Usually they are lucky to get 5 wins in a season, much less year.

Johnson is an elite defender at 2B, something Chris Getz can't bring to the table. He has been a neutral player offensively while providing a full win's worth of value defensively.

As for Escobar... I love what he can bring to the table defensively, but he has been inconsistent on that side of the ball in 2013. His range and "wow" play ability are off the charts, but he needs to be a little more measured when throwing the ball.

Offensively, he CAN be a decent 7-8-9 hitter, when he focuses on taking the ball where it's pitched. It seems like he hit some HR early when teams were coming in on him to try to prevent him from shooting it to RF, and now he's rolling over on outside pitches because he's now trying to drive those pitches.

I don't think he's as good at the plate as he was last year or as bad as he's showing this year. At least the extension he's signed to is an inexpensive one.

His energy.

The guy attacks every single thing he does. On 2 or 3 occasions I've seen him hit a completely routine grounder to SS and end up within an eyelash of beating it out. He puts pressure on defenses by making it clear that they're going to have to come up quick and firing otherwise he'll beat out the throw.

On defense he seems to get to everything. You pair him up with Escobar and suddenly there's nothing that can get up the middle on the Royals D. Those 2 have teamed up to kill off entire innings off plays that should have, by all rights, been easy singles.

It's easy to say "eh, he sucks" anytime a guy's not blasting doubles into the gaps, but Elliot Johnson does a hell of a lot of things right on a baseball field and if you don't want him, I'd absolutely love to have the guy in STL. He's perhaps slightly miscast as an everyday 2b, but he looks to me to be a perfect glue guy and outstanding utility player.

I love him.

If they're playing speed and defense at 2B (which is all you can expect from Chris Getz in a best-case scenario), Johnson just plays much better there. His defense crushes Chris Getz, who has very mediocre range and a rag arm, and Johnson is a fast, fast guy.

I was skeptical when he was the PTBNL in the Myers deal, but he has shown up as a very valuable player. Getting 2-3 WAR from a bench guy/half-time player is pretty nice.

I didn't realize you got him as the PTBNL; I thought he was something of a dump by TB, which was odd to me as they're usually a smarter organization than that.

That makes more sense.

He's an easy guy to like. I don't watch the Royals a ton, but it just seems like they're a different team with him out there.

EDIT: I just saw your message. I had a sentence or two comparing Johnson to Danny D in here but deleted it because it came off as snobby. Guys like Johnson and Descalso are dirt dog kind of players that you really have to watch a lot of baseball to come to appreciate. They probably shouldn't be starting, but can in a pinch and will contribute when they do. While Descalso will never play the defense that Johnson plays, he goes out there and battles every single inning of every single game he plays (and can give a little more with the stick than Johnson).

Guys like that can absolutely mean the difference between winning 88 and having a nice season, or winning 90, making the dance and winning the whole thing (witness the 2011 Cardinals).

Team is very loose which is good if they ever do get into high pressure situations. Game gets way too complicated sometimes. Hit catch throw.

PBJ PBJ PBJ

the George Brett stuff is hilarious

yeah we won 2-0...and had all singles of course

Its not George Brett, it's Billy's BBQ Sauce
http://www.bishopsullivan.org/common...Sauce-2web.png

sadly it seems we're destined for .500

and I say that because we're 4 games under .500 and there is NO WAY our starting pitching holds up and NO WAY our hitting remains this bad

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect 3/5 to continue pitching at this level. Shields, Santana and Mendoza are all capable of putting up this performance over a full season.

Davis can continue to be just as bad, or possibly even worse. And Guthrie... if his ratios don't improve, eventually it will catch up to him.

I could see the starting pitching holding up at basically the same level of performance over a full season. Heck, if Ventura continues to dominate at AAA and they call him up, or if Duffy forces their hand quickly, it's even possible it could improve.

It's interesting to watch and think about, now that they're outside the losing streak.

I predicted before the season that I thought this was .500 team and I think their ceiling this year would be about 85 wins.

I still wonder how the slow-pitch softball approach to roster construction will serve the Tigers. That said, when 80% of your rotation is capable of striking out 200 batters, defense becomes of secondary importance.

The Indians absolutely cratering gave the Royals life. If they had the friggen tribe as the rabbit they were trying to catch, they'd have never found an extra gear. Once the Erie Warriors shat themselves, the Royals found themselves again in a position where the only team ahead of them was the Tigers. At that point it's like being in the final pair with Tiger vs. being in one with Sergio. The Royals will dig harder from second place than they would've being Cleveland.

Baseball's just so much about the mental aspect of showing up ready for another day of the grind.