-0, 4.26.   Ron Mahay is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get.  Unlike last year where he was really good most of the year, Mahay has been rather unpredicable this season.   He hasn't really had a bad streak or a good streak, he's just been hit or miss.  Unpredictability is not really what you want in a late inning reliever.

Juan Cruz  -  C  -  3-1, 4.56 ERA, 2 saves.  One of the best examples of what has gone wrong with the bullpen since Soria and Tejeda went down with injuries.  To his credit though, he has been sort of a workhorse out of the pen.  He's usually reliable, just when he's not on, he can be really bad. 

Horacio Ramirez  -  D  -  0-2, 5.96 ERA.  It wasn't a good idea to entertain the idea of starting the season with HoRam as a starter.  I think Trey overrates Ramirez.  If you're stuck with him on a major league roster, he should only be used in long relief or as a mop-up man. 

Dayton Moore and Trey Hillman  -  D  -  This is a results-driven grade.   Fourth place in a five team division deserves a D in my logic.   Dayton made two moves in the off-season that I just never could embrace.   Trading Leo Nunez for Mike Jacobs and signing Kyle Farnsworth for over $9 million for 2 years.   Sure, I can understand that it makes sense to trade a relief pitcher for an everyday player, but first base was far from being our biggest need.   We already had Billy Butler, Ross Gload, Kila Ka'aihue and Ryan Shealy vying for that job.  It seems to me that rather than trading so early for a first basemen a little patience could be used to look for a middle infielder or corner outfielder that could field their position with a little pop in their bat would have been a better avenue to pursue.   I still can't get why he signed Farnsworth for the money he did based on the track record of a pitcher in his 30s.  I'm going to give Dayton a "break even" on the Ramon Ramirez/Coco Crisp trade.  We needed a fly chaser that could bat leadoff and steal bases.  You have to give up things of value to get things of value.  Signing Horacio Ramirez to over a million bucks to try out as a starter didn't make much sense to me at the time and as of now also looks like a bad signing.  Juan Cruz was a good signing for the price.  He has been a downgrade though from Ramon Ramirez.   As I already stated, the Bloomquist and Wright signings were good.   I'm not going to jump on Moore for signing Ponson.  He got him for the league minimum to see if he had anything left and to eat up some innings.   Mission accomplished, he ate some innings and we found out that Ponson is probably shot.

I'm giving Trey a D for the time being, whether its fair or not.  Managers are a bit like umpires as they get noticed when they make a bad call but not when they're right.  I'd have to say that I expect him to do a better job of managing the bullpen than he has so far.  He does OK at pulling the starter at the right time, but I have more questions as to which relievers he uses when he uses them.   I've got to put the Royals poor defensive fundamentals on Trey's shoulders as well.  Outfielders not hitting the cutoff guy and infielders not throwing the ball to the right base is on the manager if these mental lapses continue.   I'll give Trey some credit at trying his darnest to put together a line-up to generate some runs.   I bashed him early on for our lack of small ball execution.  He's been sending runners in motion and trying more bunts and hit and runs, but its still not producing many results.   I'm going to put most of the offensive woes on the shoulders of the hitters.  With several exceptions, most of the hitters have swings that are too long and violent.   They should know as professionals that swinging hard actually slows down bat speed.   Hopefully Trey can just convince his hitters to just relax and wait for their pitch.   Having 5 or our usual 9 starters batting under .250, I feel for Trey a bit, like he's taking a switchblade to a gunfight.