Prior to the start of this year, Montgomery was considered the most advanced pitching prospect in our system. Therefore, I'm wondering if some of his struggles aren't mental because, from his potential prospective, he's been passed over a number of times for a call up.

This doesn't make him mentally weak; it means he's a competitor, and he's ****ing pissed, which happens with elite-level athletes.

With Soria's struggles, I think Crow may end up closing before too long

I lol'd at this thread.... some of the responses in it are great, especially the firesticks guy, some of those clowns over value an overweight singles hitter. http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=281&f=2054&t=7549050

This might be the stupidest thing I've ever read.

Those guys are always like that... they worship sabermetrics to a fault.

So why doesnt Butler drive in more runs? Is it because guys in front of him never get on, or he sucks with RISP?

I do think there is a guy over there who has it right.

Billy Ray Fatass is a line drive doubles hitter with warning track power and snail speed.

He isn't hitting into bad luck when he hits the ball hard to the gaps.

The defense is simply playing him deep, and easily running down his warning track balls, while limiting him to singles when he hits it in front of them.

Those hard hit warning track balls are taking hits away, so he can't drive in any runs.

Am I the only one that wants to send Crow to Omaha for about 5 starts at least and see how he does as a SP, then call him up? It's nice he's a good closer and all, but he's a high draft pick and high prospect. I see no reason to give up on him as a SP at this point. I know he's helping the team right now, but who gives a sh**. The Royals suck this year. We all knew this. Whatever record we end up this year, it does not matter as long as our young talent develops.

I agree completely. With all the lefties coming up, it would be nice to add a stud RH and Crow has that stuff, IMO.

I'm with you on that. Would be OK with it being done to start next year, though.

Can't stress enough the last three sentences of your post. The Royals got off to a hot start that raised a lot of expectations, especially among casual fans. Honestly, at this point, I don't care what the record is the rest of the year and would in fact root for it to the worst it possibly can (one more top five-10 pick next year wouldn't be a bad thing, necessarily...). This is what I care about for the rest of this season:

1) Does Billy Butler return to the player he was in the 2009 season(.300/15/90 w/ 45+ 2Bs)?
2) Does Alex Gordon finish with a line around .285/20/80/90/10? That's what he's currently on pace for, and that would be a very valuable line.
3) What does Hosmer do for the rest of the season? .280/25/75?
4) Danny Duffy's rookie year... does he continue the success he flashed in start No. 2?
5) What do Moose/Cain/Monty do when they are called up?
6) Does Joakim Soria bounce back?
7) Do the young bullpen guys (Crow, Collins, Chapman) continue to shine?

And how quickly does Trevor Bauer sign after the Royals draft him? *** I'm hoping on this one. The buzz on Cole seems to be turning back around, could see him going No. 1 to the Pirates, with Rendon (M's), Starling (O's), and Hultzen (D-Backs) coming off the table next. At that spot, Bauer is my dream pick (and has been for a while).

They need to target a college RHP in this draft, IMO, and the idea of Jungmann (Luke Hochevar, part 2) or Sonny Gray (shrimp-tastic, but would work as a future closer) is not real appealing to me. The Royals have scouted Bauer recently, with Dayton Moore taking a personal look, so maybe this isn't as far-fetched as it once seemed (at one point, I was dreaming of Bauer lasting until rnd. 2. Oh well).

Continuing the dream draft... TCU's Matt Purke in round 2 would be an awesome value, as would Jackie Bradley. Jr. (CF, South Carolina).

In this dream draft, they would then pounce on Johnny Eirman in round 3, as other teams are scared away by his contract demands.

So no room for Bundy in your dream? I've heard it said that he's the best high school pitching prospect some have ever seen. I know about the long toss issues, etc. But, if he's as good as advertised....

I would be excited for any one of Cole, Bauer, Bundy, Rendon or Bubba.

First time since 1940 that a pitcher allowed 15+ hits, 10 or more runs and 5 or more home runs in a start today since 1940 for O'Sullivan today. Dayton Moore trading for guys like this no talent clown and that other no talent clown Mazarro should be adding up. The Royals are back to being a joke nationwide because of guys like these... O'Sullivan and Mazarro should be released outright.

Well, I don't think the long toss issue really is an issue. And if it is, they won't draft Bauer, either (he does the same thing).

Bundy and Bauer have some similarities, actually. Neither has ideal size (6-2,180 for Bauer, 6-1, 200 for Bundy), both are long-toss disciples, both are very advanced polish guys for their age. I'm just a HUGE Bauer guy. Bundy could move through the system in two years, versus the one year I think it will take Bauer.

And you're right. Any of those five guys is exciting. If Rendon slipped, you'd have to jump on that. His glove would play at 2B, and he would be an extremely plus bat at that position. Cole is a classic power righthander. Starling has the potential to be a 30/30 guy with GG defense in CF.

The only way this can go wrong is if the Royals draft Jungmann or Barnes or Gray, IMO. I have been a huge Dayton Moore supporter - probably the biggest - and I would go ape on him if he passed on one of the five guys you mentioned to draft Jungmann.

Lighten up, Francis.

2 times in 2 weeks pitchers we have traded for have had historically bad outings. I know they only cost us Dejesus and Callaspo, but nonetheless we employ people who thought Mazarro and O'Sullivan were going to be competent major league pitchers. They both have shown they are nothing. That is something that needs to be looked into.