***///--the Official Kansas City Royals Thread--\\\***

[KowboyKoop 0]

17-11 behind a strong outing from Sir SweatsAlot. Offense, as of right now, is averagaing a tick under 5 runs a game (139 in 28 games).....that's stunningly close to the league average. Didn't see that one coming.

[3A 0]

Bannister with another gem of a game today. 6 strong innings no runs 1.00 WHIP and 7K's, his 4th season in the majors (his 1st was just 38inn) He is really playing like a breakout star imo. I picked him up after his 2nd start this year and I feel good about it.Did DirtyDutch ever officially pick his baseball team to route for in the AL? I know we were arguing for certain teams and I was telling him to jump on the KC bandwagon before they broke out, only took 1 year. Many others argued for the Rays, not bad pick but this was mid season and they were already dominating at that point.Good game today little shaky 9th for Soria, but he's allowed every now and then.

[3A 0]

Double post.

[KowboyKoop 0]

I wouldn't call Banny a "breakout star," he'll regress some, he just doesn't get enough K's consistently. However, I think he's better than his '08 numbers...I see him as a 4.75-5.00 ERA pitcher. Servicable for the back end of the rotation.Let's talk about the offense though...coming into today, the Royals were 5th in both OBP and SLG (6th in OPS). That's WAY better than I expected.....I don't expect it to stay quite that high.....but they are a potentially average offense. Crisp is drawing walks like a mad man, Butler's hitting well, Jacobs is hitting RHPs really well, Callaspo is hot..but also a legit good OBP bat. Guillen is showing some plate discipline, SS and C will be weak spots...but man, we might have a decent offense. Could be a fun summer.

[timwakefield 68]

GL with Coco, you'll at least be seeing plenty of highlight reels.

Well, at least he's holding up this end of things.

[KowboyKoop 0]

Coco has been outstanding. Already drawin 21 walks..an OBP of .367 despite only a .238 batting average because of a really unlucky .256 BABIP. His defense has been really good...except for his throwing arm...wow that's an awful arm.

[timwakefield 68]

Coco has been outstanding. Already drawin 21 walks..an OBP of .367 despite only a .238 batting average because of a really unlucky .256 BABIP. His defense has been really good...except for his throwing arm...wow that's an awful arm.

Nice, yeah all I've seen are his defensive highlights and then his batting average, nice to hear he's doing okay at the plate. We're certainly happy with the trade too - Ramon Ramirez is so far 2-0 with a 0.59 ERA in 15 innings.

[TRB05 1]

Another gem for Greinke. Too bad the offense couldn't squeak a couple across for him, seemed to have plenty of opportunities. Really need a strong outing from Davies tomorrow, cannot get swept.

[KowboyKoop 0]

Offense was awful that series...so was the defense. Luke Hochevar gets his first start of the year on Tuesday in Oakland...he was doing his best Zack Greinke impersonation in Omaha, hopefully he can have a good year.

[TRB05 1]

Offense was awful that series...so was the defense. Luke Hochevar gets his first start of the year on Tuesday in Oakland...he was doing his best Zack Greinke impersonation in Omaha, hopefully he can have a good year.

Dammit, I was 5 days off on my prediction (that I obviously stole from someone)I figure the defense is going to cost a handful of games this year, 2 so far (Texas and Anaheim) so I just sorta shrug those off as if I expected it. As for the offense, it was pretty disappointing this weekend considering the two unknowns they faced, and to not even get a run for Greinke really sucks. Good to see Davies have a strong outing though.

[KowboyKoop 0]

How's Kerry Wood working out for you Cleveland??Mike Jacobs absolutely rakes against RHPs. Too bad he's sh*t against LHPs. Teahen continues to hit well...outstanding comeback win. Still one behind Detroit.

[Orion071 0]

Hey, Koop, glad so see you're still keeping this thread alive.My favorite thing about last night's win was both Jacobs and Olivo reigning in their free-swinging ways and actually looking to walk to get baserunners aboard. Especially Olivo. That was his SECOND walk all year and he wasn't going to swing the bat on that 3-1 pitch no matter what. Kevin Seitzer has done a great job in getting the team to take more pitches and walking more. They're on pace for 565 walks and they only had 392 last year. That's a ridiculous improvement considering their 2 big acquisitions (Jacobs and Crisp) weren't known for their walking ability.

[Orion071 0]

Greinke vs. Carl Pavano this afternoon. Has there ever been a wider gulf between pitchers?Oh look, 2-0 KC already.

[Piddle Duck 0]

Greinke vs. Carl Pavano this afternoon. Has there ever been a wider gulf between pitchers?Oh look, 2-0 KC already.

I like this post. I chuckled.

[TRB05 1]

Puke

[SuitedAces21 2,722]

hey hey, welcome to the show.

[TRB05 1]

Puke

Still pretty much the same.

[TRB05 1]

God Trey Hillman is a retard. I think Hillman should be fired. He has been absolute garbage since the day he got here. He has done nothing right since he got here. He has no idea what baseball is about.

Yep

That's what the smart manager would do...but we have Trey Hillman, so....who knows what could happen.

Yep

Trey Hillman = super retard

Pretty much sums my entire post.

Yesterday's loss is 97% Hillman. You gotta be some kind of superidiot...

Yep

Our offense actually isn't THAT bad........below average, but not terrible.

Hmmmm, I think you may be wrong here.

I worry that our manager is going to keep making awful decisions that hurt us

Yep. Seriously... Mitch Maier leadoff, Dejesus 7th?

[TRB05 1]

Dayton Moore has finally pulled off a trade to get the Royals in contention this year and years going forward. Ryan Freel to the Royals + cash for PTBNL. ****ing awesome trade for the Royals. It's not often you can get a career .269 hitter AND CASH for a mere 5 consonants. Seriously, it looks like either Maier's days are nearing an end or there is another deal in the works for Teahen/Bloomquist. Either that, or Moore wants Hillman to have all similar players so that when he picks his lineup out of a hat every night, now it won't seem so retarded.As I'm typing, Jacobs hits a go-ahead HR, about fucking time.

[cujo33 0]

I'm ready for football to start.

[TRB05 1]

Pretty good showing for the lower level minor league teams this year. Burlington and NW Arkansas lost in the championship series, and Wilmington made the playoffs as well losing in the semifinals (I think, not sure). Hopefully this is a sign that the talent level is beginning to increase and will progress to the Royals in the coming years. NEXT YEAR!!!!!!! WOOOOO!!!!!!Greinke for the Cy Young, I'm glad to see everyone showing him love lately. He deserves it, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

[SBriand 4]

Greinke for the Cy Young, I'm glad to see everyone showing him love lately. He deserves it, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

I know his record isn't great (which clearly hasn't been his doing) but he leads in almost everything else but K's. If I gotta vote I don't think twice about putting his name down.

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

Hey koop.. if you ever come back, here's a new flash for you. The royals suck. Epically.Here's a article from Joe Pos.' blog that cracked me up..

Brilliant question from our emigo and most excellent sports fan Aaron Barnhart.**I have worked with Aaron at the Star for like 13 years and I think we have met once. Weird how that works.The question: Has there ever been a team that lost 90 games with a starter and closer that had 2.25 ERAs or better. This is built around the Royals, of course. Zack Greinke has a 2.06 ERA. Joakim Soria has a 2.25 ERA. How difficult is it to lose 90-plus games with that combination?Well, to figure this I went back to 1965 — that’s really about the time when the “closer” became somewhat prominent. There were closers before ’65, of course, but that seems a pretty reasonable cutoff. That was the first year anyone had what we would now consider 30 saves (Ted Abernathy). And Ron Kline had 29 saves that year in the American League.Here, then, are the seven teams that have pulled the trick — I have made the qualification that the starter needed to have 200 innings pitched, and the closer needed to have 20 or more saves:1965 San Francisco Giants: Juan Marichal and Frank Linzy. 95 wins.1966 Los Angeles Dodgers: Sandy Koufax and Phil Regan. 95 wins and pennant.1967 Chicago White Sox: Joe Horlen and Bob Locker. 89 wins.1978 New York Yankees: Ron Guidry and Goose Gossage. 100 wins and World Championship.1988 New York Mets: David Cone and Randy Myers. 100 wins and lost to Dodgers in playoffs.1995 Atlanta Braves: Greg Maddux and Mark Wohlers. 90 wins and World Championship.1996 Florida Marlins: Kevin Brown and Robb Nen. 80 wins.Just missed1988 Los Angeles Dodgers: Orel Hershiser had 2.26 ERA. Jay Howell. Won 94 games and World Series.2005 Houston Astros: Roger Clemens and Brad Lidge had 2.29 ERA with 42 saves. Won 89 games and pennant.So there you go. Using 2.25 ERA as a cutoff point, no team with what you might call a dominant starter and closer has come close to losing the 94 93 games (so far) that the Royals have lost. The 1996 Marlins did manage a losing record with the combination in 1996, however, and they won the World Series the very next year. So … don’t stop believing!

[TRB05 1]

I think I'm done with the Royals. I didn't hate the Teahen trade, I was just kinda meh, but then I read this quote from Dayton Moore "Our motivation behind this deal — and any deal that we make this winter,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore acknowledged, “is to acquire as many zero-to-three service-time players as we can. That was certainly what we did here.”I guess they are writing off next year too, same old shit. Why try to win when you can make the same money as a facilitator of the game for the Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers, etc. Hell, I don't blame Glass, he is a businessman trying to make money. It is just not going to be my money anymore.I think I'll draft a letter to Selig and Moore and tell them that instead of finding another team to root for, I'll just give up pro baseball altogether. Time to look into high school ball around KC.Edit - Link to article : http://www.kansascity.com/159/story/155407...nk=omni_popular

[TRB05 1]

From Joe Posnanski's blog:http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2009/12/12...ll-in-the-wind/

Three, Kendall could offer some of that so-called leadership. It’s not impossible. It worked in Major League*.*Brilliant Reader Johnny suggests that Kendall clearly represents one more puzzle piece in Dayton Moore’s never-ending effort to rebuild the Major League roster. Kendall certainly does inspire thoughts of Tom Berenger’s former All-Star trying to get one more season in the sun (and you could see Kendall bunting in a key situation). Manager Trey Hillman has some Lou Brown in him — or, anyway, you could see him selling tires in Toledo. Kyle Farnsworth was probably an effort to recreate Charlie Sheen’s Wild Thing. Jose Guillen, at least at one time, hit fastballs very very good. And Sidney Ponson, Brett Tomko, Kip Wells, Bruce Chen and John Thompson were just five of the recent attempts to find the old pitcher, Harris, who is just hanging on … the search goes on.And what are the Royals searching for now? You got it: A fast center fielder. If you see a really fast guy trying out in his pajamas — you will know.

JoPos is funny, even when he is reiterating a reader's point.