65k in 98 IP with 45 BB according to rotoworld.

Maddux, Greg.

Maddux also still had 4:1 K:BB ratio. If you're pitching to contact you'll probably give up a decent amount of hits. For example: Maddux gave up about 0.94 hits an inning. Add that to his 0.2 walks an inning and you get 1.14 runners on base an inning (approximately). (I got this from baseball reference)

Crow is has a 1.47:1 K:BB ratio. He's given up 1.13 hits an inning while walking 0.46 batters an inning. That amounts to 1.59 runners an inning (also approximate).

That's a difference of 0.45 runners an inning from Maddux's PRO numbers comparitively to Crow's AA numbers. He better get better stuff then that if he expects to make it anywhere past Brian Bannister status.

Yes, this was my point.

Granted..they do have fairly close K/9 ratios though. Perhaps defense has that much difference behind him but I kind of doubt it accounts for all of that.

Crow and Hochevar are in many ways the same guy, so I'm not real excited about him.

Luke Crowchever

Starts at 5pm on ESPN 2 tomorrow....i may have to DVR this to see Hosmer and Moose.

World Team

Lawrie 2B (SEA)
Martinez SS (FLA)
Alonso 1B (CIN)
Liddi 3B (SEA)
Peguero LF (SEA)
Ramirez RF (DET)
Rosario C (COL)
Hernandez CF (PIT)
Peguero DH (SF)

Castro P (SD)

U.S. Team

Jennings LF (TB)
Gordon SS (LAD)
Moustakas 3B (KC)
Brown RF (PHI)
Hosmer DH (KC)
Conger C (LAA)
Jackson CF (CHC)
Morrison 1B (FLA)
Cumberland 2B (SD)

Hellickson P (TB)

Remember when KC had back-to-back MVPs of the Futures Game? Billy Butler in Pittsburgh, preceded by Justin Huber (remember him? I do).

The futures game is always better than the allstar game. All-star games have to be the lamest invention of US sports.

Of course. My nasty real-life attitude isn't by accident.

We traded Jose Bautista for him as well..

CP: Would you like to remove Sure-Oz from your friends list?

I hadn't realized until last week that Denny Bautista is pitching out of the Giants bullpen.

Jose Bautista's a whole other story... that guy bounced around quite a bit, I have no idea where this season has come from.

LMAO

Beats me....he has bounced a ton, the new raul? i guess power wise, not avg

Brutal stat from Dutton's midseason report in the Sunday Star:

The Royals were 17 for 18 in stolen-base attempts in the first 12 games. Since then, squat. The Royals are 37 for 69 in their last 75 games.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/07/10...#ixzz0tO0Oxyd2

Greinke scratched from today's start due to shoulder tightness. A precaution.

Read: We're facing reality.

Good thing.

Nothing wrong with missing a start, especially the ASB around the corner.

And KC really need this game before the ASB.

Wha?

But dis team is da reeeeal dealz!1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111

I'm still betting this team wins 70 games. So, we should prepare ourselves for the ticker tape parade that should ensue.

Probably.

The offense is still shit, but the club has responded well to Yost. If we play over .500 ball under his watch (throw out the Hillman games) for the rest of the year, that would be progress. Not worthy of a celebration, but progress nonetheless.

Puts favorite ZG shirt on the <strike> DL </strike> scrap heap.

From MLB traderumors.com

Blue Jays Acquire Yunel Escobar
By Tim Dierkes [July 14 at 11:03am CST]

The Blue Jays acquired shortstop Yunel Escobar and pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes from the Braves for shortstop Alex Gonzalez and minor leaguers Tim Collins and Tyler Pastornicky, according to a team press release. The Jays designated Ronald Uviedo for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.

The move comes as a big surprise, as Escobar was perhaps one of the more valuable commodities in the game when the 2009 season concluded. Just a few days ago, MLB.com's Mark Bowman wrote that the Braves "simply aren't willing to sell low on a guy who they still view as the game's top defensive shortstop." Escobar was worth over four wins last year, but his power has disappeared in 301 plate appearances this year. Escobar will be arbitration-eligible for the first time after this season, so he'll be under the Jays' control through 2013. Escobar's attitude was a likely factor in the deal; Bowman wrote in June that "there's no doubt that Escobar's flamboyant approach to the game has continued to infuriate some members of the Braves organization." Back in February, MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez went more in-depth on the attitude angle.

Gonzalez will replace Escobar as the Braves' starting shortstop as they enter the second half with a four game lead in the NL East. He doesn't get on base, but he's already hit 17 home runs on the season and continues to play strong defense. Gonzalez is owed another $1.23MM this year and has a $2.5MM club option for 2011. Braves GM Frank Wren told David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "This trade improves our club for the second half of the season."

Reyes, a 25-year-old southpaw, has spent most of the season at Triple A. His strikeout and walk rates are strong in his fourth stint at the level, but he's had problems with home runs and hits. Baseball America regarded Reyes as the Braves' eighth-best prospect heading into the 2007 season, calling him a "thick-bodied lefthander who does a good job of keeping hitters off balance." He's dealt with injuries, including Tommy John surgery in '04.

Collins, a 20-year-old lefty, was ranked 19th among Blue Jays prospects by Baseball America heading into this season. The 5'7" southpaw "gets outs with a solid fastball that tops out at 93 mph and a true 12-to-6 curveball that he spins really well." Working in relief, Collins has a 15.3 K/9 in 43 Double A innings this year. Pastornicky, a 20-year-old shortstop, was ranked 17th. He's described as a player who "doesn't have flashy tools but gets the most out of what he has." In the best case, he'll become a line drive top of the order hitter with solid defense, indicates BA. As for Uviedo, the Jays had acquired him from the Pirates in the June Dana Eveland deal. BA described him as rail-thin and homer-prone heading into the '09 season, but praised his fastball and slider.

My take: this is certainly a win-now move for the Braves, who are confident Gonzalez will provide more over the next few months than Escobar would have. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, managed the rare feat of acquiring three-plus years of a shortstop with star potential without giving up much.

From MLBtraderumors.com

Red Sox, Royals Discussed DeJesus
By Tim Dierkes [July 13, 2010 at 2:33pm CST]

The Red Sox and Royals discussed outfielder David DeJesus about ten days ago and agreed to stay in contact, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. They add, "The Royals are scouting the Red Sox’s minor-league system, but the teams have yet to exchange names." Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald first reported the Red Sox' interest in DeJesus on June 26th. The Padres and Giants seem like good fits for the Royals outfielder as well, though their level of interest is not known.

The Red Sox are not likely to deal for DeJesus unless his price drops, a source tells Alex Speier of WEEI.com. The Royals are currently asking for a lot in return for their right fielder.

As Rosenthal and Morosi note, the Red Sox have dealt with injuries to Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Cameron this season and could use the versatile DeJesus. Given his $6MM club option, the Sox would have DeJesus, Ellsbury, Cameron, and J.D. Drew under control for 2011. Such depth could prompt a trade of Ellsbury, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. This year, DeJesus is owed an additional $2.12MM.

DeJesus is having a career year so far at age 30, with a .326/.395/.460 line in 370 plate appearances. He's also playing above-average defense. The Royals will wait until closer to the July 31st deadline to decide whether to trade DeJesus, reported ESPN's Buster Olney three days ago.

I don't think even Jesus can save the Red Sox season at this point....

Good. I am not opposed to playing out his contract, trying to re-sign him, and collecting extra picks if he walks. It is not like we are mired in a hopelessly endless swamp, 2012 is beginning to look very hopeful and we could use him.

I am also not opposed to trading him, but the price has to be high. If we rip a gaping hole out of the minor league system of some team who is desperate to win now, fine. I'd also be more interested in a trade if we had no hope in the next few years like most of the 2000's, but we now do have hope soon. If there is no lopsided rip-off deal available we should keep him.

Some Royals news today, we have finally decided to show mercy on the battered and bloody AA pitchers in the south. Mike Moustakas has been promoted to AAA Omaha.

Hope he keeps raking, definetly will be keeping an eye out on AAA a bit more now

Excellent. Looking forward to seeing him at the Blatt with Kila and Gordon. Will make the games a bit more fun to watch. I love the fact we have our youth go through each level of ball now.

yeah, for some reason I have this impression that he hadn't been in AA long enough, but... when you are looking like the AA player of the year of all AA players in every league coast to coast, it is probably a sign that he's not being challenged much.

Agreed. When you are raking the way he was you are most certainly not facing a level of talent that is challenging.

Will be interested to see him hit against some seasoned guys that have big league experience and in some of the parks in Triple A. Rosenblattis not the best hitters park it does not seem like so it should give us a good look at what is to come.

I know it is only the minors but kind of sucks for NWA as they really were rocking. Hopefully they can keep up the pace.

The way Romak has been hitting, they won't miss a beat.

O-Royals with Kila, Gordon, and Moose will be an exciting team.

They're coming here to OKC in Sept to close out the season against the Redhawks. I plan to be there in blue.

When's the kids first AAA game? I have a feeling that he is going to struggle a little bit in AAA kind of like Kila did last year, but in the long run I'm not worried.

I'd say if we were to trade Soria to the Yanks ever, it'd be at minimum for Montero and Gardner as starting pieces...

He went 0-4 last night.

I love how the article says, "which makes him one of the more appealing relievers available". Who the **** said he was "available"? Sure, if you want to blow the Royals over with an offer, he's available. But everyone's available for the right price. Just another implication that the Royals are a farm team for the Yankees. True or not, it pisses me off.

I'm gonna be pissed if we trade soria
Posted via Mobile Device

That's what I was wondering.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/blog/new-yo.../print?id=6867

Friday, July 16, 2010
Omar trying to dump Perez; no takers
By Adam Rubin

The Mets are trying to peddle Oliver Perez, who is midway through a three-year, $36 million contract, an American League source told ESPNNewYork.com.

Predictably, those talks have gone nowhere.

In one scenario, the Mets approached the Kansas City Royals about exchanging Perez for right-hander Gil Meche (0-4, 6.66 ERA in nine starts). Meche hasn't even pitched since May 25 because of shoulder bursitis. Meche's contract, like Perez's deal, runs through 2011 and is for an identical $12 million a season.

Perez's next rehab appearance is Saturday for Triple-A Buffalo. In his most recent outing with the Bisons, he walked five, hit two batters and had two wild pitches in five innings.

1. Kevin Goldstein Kevin_Goldstein

#Royals promote first baseman Eric Hosmer to Double-A after tonight's game.

He may as well have written that the Yankees would love to get Greinke. This is obviously written by a delusional Yankee fanboy pretending to be a sports journalist.

I'm all for trading players, but there's absolutely NO reason to trade Soria, so lets put an end to that discussion. From nearly every source I've heard, we have as much or more talent in the minors than any organization. If we compete in 2012, like many expect us to, we will need him.

I'm a huge fan of DeJesus. Guy just produces...with a smile on his face; an organizations dream. He got him one more year, I'd take the pick(s) if he walks, but I don't think he would. He loves it here.

Hosmer to AA tonight, even though i read there is no room for him...interesting....we are getting close to seeing our 'future' real soon

Good, because Moose is a complete AAA bust. :D

Clint Robinson better bet the next guy to AAA....

Lets hope moose bounces back tomorrow

That's my thought. Guillen goes, Kila gets called up, Clint Robinson to AAA, and Hosmer to the Naturals.

John Lamb heads up the new Baseball America Hotsheet: http://www.baseballamerica.com/today...0/2610373.html

Then there's this interesting tidbit: @Greg_Schaum Keep in mind, as good as John Lamb is he can not wait to start throwing his slider at AA. #Royals P don't throw that pitch til AA about 2 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone

This kid has stud written all over him.

Awesome read, Reaper. I also noticed this tidbit about Romak:


• When the Royals promoted Mike Moustakas to Triple-A Omaha, Northwest Arkansas general manager Eric Edelstein called him the most impressive minor leaguer he's ever seen. So the Naturals could rightfully expect that they wouldn't find anyone who could come close to replacing his production. For at least one week, new third baseman Jamie Romak has managed to replace Moustakas. Since his promotion from high Class A Wilmington, Romak, 25, is hitting .550 (11-for-20) with three home runs, two doubles and six RBIs. Like a number of Royals, Romak is an ex-Brave, although in this case the Royals picked him up as a minor league free agent after a stint with the Pirates. Romak had failed to stick in his first two tries at Double-A, but this one's going a little better up to now.

Where did Lamb come from? I don't remember him being someone highly touted unless i just missed that boat. I just have heard alot lately about him

I really cant wait til all these prospects get called up in a couple years until then, i sometimes feel im wasting my time with the royals

He was drafted last year. Kid turned 20 less than a week ago.

His era is sick, i will definetly be following this kid. There are some people that say we have the best system in baseball, i sure as hell hope so, it looks like it on paper.

I wouldn't say that at all. We surely have a top 10 system, but top 5 seems like a stretch.

Either way it's way better than what it has been for the past 15 years. Hopefully it gets better

It's certainly better than the Luis De Los Santos can't miss superstar days.

Kevin Goldstein from Baseball Prospectus said two weeks ago that the Royals have the top system in baseball. John Sickels has five Royals in his top 30 prospects (Moose, Hosmer, Myers, Montgomery and Lamb). They're easily top 5, and may be the best.

He broke his elbow in a car accident and missed his senior year in high school. Royals drafted him the 5th round, and he was clearly worth the risk.

They're top-loaded, sure. I don't see how we're better than Tampa. I might just be a pessimist, though.

I thought they said on ESPN while the futures game was on, that we had one of the best farm systems in the game

This is why all these "trade Soria/Greinke/Butler/DeJesus for prospects" articles are hilariously stupid. They are probably not paying much attention and used to the idea that the Royals have a barren wasteland in the minors and no hope.

We are far enough along that it is probably time to start counting our chickens even though they haven't all hatched and figure out what missing pieces we might need. If everything breaks our way, we could have a winning record next year, be competitive in 2012 with a chance at postseason (so some guys re-sign) and be really good in 2013.

What do you guys think about B.J. Upton? He's having a bad year for Tampa, a team that is loaded in the minors and contending now. Do you think he can be had? Do you want to have him? I'm seriously just throwing poop but curious. Maybe a change of scenery would benefit him. Or his brother, for that matter.

Gotcha, glad to see the kid doing well.

actually we are pretty deep. We have more B- and C-level prospects in just AA than we had in the whole organization in most of the 2000's. After the front-line studs we have a whole lot of possible league-average players and lottery tickets.

If we had a problem, it might be that we have too many left-handed pitching prospects, both starting and relievers. (Montgomery, Dwyer, Duffy, Arguelles, Lamb, Baumann, Sisk, Hardy, etc) Left-handed lineups might hate us in a few years, but we might need more RHP. If a lot of those guys pan out, we'll need to think about trading some of them to teams with no LHP.

legit B and C-level prospects, most wont pan out, but some will.

David Lough, OF (disappointing year though, might be a bench player)
Jordan Parraz, OF
Blaine Hardy, RP
Aaron Crow, SP (very disappointing year, but still a prospect)
Derrick Robinson, OF
Johnny Giavotella, 2B
Manuel Pina, C
Clint Robinson, 1B
Edgar Osuna, SP
Patrick Keating, RP
Paulo Orlando, OF
Brandon Sisk, RP
Louis Coleman, RP
Christian Colon, SS (2010 1st-rounder, hopefully an A-grade SS of the future)
Chris Dwyer, SP
Buddy Baumann, SP/RP

Not even close to a stretch for top 5...

Please name five teams that can:
1) Match the top five guys (Lamb, Montgomery, Moose, Hosmer, Myers)
2) Match the depth (Dwyer, Crow, Colon, Sample, Osuna, Robinson, Robinson, Lough, Parraz)

It's easily a top five system.

The lefties (Monty, Lamb, Dywer, Duffy, Arguelles) just overshadow the righties a bit. You mentioned Crow, but Mehlville, and Tyler Sample all are quality prospects.

Crow's stuff is there, according to every scout who has seen him. He's just struggling to command it at times (wonder if he thinks sitting out a year and half was such a great idea now)

Melville to the injured list per gschaum. Hosmer batting 5th and playing 1st base in his debut in AA

while looking at the pitchers for today's minor league games, I found out that the Royals quietly promoted Danny Duffy to Advanced A Wilmington, making his first start for the Blue Rocks today.

I take part of that back, for some reason there was something in the back of my head about Danny Duffy. He wasn't "promoted".

This guy was the highly-touted pitching prospect who flaked on us earlier this year, leaving the minor league camp in spring training to "reassess his life priorities". I'm guessing his reassessment included looking at the economy and how much major league pitchers make, because he recently told the Royals he wanted to come back, so we sent him to advanced A.

Hosmer homers in his first at-bat at NW Arkansas...

http://twitter.com/Jamesolamb

jon lambs dad has a twitter

He actually threw a few innings the level below that, so I guess they felt he was ready to get back into a rotation. Looks like he didn't have an especially great outing tonight, but good to see he's back on the horse.

Preparing to trade soria!111111111111111111

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/07/19...rested-in.html

Posted on Mon, Jul. 19, 2010
Royals reportedly interested in signing pitcher Jason Isringhausen
By DANIEL PAULLING
The Kansas City Star

Jason Isringhausen’s return to the major leagues may come through Kansas City.

The right hander said on KFNS 590 AM in St. Louis that he would be throwing for the Reds on Tuesday. He also mentioned the Royals, Cardinals, Yankees and Rays were teams that have shown some level of interest.

Isringhausen, 37, underwent Tommy John surgery last June and has been throwing from a mound three times a week. A successful return from surgery routinely takes 12 to 18 months, but relief pitchers have been able to come back sooner. He estimates he needs a couple weeks in the minor leagues before being ready.

Isringhausen may likely be a different pitcher if he returns.

“Am I throwing mid-90s?” he said. “Not right now, no. I don’t know (how fast I can throw). I haven’t been on a (radar) gun yet, but I’ll find out soon enough. I could be throwing 85. I don’t know.

“But all my breaking pitches are there. I’ve been working on a changeup so that’s there. I’m a smarter pitcher. That’s the way I look at it. I might not be throwing throw 96-97 again, but I’ll still get people out.”

Isringhausen has 293 major league saves with the Mets, A’s, Cardinals and Rays over 14 seasons. Closing isn’t something he necessarily wanted to do right away.

“I don’t care where I pitch or what inning I pitch,” he said. “It’s about pitching this year. As long as I’m healthy this year, I can pick and choose where I go next year. Everything points to the direction that I will stay intact. I wouldn’t be doing this if I thought I couldn’t do it.”

WTF would we want this broken, has-benn?

ROFL thanks, I needed the laugh.

A two-year minor league or vet minimum contract until we bridge the gap to 2012-13? I dunno, sure but we sure as hell aren't giving up anything of value for that.

My Apologies if this is a repost:

http://joeposnanski.si.com/2010/07/1...atting-champs/

Diary of a Losing Team: Batting Champs

You may or may not know this, but the Kansas City Royals lead all of baseball in hitting. Anyway, that’s how the expression goes. When you lead the league in batting average, people will say you lead the league in hitting. It doesn’t make much sense, really, since the goal of hitting — the offensive goal in baseball — is certainly not to get more hits per at-bat than other teams. But “leading the league in hitting” is what people have called it since the dawn of time.

The Royals are hitting .281 as a team, which is three points better than the Texas Rangers, and it’s 22 points better than the major league average of .259. A couple of guys in the lineup — David DeJesus (.320) and Billy Butler (.317) — are among the top 10 in the American League hitting, and others like Scott Podsednik (.302) and Mike Aviles (.300) are right around .300.

So… with all that… why is it that the Royals are a pretty lousy offensive baseball team?


Well, they are well below average. They are 10th in the American League in runs scored and going backward. The last month or so they are averaging about three and a half runs per game. Toronto, the Royals’ opponent for three games starting on Monday, is hitting 38 points worse than the Royals. The Blue Jays have scored more runs.

The easiest and most obvious answer here is that batting average is a bad way to judge a team’s offensive production. And it is. After all, you don’t have to be a statistical wizard to look at the Royals’ numbers and understand why they aren’t scoring runs. Sure, they’re leading the league in batting average and are second in hits… but they are dead last in walks, which blunts the advantage. Dead last. So, even with all those hits, the Royals are still only in the middle of the pack when it comes to getting on-base. They are seventh in the league in on-base percentage.

The Royals also don’t hit with power — they are 12th in the league with only 62 home runs (and they have hit only 21 homers in their last 42 games). They are ninth in slugging percentage. So — mediocre on-base percentage with below average power, yeah, you’re not going to score many runs. You can top that off with the fact that the Royals are also once again a dreadful base-running team — according to the Bill James base-running system they are -35 bases, worst in the American League, and they have been caught 33 of the 88 times they have tried to steal a base,* which means they’re just giving away outs.

*They are being caught stealing 37.5% of the time, much higher than the league average of 27.6%. I think even the most aggressive of baseball people would admit that when you’re getting caught about four out of 10 times, it’s past time to quit trying to steal bases.

But I think there’s something else going on here beyond the numbers. It seems to me that the Royals have a motivation problem. I think the problem is not that the Royals lead the league in hitting — it is that they seem to WANT to lead the league in hitting, like it is their goal. And that would be a real problem.

I think back to the Dick Vermeil Kansas City Chiefs of the early 2000s. Vermeil loved offense. He lived for offense. He was the coach of the original “Greatest Show On Turf” St. Louis Rams, who bludgeoned teams with their preposterous speed and fast-break attack — and it seemed like Vermeil’s main goal was to recreate that in Kansas City. And, to a surprising degree, he was successful. His Chiefs, after many years of offensive stagnation, scored a bajillion points, amassed a bajillion yards, set a bajillion team records.

The one thing they didn’t do, however, was win. They only made the playoffs once in the Vermeil years, and they were outscored by Peyton Manning in that playoff game. The main problem (some would say the only problem) was a historically awful defense that Vermeil and his coaches did not know how to fix. Now, this is not exactly like the Royals’ situation because scoring a lot of points (unlike getting a lot of hits) IS a viable strategy for winning football games. The similarity comes from the last couple of years of the Vermeil era, when the team missed the playoffs but he would give us daily updates of the offense’s success. It just seemed like the Chiefs’ main focus was not so much on winning games but, instead, on having a great offense.

That seems like the Royals to me… like they are more interested in having a good batting average than in having a good offense.

What makes me say this? Well, there are a few things. One has been the Kila Conundrum. For years now, Kila Ka’aihue has been one of the more interesting and argued-about prospects in baseball. The reason: He walks. A lot. That’s his most obvious skill. He has walked 100 times in each of his last two minor league seasons, and he walked 97 times as a 21-year-old. He is closing in on 700 minor league walks.

Different people see those walks in different ways. Some think Kila’s plate discipline make him an outstanding prospect, especially because he’s a big guy (6-foot-3, 233 pounds) who has shown some signs of big-time power (he hit 37 homers in 124 minor league games in 2008). The feeling — and I’m in this camp — is that his great pitch recognition would translate really well to the big leagues… a younger Travis Hafner comes to mind.

Others, though, think that Kila is TOO patient, TOO passive, not aggressive enough, and that lack of aggression, combined with a slowish bat, does not project as an every-day first baseman (especially because his glove seems quite a bit below average).

I don’t know who is right and who is wrong — but I do know this: The Royals refuse to give Ka’aihue a chance. They SAY he’s part of their future (and say it, and say it), but he’s 26 years old and absolutely nothing they DO suggests that they really feel that way. In 2008 Kila hit .314/.456/.628 with those 37 home runs — one of the great minor league seasons in Royals history — and the Royals went out and got Mike Jacobs to play first base instead. A depressed Ka’aihue went back to the minors, struggled (though he walked 100 times), and he did not get a single big league at-bat in 2009.

Then, Ka’aihue had a great spring training this year (.347/.448/.673 with four homers) and was sent back down. He crushed the ball in Omaha and finally got a callup — at which point he was given all of four major league at-bats before getting sent back down again. Four at-bats. He is now hitting .304/.459/.570 in Omaha.

The Royals will tell you that they simply don’t have a spot in the lineup for him — Billy Butler already plays first base and the Royals are paying Jose Guillen a lot of money to be the team’s DH. But my point here is not the Royals’ roster management, but their judgment. My point here is that the Royals simply do not value Ka’aihue’s talent for getting on base, certainly not enough to find out what they have. They see those walks as more of a negative than a positive. They do not value his talents.

You know whose talents the Royals value? Scott Podsednik’s. He has been their left fielder and leadoff hitter all year. HIS OPS+ is 98, making him one of only two American League left fielders with a sub-100 OPS+. He has been caught stealing 11 times. He has only three homers all year and he has struck out almost twice as often as he has walked (54 strikeouts, 29 walks). His UZR and the John Dewan plus/minus both suggest that he has been well below average defensively in left.

But… well, as mentioned, he’s hitting .300. Meanwhile, down in Omaha, one-time Royals savior and newly minted left fielder Alex Gordon is hitting .320/.447/.577, has 13 homers in 66 games, has played well enough defensively that everyone seems to feel he would be fine in the big leagues… and even though he’s 26, and (you would hope) a part of this team’s future, and he cannot get the call up.

Then, there’s Jason Kendall. Oh. Jason Kendall. There is a Royals theme that has never quite become clear to me until Jason Kendall. Through all the years that I have followed the Kansas City Royals, they have had a knack for finding veterans who seem to intimidate everyone in the organization. Jason Kendall, at age 36, is on pace to start 155 games at catcher this year. I’m going to repeat that in italic letters just so you will know I’m not joking:

Jason Kendall, at age 36, is on pace to start 155 games at catcher this year.



As far as I can tell, the last player to catch more than 150 games in a season was Benito Santiago in 1991. The last to start 155 games at catcher? That would be Randy Hundley in 1968.

Now, this says two things. One, it says that Kendall really is a marvel of fitness and stubbornness… to physically be able to play that much and to mentally want to play that much is both remarkable and admirable. How can you not admire a 36-year-old man playing for a team going nowhere who refuses to come out of the lineup? It is inspiring in a way.

Two, though: What could the Royals possibly be thinking? Jason Kendall has an 80 OPS+. He has now gone 354 plate appearances without hitting a home run OR a triple… and if he can keep that up he will be in rarified air.

Most plate appearances in a season without a triple or home run (live ball era):

1. Frank Taveras, 598, 1980
2. Jo-Jo Morrissey, 568, 1933
3. Woody Williams, 534, 1945
4. Mike Tresh, 532, 1945
5. Ron Hunt, 531, 1972

Jason Kendall, 638, 2010 (projected)

Kendall’s on-base percentage is a barely league average .334, and yet he is now hitting second in the lineup. He has made nine errors, is barely throwing out a quarter of would-be base stealers and the Royals’ team ERA is 13th in the league, which may not be his fault, but he sure isn’t helping. And still he plays every… single… day. So what is it that Jason Kendall offers this team?

1. That much acclaimed “veteran leadership”
2. A tolerable looking .271 batting average

The other day, on the Royals television broadcast, I heard my friends Ryan Lefebvre and Frank White say that, hey, in a tough season it’s a nice thing to be able to say that at least Kansas City leads the league in hitting. I understand and appreciate the point, but I disagree. I think a good batting average is empty if you don’t back it up with other skills (such as taking walks, hitting with power, not giving away outs). I think batting average can be a very selfish stat. I think leading the league in hitting, if you allow it, will cover up a harsh reality*.

*The Royals — and maybe all bad teams are like this — have an amazing knack for closing their eyes to reality. For instance, they had a 50-game stretch this year in which they won 27 and lost 23, a nice run that coincided with the hiring of new manager Ned Yost, which seemed to give it added weight.


The trouble is… winning 27 of 50, while nice, doesn’t mean a whole lot in the larger picture. In 2007 the Royals had a 28-22 stretch… and lost 93 games. In 2002 the Royals had a 50-game stretch in which they played .500 ball… and they lost 100 games. Bad teams still have stretches when they play moderately good baseball. Even the putrid 2005 Royals had a 52-game stretch in which they went 25-27.

But the Royals took that 50-game stretch as a sign that this team is emerging… even leading Yost to say that the Royals can contend this year. I understand that you are always looking to build on success — and you have to BELIEVE that you are contenders even if you aren’t — but it does seem that the Royals have a long history of declaring victory based on very shaky and minimal evidence. They have now lost six in a row and are trying to hold off the fifth-place Indians.

The Royals’ future has some real promise — they have numerous players in the minor leagues who can, over the next two or three years, change the face of this franchise. I think Yost has energized this team… and I think his history of working with young players makes him a good candidate to become the Royals’ full-time manager.

But it seems to me that to get to the future, they have to leave behind the past. They need to get a lot younger. They need to walk more, hit with more power, give away fewer outs, and worry a whole lot less about their batting averages.

Just when you think that there is a glimmer of hope in what Moore's done with the minors, Poz comes in and lays the smack down about what Moore's done with the big league club.

He's pretty much calling out Kevin Seitzer without saying it directly, isn't he?