Mike Jacobs: DO NOT WANT

This stupid Mike Jacobs trade keeps popping up. I thought it fell through a few days ago, but this morning it's back. If you've missed it, this rumor has the Royals sending outstanding pitching prospect Carlos Rosa to the Marlins for first baseman Jacobs.

I'm unhappy about this, almost livid. It doesn't make any sense at all to add ANOTHER 1B to the mix in Kansas City. I think the team has more urgent needs (like an OF who can hit) than that for now. Acquiring Jacobs would spell the end of things for Ryan Shealy in KC because he's out of options and I don't think they'd retain him and Jacobs and Billy Butler and Ross Gload.

And I don't understand trading Rosa, who is the club's only starting prospect who is close to Major League-ready. Who does the club acquire to replace him? Why not just leave first base alone? The ONLY good thing I see about the team discussing signing a new 1B is that they clearly aren't looking at Gload to be the everyday 1B for 2009. But as a Shealy fan, and a Rosa fan, and a fan of taking care of priorities before adding to a position where we have 934571495784 choices already, I hate this trade idea.

(And personal side-note: I'm still computerless. I came back from a break from school over a week ago, and my computer would not start up. Turns out the motherboard's toast, and as my mom said, "When motherboard ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." In the meantime I've been using my dorm's computer lab and my roommate's computer, but it's not even close to ideal. The longer I go without having my own computer with my own stuff on it, the closer to insane I get. I have like 30 Royals-related posts started on that machine, and I can't get to them until at least Saturday. AUGH!)

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.

Dear Bob Dutton, you're breaking my heart

Oh, trade rumors. It's the time of year when I'm simultaneously giddy with anticipation of juicy trades, but nervous that someone I like might get traded away. Behold: Yankees taking a hard look at Bannister as trade deadline nears

By now, y'all have figured out how I feel about Banny. I mean, it says right there in my blog description that he is my favorite Royal. I love the extent to which he's a student of baseball...all pitchers review films and study opposing hitters, but Banny lives, breathes, eats and shits baseball studies. And he still loves baseball. He's the reason I spend more time learning about the game than I ever took the time to learn before; I have always found the game to be interesting, but had never devoted time/money/energy to knowing it until Banny so riveted me last season.

Furthermore, JoePo has the same love affair with the magnificent brain of Brian, so the joys I reap from a Banny day do not end when his start ends - I also get treated to the Banny Log. (Also check out Poz's piece about Bannister in the Star - it's like the B-Log in newspaper form! Heck yeah!)

Anyway, I'm pulling hard for the Yanks to work out some deal with Seattle. Let Jarrod Washburn be a Yankee; I don't want to see Bannister in pinstripes, and besides...what would I do with my Bannister powder blue?

I am intrigued by this trade rumor though. Kind of flattered, even. It's not easy being a fan of someone like Banny sometimes, because not everyone is willing to be patient while he tweaks one thing or re-thinks another, and his ERA hangs out in the neighborhood of five. So people rip him all the time on message boards, other Royals blogs (as I am only one of thousands), and pretty much everywhere. Once he started slumping after that amazing 3-0 start, the negativity about him was everywhere, and while I understand where these people were coming from, I defended him every time because it's Bannister, and that means something to me. So for the Yankees to be courting him makes me feel like JoePo and I are not alone in this; someone else thinks having a Bannister is better than not having one. Like this latest round of adjustments will be the right one, and he'll be able to have more (and not flukey) success for a team scratching its way towards the top of its division.

So if the Yankees see that in him...does that mean the Royals do too? Will they hang on to Banny even if it means losing out on Melky Cabrera, whom they've actively courted before? I'm just selfishly going to sit here and hope the Yanks are successful in their quest to land Jarrod Washburn so I don't have to see my favorite pitcher join the Empire. And I'll probably be wearing that #19 powder blue, just in case.

Fascinating trade rumour

Here.

So much for Andruw

Yesterday afternoon I wondered what the Royals would do with their outfield if they indeed landed Andruw Jones from Atlanta, but it turns out it doesn't matter: Andruw is now a Dodger.

And apparently, the Royals might not even have Jose Guillen right now, either. So what's happening? If the Guillen deal falls through, who is left for KC to pursue? In the same MVN article linked above, Craig writes that Fukudome is supposed to have decided between the Cubs and the Royals by about...4 minutes ago. I wonder when that decision will be made and/or broken. I will be mighty tempted to stay home from class to check the Hot Stove reports. (I likely will not stay home, though...hi mom!)

Anyway, I'm enjoying this rumor mill way too much. I suppose that's what have to do to get me through the remaining 116.5 days of the offseason. Sigh.

hot-Hot-HOT Stove

This is FUN. Watching winter trade season unfold is like watching a suspenseful movie. It's a ton of fun to conjecture and try to figure out what's going to happen, but ultimately all you can do is sit back and watch the plot reveal itself. It's not at all like watching a game, where you can affect the outcome depending on whether you're wearing your lucky underwear, had your official gameday breakfast, or are wearing your hat just right.

It's only Day 3 of this round of meetings, and already this offseason has seen more trade fireworks than all of last winter combined. So far it kind of looks like the Tigers are the big winners, after landing Miggy Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis without losing a single "big name" player. But word is that either the Royals are the Cubs are about to strike gold in the form of coveted Japanese player Kosuke Fukudome. And the Royals are still rumored to be in hot pursuit of one Mr. Andruw Jones, even though they've already signed Mariners castoff and notorious clubhouse bad guy Jose Guillen.

If it's true that KC is going to land Jones, what happens to the Royals outfield? A lineup with both Guillen and Jones would lend a lot of weight to the rumors regarding David DeJesus and Joey Gathright being traded. (I've also heard talk of Mark Teahen going to the Cubs for Matt Murton, but I don't lend that rumor a whole lot of credibility. Nothing against Matt Murton, I actually like the guy a lot, but it has been sad -- truthfully -- in many places that he is simply a right-handed version of Teahen. Hopefully GMDM is not that hell-bent on getting the letter "R" into Hillman's lineup cards.) Acquiring Jones would also mean that Emil Brown is gone for good -- good news for many of us.

By the time I click "Publish" for this post, some other deal will have gone through. Maybe Johan Santana will be with Boston in exchange for Jacoby Ellsbury (much to this guy's chagrin). Maybe Fukudome will have chosen an American ballclub with which to grace his presence. Maybe the Royals will have dumped Emil Brown. Already, the Royals have officially announced David Riske's departure for Milwaukee, a move we heard about Monday.

I don't know what's going to happen next. Things are just now heating up.

Riske to Miluakee?

Clark Fosler at Royals Authority has word that David Riske will be going away, after all. In the comments for this post, Clark writes:

On another note, Riske is gone to the Brewers, probably to be announced on Tuesday. Interesting turnabout - one of Allard Baird’s long sought after targets - Kevin Mench - may be the guy moved off Milwaukee’s 40 man to make room for Riske.

We'll see tomorrow, I suppose.

My brother Ryan had this to add:

if [Fosler's comment] is true, and Dayton is that shrewd, then the Royals will be in the playoffs before you graduate, Minda. No shit.

P.S. It's really fun to hear both Denny and Fred say the name "Mench."

I hope the first part is true, and I agree wholeheartedly with the postscript. It kind of sounds like "Maynch," but not quite. It's pretty entertaining.

More on the Riske move tomorrow, if it happens.