Childhood Sports

My best sports memories growing up were with my friends in the driveway or backyard.  My neighbor and I played outside all the time as a kid,  I love the movie Sandlot because that was our life to some degree.  On a typical day we would wake up play baseball in the backyard with a plastic bat and tennis ball, eat lunch, then go hang out at the pool.  We didn't travel to a tournament on the weekend, we played when we wanted to.  Kids are just fine playing in recreation leagues or other small leagues.

Today kids and parents are being forced by the societal norm to play organized sports way too much.  Kids aren't playing pick up basketball anymore, they're not shooting baskets in the driveway and it's really depressing.  My generation just missed out on this trend but I can see the effects on my friends that are still in high school.  They are playing sports all the time, and to have any free time or a summer job, they have to choose their favorite/best sport and stick to that. I've talked to a lot of my friends that are still in high school and many are playing sports they tired of, or have just quit.  The summer used to be a break, a chance for kids to make a little money, but now it's more sports.

When kids are playing 6 games a weekend they start going through the motions.  They revert back to bad habits and create new ones. By playing so many games they lose the competitive edge they once had.  Also, make sure it's something they really want to do.  Too often I see kids playing just to play, it's a waste of money and time, get them involved in something they are interested in.  Another thing that frustrates me is that parents think their kids needs to start playing sports as early as possible.  My cousin has his 3 year old playing flag football.. 3 year old.  Playing in backyard once a week will benefit your child way just running around.  Hopefully parents will start to see that playing organized sports all the time isn't what's best for their kids.

Chiefs/Sporting KC

Chiefs

I've checked out, I really don't care about the Chiefs at this moment.  I want them to lose, get a better draft pick, and fire the coach and general manager.  I don't want to write too much about the Chiefs because my views don't really differ from most fans.  I don't see how you can keep Scott Pioli around.  He has hired two bad coaches, been unable to improve the team in free agency, and has drafted very poorly.  Tyson Jackson, Eric Berry, Jonathan Baldwin, and Dontari Poe are Pioli's first round draft picks, and none of them show much promise to become anything, Berry hasn't recovered from his ACL surgery.  It's just frustrating because these were the couple years the Chiefs were supposed to compete. Yet the inability to draft and develop players has killed this team, all the good players on this team are from Carl Peterson's drafts.  Teams can make excuses in baseball, and sometimes in basketball but football is a level playing field. No team has all the money, NFL stars aren't begging to be traded, most advantages in the NFL are earned, and the Chiefs aren't making the most of anything.  The Chiefs are really falling off my radar, two years ago they were my favorite team, now they're just blocking me from watching real football on Sunday's.

Sporting KC

It's good to have a team that knows what they're doing.  This offseason Sporting KC has been active, cutting players that didn't fit into their system and filling holes.  They recognize what players are replaceable, and those they need to build their team around.  They let two midfielders go, but then replaced the them with better options.  Right now they have a good striker in C.J. Sapong, and instead of saying "were good" they are looking to add a top of the line striker from Argentina.  In the year I've been following them I've been amazed how many good moves they have made.  Right now they have a young team with lots of potential, kinda like the Royals.  But Sporting KC is actually resigning their stars, not making excuses about payroll.  Sporting KC are making great business decisions, creating a winning atmosphere, instead being content and making excuses why they can't contend.  Sporting KC has the right mind set, they're making good things happen, instead of hoping. Its good to see one Kansas City sports team has it figured out.

One Step Sideways, 2 Steps Back

The Royals traded outfielder Wil Myers, arguably the best hitting prospect in baseball for an above average pitcher in James Shields, and an average pitcher in Wade Davis.  Yes James Shields has put together two really good years in a row, but a big reason for that was who he was pitching for. Tampa Bay has the best defense in the league and the best manager, two things that will change in KC. If I were to predict his year I would say 210 innings with an ERA of around 4.00. Wade Davis is a decent pitcher, who can hopefully help out the rotation next year but I'm not counting on much.  This trade upgrades the rotation for next year but I don't think they are much better next year with this trade, and for the future they are way worse.

The biggest factor that is getting overlooked is that the Royals have the worst right fielder in the game, Jeff Francouer, and we traded away Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year, and other good prospects.  What really frustrates me is that if Jeff Francouer was making two million dollars he'd be replaced, but since he makes about 8 million he remains on the team. Sometimes teams have to realize they made a mistake and limit the damage, instead of determining playing time by salaries. He hit .235 with 49 RBI's last year and terrible plate discipline, and he's going to be our starting right fielder.

I don't understand why the Royals why the Royals don't utilize free agency.  Brandon McCarthy signed last week for a 2 year 15 million dollar deal with Arizona.  Yet every major deal the Royals have made recently has been through a trade. Yes you typically have to pay a bigger salary to free agents but you don't have to give up any prospects to do so.  And it's not like they are saving money with Shields and Davis, their salaries total 16 million dollars a year, while Myers costs almost nothing.  Why not put less money into Brandon McCarthy and keep Wil Myers, or make a bold move and sign Anibal Sanchez to a five year deal worth about 15 million a year?

The Royals are now in complete win now mode. I thought they needed to start winning this year, but I also thought they shouldn't mortgage the future to do so. I'm not completely done with this team, but if this trade doesn't work, I'm checking out.

Ugh...

Royals

The statements coming from Royals owner David Glass are so frustrating.  He wants us to feel sorry for him, stating that if the payroll is 70 million then he will break even, not make a dime.  When a businessman makes a bad decision he is left financially unstable.  When a sports owner makes a bad decision, he profits.  Sports teams in America are one of, if not the safest investment.  David Glass bought the Royals for 96 Million in 2000, (there was actually somebody who bid 120 million but he was rejected because his net worth was not high enough) since then, they have had one winning season (which was 99% luck, 1% Ken Harvey) and zero playoff appearances.  Now the team is worth over 300 million according to Forbes.  So he has made over 200 million by default, and according to multiple sources he has made another 20 million per year from ticket sales, parking, and paying players an average of 10.75 an hour, safely above minimum wage.

I feel hopeless with this team, I've invested time, money, and passion into the Royals.  They feed you this false sense of hope year after year, and I believe that without changes this year, things will change.  People aren't going to invest money into this bull shit again.  I really hope they move, I don't want to care anymore.  Just let Kaufman Stadium sit there, year after year.  Give us the Marlins Owner, at least he kind of tried.  David Glass said he was going to improve the pitching staff and the only difference from the end of last year to now is adding a pitcher who sucked last year, and retaining one that has sucked his whole career.  Shouldn't the fact that his team has never made the playoffs piss him off?  Shouldn't the fact that the Royals are the punch line of every baseball joke make fire him up?

Thank God for Sporting KC!

Major League Baseball

MLB

Major League Baseball took away the only advantage the Royals had. Last offseason baseball decided to put a limit on what each team could spend during the draft.  Since the Dayton Moore became the Royals General Manager he has wisely spent more money in the draft than any other team.  Where he has succeeded most, is spending money in the later rounds by giving high schoolers big bonuses to sign with the Royals organization, instead of going to college.  By doing this he accumulated lots of the top prospects, and has consistently had one of the best farm systems in the league. The rule to me does not make any sense.

The NFL and NBA have these rules because they have a salary cap.  The MLB does not, I hate everything the rule stands for, it makes Major League Baseball a huge hypocrite. They have a problem with the Royals giving one million dollars to a fifth round draft pick.  However, they do not have a problem with the Yankees having a payroll over 200 million dollars, five times the amount of some teams.  Now the small market teams are forced to sign players like Jeremy Guthrie to a 3 year 25 million dollar deal, instead of signing a prospect to a deal worth less a million a year.  If the top draft picks were getting 8-10 million dollars a year I would understand, but even the top picks were only making 2-3 million a year.  This rule will definitely hamper the Royals which means they will have to get better in other areas, like pitching.

When the Royals think about the way they have developed starting pitchers recently there is only one thought, "shit!" The Royals have ruined every good starting pitching prospect since Zach Grienkie, he was drafted 10 years ago.  They have to realize that what they are doing is not working, at the minor and major league level. Instead of singing another pitcher this offseason go to Oakland and say "we'll give you 30 million for every coach associated with pitching in your organization."  If that investment turns a few minor and major league pitchers around then it would be worth more than signing Shaun Marcum for 4 years 40 million dollars.

KU Basketball

I got free tickets to the KU basketball game on Monday and I didn't really care.  I feel somewhat bad for the person I took because I was more interested in talking to him than actually paying attention to the game. To be honest I really don't care about KU basketball anymore, they used to be up there with the Chiefs and Royals but for many reasons they have just slipped out of my interest. I'm sorry, but don't expect any KU basketball posts this season.

Hope you guys enjoyed this post, and sorry all of my post have been negative lately.  Hopefully the Royals can turn it around next year, I still have some faith.  

Also, If you want to learn more about the consequences of the draft rule, listen to Baseball America's draft podcasts a few months back, they do a good job of explaining everything.

AL MVP/First Soccer Post

AL MVP

Mike Trout deserved to be the MVP in my opinion.  He completely changed that team when he was called up after the first month of the season.  He played his ass off every night injecting life into a team that started the season 6-14 without him.  If you were to develop a player in a lab, Trout would be it, he has no weaknesses.  Cabrera can hit, and that's it.  Four times a game he stepped up to the plate and helped his team, but the rest of the game he was a liability.  He was a poor defensive player, didn't run the bases well, he is what Billy Butler is for the Royals.  Trout stole 49 bases and was only caught 5 times, a stat I feel got overlooked when people evaluated him.  I also hate the argument that Cabrera led his team to the playoffs while Trout didn't, THE ANGELS WON MORE GAMES.  I'm not going to complain too much because Cabrera did have a great season, and the fact that he won the Triple Crown is pretty cool.

Here's a shout-out to Buster Posey for deservedly winning the NL MVP (I don't want my San Francisco fan to complain).

Soccer

I can't decide what to do about soccer with this blog and keep asking myself these questions.

Does anybody care about soccer?

Would anybody like to learn about soccer?

Should I focus on...

Sporting KC?  

The entire MLS?  

The U.S. Men's national team?  

European Soccer?  

It's pretty complicated so feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Talking to my former basketball coach a few months ago I realized this is the first generation in America to grow up with soccer as a relevant sport.  Soccer 20-30 years ago would be like cricket today.  And now it's one of the most popular sports for kids growing up.  The U.S. National Team is slowly getting better along with the MLS developing into a strong league.  I love the way the game is developing right now, naturally, without the "help" of ESPN.

I think two reasons soccer isn't growing even faster is because of ESPN and the media.  The first blunder was how they handled Freddy Adu.  Adu was a promising young player that had the potential to develop into a star.  ESPN created a prodigy, putting an enormous hype around him, making him out to be way better than he actually was.  He signed with an MLS team at the age of 14 and was playing against the big boys right away.  Youth soccer stars are brought up through youth academies, playing with kids their age, and their competition till about 18 years old until they slowly worked into the team, like most athletes are.  What the MLS did ruined Adu and he has never developed into anything more than an average player, creating disappoint in those who bought into the hype.

The next mistake ESPN made was the way David Beckham was glorified.  First of all ESPN stated that Beckham signed a 5 year 250 million dollar contract.  That was ESPN being completely wrong, with all of the endorsements it totaled about 50 million dollars a year, but in reality he signed a 5 year 32 million dollar contract with the L.A. Galaxy (the Yankees of the MLS).  They also made it sound like he was going to take the MLS to a different level, I believed he was going to be scoring goals every game.  But Beckham is not somebody who scores a lot of goals, he sits back in the midfield making great passes, and scores once every five games, on average.  Once again fans were let down when Beckham turned out to be a pretty boring player.  ESPN has done a poor job handling soccer and has pushed a lot of people away from the game by creating hype and disappointments in Adu and Beckham.

Hope you enjoyed this post, please let me know if you are interested in reading soccer posts in the future.

I've got 99 Problems and the Thunder are One

Thunder

I am so sick of the NBA billionaire owners complaining that small market teams can't compete financially.  I understand that big market teams have an advantage, but you can't change that, so quit bitching and win. And if that means spending a few million over the salary cap to keep James Harden you better do it.  The Thunder have sold out every game the past four seasons, have one of the most marketable players in Kevin Durant.  If you can't make money under those circumstances you don't deserve to own a team. Here's a theory, you risk short term gains and sign Harden to an extension. The Thunder are valued around 500 million, with the addition of Harden say you win 3 out of the next 8 titles. In the process you build a small dynasty and become one of the best teams in the NBA. With this success the team's increase in worth would far outweigh the small luxury tax penalty. Another thing to consider is that the Thunder have been the bandwagon team of the past year, growing fast in popularity. They could of chose to build on this and become the cool team of NBA but it seems they will fade away like Crocs.  I understand that the Thunder can still compete, but I feel Harden would of made them the favorites over the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

Lakers

Oh do I love seeing the Lakers struggle, here are some potential problems I see.

• The offense has always been run through Kobe.
• The offense has always been run through Nash.
• The offense has always been run through Howard.
• Kobe is one of the most competitive athletes around.
• Howard is one of the least competitive athletes around, and was very unpopular because of that during the 2008 olympics.
• Kobe is 34, and has to go to Germany to receive treatments on his knee.
• Nash is 38, and has already missed games this year.
• Gasol runs an illegal magic ring, where he disappears for games at a time.
• Howard had back surgery this offseason.
• Nash and Kobe don't play defense.
• They have the worst bench in the league, they could have open tryouts tomorrow and four WNBA teams would be contacted about the availability of their players.
• Mike Brown is not a good coach.
• To wrap it all up, they have a fairly old team, that is injury prone, not well coached, and have personalities and play styles that don't gel together.

I realize they will probably figure it out with all the talent they have, but I would love to see this team self implode. The NBA is great right now.  There has never been more story lines, and when we look back in 20 years, these will be the glory days of the NBA.

Ervinthan Sanchanez

Royals

Today the Royals traded for pitcher Angels starting pitcher Ervin Santana. Though Santana has a pretty good track record, he was bad last year, and was one of the reasons the Angels missed the playoffs. The good thing is that this is a low risk move because this is the last year of his contract, the Angels actually picked up him option so they could trade him.  His contract is 13 million this season, and though the Angels sent cash in the trade Dayton Moore said the Royals are picking up the majority of it, in my opinion no less than 10 million.

Best Case Scenario:

Santana finds his 2011 form and becomes the ace of the Royals staff.  He stays healthy, something has done well throughout his career and becomes... reliable. Other than Kyle Davies and Luke Hochevar no starting pitcher since Zach Greinke has been reliable, good thing Hochevar figured it out this year ;) Also I believe that we set an innings limit with him because we want him to live a happy and healthy life and pitching more than 150 innings for the Royals would put that at risk. To be honest though, he could be the ace of this staff and end up with a high strikeout total and an ERA of 3.50.

My Take:

My number one concern is that he wasn't good last year, and the Royals don't exactly have a history of fixing pitchers. Nothing the Royals have done gives me confidence that he will find his stuff again. One thing I like about him though is that he seems to enjoy baseball and human interaction, and unlike Sanchez he said he is excited to hang out with his new teammates. Another good thing is that the Royals are willing spend some money, but will this continue?  The Royals in my opinion have four things they need to do this offseason, this covers one of them, here are the next three.

• I believe they need to resign Jeremy Guthrie, or at least a proven pitcher of his caliber, a fourth starter on a competent staff.  I think they could resign Guthrie for 3 years and anywhere from 18-26 million, he's 33 years old and could be overlooked this offseason.

• The next checkmark would be going out and signing a number two or three starter (number one for the Royals).  Somebody like Anibal Sanchez or Edwin Jackson for a long term deal in the range of 10-13 million a year.

• The fourth step would be getting rid of Jeff Francoeur and bringing up Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year, Wil Meyers. Francoeur had one of the worst seasons ever in 2012 and barely deserves an invite to a major league spring training next season.  Good teams recognize bad contracts, eat them, and move on, not reasoning with "he's making 8 million so we should give him another chance."

Obviously there are more things they can do, but I feel these are the most important things they should do to improve the team for next year and the future.

I was going to write about James Harden today but ran out of time. I just feel with two years left on his contract they should have gone for the title this year and worried about his contract situation next offseason.  The Owner said he really like the trade, but I don't know how you can be too excited with Kevin Martin and an unproven rookie.

Time to Vent

I hate...

• people that think it is still funny to Tebow, there are 282 things more original than Tebowing including, picking your nose, planking, and simply saying "the Royals suck."
• people that crucify the college athletes for accepting money.  Why go after the athletes while boosters, coaches, and other role models for the students are the ones offering them money. 
• people that hate on soccer.  I understand if you don't like it, but why go out of your way to make fun of it?
• that every year we spend so much time dissecting the BCS Standings at this point in the season. Have we not learned how hard it is to go undefeated?
• how match-ups work in fantasy football.  The last two weeks I've lost by .7 and 1.1 points yet I scored the 2nd and 3rd most points, how is that fair?  Say you have a 10 team league, each week the top 5 scoring teams should get a win and the bottom 5 should get losses. Or even better, award points, 10 to the top scoring team 9 to the second and so on.  Your fantasy success should not hinge on whether you were better than one out of 10 teams.
• the term "goal-line running back".  Why not put your "best" running back in to score touchdowns?
• people that hate Russell Westbrook.  He's a really good point guard yet every time the Thunder struggle it's "he can't play with Durant, they should trade him." People call him a ball hog yet he has played alongside  the NBA scoring champion the past two seasons.
• people that think Dwayne Wade is an elite player. This guy is no more than Tracy McGrady. Thank God that the media realized that LeBron is better. Wade has his moments but the number of bad shots he takes is through the roof.
• Skip Bayless.  He's so dramatic, never admits he's wrong, and really makes me hate ESPN more for keeping him around for ratings. 
• that I hate these players.  Peyton Manning, Kobe Bryant and Derek Jeter. I always have and always will root against these players.
• that Rajon Rondo plays for Sunshine Nursing Home*. This guy is really good, maybe the second best point guard, and yet people just point out the fact that he can't shoot.  Rondo is almost an identical player Dustin Schiller (the point guard for my high school team).  He may not score a lot but he's so good at everything else.
• that Sunshine Nursing Home is bitter about Ray Allen leaving.  They tried to trade him... twice! Kevin Garnett (the biggest douche of all time) won't talk to Ray because he left for Miami. I'd be bitter too if I actually had a job to compare it to.  
• that everybody compares LeBron to Jordan.  They are not the same type of player, Jordan was the greatest scorer of all time, LeBron is one of the best all around players of all time.
• that everybody wants to make Tony Romo out to be this awful quarterback.  He's not elite but he's good, just let him be good and move on with your life.  This applies more to a few years back, but there are still people that hate on him.
• that the Royals fired hitting coach Kevin Seitzer.
• that I know the Royals will bring back Luke Hochevar next season.
• sports talk radio.  All it is reactionary analysis, and very boring interviews of players and coaches.
• that Scott Pioli might get an extension.  What would he get if he was doing a good job?
• that the Chiefs are going to start winning and go 6-10, forcing them to either reach for a quarterback or take another defensive lineman.

* The new name for the Boston Celtics because of their age, and the fact that I don't like them.

I know, 2 posts in one week?  I hope to start writing more, no guarantees but I'm enjoying writing again.

It's Been too Long

I am experiencing closer syndrome. I used to be able to write whenever I wanted but for whatever reason I can't do it anymore. I have all these great ideas but they are left for dead.  Like any good closer I am breaking down.  I now know how John Axford and Jose Valverde feel. I've tried writing plenty of times but nothing good comes out. Here's my best attempt, hope you all enjoy.

Strasburg

Stephen Strasburg is that remote control helicopter your friend got for Christmas.  You're so jealous and can't wait until you get invited over to play with it.  But when you do, all he does fly it around in his hands making the most ridiculous helicopter noises.  Then you ask him "why don't you use the remote control and fly it all over the yard?" He simply replies "well I might break it."  Your a nice kid and say "oh ok," but your thinking "wow this kid sucks, he gets this great present and doesn't even use it right."  This is how every general manager feels about how Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo used Stephen Strasburg this season.  I am rooting for the Nationals to miss the playoff the next two years and for Strasburg to demand a trade.  Oh and for Bryce Harper to stub his toe, that could be a huge setback for him.

Chiefs

The Chiefs are in trouble.  The playoff run in 2010 was supposed to propel us into one of the four or five best teams in the AFC.  Instead we go backward.  They are 30 million dollars under the salary cap this year, and let Brandon Carr walk.  Since 2008 they have used the 3rd, 5th, and 11th pick in the draft on defensive lineman and can't stop the run, let alone get near the quarterback with those three. The quarterback position is a joke.  I protected Matt Cassel for the longest time but he's a below average quarterback. This was the make or break year, last year could be blamed on the coach and injuries but this year simply cannot. We need a new General Manager, and an owner who wants to win.  None of what Pioli has done has showed me anything, almost all of his draft picks have disappointed.  And the coach he chose is just awful.  What we were supposed to get with Crennel was a good defense and team that played hard for him.  We got neither, and he and Jason Garrett are battling out for the worst clock manager award.  The window to win was now, but unfortunately are left to wait.

Royals

Baltimore can do it in one year.  Oakland can trade their best two pitchers and do it.  Yet the Royals need 7 years to turn things around?  Like I said about the Chiefs, this coming year will be the make or break year for the Royals.  You look at the playoff teams and think nobody is that good.  The Yankees are old and can't hit.  The Orioles have an average lineup and average pitching staff.  Detroit doesn't try in the regular season.  And Oakland has a Triple-A lineup plus 5 rookie starting pitchers.  The league will get stronger next year with the addition of Houston next year.  Quick, name as many Astros as you can... I got one, Brett Wallace, next challenge, google him and try not to laugh (I am sure he is a very nice gentleman).  Anyway, the Royals don't have any excuses next year, go sign starting pitching, go sign every pitching coach in the A's organization, and trade for Robinson Cano (only kidding).  "If you build it they will come."  This is what I want David Glass to learn, the legends didn't come to his front door and say "hey bro, could you build us a kick-ass baseball field?"  Glass needs to build a good baseball team and the people will come.  The town is supporting a soccer team right now, they will sure as hell support the Royals.

Hope you all enjoyed it, I will try to write more in the future but no promises.

College Chemistry

After some day dreaming at the hot dog stand I realized that Major League Baseball is a lot like a college class.  These analogies are based on the history of baseball, not just focused on this year. 

You have to start with the Yankees, the really smart science nerd that doesn't have to study to get an A.  Follow that with the smart ass that constantly tries to one up Edwin, and ends up looking like a fool:  The Red Sox.  The next student is the really smart kid that has it all, but doesn't seem to care:  The Mets and Dodgers.  Everybody loves the smart and social guy that will help you with your homework and has the respect of everyone:  The Rangers and Braves.  Then the kid that everybody tries to console, he knows the material but always stresses out and bombs the tests:  The Cubs.  You can't leave out the hard working students that work 30 hours a week and still find time to study:  The Twins and A's, and currently the Rays.  Don't forget the people that constantly ask to copy your homework and write notes on their hand on test day, the Steriod Era players (that one was too easy).    

The Royals analogy is based on the Dayton Moore era:  At the start of the semester Luke worked harder than anybody else.  He was on student loans and knew he had to study and work harder than the others:  The Royals development of the best farm system.  After the first couple of tests Luke became content, didn't study as much as he should of, and even skipped a few classes which dropped his grade to a C:  The Royals recent drafts, and offseason moves.  Jimmy cannot become lazy, he has to step it up, put in the extra time to earn scholarships and awards.

The Royals have become content.  I think that Dayton Moore believed the talent in the minors would be enough to succeed.  I would be very surprised if the pitching staff they have built will be good enough.  They are sending out average minor league pitchers 3 out of 5 days.  Yes they have had injuries this year but shouldn't "the best farm system ever" be able to send out promising pitchers?  I realize pitching is hard to develop but it's not impossible.  The Royals farm system has produced only one starting pitcher, Danny Duffy.  He looks promising, but you never know how a pitcher will respond to Tommy John surgery.  With Dayton Moore unwilling to trade promising prospects for big league pitching, and the Glass family against spending any money, they may have to drop out.

It's About Time I Write

No I have not forgot about my blog, through the first half of the season I tried to avoid the highs and lows.  About every 2 weeks, sometimes less there is a shift in how people feel about this team.  From wow this team could really compete, to wow this team is going lose over 100 games. I stand in the middle, I see them winning about as many as last year.  And though people will not see this as progress it is because last year was about as lucky as a team can get, virtually nobody got hurt.  This year is a different story.

Before the season started, the Royals lost their closer for the year and catcher Salvador Perez for 2 months.  In the second series they lost their starting center fielder, who will now return after the break.  Although Cain is not a key part of this team he does play great defense. Now the Royals have to chose between Cain, who has very few at bats in the majors, one of their clubhouse leaders in Francoeur, and Wil Meyers, who is putting up very impressive stats in Triple-A.  Who will be the odd man out?  Whoever it is I know they are second guessing the two year deal they made with Francoeur last year.

They have also lost two of their top pitchers in Duffy and Paulino for the year.  But don't worry Hochevar has it figured out.  He does this every year, he has four or five good outings and then suddenly becomes our ace.  His ERA is still above 5, at best he is a end of the rotation man.  Bruce Chen cannot pitch on the road, he has  3.21 ERA at home vs. a 7.11 ERA on the road.  The starting pitching is simply terrible.

I'm not going to criticize the Melky Cabrera trade because I supported it at the time but there were three other clear cut opportunities to improve the pitching this past offseason.  The A's, who went in rebuilding mode this offseason practically gave away two good, young pitchers in Gio Gonzalez, now an All Star for the Nationals and Trevor Cahill, a solid starter for the Diamondbacks.  The one thing I don't like about Dayton Moore is his love for his prospects.  He isn't willing to trade top prospects in the farm system to get starting pitching.  They could of also signed Edwin Jackson, any three of these would be there best pitcher by a mile.

I feel the hitting will come around, and the lineup will be pretty good, if Hosmer stops swinging at everything.  But the pitching staff has so many holes, average minor league pitchers are starting for this team.  This management has to figure it out.  If you build it they will come.  Royals fans will show up to ballpark if the team spends the money it takes to put a winning team out there.  This city is in desperate need of a winner, even some people are becoming soccer fans ;)  If this team ever competes for the playoffs the city will go nuts.

Still a Skeptic

This season has gone against all reasonable thought.  They fail to win a game on their opening against less than stellar opponents then beat some of the best teams in the league.  But are they really changed or just in a hot stretch?

I seem to believe it's just a run of good form. Of course the past three series have been a step in the right direction, but after seeing them lose 12 games in a row I'm not ready to give them back my heart.  I know this is sort of a depressing post but I'm not ready to get excited about a team that is 15-20.  I am still very skeptical about the starting pitching now, and for the future, the bullpen has been bailing them out lately.  

For the good news, Jarrod Dyson has been everything you look for in a lead-off hitter, a high on base percentage and the ability to steal bases.  Escobar has improved greatly at the plate this year, in average and slugging, you would like to see his OBP rise though.  Getz has proved everybody wrong and has held his own at the plate this year, he has also come up with some clutch hits.  Moustakas has been the most impressive to this point.  He is playing at an All-Star level, and his reputation as the Royals hardest worker is starting to show in the box score.

Hope you enjoyed the post, may post about soccer in the future, still unsure.

The "Royals" Treatment

Sorry I haven't written in a while, my life is very crazy right now (Lie!!! I was too lazy to go have a beer on my 21st birthday).  That said I don't want to post if the Royals continue to suck, because unless it's funny nobody will enjoy reading it.  But under the unlikely scenario they play better baseball, I could post multiple times a week, maybe throw in some Sporting KC as well.  As it stands now, the Royals don't have either thing it takes to be successful in MLB, starting pitching and money.

Not only has this terrible start ruined my hope for this year, it has definitely weakened my faith for the future.  Danny Duffy has looked good this year, but still nothing spectacular.  His ERA is 4.00 and has a WHIP of 1.59, you expect to get that production from your fourth starter, and he's the Royals best.  There  aren't any pitchers in the minors that appear to make a difference in the future either.  Mike Montgomery, once a promising prospect cannot figure out Triple-A hitters, and John Lamb is injured.  I really don't know how much longer this losing can last under this ownership.  We've been fed crap ever since David Glass took over, and if he doesn't spend the money it takes to win, I could see the Royals finding a new home.  The number of lawsuits they are about to receive may cause them to leave as well.  Clinically depressed-diehard Royals fans may have a chance in court.

This is Our Time... To Bunt?!

"Things the Royals do that make me mad", number one, bunt all the time.  Ned Yost has never been a manager who bunts a lot until this year.  There is one person who should bunt on this team, Chris Getz, other than that bunting should be very limited.  Multiple times this year the Royals have hit a leadoff double, only to attempt to bunt the runner to third.  If the Royals could actually bunt I would put up with it, but they are terrible at bunting.  Here is what bunting does.

1.  Lowers the confidence in your players.  When you decide to bunt, you are saying we don't trust you as a situational hitter.

2.  Concedes an out which greatly decreases your chances of a big inning.

3.  Can very easily get a player into a 0-2 count.  With today's players having the inability to lay down a good bunt, they often foul off two pitches trying to get the bunt perfectly down the line, leaving them in a pitchers count without confidence.

4.  Bunting the ball in play doesn't automatically get the runner over, and sometimes gets the lead runner out, leaving you worse off than if you struck out.

Bunting has it's place in the National League with pitchers, but the Royals need to build confidence and string together hits.

As for an overall take on the Royals I still love and them and they still drive me crazy.  They've won two games in a row, but it already feels like this season is over.  If they string together some wins in the next 3 to 4 weeks they could get back into the picture but the odds aren't in their favor.  The starting pitching is brutally awful right now (besides Chen).  The starters are going five innings almost ever start, which is a death sentence for the bullpen.  Another pet peeve of mine is seeing 0-2 and 1-2 pitches wasted all the time.  Giving up and 0-2 hit kind of sucks but getting outs early in the count, is key to lasting into the late innings.  Watching Hochevar pitch is so frustrating, he's 28 years old, and still hasn't learned to pitch.  I could rant all day long but I'll stop here, hope you enjoyed the post and thanks for reading.

This Sucks

The Royals Can't Be This Awful

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and a desperate measure for the Royals would be to spend money.  If this is "Our Time" then make it our time.  Go sign Edwin Jackson, go sign Mark Buehrle, do something that shows the fans and players that you are committed to winning. I wish it was easier for me not to care about the Royals.  I would love to find an "unfan" button in my heart, just like an "unfriend" button on Facebook.  But as long as they play in Kansas City I am almost certain I will be a fan.

Last year at this time the Royals were doing all the little things right, and you felt like they were going to win every close game.  This year they remind me of a high school baseball team.  They are throwing to the wrong bases, getting picked off, and swinging at everything.  I think the Royals should just forfeit the final game of the series and have a movie day.  First, watch Moneyball, to learn how to play the game, work the count, move runners over, play baseball the right way.  Next, you can never go wrong with Rocky, I'm not sure which one would be best, so I'll let Ned decide.  Hmmm... This is a tough call, but for the third movie I'd go with Tin Cup, it is not baseball related but a damn good movie, and pretty motivational.  The obvious choice to finish off is The Sandlot.  This movie is a classic and every time I watch this I have the urge to go play baseball.  After further thought, a movie day is probably not a realistic solution, Blu-ray discs are pretty expensive.

I am finding it really hard to find positives.  I was going to mention how good Duffy has been but peer pressure got the best of him.  What is awful about the Royals is that their best starts this year haven't given the bullpen any sort of break.  They struggle to make it through five innings, leaving their bullpen overworked and exposed.  But don't worry, there is hope, it just happens to reside in a different part of the city.

Representing Kansas City Right

Sporting KC did lose their first game on Saturday, but they are still up four games on the Royals.  I'm not going to go into much detail on Sporting right now because I have a soccer post I've been working on coming out in a few days where I go into further detail on their season and team.  Thanks for reading, hopefully next time I write the Royals will have won a game.

It's Not Too Late to Buy Into Sporting KC

Seriously...

I am past the point of mad at the Royals, I'm disappointed in them.  I realize it's only been 9 games, which is a very small sample size in the grand scheme of things, but it has been a shitty sample.  They were supposed to be better, and some thought they'd be good.  As much as I downplayed my expectations for the season I really thought they could make a run, or at least become relevant.  The Royals are that girl that you've had a crush on for years, but you can never find the courage to ask out.  When you finally do ask her, she says she doesn't feel the same way, and you're left broken hearted.  Not only did the Royals reject me, they had the audacity to offer me the 4th spot in the rotation, just a complete slap in the face.

After 6 games the Royals' starting pitching looked to be greatly improved.  3 games and 32 runs later my opinion has been changed. Starting pitching isn't everything as the San Francisco Giants learned last year, but you can't win without it.  I keep telling myself it's only 9 games, every team goes through a slump, lets just hope this is the Royals' slump.  It's hard to put the blame on one player, (unless you're Bill Buckner) but you can't blame the offense, they scored enough runs to win 1 if not 2 games this past series.  The source of the problem is starting pitching.  When the starting pitching is bad, the relief pitching is abused.  They had to send down Dyson to pick up another pitcher for the final game of the series.  And then used outfielder Mitch Maier to pitch a scoreless 9th inning.  Some of the blame has to go to the defense as well.  Some of their mistakes have cost them this year, the worst being Escobar's error against the A's.  Hopefully the Royals can turn it around, but Royals history paints us a different picture.

Sporting KC 6-0-0 

Sporting Kansas City is amazing.  Through six games they have allowed 1 goal, and are dominating the MLS.  I could go on and on about how much I have enjoyed watching, and following this team.  I'd love to write about Sporting KC this year but I'm not sure about everybody reading this.  Shoot me a text or leave a comment if you are interested in reading about Sporting KC on regular basis.

3-3 Should Feel Better

This was one of those games you would rather lose 8-1 than blow a lead in the 12th.  Ugh this is also one of those days where you ask yourself "why do I care so much?" And "why am I still a Royals fan?"  Nevertheless the Royals should feel good about their first two series.

The starting pitching was very good in the first six games.  The pitchers didn't pitch deep into games but they were effective and didn't allow many runs.  Duffy looked the best but... it was against three major league caliber players and six number nine hitters.  All six of the starts have been encouraging and it appears the Royals new pitching coach is a keeper.  With all of this said there are still 156 more games where the starting pitching has a chance to suck.

Chen:  11 innings 2 ER's
Hochever:  6.1 innings 2 ER's
Sanchez:  5 innings 2 ER's
Mendoza:  5.2 innings 1 ER
Duffy:  6 innings 0 ER's

There's not a whole lot to say about the lineup.  Through 6 games they rank about 10th offensive numbers.  Besides Frenchie and Butler the lineup is struggling but it's way too early to make any conclusions.

The Royals have a day off before they start a 10 game home-stand.  This is a very crucial 10 games, if they struggle it could be the start of a long season, If they can win 6 or 7 games there is still hope.  As for the Royals' new announcer Rex Hudler, I really don't like him.  He is in a very tough situation though.  He hasn't been a Royals fan and cannot relate to the fans, he doesn't know what we've been through.  I'm trying to cut him some slack though, the anger should be directed at the Royals ownership and not him.

I'm still trying to develop a schedule on how often I should write and how I should organize it.  I know this isn't much but at least I didn't wait another two months to post again.

I'm Back!!!

Royals

Sorry for the giant delay of posts, I don't really have an excuse.  I've focused much of my sports attention over the past 2-3 months on soccer, and I know none of my readers give a damn about soccer.  I hope to start writing more frequently again once the Royals season starts.  Hopefully writing about every week like I did in the fall.  My view on the Royals is very uncertain.  Some days my expectations are high and sometimes they are low, here are my reasons for both.

Why I Think They Will Make the Playoffs

• The division is really bad
• They finished strong
• They are a young team that is only going to get better
• They acquired a starting pitcher
• The players seem really excited and motivated
• The offense is really good
• The starting pitching can't get worse
• I don't think the Tigers are that good, Verlander can't repeat last season, and their defense could be record setting bad.
• Bruce Chen is awesome

Why I Think They Will Miss the Playoffs

• They haven't made the playoffs since 1985
• The Tigers signed Prince Feilder
• The outfield can't be better than last year
• The starting pitching sucks
• They wont be able to avoid injuries like they did last season, and this point is already true with the loss of Soria for the year and Salvador Perez for about 2 months.
• They didn't spend much money in the offseason, and failed to sign a starting pitcher.
• They have a really cheap owner
• They only won 71 games last year
• Chris Getz is the starting second baseman.  I wanna see Chris Getz represent the Royals in the Home Run Derby ;)

To be honest the Royals don't have much of a shot.  If things go right they could compete for the division but realistically they are at least a year away.  I want to be excited about this year, but I also don't want to get disappointed.  I would put "again" at the end of the last sentence but I have never... NEVER had expectations for the Royals.  For a prediction on a win total... I would guess 78.  I hope fans don't expect a playoff run this season because 2013-2015 should be the Royals best years.  What I'm worried about is for years 2016+ because the Royals don't show any signs of spending money.  They MUST increase the budget to 70-80 million dollars a year to be consistently successful, the Royals are at about 40-45 million.  At the moment all of the Royals' young players are making very little in comparison to what the stars make.  But when their contracts run out the Royals have to be willing to resign at least some of them.  I've watched Beltran, Damon, Dye, and Grienkie all leave.  They had a chance to sign Gordon to a long term deal worth about 12-14 million dollars a year this offseason, they didn't.  If he repeats the success he had last year, he'll be asking upwards of 20 million a year and I know the Royals wont pay that.  I really wished the Royals signed another starting pitcher this offseason, they made two one year moves in trading for Sanchez, and signing Broxton, but then failed to make the move to put them over the top. 

Hope you guys enjoyed this and ignored the terrible organization, I will write again soon.

Royals Player Preview Part 1 of 4 (Infield)

I'm going to do a four part series (Infield, Outfield, Relief Pitching and Starting Pitching) of the Royals players, looking at what to expect for the upcoming season.

Salvador Perez:

Best Case Scenario:  The best case for Perez is probably regression to be honest, nobody see's him hitting .331 for an entire season. Best case is he hits .300-.310 and becomes a catcher nobody considers stealing against.

Expectations:  I view him as a catcher who will hit about .260-.280 this year, with little power.  He isn't considered a great hitter and it was very suprising to see him have the success he had last year.  Good thing about Perez is he is only 21 and shares a birthday with me.

Worst Case Scenario:  You don't know exactly what you're getting from him since he was a late season call-up so you could see him struggle and possibly even get sent down to develop.

Eric Hosmer:

Best Case Scenario:  There really is no limit with Hosmer, he has the potential to hit .315 this season with 30 Home Runs and 35 doubles.  Another best case scenario is seeing a big improvement in his defense.  He was a highly toughted defensive player coming in, but struggled in his rookie season, some people think it was just a case of his alignment.

Expectations:  I think he's going to progress this season into a possible All-Star, it would be great to have more than one Royal in the All-Star game, epsecially since it's in Kansas City.  I think a good year for him would be a .300 average with an improvement in walks, and hit 25 home runs.

Worst Case Scenario:  Worst case for Hosmer would be a repeat of his rookie season. I don't see any way he doesn't get better, he has everything going for him.

Johnny Giovatella:

Best Case Scenario:  People are saying he could make or break the Royals lineup and I somewhat agree with that.  If he becomes a .300 hitter this lneup could be really good, and it's not impossible for that to happen.  Even though he's not a big time prospect he has hit at every level in the minor leagues.  He doesn't have home run power, but could hit 35-40 doubles, especially at the doubles paradise that is Kaufman Stadium.

Expectations:  I see him progressing some as a hitter, improving his .247 average from last year.  The two areas that need improvement are his defense and plate dicipline.  He only had 6 walks in 184 at bats last year, which is really bad, and his defense was pretty bad.  I think last year he was pressing too much, but nothing has really changed since they resigned Chris Getz, so the same ammount of pressure will be on him, if not more.
Worst Case Scenario:  He could turn out to be a bust, not a huge bust, but a step backward to Chris Getz.  Chris Getz is like Ichiro the only difference is Getz hits .250.



Alcides Escobar:
Best Case Scenario:  He had a really odd season last year, to start he hit around .200 just hoping to make contact.  He then hit .336 from June 4-July 19th.  Then hitting about his average of .250 the rest of the season.  Best case secnario would be him hitting .280-.290, which would be great with the amazing defense he provides.
Expectations:  Escobar is still young and I think he'll take a small step forward with his average, and hopefully a bigger step forward in on base percentage.  He doesn't strike out a lot but doesn't walk very often, he had an OBP of .294, average for 2009 (the only stat I could find) was .336.  A stat line of .265/.330/.380 would be a reasonable expectation for this season.  Those three numbers are batting average/on base percentage/slugging percentage.
Worst Case Scenario:  I don't see him taking a step backward but I could see him fail to develop into a everyday major league shortstop.  It seems like every trade Dayton Moore has made has been blah, you look at the player we got and think dang he sucks, but then you look at what we gave up and think, alright that players sucks too.  Hopefully Escobar develops because Greinke doesn't suck (the Royals also got Lorenzo Cain and Jake Odorizzi who both have promise).


Mike Moustakas:
Best Case Scenario:  He falls into the category with Hosmer, Escobar, Giovatella and Francouer, who need to be more patient at the plate and improve their OBP.  He didn't have a great stat line last year because of the terrible start he had, but he recovered well, getting his batting average up to .263 by seasons end.  He is a power hitter so an average of .290 would be really good along with an OBP of .370.  This isn't likely but he does have a very high celling.
Expectations:  Moose is a big question mark, and a lot of questions will be answered this year.  On the negative side, he struggled most of the season, and got hot when the competition wasn't as tough.  What he has going for him is his work ethic, and the fact that he has had an adjustment period at each stop in the minor leagues.  I could see Moose being a star, just a solid player or a bust, I don't have a good read on him.
Worst Case Scenario:  This is his job for entire year, there are no bench players or prospects who will apply any added pressure.  I think people get too excited about prospects, because even the best fizzle out once they reach the majors, Moose might be one.

The reason I'm not writing about KU Basketball is because I don't wanna be that guy who doesn't know what he's talking about.

Chiefs Grades

Sorry for the long layoff but here is a player breakdown on how well each player did based on expectations.

Quarterbacks

Matt Cassel  D:  He had a bad year before he got injured, 10 touchdowns to 9 interceptions.  I think the Chiefs have to and will stick with him next year, they have no better options.  I don't think Kyle Orton will return to the Chiefs with Cassel on the roster, and I also believe Peoli has too much invested in Cassel to go with anybody else.

Tyler Palko D:  He is ultimately the reason Haley got fired.  I think everybody thought he would be bad but he was the worst quarterback in the league that started a game this year, and he started 4.

Kyle Orton C:  Kyle Orton was exactly what I expected, one good game, one bad game, and an average game.  He's okay, but he's not the long term solution, if Haley went to him sooner they may have made the playoffs though.

Running Backs

Jamaal Charles B:  In the limited work before he tore his ACL he averaged 7 yards a carry, hopefully having the injury early in the year helps his recovery.

Thomas Jones  D:  Why the Chiefs resigned him was beyond me, he showed massive signs of decline at the end of last season and carried them into this year.  He averaged 3.1 yards per carry scoring 0 touchdowns, completely awful, what was worse is that the Chiefs gave him the ball 10 times a game.

Jackie Battle A:  He had a terrible pre-season and was likely to get cut.  He then surprised everyone by rushing for 119 yards against Indianapolis to save the season from disaster.  He rushed for 600 yards this season, averaging 4.0 yards per carry, he'll likely be the backup to Charles next season.

Dexter McCluster B:  He had a pretty good year to be honest, 850 yards from scrimmage averaging 4.5 yards per carry.  Though he's not an every down back he was the only running back capable of making a big play.  He's not Darren Sproles, but he's also not a bust.

Wide Receivers

Dwayne Bowe B:  He quietly had a good year, when I looked at his stats I thought i'd see about 800 receiving yards, not 1159.  He's a true number one receiver and the Chiefs need to sign him this offseason, or at least put the franchise tag on him.

Steve Breaston B:  He had a good year, 800 receiving yards and was really good after the catch.  He was never spectacular but was always solid.

Jonathan Baldwin D:  After he jumped onto scene on Monday Night Football against the Chargers but you never really heard from him again.  Hopefully he steps up next year, I think having Cassel go down really hurt his production.

Offensive Line:  The offensive line played alright but they really need to find a right tackle.


Brandon Albert B
Ryan Lilga C
Casey Wieggman C
Rodney Hudson C
Barry Richardson D-

Defensive Line

Tyson Jackson B:  After winning Least Mentioned Player last year he really stepped up.  He made some plays this year, not in the sacks category but in disrupting the run.  He wasn't amazing but he seems to be improving and becoming a solid player.

Glenn Dorsey B:  Same with Tyson Jackson in the fact that he is improving, they have not lived up to top five draft picks but haven't been huge busts either.  You can tell they are playing better by looking at Derrick Johnson's stats, they are allowing him to make plays.

Kelly Gregg C:  To be honest I don't really know too much on how well he played, or do I care.  He was a one year fix, and looking into the future they need to find somebody who can play this position.  This is the one major hole in the defense.

Linebackers

Tamba Hali A:  I was a little worried that the new contract he got would hurt his production.  It didn't, he made his first Pro-Bowl and is turning into an elite player.

Jovan Belcher C:  He's not terrible but he's also not that good, he should be a rotation player instead of a starter.

Derrick Johnson A:  It seemed like he was in on every tackle, kind of like Eric Berry last year.  He is really good... don't know what else to say.

Justin Houston A:  He didn't have a sack in the first 11 games then had 5.5 in the last five.  He still has a lot to learn in coverage but it appears the Chiefs have 2 good pass rushers for years to come.

Defensive Backs

Brandon Flowers B:  He played most of the year at a Pro-Bowl level, but he did blow a few coverages, one thing elite cornerbacks don't do.  He is still a good cornerback with the potential to be elite.

Brandon Carr A:  I was completely wrong about him, he is a good cornerback.  At the beginning of the year I said he needed to be replaced, now I say we need to sign him to a long term deal.  They have no depth at cornerback and would miss him dearly if he left.

Eric Berry A+:  Only kidding, he played about one quarter this year, hopefully he can return to the Pro-Bowl level he played at as a rookie.

Kendrick Lewis A:  Lewis was really good this year, progressing a lot faster than anybody expected.

Analysis

Most of my grades were good, but the most important grade was not, quarterback.  I'm still split, trade a ton of draft picks and draft RG3, or build around Cassel.  It's kinda pointless to debate though, because the Chiefs are not going to draft a quarterback.  They have a really solid team, but solid teams don't win championships.  The Chiefs appear to be the front runners in the division next year though, by placing last in the division this year they will get an easier schedule than everybody else.  And by having Tebow win on Sunday the Broncos will have to keep him as the starter for next year, good for Chiefs fans because he is really bad, though he did have a good game on Sunday.  The Chiefs will have the 11th draft pick if they win the coin toss or 12th if they don't.  Look for them to draft an offensive lineman, there are a lot of them in this years draft.  In later rounds they may look for a defensive tackle, inside linebacker, or more offensive lineman.  Hiring Romeo as head coach was a alright move.  Good that he will be able to run the defense, bad that he's not good at in game managing.  Thank God that Josh McDaniels is going back to New England instead of coming to KC, I think he's awful. As for the Chiefs final game, they had a great game plan on Tebow, don't rush him just contain him, and make him throw in the pocket.