So is David Glass gonna use the money we're not spending this year....

[cmh6476]

to re-sign our guys of the future when the time comes?

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the youth movement. However, if we are goign to go with the young guys, we need to stick with them as they develop into quality ballplayers.

I'm tired of watching the triple A team we have become over the years. We develop young talent, then ship them off to competitive clubs. If the plan is to build from within, they need to make sure we can re-sign these guys when their contracts are up!

Does anyone know where we can find the lengths of contratcs? I'd be interested in knowing how long these guys are signed for. I can live with this as the future of the club. But if these guys are playing for the Yankees, BoSox, Mets, etc. in 5 years I'm really going to start getting frustrated, moreso than I am now.

How long are these guys signed?

Buck
Harvey
Gotay
Berroa
Teahen
DeJesus

Greinke
Hernandez
Bautista
Gobble/ Snyder/ Wood

Affeldt
MacDougal

If these guys are on the team 4 years from now, then the youh movement is justified IMO. If these guys don't get re-signed, and are just developing their skills only to move on with another club 3 years from now, then something's gotta give. Whether it be a restructing of MLB, Royals ownership, or Royals management. Us fans cannot live like this. Please God, have mercy on our souls!

[tk13]

Originally Posted by KCTitus

Wow... a full decade of the 'youth movement'. I can remember before I left KC hearing Herk talking about how, now, they were going in a new direction called the youth movement. That was 1994.

I guess 'youth movement' is a euphymism for acting as a triple A club in the major leagues.

That's just sad, relegate the club or fold it.

You have to remember the team had no official owner at the time, and they let things toil for years until they finally let Glass have the team. Glass was Kauffman's hand picked successor... I had my doubts at first but the 2003 season proved a lot to me, he proved he is more than willing to spend money in order to improve the team and make a bunch of trade deadline acquistions. Then he spent money to bring in some more quality veterans to try and put us over the top quickly, but at the same time he is sticking with the plan of going through this youth movement. The free agent moves blew up in his face, but it wasn't through lack of trying. Now we're building the farm system better than it's been built in a long time, and we're not going to abandon it like we did several times in the 90's. Of course if you'd actually followed the team you'd know that as opposed to just sounding like the idiot that calls into sports radio that you abhor so much...

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by tk13

You have to remember the team had no official owner at the time, and they let things toil for years until they finally let Glass have the team. Glass was Kauffman's hand picked successor... I had my doubts at first but the 2003 season proved a lot to me, he proved he is more than willing to spend money in order to improve the team and make a bunch of trade deadline acquistions. Then he spent money to bring in some more quality veterans to try and put us over the top quickly, but at the same time he is sticking with the plan of going through this youth movement. The free agent moves blew up in his face, but it wasn't through lack of trying. Now we're building the farm system better than it's been built in a long time, and we're not going to abandon it like we did several times in the 90's. Of course if you'd actually followed the team you'd know that as opposed to just sounding like the idiot that calls into sports radio that you abhor so much...

I don't doubt that he'll lay out some money when we are one or two players away, and they tried to do that in '03-'04 with Leskanic, White, Gonzalez and Santiago, et al. The moves didn't work out, and it turned out that IMO we had an '03 team that was grossly overachieving, but he did bring in some people that the FO thought could put us over the top.

Now, it seems we need a few more years again. But I'm not in the "Glass will never spend money" crowd. I just think he knows as well as the rest of us that a bat or two isn't going to make this into a 90 win team, and he didn't get rich by dumping his money into poor investments.

[keg in kc]

I like the approach. I think for right now it's more important to spend money on improving our minor league system and groom the youngsters who are ready to play on the major league roster. My next move would be to trade both Sweeney and Brian Anderson mid-year for some bats.

And, as I understand it, they've used the words "youth movement" for a decade, but this is the first time they've actually done it. They need to stick to it.

[KChiefs1]

I wish the Royals had spent Sweeney's salary on scouts/talent evaluators/Dominican Republic baseball schools/personnel people....that would have been well spent.