Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The Greatest Quote In The History Of Whatever.

Dick Kaegel has covered the Royals as a beat writer for something like a quarter of a century, writing for the Royals’ website for the better part of a decade and for the Kansas City Star long before that. You know what you’re going to get from a Kaegel article, generally – a solid account of each game, a number of clubhouse quotes, and a perpetually rosy (and occasionally fanboyish) perspective on the Royals.

What you don’t expect from a Kaegel article is anything controversial. Which is why, I suspect, a mind-blowing quote embedded within one of his articles for MLB.com last week passed by unrecognized by Royals fans everywhere.

Here’s the article – in which Kaegel is surprisingly explicit about the Royals’ issues – if you want to play along at home. See if you can find the quote I’m referring to.

If not, here’s an excerpt from the article:

And, over in the Royals' front office they’re saying, in the words of one exec, “We’re much more athletic than we were last year.”

Maybe so. And, if they also turn out to be better, the Royals have done it at much less cost than last year when their re-signing of Olivo ($2.8 million, including buyout) and adding Coco Crisp ($6.25 million, including buyout), Jacobs ($3.275 million), Kyle Farnsworth ($4.25 million) and Juan Cruz ($2.25 million) was close to a total of $20 million invested. OK, $18.825 million if you're adding it up.

In return for Crisp and Jacobs, two guys who were counted on to amp up the offense, they traded away relievers Ramon Ramirez and Leo Nunez. Seemed pretty reasonable at the time.

“Everybody thought we had the greatest offseason in the history of whatever and people in the game were saying we did as good as anybody in improving the team,” a Royals official said.

It didn't work out that way, did it? The club won 65 games and tied for last place.

This year’s new crop has added a mere $8.7 million to the 2010 payroll.

Read that again.

“Everybody thought we had the greatest offseason in the history of whatever and people in the game were saying we did as good as anybody in improving the team,” a Royals official said.

One more time.

“Everybody thought we had the greatest offseason in the history of whatever and people in the game were saying we did as good as anybody in improving the team.”

Everybody thought. Greatest offseason. History.

Let’s ignore the part about how “people in the game” said the Royals “did as good as anybody in improving the team.” This very well may be true. I mean, let’s say there was a guy in your fantasy league who has sucked year after year, whose draft strategy ossified in 1985 and who thinks that Joe Saunders is a first-round pick because he’s won 16 games each of the last two years. If that guy was tired of getting beaten up year after year, and was thinking of leaving the league – or worse, he was thinking about learning what all this hullabaloo about “sabermetrics” and “Moneyball” was about, and asked you for advice, what would you tell him? If you wouldn’t be tempted to pat him on the back and give him a few “attaboys” and tell him that he’s doing great and eventually his luck has to turn, well, you’re a better man than I.

So if Billy Beane or Kenny Williams told Dayton Moore that hey, we love what you did with your roster, and that Mike Jacobs is going to be a huge addition to your lineup and Kyle Farnsworth could be a force in your bullpen, well…let he who wouldn’t have done the same thing in their shoes throw the first stone. I’m fresh out.

But the first part…”everybody thought we had the greatest offseason in the history of whatever”…might be the single most delusional quote in the history of the franchise.

Back in 1993, Troy Aikman was named to People magazine’s annual “50 Most Beautiful People” list. If memory serves, when told of the honor, Aikman’s immediate response was, “they must not know that many people.” If someone in the Royals’ front office believes that “everybody” thought they had a good off-season last winter, they need to talk to more people. Preferably ones who aren’t imaginary.

I can’t possibly list everyone’s opinions about the Royals’ moves last winter, but here’s a sample. Here’s Posnanski on Mike Jacobs. Here he is (towards the end of a long post) on Kyle Farnsworth. Here’s Rob Neyer on Willie Bloomquist. And you don’t need me to link to what I wrote at the time to know that I hated all three of these acquisitions. And let's not forget - though it's so tempting to - about Horacio Ramirez.

Granted, that’s just three writers, although the three writers most commonly associated with the Royals. Okay, so here’s ESPN's season preview for the Royals last season. Down at the bottom you have a prediction from five different writers as to how the Royals would finish in 2009. Three predicted that the Royals would finish last in the division – the other two predicted fourth. (And all five were right!) Not the kind of consensus you would expect after the greatest offseason in the history of whatever.

In the interest of fairness, I should point out that reviews of the Coco Crisp trade were mixed. Many people – myself included – thought the Juan Cruz was signing was a nice buy-low acquisition. And the long-term contract extension for Zack Greinke, even if it was a no-brainer, may have single-handedly redeemed the off-season. But – at-best – the off-season was a wash. It wasn’t the greatest offseason in the history of whatever. It was barely the greatest offseason in the history of the 2008-09 Royals.

I could criticize this quote from now till kingdom come, but really, this quote transcends criticism. It is a masterpiece of hallucinatory thinking. I’m convinced the secret to cold fusion is locked somewhere inside that quote. So the only proper response is not criticism – it is mockery. Let’s imagine what this anonymous Royals’ official would have said about some famous historical events:

France, 1940: “Everybody thought we had the greatest series of concrete fortifications and trenches in the history of whatever and generals were saying we did as good as anybody in defending our border.”

The set of Heaven’s Gate, 1980: “Everybody thought we had made the greatest movie in the history of whatever and critics were saying we did as good as anybody in crafting a 3-hour, 39-minute film.”

Massachusetts, 2010: “Everybody thought we had run the greatest campaign in the history of whatever and politicians were saying we did as good as anybody in running for Senate.”

Feel free to play along in the comments section. Create your own quote – it’s fun! At least, it’s a lot more fun than contemplating the implications of the real one.

69 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think the Royals mistakenly believe off-season wheeling/dealing equals positive action to improve the team. In fact, the opposite is true. If they did nothing in the off-season and simply brought up some promising minor-leaguers to fill a lot of their needs, they would probably do just as well or better at less cost and their fans would be happier. I always enjoyed the Royals success the most when they had many of their home grown players on the team, both starters and bench players. It's hard to get excited about a journeyman player, who you know will only be around a year or two, doing well. It's a lot more fun to watch players from your minor leagues, like Mike Aviles, do well. Unfortunately, the Royals rarely give their minor leaguers a chance. And, when they do, it's always a guy who's already 26-28 years old, who has little chance to develop into a long term star player.

Anonymous said...

Those young guys who are legitimately deserving will, and for the most part do, get thier chance. See: Zack Greinke, Billy Butler, Alex Gordon.

They don't have any real impact players ready at the top of the minor leagues just yet. I expect that by midseason, we'll start to see some come up for their first chances (David Lough, for example).

As for the game...

GM Executives-"Everybody thought we'd had the greatest decade in the history of whatever and economists were saying we'd done as good as anybody at selling cars."

Anonymous said...

Sonny Liston trained for this fight with the young pup Clay as if he was a man possessed. Liston is set to turn the fight world upside down.

Yes Rany 2009 was mostly false hope, by July I was traveling to watch AA games. We will not be fooled again…….but our outfield is better in 10.

Old Man Duggan said...

Jose and Kitty Menendez:

Everybody thought we'd raised the best sons in the history of whatever and Lyle and Erik would surely have agreed.

David Pinto said...

That's actually what they were saying in Massachusetts. :-)

Unknown said...

Rany...I think this latest article is the greatest article in the history of your articles.

C'mon...and unidentified Royals official??

Anonymous said...

Remember the Seinfeld episode where George did everything opposite of what he thought he actually should do? Dayton Moore seems to be trying that theory.

Anonymous said...

Secret Service Agent in Dallas, 1963 - Everbody thought we did the best job of securing the route in the history of whatever, and JFK himself would have surely agreed.


The First Little Piggy, once upon a time - Everbody thought my straw house was the strongest in the history of whatever, and the wolf himself said he agreed.

Gen said...

At the CIA, 2001:

Everybody thought we'd gathered the best intelligence on WMD's in Iraq in the history of whatever, and the Bush cabinet and Colin Powell were saying we'd done as good as anybody in the intelligence field.

RW said...

Remember the Seinfeld episode where George did everything opposite of what he thought he actually should do? Dayton Moore seems to be trying that theory.

Then this is surely going to be the summer of Georg....er, the Royals!

Jonah Keri said...

This should surpass the Kanye meme in about 36 hours. Phenomenal.

Anonymous said...

Isn't the most telling thing the fact that the Royals' official is unnameed? The fact that no one is actually willing to attach their name to such an inane statement proves (I hope) that they can't actually believe what they said.

EGK said...

I hate hearing our team called athletic. It's what they call a team when they can't hit.

Antonio said...

Lucifer: "Everybody thought I launched the greatest challenge since creation. Even God said he'd never seen anything like it before."

tingler said...

everybody thinks this is the best comment in the history of whatever and people on this site are saying i did as good as anybody in making a meta-comment-meme joke.

Unknown said...

“We’re much more athletic than we were last year.”

For those without a thesaurus, athletic and talented are NOT synonyms.

Jeff said...

The Farnsworth contract was what made me go nuts. You kidding me? Farnsworth? FARNSWORTH!?!? If anything, that should've signaled to all baseball folks that the Royals' offseason was one that moved backwards. Leave it to KC to try and spin their craziness off as something sound.

Jeff Polman said...

"Everybody said I was the best singer/songwriter they'd heard in whatever and all of those rich pigs up in the L.A. hills would feel the same way."—Charles Manson

Anonymous said...

I'm really hoping you stop publishing when the Royals get better. I understand how awesome you must feel being 'realistic'. In fact, why don't you stop calling yourself a fan and start calling yourself a 'real'. That way people will know that you're nothing more than a negative hack.

Anonymous said...

am i the only one around here who thinks that heaven's gate is a masterpiece? it was a bomb, true, but not at 3hrs and 39 minutes.

otherwise great article

Bannister19 said...

Now, the quote is obviously wrong. Everyone knows that. The off-season on paper, at the time, looked solid, with getting Cruz and Willie(whom by the way people criticized giving him two years, but he turned out to be one of the most useful utility players in the MLB) and trading two relievers, who did good the past year, but have not performed that well at other times, for players who looked solid on paper and had their upsides, Power in Jacobs, speed and defense in Coco.

Now, I think you're making way too big of a deal on the quote. This entire article was unnecessary. Club Officals from teams say ridiculous things all the time. Hell, former Mariners GM said his worst mistake was letting Gullien go.

Anonymous said...

The first thing the Royals should do is ban the ingestion of Kool-aid.

Andy said...

Bannister19 -- the off-season never looked solid on paper. The moment these signings or trades were announced everybody knew the Royals just got older, worse, and more expensive. Juan Cruz is the only signing that seemed reasonable at the time.

tingler said...

everyone thought the anonymous comments were the greatest in the history of whatever and readers of this site were saying they did as good a job as anyone in making an intelligent and/or funny contribution to this site.

Anonymous said...

speaking of funny quotes, here is one from Mark Teahen

One recent Tweet, in particular, should earn Teahen great respect in Chicago, if he doesn't have it already. The Tweet dealt with the Pro Bowl.

"How come the Pro Bowl doesn't decide who gets home-field advantage for the Super Bowl?.... Probably because no All-Star game should," ESPY's Tweet read.

Another follower quickly asked ESPY since when did he worry about home-field advantage for the World Series. Here's the response from Teahen, or Teahen's dog.

"Since about three months ago."

ItsThisOrTherapy said...

"Everybody thought we had the greatest primetime shakeup in the history of whatever and people in the industry were saying we did as good as anybody by bringing Jay to prime time," an NBC executive said.

Anonymous said...

“Everybody thought we had the greatest NFC championship game in the history of whatever and people in the game were saying we did as good as anybody in the turnover department” ~09-10 Vikings

Shelby said...

I remember thinking at the time that the Juan Cruz signing was a fantastic one.

What are the chances he rebounds and has an awesome 2010 season? I would say that 2009 was, possibly, a fluke.

Olentangy said...

Re Anonymous @ 3:57...Dayton, don't you have something better to do than to post comments on a blog.

Anonymous said...

YIKES RANY Heaven’s Gate = Outstanding film for history buffs.

Anonymous said...

The Cruz signing will look good this year.
Farnsworth needs to be released and should never have been signed.
The Crisp trade was a good one. Didn't work out. I would love to have Ramon Ramirez back. But remember he was a waiver wire pick up.
Jacobs trade was horrible at the time and horrible now. Nunez looks pretty good.
One of the problems with Moore is that the current young guys aren't "his" guys. He didn't draft them. He never believed in them. He doesn't have anything emotionally invested in them. I think that is to his detriment that he doesn't look past this, but it won't matter for much longer, because most everyone from now on are "his" guys.

Oh well. I am slightly optimistic for this season and am not writing it off as a wasted season. If Alex Gordon steps up the team will be significantly better. Big if, but not as big an if as we have seen in the past.

Marlins unidentified exec: "We spent more money this year than we had in the history of whatever and all of baseball agreed we were doing everything we could."

Anonymous said...

Why do you even cover the Royals?
I am sick and tired of the "pundits" always going out of their way to hate on the Royals.
Look, Jacobs was a bad deal because he was stubborn at the plate, but when you traded for 30 HR power, for a RP who didn't figure in your plans and had struggled repeatedly for KC with injury, that's a low risk, possible medium reward.
Coco Crisp was a great deal, though I didn't like losing Ram Ram's power changeup. Until he got hurt the Royals were 18-8 and in first place.
Farnsworth is no dog. The fans and bloggers turned on him after he gave up a bomb and cost Greinke a win early, but he's a power arm, and they needed one. He developed a new pitch towards the end of the season and could have a much improved season in '10. But we did overpay because DM got caught up in the Winter meetings.
Injuries are what took down the 2009 Royals. We lost our starting SS Aviles in ST, CF and leadoff hitter Crisp by May, starting 3B Gordon in April, and Guillen our starting RF and cleanup hitter. Soria went down at a critical point early, and threw the whole bullpen out of whack. The whole team was playing out of position trying to cover for the injuries. Bloomquist was playing RF for goodness sake.
2010 is going to be a whole different story. I predict a finish no worse than 3rd, and possible Division win.
I guess I know now why I haven't read your blog for years, and I won't be back.
Don't you dare jump on the bandwagon when it turns around either.

Dave Regan said...

Anonymous at 11:10 the the greatest Royal homer of whenever.

Crisp a "great" deal?

Farnsworth "no dog"? I guess 15 baserunners in 9 IP is a good September for him though.

"Division win"? Now that's rich.

Jason said...

"Imma' let you finish, but everybody said Beyonce had the greatest video in the history of whatever and did as good as anybody in being the greatest video of ALL TIME!!!"
-Kanye

Anonymous said...

Rany, in your own words on November 24, 2008 in this very blog:

"...no matter how many Mike Jacobs trades Moore botches this winter, if he signs Greinke to a long-term deal, this off-season will have been a success."

Now, granted, you didn't use the words "greatest" or "history," but you implied that as long as Moore got Greinke signed that it didn't matter what else happened. The perspective of hindsight is always helpful (heck, who knew that Crisp would blow out both of his shoulders? Despite the fact that many people have said since that he was a major injury waiting to happen - but, of course, they have the benefit of hindsight as well).

Further, in the same post:

"...it may well be that one of the primary reasons that Moore traded for Crisp and (especially) Jacobs – rather than going with an unproven hitter like Ka’aihue – was to show Greinke that the Royals are committed to surrounding him with enough talent to win, not in 2011 or 2012, but next year. If that’s the case, let me be the first to toast Moore for completing the single most important transaction he could have made this offseason."

Greinke himself has said that those moves were indeed what convinced him to sign in the end, and that he felt the organization had made the 2009 commitment. No, it didn't quite work that way, but the end you wanted was realized. Did that end justify the means?

Glen said...

I think Rany's making too big deal out out of this, becasue the likely circumstance is that Dick Kaegel was quoting a 20-year-old Manpower temp working in the Royals' ticket office.

Anonymous said...

Rany bashes the Royals because they have sucked for 25 years. Because the front office is bumbling and incompetent. Because they are the laughingstock of MLB. Because there is no light at the end of the tunnel. What is he supposed to write about? I'm sure Rany (and the rest of us here) really want to be positive about the Royals. We want them to win. But when the team is crap, I guess that's what you report. Rany doesn't sugar coat the ineptness of the team. He calls it as he sees it. And that is why I will continue to read his posts.

Rany said...

In response to Anonymous at 2:01 AM: you are correct: I argued at the time - and would argue today - that the signing of Greinke to a contract extension did the Royals enough good to more than counteract all the other moves Dayton Moore made that winter. But:

1) While signing Greinke was incredibly important, it was also incredibly self-evident. Moore deserves credit for getting it done, but there's no extra credit for making a bold or inspired move - to have NOT signed Greinke (assuming he was willing, which he obviously was) would have constituted baseball malpractice.

2) I'm quite certain that the anonymous front office guy wasn't referring mainly to the Greinke extension, because the quote was in the context of how the Royals improved their roster over the off-season. Greinke was already here - it was all the other guys the Royals brought in that were supposed to alter the team's fortunes. Which, unfortunately, they did.

3) There's a big difference between an offseason filled with bad moves, but in the long-term might turn out okay, and THE GREATEST OFFSEASON IN THE HISTORY OF WHATEVER.

4) I can't help it: I find that quote to be incredibly funny. Let me type it again. "The greatest offseason in the history of whatever." Do you know how much mileage we can get out of that as Royals fans? If we can't root for a good team, at least we can revel in our badness. At least grant us that.

Fred said...

Adam: "Eve, this apple should be the tastiest thing in the history of whatever."

Eve: "I'm famished dude, let's eat."

Phil J. said...

Ok, I will play along:

"In the history of whatever, Rany rules supreme as a fan of the Royals."

Write about sabermetrics and let all the other stuff go.

You're getting predictable and tedious.

Anonymous said...

rock on, rany!

Shelby said...

To all of the Royals fans on here complaining about Rany not singing of rainbows and unicorns, please direct thy attention to Dick Kaegel, or even start your own blog.

I mean, it's either that A) you truly think the Royals are going to be a good team and Rany is just wrong, or B) you don't mind being lied to if it makes you feel good.

Unknown said...

Anonymous 2:01am, That has to be one of the greatest calling outs of Rany I have seen on this blog and I'm pretty sure I've read every one. It's not often that Rany is wrong or says something different now compared to what he said then but you caught it. Nice job.

Japan 1942: Everyone said that is was the best preemptive military strike in the history of whatever to keep a country from being a military force to worry about in a war.

Alex Remington said...

I think that Pearl Harbor was in 1941.

Anonymous said...

Rany tells the truth. If you dont like it, so be it. Bottomline, this team has been laughably awful for 2 decades now. LA Clippers bad.

Dayton Moore has shown ZERO ability to construct a Major League roster. Will his Minor league moves pay off? I dont know. Having the 12th rated farm system is a start. But being glass half empty.....12th aint that good with all the high draft choices and big international signings.

It is good we have writers like Rany and Posnaski to keep in perspective the below average job Dayton Moore has done as GM. The Dick K's of the world would have us believe Dayton Moore is the best GM in baseball. Quite the opposite is true. In fact, Google worst GM's in baseball and see how many links mention DM as at least Top 3 WORST.....

I leave with this.....a GM needs to be judged on wins and losses at the Major League level. I am tired of the excuses being made for Dayton Moore. You are what your record says you are. And that makes Dayton Moore a loser.

Big Hatt said...

OK, so I've never commented on here before even though I've been reading this blog since its inception, but i just couldn't stay mum on this.

It is absolutely crazy that people come on here and give Rany trouble about occasionally making fun of the Royals, for a lot of reasons:

1) This is a god-damn blog, and its Rany's blog. If you don't like it, don't read it. Christ, its not like you're a shareholder or something.

2) Whether or not you think Dayton and the gang should alter their approach (and if you don't....I mean yikes), you have to admit the results have been terrible. Just how long is this front office given before they're actually held accountable for their actions? 5 years? 10? Ever?

3) It is not a journalist or blogger's job to provide positive spin for a team's actions. It's their job to cover the team, as honestly as possible. When I see someone criticized for being "too negative" when writing about a team that has been terrible for this long it makes my head spin. Too negative? Really? What should the proportionality of positive to negative comments be about a front office that loses A LOT more than it wins?

4) Does it bother any of you guys that people like Rany, Poz and Will McDonald at royalsreview are able to consistently precdict dayton's mistakes? All of these guys knew Mike Jacobs would suck and nobody in the Royals front office did. If that doesn't scare you, it should.

5) And really, this quote is just too hilarious. Of course he's gonna make fun of it. And even if it was from a low level employee (which I doubt), its still embarrassing. I wouldn't hire someone who said that to wash my car.

Big Hatt said...

That should've read "accountable for their record", not actions.

"Everybody thought Eggs was the greatest editor in the history of whatever, and he did as good as anybody at spelling the word "predict."

Chris said...

@ anonymous Feb 3 11:10

"Farnsworth is no dog"

Is that supposed to be ironic, considering the cause for his stint on the DL?

Brett said...

Yeah, I'm with those who don't understand people calling Rany out for being too negative. If anything, for how long he has followed and written about the Royals, he managed to stay positive longer than most people would be able to. But it reaches a point where things turn. I mean, I've got a coworker who will often come into my office to discuss Royals moves, and when it's things like "Yuniesky Betancourt, huh?" or "Two years for Jason Kendall?" I generally just acknowledge that yes, the event did happen, and then move on to a less depressing topic as quickly as possible.

As far as the offseason, it was a mixed bag. Yes, there were some moves that seemed good at the time (signing Greinke to an extension, signing Juan Cruz), some moves that seemed bad (Farnsworth, Jacobs, Bloomquist) and some in-between (the trade for Crisp was by no means a home run, but was interesting and had potential to turn out good.) But a few good moves, and a little bit of hope among that fan base going into the season is not the same thing as "the greatest offseason in the history of whatever."

Bannister19 - "most used" is not equal to "most useful." Fangraphs puts Bloomquist's 2009 season at NEGATIVE 0.1 WAR (wins above replacement) which means that a minor-leaguer (or someone who could've been signed on a minor-league contract) would probably have been about as good. I have no problem with Bloomquist, and I respect the way he plays hard despite his limitations, but count me among those who still think there was no reason to give him a two-year contract.

As for the game, I don't know if it's wrong to make jokes out of terrible tragedies and natural disasters, but on the other hand, the Royals 2009 season was pretty much a disaster, too.

FEMA, 2005 - “Everybody thought we had the greatest hurricane preparedness in the history of whatever and people in the relief business were saying we did as good as anybody in being ready to help New Orleans.”

Germany, 1930s - “Everybody thought we had the greatest dictator in the history of whatever and people in other countries were saying we did as good as anybody in finding someone who would lead our nation to prominence.”

Kris said...

I think Rany was evoking Heaven's Gate more for critical and box-office expectation (as the follow-up to Deer Hunter) and subsequent massive failure on both ends. Obviously, a few years later, the film was shown unedited and didn't have the hopes and hype of an entire studio riding on it, and was reappraised. This is not something that is possible with the 2008-2009 Royals offseason, unless this season Bloomquist pulls a 1996 Brady Anderson. Oh, wait, Anderson was a good player BEFORE he hit 50 homers? Scratch that comp then, I guess.

Anonymous said...

Rany and the rest didn't predict the 09 Royals going South because they were lucky or psychic. They did so because the moves made were obviously bad and because they know more about putting a roster together than GMDM.

If people who don't even get paid to know baseball can look at your team and identify mistakes right as they happen--or before they happen--that's because your GM sucks. He's an incompetent GM and if you don't realize that, then you need to be learning from Rany, not criticizing him.

Anonymous said...

To give Dayton Moore the benefit of the doubt, maybe he has made these moves for marketing reasons. To the average fan, not people who follow this blog, it gives the impression that the team is acquiring new players to get better. Even if the team is no better, at least we are not watching the same players. This year, I am going to try to be a more casual fan and not get so wrapped up in all the evaluation. I plan to go to day games in the spring and early summer, enjoy the sun, and drink refreshing liquids. In essence, I plan to enjoy myself by watching baseball. I hope that by 2011 or 2012 that the team's record starts improving. If not, remaining a more casual fan may be a tall order to fill.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Rany. GMDM has shown himself to be delusional in one particular area of his thinking; talent assessment. It appears that he has never read Billy Beane's book MoneyBall, nor has he picked up the one especially crucial nugget of information contained therein; Talent can be assessed by analyzing a player's stats.

Evidence? Let's look at OBA. Billy quite rightly points out that a hitter almost never aquires the ability to read pitch location. They either have it or they don't, and more years experience and/or training don't help. Consequently when you look at a hitter's OBP, you see what you will get, and wishful thinking will get you nowhere.

Another example? College vs. high-school players. Billy proved that drafting college players was more successful because of the availability of four years of college stats. GMDM has brought the Atlanta "wisdom" with him to the Royals and believes that you can better retrain players when they're younger. MoneyBall showed that using college stats give you a better player quicker.

GMDM won't improve in his construction of the team until he either gets lucky, or until he learns that stats have replaced the "traditional wisdom" of baseball insiders.

Anonymous said...

That's hullaballoo. College players aren't always better players, in fact, the opposite is mostly true. Look at Atlanta's track record (15 straight playoff seasons at one point) vs. Oaklands (a few playoff seasons here and there). Does Billy Beane do a good job? Yes, but to say his system should be employed by every team is ludicrous.

Anonymous said...

Just look at the Royals, for example. Arguably their two best players (Greinke and Butler) were both drafted out of high school, while their two biggest disappointments (Gordon and Hochevar) were both college players.

Anonymous said...

Dayton Moore should hang himself!

Anonymous said...

"If people who don't even get paid to know baseball can look at your team and identify mistakes right as they happen--or before they happen--that's because your GM sucks."

Doesn't Rany get paid by Baseball Prospectus?

Anonymous said...

I have no idea if Rany gets paid or not by Baseball Prospectus.

I would think he probably does. Probably not that much, but I am sure he gets paid for his work.

That doesn't mean he gets paid to run a baseball team.

The point was that Rany is not getting paid to know how to run a baseball team. Even though he isn't he can spot Moore's good and bad moves before he makes them.

The Royals would be better off saving the money they pay to Moore and letting Rany run the team and picking up his stipend with Baseball Prospectus.

Anonymous said...

http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100210&content_id=8052790&vkey=news_kc&fext=.jsp&c_id=kc

If this happens, Hillman and McClure should both be fired!

Wabbitkiller said...

How much do you want to bet that the "unidentified" official was Dayton Mooreon?

"Everyone said that we made the best gas pedal design in the history of whatever!" -Toyota

Dayton Gump said...

Anonymous said...
I'm really hoping you stop publishing when the Royals get better. I understand how awesome you must feel being 'realistic'. In fact, why don't you stop calling yourself a fan and start calling yourself a 'real'. That way people will know that you're nothing more than a negative hack.

February 3, 2010 3:57 PM

------

If you can't stnd the heat Dayton (we know it's you Mooreon) get the F*** out of the kitchen. I just assume you get your incompetent ass out regardless...

Anonymous said...

Kyle Farnsworth is going to be the greatest starter in the history of whatever.

City of Dayton, Ohio said...

The City of Dayton is pleased to announce that it has filed a lawsuit against Dayton Moore, General Manager of the Kansas City Royals, for compensatory damages and the requirement that Mr. Moore change his first name.

"We normally do not mind if individuals, especially ones who are in the public eye, use the name of our great city," said Dayton Mayor Gary Leitzell. "However, Mr. Moore has repeatedly led the Kansas City Royals to disgraceful defeat. He has made trades that irreparably damaged the team. He has wasted millions of dollars on bad players. He has made the Royals and Kansas City a national laughingstock.

"In short, Mr. Moore brings the great city of Dayton into disrepute and shames the people of Dayton every time he uses their city's name to refer to himself. This must be stopped."

Other reports had the cities of Akron, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Canton, Youngstown, Columbus and Toledo planning to file similar lawsuits in the event Moore decides to rename himself after another large Ohio city.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Moore's (fake) response...

"Mr. Dayton Moore would like to point out that the Royals had a 2 decade long history of being a laughingstock before he came to Kansas City.

He would also like to point out that before he came, they were also a laughingstock in the minor leagues, as they refused to spend money ANYWHERE before he arrived. Since his arrival, the farm system is now around the middle of the pack.

And while not admitting that any of his trades were bad ones (c'mon, you don't expect that, do you?), he would like to point out that only one player that he traded away has really done much of anything, and sadly that player was Ambiorix Burgos."

Anonymous said...

"The point was that Rany is not getting paid to know how to run a baseball team. Even though he isn't he can spot Moore's good and bad moves before he makes them.

The Royals would be better off saving the money they pay to Moore and letting Rany run the team and picking up his stipend with Baseball Prospectus."

This is so laughable. It's easy to sit on Baseball Prospectus or in blogsphere and say "this and this is stupid;" it's much different to actually be the one calling the shots because it isn't a fantasy land league with fantasy land rules.

And I bet Rany would agree he couldn't begin to understand how to "run the team."

Sheep following sheep stuck in a corner.

Big Hatt said...

Wow, "sheep following sheep stuck in a corner." Very profound. Is that Whitman?

If it were a fantasy land league with fantasy land rules maybe Dayton Moore would actually have a shot at succeeding. But since we are, unfortunately, stuck in reality....well, lets just say that grit plays much better in a fantasy land than it does on an actual baseball field.

Jason said...

How about David Glass?: "Everyone in baseball said I made the best choice possible in Dayton Moore for GM."

Anonymous said...

Dayton Moore should take cyanide!

Anonymous said...

In addition to the inconsistency of Dayton Moore it is compounded by the inconsistent moves of Trey Hillman. Both have spoken of the importance of defense. However, Callaspo routinely played all nine innings at 2B even when Bloomquist or Hernandez were available and the Royals were winning. One way to improve your bullpen performance is to provide them with better defense when they are protecting a lead! Don't just talk about it, do it!