If you would frame your argument differently I would be in complete agreement with you. If you would say that when you look at the relative strengths of the two teams and you believe that the Royals are so much better than the Twins that the Twins have no chance, I would be right there with you.

I'm not worried about the Twins either. But not because I think a 5 game lead in July is insurmountable. I'm not worried because I think the Royals are a much better team than the Twins.

Because of this start against the White Sux?!?!

LMAO

That's a legitimate argument. I've openly said I'm not completely sold... but looking to upgrade the rotation is not a bad idea. This rotation will not be good enough if they're pitching like they are right now.

I hope Ventura and Duffy get hot and it's not even an issue. But if that doesn't happen, you don't want to blow a shot to win a title either. It doesn't have to be Cueto or bust. They should probably still be looking at other starting pitching options.

I keep asking for someone to run off the list of champions who didn't have a frontline starter or two who dominated in the playoffs. No one has done it, because you can't do it. Honestly the closest was last year's Giants... the rest of their rotation was soft but Bumgarner was able to carry them.

Which is why it's being debated. And it's stupid to talk in absolutes.

And Toronto and Minnesota and an entire year of sub 3 ERA. He was probably a bit more injured than what was being let on.

Of course there are. Doyle Alexander has always been the quintessential example of a pitcher being picked up late in the year and being phenomenal for his team. The Tigers traded for him in July of 1987. He went 9-0 in 11 starts, and the Tigers won the division.

The rest of the story is that the Tigers DID NOT WIN THE WORLD SERIES, and the minor-league pitcher they sent to the Braves was a guy named John Smoltz.

What I am saying is that looking at the players who have been discussed so far for this specific situation, the asking price for Cueto is simply too high. I would much rather see the Royals give up a hell of a lot less and pick up somebody like Scott Kazmir.

I'm sure that if the Tigers had it to do all over again, they would keep John Smoltz. They didn't win the World Series, and they lost a guy who would have been their ace for a decade. I don't want Danny Duffy to be John Smoltz. And by the way, it's fine to go all-in and try to win the World Series whenever you think you've got a shot at it. The Tigers went all-in in 1987. They failed to win the World Series. They lost a guy who could have been their ace pitcher for the next 15 years. And they went 20 years before they ever made it to the postseason again.

You CAN'T say you'll do whatever it takes for 2015 because you may never have a shot again. That type of thinking makes it a lot more likely that you WON'T ever have a shot again.


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Danny Duffy is under control for 2 more years. That's a terrible comparison. If we traded Kyle Zimmer for Cueto and didn't win the WS and Zimmer became a John Smoltz, that would suck

The 2005 White Sox and 2006 Cardinals probably had the worst rotations of any modern WS winners that I can think of. But both of those teams were really good offensive clubs with a ton of power, so I don't think that compares really well to KC.

Duffy's start today was certainly encouraging, and if he throws a few more like that before the deadline, KC probably can shift its focus to OF help rather than SP help.

That's the nice thing about the timing of Duffy and Ventura's returns. And Medlen's, too, for that matter.

Key spots for Duffy today were working past Abreu and Cabrera with the tying runs in scoring position. That's the type of toughness and ability to strand runners we've seen Duffy display before... and need him to display moving forward.

Oakland up 2 on Twins. Royals have a 10.5 game lead on Detroit. Am i reading that correctly? Is this Real Life?

I'm on record for wanting to keep Duffy. With that being said... If there is an offer out there that the Reds are mulling over.... This start might light a fire on the hamsters in Jocketty's head.

The 2005 Sox rotation was unbelievable in the postseason. I suppose you don't need "aces" if your pitchers all pitch like aces in the postseason. I mean, seriously. Their starting pitching won them a World Series where they lost 1 game the entire postseason. Their starters were SO good

I've mentioned the 2006 Cardinals before. That was a Dave Duncan special... Carpenter/Suppan/Weaver. But Carpenter was a legit Cy Young type guy. And they had Dave Duncan.

The 2005 White Sox had a pretty good rotation overall though, I'd have to check their stats but they had 4-5 legit quality pitchers. And Buerhle started one game, then got the save the next. That's an ace performance... although I'd agree not quite as strong as some of the other guys on the list.

No, it's a great comparison. Have you been paying attention to Danny Duffy over the last several seasons? He LOVES being a Royal. He is only under contractual control for 2 years, but the Royals chances of signing him to another contract after that are excellent.

Danny Duffy is also far more valuable than Kyle Zimmer because Zimmer has never proven that he can stay healthy and he has never faced a major league hitter. I would trade Kyle Zimmer even up for 3 months of Johnny Cueto in a ****ing heartbeat, but that will never happen because the Reds' asking price for Cueto is ****ing ridiculous.

A's up 6-0.

No, it's a horrible comparison. We can trade Duffy and if he really wants to be a royal like you're saying, I'm sure if he becomes John Smoltz Dayton wouldn't mind bringing him back as a free agent so that he can be a royal again since he's so loyal and all

2 years is 2 years