The effort is there; the talent is not. And talent trumps effort ... They finished strong, with an 18-8 September ... If they decided to deal Gil Meche (three years, $30-plus million left on his contract) for a handful of prospects, no fewer than eight teams would participate in the bidding. As tough as it is to deal a starter who has succeeded in the batty AL, maybe that's the best way to go about replenishing the system.
09/23/2008
21
26
They've won a whole lot of games recently. Nice work by rookie skipper Trey Hillman in keeping the kids motivated ... Amid all the Yankee Stadium pomp and bluster, the lovely Kaufmann Stadium has quietly been getting a facelift. I hope they don't ditch the waterfalls ... Royals first basemen have hit only 13 dingers this season, which makes Ryan Shealy's late emergence all the more heartwarming.
09/16/2008
26
24
Meh? Feh? Oof? Blurgh? Blah? Yeah, let's go with "blah."
09/09/2008
24
26
The Royals have made a few terrific scrapheap finds in recent years (Joakim Soria, Mike Aviles), plus the Gil Meche signing has worked out pretty darn OK. Everything else associated with Dayton Moore's stewardship of this franchise has not ... How many times did Joey Gathright attempt (unsuccessfully, natch) to lay down a bunt against Cliff Lee on Sunday? Eight? Nine? Eleventeen? He annoys me.
09/02/2008
26
24
Doesn't it feel like they've played the Tigers for, like, three consecutive weeks? ... Far be it from me to offend His Exquisitely Manicured Majesty, but Mike Aviles is outslugging (.487 to .400) and out-OBP-ing (.358 to .356) Derek Jeter. It'd be a shame if the finger injury he sustained on Sunday knocks him out for a while, as he's the team's only remotely interesting everyday player.
08/26/2008
24
25
It seems that somebody new goes on the DL every day. ... They've been out-homered 26-3 in their past 13 games. ... I can sit through Kill Bill and Drew Barrymore interviews without flinching, but when Mitch Maier's face exploded after he was hit by a Zach Jackson pitch, I cringed like a sorority gal. Get well soon, fella. ... Alex Gordon's bum quad may well end his season. I'm starting to wonder if it'll ever happen for him.
08/19/2008
25
20
Where's the progress? After 124 games, the Royals have the same record (55-69) as they did after 124 games in 2007. ... In their past 11 games, they've scored 27 runs and allowed 74. That isn't good.
08/12/2008
20
21
Tony Pena Jr. had a walk-off hit on Sunday! This is notable because Pena is such a patsy at the plate that teammates have taken to hiding his bats and helmet. ... In the wake of above-the-waist messages delivered to Nick Swisher and Delmon Young, Zack Greinke's getting quite the reputation as a li'l headhunter.
08/05/2008
21
22
Feisty! More important for our purposes than the brawlin' with the ChiSox, however, is the team's stealth surge. They're 31-26 since June 1; by comparison, the Red Sox are 30-25. ... I don't know how you consider the Gil Meche signing, ludicrous at the time, as anything other than a success so far. In his past 11 starts, he's 7-1 with a 2.66 ERA.
07/29/2008
22
20
Billy Butler is starting to hit a little. ... The effort was there over the weekend against the Rays, even if the results weren't. File under "damning with faint praise." ... Ron Mahay can sling it, dude. I don't know why he's getting lumped in the second tier of supposedly available relievers alongside Alan Embree and David Weathers; he belongs on the A-list with Brian Fuentes, Will Ohman and the rest.
Preseason Power Rankings
Date
Ranking
Previous
02/28/2008
25
-
Save for the Rays, they might be the only franchise in baseball that would be elated to be ranked this 'high.' We see some young players taking dramatic steps forward -- Alex Gordon, Billy Butler and Zack Greinke -- albeit to merely finish last in a tough division.
