It’s baseball season!! Isn’t that great!! Oh…you’re a Royals fan. Well, then. Here’s a news flash:
Your team sucks.
No, really. Your team sucks BAD. Sorry for the un-sunny disposition, but the moves you’ve made in the off season to this point have been baffling. Your team has tried to improve by doing the following:
1.) Releasing two serviceable, yet unspectacular catchers in order to sign the worst offensive catcher over the past decade for millions more than you would have owed the two that you released, one being your Cy Young winning pitcher’s favorite target the other one, a cog in the Carlos Beltran deal along with…
2.) …another fan favorite who was traded for two past-prospect age prospects, and in doing so, left your second-best offensive player without a position…
3.) …but that’s all good since he wasn’t that good defensively and you’re in the American League, so you can stash him as the Designated hitter except…
4.) …your moody, over-paid free agent gem from two off-seasons ago – who is still moody and owed more than ten million this year – will probably have to play most of the time at DH, but, like I said he’s moody, and still wants to play in the outfield, which is easier said than done because…
5.) …despite the fact that you have a good number of the same-level players in your minor league system who cost pennies-on-the-dollar compared to who you gave contracts to, you’ve gone ahead and acquired about a half-dozen* outfielders who are either just above, but more likely nowhere near, replacement level, …
* Estimate
6.) …one of whom you’ve promised to give centerfield to despite the fact that he probably has the worst range any of the other potential center-fielders, and who is, by the way, a left-handed power hitter, and will be playing in a home park that is notoriously brutal to left-handed power hitters.
Is that all?? Well, no. There are untold number of reasons why the Royals will suck this year. Six doesn’t even skim the surface. Strangely, the Royals blogosphere, home of some of the best baseball minds in the business, has seemed, unlike in previous years, resigned to this fact.
It’s as if they’re no longer upset at it. They’ve gone thru the five-stages of Royals fandom, and have finally, excruciatingly, made it to acceptance. See, the excuse for Allard Baird was always that he didn’t have enough money. We lucked into having the best young offense in baseball at the turn of the last decade, but didn’t have the resources to keep any of them.
Now that we have (at least some of) the resources, we can firmly press the weight of blame on the shoulders of Dayton Moore.
The guy always seems a day late. Unfortunately, he’s never a dollar short. It seems like every time he thinks we need a particular skill on the team, he goes all “Damn the Torpedoes!!” on us and does whatever it takes to solve the problem as he sees fit with little regard for any of the other skills that particular player (doesn’t) possess.
Case in point: Mike Jacobs. What were we lacking going into last season?? POWER!! Sure!! That’s the ticket!! So what does good ole’ Capn’ Moore do?? Signs Jacobs with little regard to the fact that despite his impressive power numbers, he can’t get on base or hit lefties. Wow…that seems to be two pretty big holes in your game, especially when you (again) have a good number of the same-level players in your minor league system who cost pennies-on-the-dollar compared to Mike Jacobs. Sound familiar??
This season, it was speed and defense, which is why we got the outfielders we did…except, none are particularly good at it, and, as said before, we’ve promised the one with the least range center field. Oh, and none of them can get on base, either…FUN!!
On top of that, we’ve been told all along that we’re building the minor-league system, and while there does seem to be some talent down there, Royals fans will still no doubt continue to be reminded that there are better players that we passed up in the draft who are already making impacts on their major league clubs.
At least this time, they weren’t passed up due to signability…nope, just pure ineptitude.
In years past, this analysis might have seemed a little harsh. Up until last off-season, Moore’s track record with the Royals seemed to point us back to respectability. Now??
Yep. Still in last place.
While writing this, I sent an E-Mail to Logg and Conor Jay, letting them know that the post was upcoming.
Me: “Royals post coming today…”
Logg: “Who are the Royals?”
Sigh…ignorance is bliss…
