Comments on Rany on the Royals: Radical Situations Call For Radical Solutions.

I inadvertantly slandered Butler. He was the firs...

2009-06-09T01:07:31.734-05:00

I inadvertantly slandered Butler. He was the first round pick in 2004. They took Lubanski over Markakis in 2003.

On the draft picks, I think you need to wait and s...

2009-06-09T01:03:14.571-05:00

On the draft picks, I think you need to wait and see.

A couple years ago, the Royals looked stupid taking Greinke over Prince Fielder, now it looks okay.

Markakis and Zimmerman hit the bigs in 2006, but L...

2009-06-09T00:52:45.185-05:00

Markakis and Zimmerman hit the bigs in 2006, but Lincecum, Pence/Pedroia, and Braun didn't break in until 2007. The only draft pick that any of those guys could have affected was Wieters, who was drafted in 2007.

The Royals history with first round picks is terrible--they took the wrong high school outfielder in 2004, the wrong college third baseman in 2005, and the wrong college

pjbronco, I would be interested in what Rany thin...

2009-06-09T00:41:17.948-05:00

pjbronco,

I would be interested in what Rany thinks of the idea of trading Butler.

My thought is that Moore really thinks the Royals can steal the division this year, but he is in a mess with Guillen and Jacobs. I don't think releasing both of them makes sense and, even if it did, Moore would not do so after spending about $16 million on them and touting them as the pop

"I think that in a desparate attempt to save this ...

2009-06-09T00:06:05.757-05:00

"I think that in a desparate attempt to save this year, Moore will trade Butler to open up first base for Jacobs and DH for Guillen. It is probably the only way to try to save this year with the ill designed team Moore put together."

That would be a disaster. Jacobs will hit at least 40 points lower than Butler, Guillen is a stiff and Butler seems to becoming a serviceable

KC: Garciaparra and Carlos Guillen are the two mos...

2009-06-08T23:40:05.637-05:00

KC: Garciaparra and Carlos Guillen are the two most recent examples, I can remember, of a SS turned 1B with a similar skillset to Offerman.

You know, a little known story is that the Chief's...

2009-06-08T23:27:39.372-05:00

You know, a little known story is that the Chief's General Manager, (Jim Schaff [?]) who is always strongly criticized, wanted to take Marino but the coach, Makovic, insisted on taking Blackledge.

Like Marty decided to take linebaker Percy Snow instead of Emmitt Thomas.

But you are right, with hindsight virtually all teams can be criticized for their picks.

yeah, because drafting any of those guys wouldn't ...

2009-06-08T22:20:29.697-05:00

yeah, because drafting any of those guys wouldn't have changed the future at all. We would have drafted in the exact same spot anyway.

Come on, haven't you seen back to the Future? Changing the past also changes the future.

I still think Marty should have poked his mom back in the 50's.

You can play that stupid game all day long. And i...

2009-06-08T21:40:25.975-05:00

You can play that stupid game all day long. And if the Chiefs would have drafted Marino instead of Todd Blackledge......

Draft day tomorrow. Here's hoping they don't scre...

2009-06-08T20:55:46.540-05:00

Draft day tomorrow. Here's hoping they don't screw it up again. If they had drafted better in 2004-2007, the rotation would include Tim Lincecum (in lieu of Hochevar) and Yovani Gallardo (instead of Matt Campbell) and the lineup would feature Nick Markakis (instead of Lubanski), Hunter Pence or Dustin Pedroia (taken back to back picks after Eric Cordier, whom we traded for TPJ), Ryan

I need a little off topic help: Can someone tell ...

2009-06-08T18:58:09.398-05:00

I need a little off topic help: Can someone tell me the what songs Jose Guillen uses for his walkout song this year? There are several and I'm trying to find the main one he uses. Thanks in advance.

You probably get more opportunities to turn hits i...

2009-06-08T18:10:03.003-05:00

You probably get more opportunities to turn hits into outs at first base than you do at third base (or maybe even other infield positions) because you can play deeper and just about any ball you catch will be an out.

If Avilles could hit like he did last year, he might be a candidate for an Offerman type first baseman (although not on the Royals since they are stocked with traditional

Great stuff by Raney and the commenters. Signing ...

2009-06-08T18:00:01.854-05:00

Great stuff by Raney and the commenters.

Signing Guillen was an inexplicable mistake for that money and the three years. Moore certainly has made some good moves, but stuff like Guillen, Farnsworth and even Jacobs with the logjam of first basemen and DH's makes one shake his head.

It is hard to see how any National League team will take Guillen; an American league team

Trash Man. Moustakas wasn't taken in the same yea...

2009-06-08T15:50:03.234-05:00

Trash Man. Moustakas wasn't taken in the same year as the college players I mentioned. He was taken the year before when college catcher, Matt Wieters was available. He was drafted that high up, because they said he could be a SS. You can't waste a pick that high on a guy who's not going to produce at a premium position like SS and won't get to the majors for four to five

I'm pretty sure they are undefeated in games in wh...

2009-06-08T09:39:59.187-05:00

I'm pretty sure they are undefeated in games in which B. Pena starts as well.

The Royals are 2-0 in games where Miguel Olivo has...

2009-06-08T08:24:45.292-05:00

The Royals are 2-0 in games where Miguel Olivo has drawn a walk.

Sorry for the triple post, but I just noticed that...

2009-06-08T02:52:15.341-05:00

Sorry for the triple post, but I just noticed that that "August comeback" from Murphy was really only a good week and a half right after the strike ended. From August 22nd through the end of the year he produced a .205/.310/.377 line.

In the week and a half that pitchers were still getting back into form he put up a .359/.468/.538 mark, in 47 PA. The rest of the season he

The Dye comparison is enlightening. Another, more...

2009-06-08T02:29:35.147-05:00

The Dye comparison is enlightening. Another, more complicated comparison to a former Braves RF is to Dale Murphy. Murph had a similar year to Jeff's '08 in 1981, when Dale was 25. It doesn't look as bad when you look only at the full line, but if it wasn't for the strike it could've easily been far worse.

Murphy's line through 55 games, when the strike began,

Great read Rany, its good to get a fresher perspec...

2009-06-08T02:13:01.250-05:00

Great read Rany, its good to get a fresher perspective on Francoeur from someone less emotionally invested in his recent troubles.

The Trash Man forgot a little bit, Andy mentioned Francoeur winning an arb case. The Braves actually caved the day before the hearing and signed him at $3.375, just a hair under the midpoint of the two offers.

I really don't see the Braves

Cleaning up after the rest of you: Here is the ar...

2009-06-08T00:29:47.650-05:00

Cleaning up after the rest of you:

Here is the arc for Keppinger:

Gotay [drafted rd. 31 Royals]
traded for
Keppinger
traded for
Russ Haltiwanger

The arc for De La Rosa:

Graffanino [selected off waivers]
traded for
Jorge De La Rosa
traded for
Ramon Ramirez
traded for Coco Crisp

The first Graff arc:

I think this is a great idea. The best time to tra...

2009-06-07T23:01:02.597-05:00

I think this is a great idea. The best time to trade for someone is when their trade value is lowest so you don't give up as much. Is Francoeur going to block someone in KC right now? Of course not. He sounds like the classic player needing a new start. If it fails we're not any worse than we are right now. And that's saying a lot.

Rany: Love your work, and your blog is one of my ...

2009-06-07T22:16:57.369-05:00

Rany:

Love your work, and your blog is one of my favorite go-to spots for fresh analysis and Royals Optimism... but how can you so astutely trash HoRam, then suggest KC acquire Francoeur??

Francoeur's problem is the selfsame problem Royals hitters have had for years, but even more acute: he swings at absolutely anything the pitcher throws (AATPT). Because he swings at

I'm not intelligent enough to figure out the deal ...

2009-06-07T21:18:38.330-05:00

I'm not intelligent enough to figure out the deal that would bring Francoeur to KC. Maybe the baseball GMs have a value chart like the one that Jimmy Johnson used to apply a numeric value to NFL draft picks. But if the Braves traded Francoeur, as Rany implied, they would need to get something back for this season (the McLouth trade shows that Frank Wren is trying to get Chipper Jones

Brilliant, though I don't know if they'd take Guil...

2009-06-07T19:25:03.112-05:00

Brilliant, though I don't know if they'd take Guillen though maybe Guillen and a AA arm.

Oh- and in response to some of the comments from o...

2009-06-07T17:53:34.630-05:00

Oh- and in response to some of the comments from other responders, I think that ATL would take on Guillen's contract if the Royals paid a large chunk of it (perhaps the difference between Francoeur's and Guillen's contracts?- Francoeur actually won an arbitration settlement for- I think- $4M or so despite his horrific stats from last season). From Atlanta's point of view, you get