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.