uh, do what?

From Rany's blog:

Danny Duffy: Duffy is the most experienced pitcher in the group; he’s the only one who’s been in the organization more than two years. Duffy was the Royals’ third-round pick in 2007 out of a small inland California high school, and a good piece of scouting. (He makes up for the fact that the Royals’ second-round pick that year, Sam Runion, looks like one of the bigger busts in recent memory.) He works with a standard-issue fastball-curveball combo, with his changeup still being a work in progress.

Duffy has known nothing but success since turning pro. Last year, he had a 2.98 ERA for Wilmington, allowed just 108 hits and 41 walks in 127 innings, while striking out 127 – and those were easily the worst numbers of his career. Nonetheless, he was passed by Montgomery as the Royals’ top pitching prospect last year, because on a pure stuff basis he projects more like a #3 starter than an ace.

I will admit: I’ve always been a little skeptical of Duffy, because the more success he has pitching in the minor leagues, the more he reminds me of Chris George and Jimmy Gobble, both guys who overmatched hitters in the low minors but whose stuff was too short to succeed in the majors. I shared these concerns with a scout a few months ago, and he alleviated my concerns a little, pointing out that Duffy’s fastball ranges from 88 to 92, which is at least an average major-league fastball from a lefty, and harder than either of the G-men threw.

Duffy’s short-term outlook is clouded by an elbow strain he suffered earlier this month, evidently after he tried to impress the Royals in his first major league camp by throwing too hard too soon. I’ve been told his elbow is “intact and structurally sound”, but he’s going to miss at least a month of the season as a precaution. If he’s healthy, he should slot right into the Double-A rotation.

The temptation is there to rush him, as he’s close to major-league ready – indeed, he was talked about as a dark-horse bullpen candidate out of spring training before his sore elbow cropped out. I think the Royals would be better served taking it slow with Duffy, despite his polish. Alternatively, given the other lefties he’s competing with, and the fact that the major league rotation isn’t suffering from a lack of candidates to begin with, Duffy ought to be a trade candidate if and when the Royals decide to trade some of their pitching excess for some bats.

If I were to rank the five lefties in terms of upside, it would look like this:

1. Noel Arguelles

2. Mike Montgomery

3. Chris Dwyer

4. John Lamb

5. Danny Duffy

Ranking them in terms of the odds that they’ll develop into at least a #3/#4 starter in the majors, I’d rank them like this:

1. Mike Montgomery

2. Danny Duffy

3. John Lamb

4. Noel Arguelles

5. Chris Dwyer

Sucks about Duffy. Hopefully, he takes some time off, reevaluates, and comes back.

As for Porcello ... I have no problem with passing up a high school arm at No. 3 overall. The baseball draft is a crapshoot, but high school pitchers are the lowest percentage "hits" of any type of player you can draft.

Porcello wanted a $7 million major league contract out of high school. There's a reason he fell to 27. People forget that, I think.

In hindsight, it would be great to have Ryan Braun instead of Gordon, Tim Lincecum (though I still think "Lil Bitch" breaks down soon) instead of Hochevar, Jason Heyward instead of Moustakas, and Gordon Beckham instead of Hosmer.

But it's not like any of those players was a consensus "pick him, not him" guy...

The obvious pick instead of Hochevar should have been Longoria.

He was the consensus top position player in the draft, and, as history has demonstrated, going with a position player instead of a pitcher at 1/1 is the far better move.

But he wasn't even on the radar because of Gordon, which is completely ****ing stupid because Alex projected as a first baseman, too. Draft the bat, worry about where the bat plays later.

Anyway, coulda, shoulda, woulda.

Final point on Porcello, however: it was #2 overall, and he was the consensus second-best player in the draft. And many thought his upside was greater than Price's, but with more obvious risk, as a HS pitcher.

On a different note:

Reports are that Callaspo will open the season as the #3 hitter. Not sure why Butterball is being moved out of this spot. Mistake, IMO.

But...DeJesus is projected to lead-off. And this is a good thing.

He's a mental midget that needs the role of being in the lead-off spot to get him to be more patient/selective at the plate. I know many disagree with this, but the stats back up the argument.

It's a mental game, and DeJesus is a ****ing pussy, so special accommodations need to be made.

lol...

It's funny how Callaspo was possible trade bait to back to now #3, oh trey...

I think Billlaayyy should stay at 3, i assume he moves to cleanup then?

Well, game #3 is in the books for me. Tori Hunter absolutely pwned Bannister today with 2 jacks that NASA is still tracking. Tajeda looked ok but gave up a blast to Napoli that is chasing both of Hunter's.

Yep. I agree, pretty humorous.

Also, yep, to Butterball moving to cleanup.

I have no idea why the Royals, as an organization, insist on ****ing with success. Billlaaaay ****ing rakes in the 3 spot all of '09, soooooo.....next season. Let's get him out of there!

Stupid ****ing Trey. And where's Moore in all of this?

Some pics from today's game..

Some pics of the Angels, including Hunter after his 1st blast...

Hopefully not giving a crap about the batting order and focusing on aquiring talent.

Tushy.

But batting order is where theory and reality need to meet.

Just as Dayton Moore is naive to turn a blind eye to statistical analysis, it's equally misguided to turn a blind eye to the human element.

Fact: it matters where DeJesus hits. Last year should have provided all the additional evidence anyone needed. I made the case all season, and I was right.

Taking Hochever over Longoria and not taking Wieters are the two that I have serious issues with at this point (and did at the time). Any other complaints would be hindsight. The Hochever pick was just a bad pick, period. A lot of people felt that way at the time.

There may have been issues other than money at play with Wieters, but still disappointed we didn't take a guy with his combination of positional need, track record and upside.

guys, I need help. Can somebody look into last years Royals repository for the name of LHP THAT HAD AN INCREDIBLE K/ BB ratio? I need his.ame and can't get the Royals site to load. Thanks in advance. And Pete: shut up. You're ruining Az
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This whole spending money shit has killed the royals. Spend it on the go to guys...get the most you can and ****ing trade them and re-load if you have to.

Longoria, Wieters good god, Lincecum etc