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.