Farnsworth, after the smoke clears: Still a thumbs-down

I have given myself a few days to digest the Kyle Farnsworth signing. I thought that perhaps my initial rage would subside into something more palatable, which I could then turn into a blog post that was actually worth something (very unlike my first attempt at analysis of the deal).
All I had to say that day was this:

$9.25 million? Really, Dayton?

That's a lot of money, for not a lot of pitcher.

...And really, that's all I can think of now. It still makes absolutely no sense to sign a "pitcher" (I'm using that word generously) like Farnsworth for THAT MUCH MONEY. In last year's Baseball Prospectus book, he was described as "an overpaid trash-time pitcher, albeit one with unusually good velocity for that role."

Once again, it seems that the Yankees' abundance of money is at the root of this problem. After 2005, by far Farnsy's best season, the Yanks snagged him for about $5.5 million, when he had previously never made more than $1.9 million. This year, when New York traded him back to Detroit for Ivan Rodriguez, his salary was up to $5.9 million.

That's quite a trick he's playing; being a guy who throws pretty hard but can't actually pitch, and getting ridiculous millions to do it. But if the Yanks had never been so jumpy to sign him at whatever cost, we wouldn't be here today. (Sorry, apparently part of my grief over this signing includes finding someone to blame. I don't really mean anything by it.)

Was there a purpose in paying him that much in the first place? I know his 2005 season was awesome, but did it warrant a pay raise of $3.5 million? Were the Yanks that desperate for a right arm in their pen?

In 2005, New York had these right-handed non-closers throwing significant innings in their bullpen: Tom Gordon, Tanyon Sturtze, Felix Rodriguez, Scott Proctor, and Paul Quantrill.

Sturtze and Proctor stayed with New York for 2006, and the team added righties Farnsworth, Brian Bruney, and rookie T.J. Beam. (Again, those are just the guys with more than a handful of appearances.) That pitching staff was already pretty darn good in '05, and improved in the standings in pretty much every category in '06. So I'm not trying to say that the addition of Farnsworth was an inherently bad thing for the Yankees from the start, but did it have to be such a high-dollar signing?

I can understand New York grabbing him off of his hot season; it's easy to see why he was a tempting free agent target for them. But I'm having a harder time understanding why Dayton Moore was so jumpy for him this year. Does Moore really believe that no one as good as Farnsworth (but preferably better) would be available at all this winter? Oh hey look, I found one! And I'm not even a GM.

Farnsworth in 2008 was NOT Farnsworth from 2005. So why be so quick to throw craploads of money at him? Like I said, I can understand why a team would want to bite on a reliever after a really good year, like Boston going for RamRam or the Yanks and our boy Farnsy. But this line, and all the scouting reports on Farnsworth do not inspire confidence, and certainly not $9.2 million worth of confidence.

IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP IBB BK ERA *lgERA *ERA+ WHIP
60.3 70 32 30 15 22 61 1 1 261 4 1 4.48 4.44 99 1.525

(Sorry if the spacing is all weird; you can just look at his baseball-reference page)

I'm trying my hardest to find a silver lining. We all are. But the best anyone can come up with is that the Royals are well-equipped with players who can lead the team to victory in bench-clearing brawls. Oh, goody.

I have officially spent too much time thinking about this waste of money and roster space. I'm going to bed.

Yipee! (Oh, and Kyle Farnsworth)

Short personal note:
My computer works again! A friendly Dell tech fixed it and now it's all better. Huzzah!

Now, on to this Farnsworth business.
$9.25 million? Really, Dayton?

That's a lot of money, for not a lot of pitcher.

Arb offer to Grudz was easy choice

If some silly person made me the Royals GM for one day, and that day happened to be yesterday, I'd also offer arbitration to 2nd baseman Mark Grudzielanek. Naturally, some commenters at Royals Review are seeing this as a negative thing, but I don't see it as a problem at all. (RR fellas, I love you dearly, but y'all are a lot more negative than I am.)

If he accepts:
The Royals have a 2nd baseman whose production is predictable, in a good way. OR, if Dayton Moore doesn't actually want him on the team any longer*, the Royals can release him and only pay 1/6 of whatever the offered amount was. From Bob Dutton:

The Royals retain some financial wiggle room if Grudzielanek accepts arbitration because arbitration-determined salaries are not guaranteed. Teams must pay only one-sixth of a salary if they release a player with 45 or more days remaining before Opening Day.

*most likely scenario

When, errr...if he declines
We get a sandwich pick in next year's draft. Mmmmmm, sandwiches...

Grudz will almost certainly decline the Royals' offer so he can try and get on board with a winning team. He all but said that in this Royals.com article.

Don't get me wrong, I love Mark Grudzielanek. He's, as stated many times, a fabulously professional player who keeps his mouth shut when it's not necessary to talk, who produces consistently on the field, and by all accounts works hard. I realize his numbers aren't the greatest, but to me there's value in knowing what you're getting from a player, especially if your team is otherwise chock-full of question marks.

Grudzielanek was a valuable addition to a club that needed stability somewhere. If he declines yesterday's offer, which I'm almost certain (I'd say about 95-98% sure) he will, I hope he can find what he's looking for, which is the chance to win. What player doesn't want that?

Farewell, Mark. I'll miss you, but I'm also looking forward to that sandwich...pick.

Royals sign JR House

Via MLB Trade Rumors - Royals sign J.R. House, a 29-year-old catcher who was drafted by the Pirates, but has spent the last 4 season with in the Astros and Orioles organizations.

In AAA Round Rock last year, House hit .306/.378/.480 with 53 walks and 52 strikeouts in regular duty. House has only seen a handful of Major League games over the last 5 seasons, so there's not much known about his readiness.

Tim Dierkes mentions that House was highly touted in his early career, to the point where Pittsburgh would make a drastic move to get him behind the plate:

Back in the day, House was considered the Pirates' top prospect before he was derailed by injuries. There was a time when Jason Kendall was expected to move to the outfield to accomodate him.

Does this mean Matt Tupman will not end up back with the Royals after all? Or is this signing just an insurance policy for the Omaha lineup in case Brayan Pena gets lost to the waiver wire in the spring? Either way, not a bad pickup for the Royals.

Crisp to the Royals: My immediate reaction

First, here's the story if you haven't read it yet.

Sports Radio 810 said the Royals had acquired the 29-year-old Crisp, who hit .283 with seven homers, 41 RBIs and 20 stolen bases in 361 at-bats in 2008. Crisp, who will earn $5.7 million in 2009 with a 2010 club option worth $8 million or a $500,000 buyout, started 98 games in center field for Boston but had to share playing time because of the emergence of Jacoby Ellsbury.

(SI.com has confirmed the report - it's official)

My immediate reactions:
1. Yay!! David DeJesus can now play left field full time! As a CF,DeJesus is good enough, but when he plays left he's one of the best in the game. I've been hoping KC could find someone to play center every day who is not Joey Gathright, but didn't think it was possible given the market and budget constraints.

With DeJesus in left and Crisp in center, that's the start of a pretty good (and rangey!) defensive outfield. Yeah, then there's Jose Guillen in right, but that's another concern for another offseason, I think.

2. This lends credence to the Mark Teahen to the Cubs rumors, but now suggests it will be for one of the infielders (SS Ronny Cedeno or 2B Mike Fontenot) instead of Felix Pie.

Crisp will play as an ever-so-slight offensive upgrade to Teahen except with a little less power. In 2008, Crisp walked more and struck out less, so he fits in with Dayton Moore's OBP plan a little bit better than certain other acquisitions thus far.

Mark Teahen stats: Baseball-reference and FanGraphs (which includes Bill James and Marcel projections)

Coco Crisp stats: Baseball-reference and FanGraphs

3. I rather liked RamRam, and wonder who will take his spot in the bullpen. This move definitely dashes the hopes of people who were hoping that Ramirez would emerge as the new closer as Joakim Soria is eased into a starter's role.

That said, I think trading Ramirez for Crisp straight-up is fabulous, and offer some form of applause to Moore for pulling it off.

4. I have to think at this point, after trading away two relievers, that Ron Mahay will stick around, and John Bale will find himself in the bullpen to start 2009 (which is as it should be).

More thoughts later...I have homework now. :(

ORoyals roster projection: Pre-free agent edition

This will of course be shaken up if/when the Royals pick up random free agents when the FA market opens up on Friday. Before I begin, here are some highly bookmarkable links for you: the list of MLB free agents, and Minor League free agents.

Now, here's who I think we'll be seeing in Omaha next year, at least to start. The usual caveat applies: I'm not an expert, and I'm preemptively labeling this post with "eating my words" for when this roster is totally wrong.

Starting rotation:
Carlos Rosa
Brandon Duckworth (gets placed above Cortes solely b/c of seniority)
Dan Cortes
Jose Capellan
Matt Wright

Duckworth, Wright and Capellan are ultimately roster filler. I'd love to try Wright as a long reliever but there's currently not enough starting pitching depth to test that theory. Cap is a decent pitcher but has never quite been able to crack it in the Majors because of a lack of movement in his fastball. However, no AAA team would suffer from having them on the roster, and of course Duckworth is good for a handful of spot starts in the event of an injury.

**Note: Roman Colon can be used effectively as a starter if any of the 5 on this list are not retained or if Cortes starts the season at AA again (not entirely sure why that would happen, but it could). Colon showed the ability to throw a lot of innings when he had to start games last year, often going deeper into games than some of the regular starters. However, I’ll also list him as a possible reliever, because he can be either according to the team’s needs.

BULLPEN:
Devon Lowery should start the year at Omaha; his September performance showed he has the ability to strike batters out, but he still gave up too many hits in limited appearances. He’s not quite ready for the Majors and will spend part of next season dominating AAA batters.

Greg Atencio, who was promoted from AA NWArk late in the 2008 season, will start the season at Omaha this time around. He’ll again serve as a durable middle reliever, and maybe even see a little time in the Majors later in the season.

Brad Salmon had a rough 2nd half of ’08 after being thrown into a starter’s role for which he wasn’t fit. If he gets to go back to the pen full-time he’ll be OK but probably won’t be first in line for a callup if KC has a need in their bullpen.

MIDDLE INFIELD
Because the Blue Jays claimed SS Angel Sanchez in November, the Omaha middle infield will be even more full of holes than before – and I didn’t think that was possible. Unless Dayton Moore makes some moves here, Omahans may be stuck watching Josh Labandeira and Gookie Dawkins butcher everything that comes their way again. Throw Dave Matranga into that mix as well, although Matranga is the most talented of this trio of filler.

CORNER INFIELD:
Kila Ka’aihue will likely anchor 1st base for at least the start of the year. On days he needs to take off, Mike Stodolka can come in from the outfield to fill in. This could change depending on how Dayton Moore handles Billy Butler, who is not out of options.

Third base is more up in the air, as stud Mike Moustakas isn’t going to be ready for AAA for a while yet. Expect to see 3b manned by a revolving door of fill-ins like the middle IF trio mentioned above, and even catcher-cum-utility man Brayan Pena as needed.

OUTFIELD:
The Royals will stick with Chris Lubanski in the outfield, but only because they have to. As soon as a different option comes along, the team should cut ties with Lubanski, who has been a pretty big disappointment after being the team’s #1 draft pick in 2003. I think Shane Costa will return, because his late-season injury problems will chase away any teams that might have otherwise wanted him. Mike Stodolka and Damon Hollins will probably return, but again it’s just out of necessity and a lack of OFs in the lower minors who are ready to move up to Triple-A.

CATCHER:
Brayan Pena has been added to the 40-man roster, and Matt Tupman was removed from it, a sensible move given Tupman’s lack of power, failure to develop throughout his 20s, and recent injury history. Pena will likely see more of the starts in ’09, but the two will continue to share duties. If one is hurt, the club can bring up someone like Demaso Espino from AA.

Royals make lots of catcher-related announcements

The big story today is that the Royals and Miguel Olivo both exercised his $2.7MM option for next year, so Olivo will still be a Royal.

I'm a little surprised by this, mostly because I thought Olivo was pretty darn sure ("hell no!") he wouldn't remain in Kansas City after this season. But more than that, I'm relieved that the team won't have to go shopping for a backstop this winter. Here's a complete list of free agent catchers this offseason from MLB Trade Rumors:

Brad Ausmus (40)
Paul Bako (37)
Josh Bard (31)
Michael Barrett (32)
Gary Bennett (37) - $900K club option for '09 with a $50K buyout
Henry Blanco (37)
Johnny Estrada (33)
Sal Fasano (37)
Toby Hall (33)
Paul Lo Duca (37) - Type B
Adam Melhuse (37)
Chad Moeller (34)
Ivan Rodriguez (37) - Type B
David Ross (32)
Javier Valentin (33)
Jason Varitek (37) - Type A
Vance Wilson (36)
Gregg Zaun (38) - Type B

Of those names,none really stand out to me as someone I'd want. Many, like Pudge Rodriguez, are in decline. Others, like Gregg Zaun, Paul Bako and Sal Fasano*, have been with the Royals before and are well past their prime compared to the catchers KC has now.

*Side note about Fasano. In the summer of 2007, I found someone on Facebook who was allegedly David DeJesus. It obviously wasn't DDJ, just someone pretending to be him, but one thing I remember about the fake profile was that one of the only groups "DeJesus" was in was "Put Sal Fasano on the Ballot for the 2007 MLB All-Star Game." Random!

Moving along in the list, I feel that Varitek would be too expensive. Lo Duca was booted to the minors far part of this year and wouldn't be an improvement. Michael Barrett seems to have a fallen off a statistical cliff after his very good 2006 season.

So yeah. It's a pretty uninspiring free agent market for catchers. To let Olivo part ways with the Royals would create a difficult task.

MID-POST UPDATE: Since starting this post, the Kansas City Star has expanded its story about Olivo's retention to include the news that Olivo will be the Royals' #1 catcher for 2009. Interesting.

Elsewhere in the Royals roster:
Matt Tupman and Yasuhiko Yabuta outrighted to Omaha. I'm glad the team has ended - at least temporarily - the Yabuta-as-a-Major-Leaguer experiement. Dutton referred to him as an "expensive whiff" at this point, and I agreed with that assessment a long time before he wrote it.

As for Tupman being moved, I'm not surprised. He didn't show enough improvement through his mid- to later 20s to warrant staying on the 40-man. His shoulder problems didn't help, and at this point Brayan Pena deserves the roster spot instead. I had hoped that Pena would be given a shot in September, but I can wait until Spring Training to see what he can do.

And farewell to Angel Sanchez. He certainly had - and still has - potential to be a nice middle infielder at some point, but is injury-prone so I don't blame the Royals for not pushing to hold on to him. The way to build organizational depth in the middle infield is not to fill roster spaces with guys who get hurt often and carry a light bat when they do play. I wish him the best with the Blue Jays.

Adios, Leo. Hola, Mike.

Well...it's a done deal.

The Royals wasted no time Thursday in pulling the trigger on their first major off-season move by acquiring slugging first baseman Mike Jacobs from the Florida Marlins for reliever Leo Nuñez.

Sigh. I can expect the club to let Shealy go now, right? And will they shop Billy Butler this winter? To me...it's a little too soon to deal Butler. It's probably selling low.

Anyway. I'm not thrilled with this deal, but I'll just wait and see what happens. As for Nunez, I love him dearly and he sure is fun to watch, but I don't generally get attached to relievers because they're bought and sold so frequently.

Dear Trey Hillman: the Shealy edition

I wrote this a few days ago, when a lineup published prior to a game didn't include Shealy. That reported lineup turned out to be wrong - Shealy was in that game - so I figured I didn't need to use this. Lo and behold, I was wrong. I'm starting to think Trey Hillman is just a really terrible manager. Anywho, on with it:

Dear Trey Hillman,
I know you've got a big job - it can't be easy running a team full of egos, babies, underperformers, and glorified AAA players. You're expected to do a lot with a very small amount of talent.I understand you're not in an enviable position, and no matter what you do, some people are going to be upset. That's what happens when you take the helm of a team like this.

HOWEVER, one basic thing that Royals fans should never have to endure from their manager again is the abuse of September callups. We had plenty of that with Buddy Bell, and many of us are in utter, horrified disbelief that you're doing the same thing.

Ross Gload is not an everyday first baseman; let's just get that out of the way right now. That should make it SO much easier to juggle your crowd of bodies at that position. I'll even take it a few steps further for you: Billy Butler isn't exactly a natural at that position either, but he can hit, and Jose Guillen has spent all but 6 weeks of the season hitting like Tony Pena Jr., so he shouldn't be your first choice at DH.

Do you see what I've done for you? You now have just two men for the 1B job. One of them might not fare as well against lefties as the other, so there's another big clue as to how your lineup card should be filled out each night.

Trey, please. You're not stupid (I think), so why are you not seeing how desperately we need to see both Ryan Shealy and Kila Ka'aihue get swings against ML pitchers? Shealy's not exactly young, and he's been "fighting for his life" (his words, not mine) in Omaha for way too long. I could argue that he should have been called up in July, but that's in the past so I'll let it go. But it's September now, and plate appearances are few.

Someone a little closer to the situation has said that you're losing it, Trey. People aren't giving you respect in the clubhouse, a dire managerial situation. Is assembling a lineup which contains neither Shealy nor Ka'aihue the way to get anyone to respect you as a manager? You're keeping Guillen in the lineup at a position for which he's not fit because he'd tear you a new one if you ever dared to bench him. That's no way to pick your DH; it's cowardly. Man up, Trey, and do what's good for your team.

Shealy's not going to be a godlike force with MVP numbers - even I know that. But he's out of time; he has this month to show where he belongs, whether that is in the majors or minors; with the Royals or with a team who won't screw him over and play Ross Gload over him all year.

And if you're not going to give Shealy the PAs he desperately needs to prove himself for next year's roster, why not give Ka'aihue a look? You don't need to platoon the two in a traditional sense; Ka'aihue's evaluation doesn't need to be as urgent. But to leave them both him and Shealy out so you can play Gload at first again? What a waste.

At this point, you're lucky we still care at all. Don't push your luck.
Still a fan (despite your best efforts),
Minda

[Ed. note: PS, I'm not dead. But the Royals suck, and I'm in school again, so...homework and crap. Boo!]

Ka'aihue up, apparently

SOURCE

So much for all my speculating and caution earlier today. First base is gonna be crowded.

Hat tip to Royals Retro: Devon Lowery up. Not a huge surprise, and he definitely deserves it.

Roster expansion musings

It is now September, the time of year when the Royals call up players from the Minors and then have them sit on the bench for a month! (OK, hopefully that practice is no longer in place, and was just a Buddy Bell thing. As much as I love to see guys rot in the dugout instead of being evaluated meaningfully at the ML level, I hope Hillman has a different plan for his callups this month.) As far as I know, the only roster moves the Royals have made so far are to activate Jimmy Gobble and John Bale from their rehab assignments with Omaha. According to the KC Star, those two and Ron Mahay could be ready to go in time for tomorrow's game against Oakland.

The only other move that seems certain is that Ryan Shealy will be called up, and it's likely that Neal Musser will get his obligatory turn, since he's already on the 40-man; ditto for Josh Newman and Matt Tupman.

Then what?

A lot of people desperately want to give Kila Ka'aihue a roster spot for the month, but it's uncertain whether the club will do that. I don't think they can, not at all. Shealy is out of options; they need to see if he can (still*) hit Major League pitching.

*there's certainly some debate as to whether he could really hit in the Majors in the first place. His 2006 second-half was very nice, but not astounding. A line of .280/.338/.451 in his 51 games with KC was good for an OPS+ of 102. So what has been described as a "great" 2nd half with the team was really just "a little bit above ML average." Then again, the Royals are historically bad at finding 1st basemen who can hit, so maybe those numbers appear greater compared to the team's historical hitting disappointments at that position.

Yes, we'll eventually need to know the same thing about Ka'aihue: is he for real? Can he hit big league pitching? We do need to figure that out at some point, but not right now; September doesn't have enough ABs to solve both Shealy and Ka'aihue. Shealy will need as many chances as possible for the club to decide if his "nightmare" 2007 was actually a product of all the injuries*, or if his bat just can't catch up with big league pitches. In the 2.5 seasons since he became a Royal, Shealy has improved as a hitter in some ways. In 2006, he only walked 13 times in 172 AB. In 396 AB this season, he was walked 55 times, which is 25 more than his 2006 numbers would suggest. Would that apparent improvement in plate discipline translate from Omaha to KC? I guess we'll find out.

*I've long thought that Shealy is a heck of a role model for kids because of how hard he works and how friendly he is to fans and teammates. Talking to him about last season only serves to confirm that theory; I'll dig up the exact quotes at some point, but basically he talked about how he can't become bitter about the things that happen to him, and he just has to keep working his hardest no matter what things - good or bad - happen to him. Hearing that made me feel better about steering a lot of young Omaha fans toward choosing Shealy as their favorite ORoyal.

If Shealy does well this month, that solves a lot for next season. Maybe he could start the year as the everyday 1B while Kila proves he is pretty much the man in AAA. If Kila keeps hitting for power while sustaining his fabulous BB:K ratio, then he gets the job at midseason and Shealy gets traded or something. That's a long time from now, and a lot will happen between now and then. But even if I wouldn't call up Ka'aihue right now, if someone let me be GM for a day I absolutely would add him to my 40-man by November 20 so he's protected from the Rule 5 Draft.

As for other moves...who knows? I'd love to see Omaha Pitcher of the Year Devon Lowery get a shot. If Jose Capellan and Carlos Rosa were not hurt, I'd want to call them up too, but they're both on the DL. I know Tupman is already on the 40-man, but in a lot of ways I'd much rather see the surprisingly-versatile Brayan Pena. While his teammates have been dropping like flies, Pena has played all over the field, including both corners of the outfield and of the infield.

One last move I want to see more than anything: Josh Labandeira. Yeah, I think he should be moved to a different roster...a Little League one.

***********************************************************************************
One last note: I know that Mike Aviles' X-rays were negative yesterday, but I can't get too excited yet, not until I see him actually back out on the field. Recall that Mike Stodolka also didn't have any fractures in his hand, but he also hasn't played since August 5 and has since been placed on the DL.

The ORoyals start their final game in 20 minutes, and I still have not eaten lunch. I should probably get on that.

A new low, in NSFW-rant form.

From Sam Mellinger's blog today:

Maybe my memory's just short, and the 12-game losing streak is fading, but to me, because of the way they've lost these games, the stranglehold they now have on last place (again), the injury to Hochevar, the anemia of the offense, the struggles of Banny, this is about as bad as it's been all season.

It was admirable of Sam to try to see the other side of the shitty way it feels to be a Royals fan right now. But he does go on to concede that the last two weeks have felt a lot more miserable than that 12-gamer back in May, and he's correct. Sometimes I joke that "I hate being a Royals fan." Tonight when I expressed this feeling to a friend... I meant it.


<---Yeah, David, I feel the exact same way.

It sucks to lose on all days that end in 'Y'. It sucks to be described everywhere as 'hapless.' It sucks to have people suggest that the Royals be relegated to a less-than-major league, EPL style. It sucks to have to deal with a disabled list a mile long.

What sucks the most for me right now is knowing that Omaha has no one to offer the hurting parent club. Normally I'd offer a Carlos Rosa or even a Dusty Hughes, but they're both nursing injuries and far from normal form. I'd love to propose a Shane Costa to ease the burden of David DeJesus and Mitch Maier being DL'ed, but he's done for the season and has been for quite a while. We've been limping through the last week or so with Single-A mediocrity Brett Bigler in the outfield, so we have nothing to spare. And I'd be beyond thrilled if I could give KC a middle infielder to fill the Mark Grudzielanek-shaped void and a 3rd baseman to take Alex Gordon's place, but we've got this guy playing most days, so no help there either. (An Omaha season-ticket holder who is brutally honest about everything described Labandeira as someone who should be playing in Little League right now. Ouch. But true. Ouchtrue. Trouch?)

The kind of losing in which the Royals have entrenched themselves is impossible to escape: Injured starters and no rested relievers to take over their innings, along with the losses of bats like DeJesus and Gordon, and the epic depletion of the AAA team... it's the recipe for the most miserable August and September on record. I'll still watch, but I have zero expectations. Having those for this year has only hurt, and I've given this shitty team enough of my heart. I think that, for my own emotional health, I should check out for the season. I can't keep up this level of investment, because I don't want my roommate to come home from classes and find me curled in the fetal position on the floor, draped in a rumpled powder blue jersey and frantically muttering something about new blue tradition. If I'm going to lead a normal life, I have to try to detach myself somehow from this team. But I'll probably fail at that, because failing is what the Royals do.

/rant

Kip Wells....yep. Back to baseball!

I do love the Kansas City Star, and I am eternally grateful that it is available online for free. But two things bother me about it:
1) The comment section

There's not much the Star can do about the comment sections, but they are often filled with unrivaled idiocy and misguided vitrol by people who are sure they are geniuses. I am always amazed at some of the things people say, opinions and "solutions" for the Royals which are obviously not researched in the slightest nor given any practical thought before the words are committed to the comment box.

The smart thing to do would be to stop reading, but I can't. Anyway, I found this comment in the Kip Wells story to be particularly...something:
"He should be a "free" agent, because he's not worth a nickel!"

Um. Yeah. Thanks for that, YAWN, if that is your real name. I'll get to Wells' value in a second, but first the other thing that bugs me about the online edition of the Star.

2) Awkwardly large and often pixelly pictures.
I'm pretty sure that player mugs are meant to be displayed in a small size, like the ones on everyone's player page. (Take David DeJesus, for example, because that's what my whims dictate.)

So when I open a story on kansascity.com, it's alarming to find things like this staring back at me:

The face of Kip Wells, enlarged to show texture
-or-
Kip Wells just ate a bad burrito
-or-
Kip Wells believes that the cameras are stealing his soul
-or-
Someone just told Kip Wells that his dog died
-or-
Kip Wells was just informed that the Rockies had DFA'd him

...oh wait. That last one really did happen. Anyway, there's not a whole lot to criticize or praise about this pickup for the Royals. Some of our starters aren't pitching deep into games, we just traded away one reliever, our stud veteran setup guy isn't healthy, and Trey Hillman made a vow to only use his best pitcher once a week, and even then only for the 9th. They had to get somebody, and Wells was suddenly available. Dutton writes that Wells will be used to bolster the bullpen, but it's not unrealistic to think he could be used as a spot starter if anything happens to the rotation.

Meanwhile, Kansas City had yet another off day, and Omaha was rained out in Oklahoma, so it feels like it's been forever since I've seen the Royals play. (Yeah, there was a Kansas City game yesterday, but that doesn't mean any of them actually played any baseball. Yikes.) Alberto Callaspo and Joey Gathright were both 0fer in their respective rehab appearances Sunday night in Oklahoma. Then again, the majority of the lineup went 0fer in that game, so whatever.

I'll be moving back to Lincoln (while still working in Omaha) later this week, so posts might be sparse for the next week or so. Again, I extend my traditional invitation to anyone in the Omaha area to come catch an ORoyals game before the season ends! Here's what's on tap for the last homestand, from oroyals.com. See you at Rosenblatt?

A lot of a lot. Mostly bad news.

Good news: Dusty Hughes is back(ish)
The lefty pitcher made his first appearance since July 29 (an ugly game, for sure) after some shoulder soreness has kept him on the bench. His pitch count for tonight was 40-45, which lasted him two innings. I suppose it's not surprising for a guy who hasn't thrown in a while to be uneconomical with his pitches, but he fared pretty well anyway, racking up 5 Sonic Strikeouts (sorry, I had to) and allowing zero hits. He did walk two batters, but again I think that was just him shaking off a little rust from his time on the bench.

Bad news: The Omaha bullpen

When Hughes left the game, the ORoyals enjoyed a 3-0 lead. Then Tyler Lumsden came in, and got through 1.2 innings perfectly. But with two out and nobody on in the 4th, things got really stupid. Two 'Topes singled to bring up Michael Ryan, who also singled. Paul Lo Duca was coming around to score, but right fielder Brett Bigler* almost got the out at home, as Matt Tupman did everything he could to swipe Lo Duca but apparently missed the tag.

After Lo Duca reached home safely, Tupman tried to cut down Ryan advancing to 2nd, but nobody was there to cover, the ball sailed in to center field, another run scored, and Ryan ended up at third. Lumsden struck out the next batter, and the stupid inning was over.

*If you've ever wondered what happens when a team is desperately in need of some outfield help when all of their OFs are injured, look no further than Bigler. He was batting just .197 at SINGLE-A, but was added to Omaha's roster to help get through these dark, Costa-less days. In addition to Costa's injury, we're also playing without Mike Stodolka, whose hurt hand has kept him out of the lineup for a week now. And we're really feeling Mitch Maier's absence here; since his callup on July 24, the ORoyals are just 5-15.

But if the 4th was a stupid inning, the 5th could only be described as excruciating. Or maybe as child abuse. Lumsden and Brad Salmon tag-teamed to give up 8 runs that inning, and I was ready to tear out my eyeballs. I'm glad that inning eventually ended, but I'm concerned about the Omaha bullpen.

With Hughes and Carlos Rosa hurting, the bullpen has had to act as a starting rotation lately, and it's pretty apparent that they are stretched too thin.

Good news: Hawaiian Punch
Sam Mellinger wrote about him a few days ago, and Rany has more thoughts tonight. I'm a wee bit concerned about Kila's 13 strikeouts in 14 games, because the book on him was that he walked way more than he struck out. I'll be looking for him to cut down on his K/9 rate as the rest of the season plays out. It's weird to say anything about him having trouble adjusting to a higher level of pitching, because he is still hitting incredibly well. But I do think it is a weakness, and something he'll have to fix soon in order to justify a promotion to the Majors later this season.

Two sightings tonight:
Joey Gathright showed up in plainclothes partway through the game, and was properly chastised by the Village (the fans who sit by the 3rd base and who are AWESOME) for his tardiness. Obviously everyone who was around last year was glad to see him, and he took the time to talk to everyone who wanted him, and signed a crap-ton of autographs after the game. He has been a fan's man for as long as I've known him, and that hasn't changed in the slightest. He'll be in tomorrow night's lineup.

Alberto Callaspo showed up in the Omaha dugout (in that same gray hoodie he's always wearing). He's not on the roster at the moment, but he's around.

One last note:
I was in the middle of an epic solo in Eric Johnson's "Cliffs of Dover" on Guitar Hero this morning. Then I felt something tickling the top of my bare foot. It was a spider. This is not a good way to get five stars on any song.

So much to ponder at first base

So, Kila Kaaihue made his AAA debut, going 1-4 with a homerun, 3 fly ball outs, and a strikeout looking to end the game.

(Also, a note about my links...lately I've been linking to the fanshots at Royals Review instead of directly to the stories at their source. I do this because I <3 the commenters at RR. Hope that's OK!)

I was really looking forward to seeing this patient hitter about whom I've read so much, but he looked very jumpy at the plate tonight.
1st AB: Took first pitch, swung at 2nd (popout)
2nd AB: Fouled off first pitch, popped out on 2nd
3rd AB: This one was much better, and is what I figure is more indicative of what we'll see from Kila - 6 pitches, flied out deeeeep on a 3-2 count
4th AB: his home run. 5 pitches
5th AB: his strikeout looking. 5 pitches.

I don't think I can say too much about him as a player from tonight. I'm guessing his first few at-bats were shortened by nerves. I will keep an extra eye on him (good thing I have three?) during this last month of the season.

Kaaihue's arrival meant Ryan Shealy was bumped to DH. I mentioned yesterday that I thought the time might be right for Shealy to get a chance in KC again, rather than competing with Kila for playing time. Jeffery Flanagan has some more thoughts about that in the KC Star today. I hope tomorrow's trade deadline creates a roster space for Shealy; I really do think he deserves it. He has handled the indignities brought forth by injuries and slumps with an admirable amount of patience and grace. Plus, he has been beating the shit out of the ball. He may not have Ross Gload's GRITTINESS factor that GMDM and Trey Hillman are so in love with, but he's someone I'd happily include on my 40-man* if anyone ever made me GM for a day.

*not an innuendo

Some Random ORoyals things

1. Last night in the first inning, Dusty Hughes struck out the side in ELEVEN pitches. Wow. The rest of his outing wasn't as awe-inspiring, but still...just WOW. (Here's the box)The game was a 10-inning thriller with a heck of a crowd. I couldn't ask for more!

2. The Royals have acquired lefty reliever Josh Newman from the Colorado waiver wire.

3. ORoyals players who have facebook groups dedicated to them:
Neal Musser
Brayan Pena
Ryan Shealy has three.
Shane Costa
Chris Lubanski
Mitch Maier

I don't know what made me do this, other than when I realized I'm not in any fan clubs of our own AAA players, but I've joined one for someone from another team. Anyway, totally meaningless, but it helped me pass the time before the Royals play tonight.

4. Here's a pro/con thingie I wrote at Ladies... about day baseball games.

5. This item is not ORoyals related at all, but I wrote a thing about Brett Favre's latest comeback-related shenanigans.

Quick and random musings

I'm hitting the wide open road tomorrow so I can go see some friends and then go see my parents/little brother/dogs for a couple of days before the College World Series takes over my every minute. But here are a few things, in my beloved numbered list form:

1. So, how about that Mike Aviles? Well, except for today*. I loved the other night as he was standing on second after his first big-league hit. You could tell he was trying SO hard not to smile, as if it was just another hit, business as usual. After a few seconds of that charade, the glorious face-splitting grin couldn't stay inside much longer, and it was just...cute. I love those grown-men-being-reduced-to-little-boy moments that baseball gives us so abundantly.

Seeing Aviles get intentionally walked to set up the Guillen grand slam yesterday was one of the most delightful things I think I've ever seen. Not only is it more fuel to the flame of people who are annoyed by IBBs, but the mere thought of Andy Pettite, a likely HoFer, pitching around Mikey in his 7th big-league at-bat is hilarious. Then Guillen did the most un-babylike thing possible with the situation.

*not that I could see how he did today, because Cox doesn't care about Royals fans enough to televise all the games they're supposed to. It's a problem for them to institute a tiny surcharge to accommodate those extra broadcasts that a lot of people would like to watch, but it is not a problem for them to institute HUGE rate increases so two people can watch HGTV in HD while seeing caller ID on their TV screens. We love paying for useless garbage that no one will use, instead of getting something useful and entertaining.

2. I came halfway to having a lifelong dream fulfilled yesterday. Carlos Rosa pitched four perfect innings and was not really showing any signs of letting down, but then a bunch of stupid rain came, and there was an hour and seven minute-long delay, and of course by that time they didn't send Rosa back out, so the dream of seeing a PG were shattered. Not only that, but Omaha went on to lose the game anyway. On that note...

3. I couldn't be happier to be done with the Iowa Cubs for a while. The O-Royals are just 2-6 against the Cubbies so far, and many of the losses were of the heartbreaking variety. (However, I will miss the crowds that the Cubs series always bring. Those crowds have some great energy!)

4. I will have my first actual professional baseball writing gig for this year's College World Series. During that time, I probably won't write here much (if at all) but I will post links to whatever I write for Baseball Prospectus. (Yes, them. Woo!)

5. Glad to see Jeff Fulchino called up to the bigs (the first-ever ex-Natural to make it there), and to see that he was effective in today's game. I wonder how Joel Peralta will react to being demoted; he really didn't like it the first time this year but responded by not allowing a run in his time with Omaha. I hope he does the same thing; some more scoreless relief would be dandy.

6. I would love to have written more, but I need sleep. Earlier when I sat down on my living room floor to fire up my laptop, I noticed that the carpet was soaking wet. After some severe weather last night and a bunch on other recent nights, it seems that maybe my house's foundation has a leak, because the water was definitely coming up from under the carpet, rather than having been spilled on to it. This is disturbing because I have a specific fear of water-related accidents that stems from the time a toilet* in my childhood home literally split apart and flooded a big chunk of the house.

*No, a pipe didn't burst; the toilet tank itself just inexplicably split open, so as the tank kept trying and trying to re-fill itself, hundreds of gallons of water spilled down into the TV room below that bathroom, and then the room below that. I still freak out at the possibility of more flooding in the 4 places I've lived since then.

7. From the Heartwarming Stories Department: Lady Andrea at Ladies... writes about how the NFL has pitched in to help a tornado-ravaged town in her area.

8. Two of my brothers and I have recently started joining in the in-game open threads at Royals Review. For me, it feels like a support group. I can never have enough bitter-yet-optimistic, snarky, clever Royals fans around. I don't know why we didn't start doing those things much sooner.

Thanks for sticking around while I haven't been writing much. I love you all dearly. On that note, if you find yourself at an O-Royals game, feel free to come say hello! A while back, reader 'mike in omaha' introduced himself, and it was delightful to meet someone outside of my family who reads this here site.

Breaking news: Aviles gets the callup

Mike Aviles is now a Kansas City Royal, and it's about damn time. His bat is way too good for AAA, and I (along with many others, like Clark Fosler) can't wait to see what happens with it in the Show. This is awesome.

I'm not expecting batting titles or for Aviles to be crowned MVP or RoY or anything spectacular. I'm just curious and excited to see someone who has been a joy to watch and to be around in the Minors get his turn. Mike's a smart hitter, a great guy, and admittedly I'll miss him while he's not in Omaha. But I mean it wholeheartedly when I say I wish him the best.

UPDATE: Sweet, now Billy Butler has been optioned to Omaha. I like this a lot; many people have been criticizing GMDM for being too stubbornly locked in to guys he likes, regardless of their struggles, but both the Aviles callup and the Butler option prove he is willing to budge if Plan A doesn't work smoothly. I really, really love these moves.

UPDATE II: I forgot this one earlier, too. Kyle Davies was called up and Brett Tomko was sent to the bullpen, so either Peralta or Yabuta will be sent down on Saturday when Davies is added to the active roster on Saturday. I give this one a nod of approval as well, as long as Davies isn't seen as a long-term fix in the rotation, because he isn't. Tomko really does have some nice pitches, so he can be quite useful in middle- to long relief. After last night, I'd be more than happy to see Peralta sent down, but that really isn't fair. Yabuta hasn't done anything to prove he belongs in a major league bullpen, so I'd guess he's the one who will be demoted.

All of these roster moves are crazy, but it's exactly what I was hoping would happen. We'll see, starting tonight with Aviles' inclusion in the lineup, how much of an effect they'll have on the stagnant Royals.