The A's may be walking on thin ice though if Colon gets suspended. Of course they'll probably find a way to work around it. That'd be a huge blow though.

But the real story, as we've seen several times over the previous decade... is the A's and Rays are leading their big budget divisions with payrolls that are 10+ and 20+ million dollars less than the Royals. This kind of thing has happened several times in recent years.

And everyone wants to bitch about Glass being cheap. Which, he probably is to some extent. However the real story with this franchise is the incompetence that runs through it. If the Royals are actually spending more than a couple of division leaders, there is NO excuse for not being contenders.

And it pisses me off.

And the Rays play in a crappy ballpark and have an apathetic fanbase.

It doesn't help the fact that they are spending it on poor quality players like Getz, Francouer, Mendoza, etc to name a few off my head. Beatancourt was another one that was terrible.

Yep. The level of fail coming out of Kauffman is absolutely mind boggling.

Absolutely. Incompetence plain and simple. Shitty talent evaluation. Stubbornness to stick by those players even after they have proven to be failures. It is like an entire franchise of Pioli/Cassel syndrome. Completely unfathomable.

In all fairness, those big money teams have bad injury luck right now. Nobody thinks the Yankees would only be 55-50 if they had Texeira-Granderson-ARod all year long. Red Sox without Buckholz, Bailey, Hanrahan, which is dead money. And Texas lost 18-game winner Matt Harrison, Colby Lewis (14-game winner two years ago, 3.30 ERA last year), Feliz who saved 35 per. Berkman hurt now etc.


Tampa Oakland and yes, KC have been extremely injury-free this year. That explains what's happening in the standings.

Tampa is always a potential contender, regardless of the BoSox and Yanks injury problems. Oakland is not in the mix every year but, often enough to provide fans with a reason to support them.

Sorry but, the big money clubs injury problems does not detract from the competence emanating from a couple of the smaller franchises.

Myers with 2 more home runs today and 4 RBIs. It's a struggle trying not to pay attention, but when the guy is blowing up like this I can't help it.

Imagine if Moore had decided to trade Moose instead of Myers for Shields...

Or if we wouldn't have made the trade and signed Anibal Sanchez instead. Sanchez roughly equivalent to Shields, you don't have Davis setting fire to the mound every fifth day, and you have the best rookie in baseball playing right field. I know, no reason to dwell on what if's........

If only some had thought of this before the trade happened...:( drinks heavily

Dayton really need to address the 2nd base and 3rd base.... Moose is just terrible, and he's just overmatched.

That pitch looked really high.

Alex turning back into Alice in front of our eyes. He swung at ball two and ball three. No place discipline.

Rany just posted a long update, listing basically all of the potential targets for 2B, while first arguing that we shouldn't be buyers in the traditional sense.

The team has the money to re sign Santana. Let's not use that as an excuse
Posted via Mobile Device

What's the list?

It's been a fun season for sure especially considering the shit we are used to watching but IMO we still aren't at the level to be buying at this point in the season, as fun as that may be. However, I simply think we might be buyers because DM needs to make some moves to try and save his ass. I think it would be poor franchise management to allow him to do that, however.

We are paying Santana 13 million this year.
Posted via Mobile Device

This was precisely why I (and all the rest of you, I'm sure) wasn't a fan of the Shields trade. We're just not ready yet, and probably never will be as long as Dayton's in charge.

As for Dayton saving his ass, I just have doubts that Glass actually would fire him if this team finishes anywhere near .500. I'm thinking it's going to take an epic collapse for him to not be employed in 2014, unfortunately. Now, if we're not in legitimate contention at this point next season.....

Both the Tigers and Indians win again. This is just ridiculous that we win five in a row and don't even make up a game.

The only issue with this is it assumes we would've signed Sanchez and Detroit wouldn't have tried to outbid us to ensure this doesn't happen. I don't think this was guaranteed, in which case Chen and Hoch are in our rotation again all year, plus someone like Will Smith or Mendoza.

True, but Shields threw 7 shutout innings the other night and Lough saved the game last night. Have to look at everything in it's entirety.

How would anyone know? The preseason Vegas odds had Tampa at 86, Oakland at 83, Arizona 81,Boston 79, Cleveland 78, PIttsburgh 79, Baltimore 77. All are having good seasons. You can't possibly know for certain which teams are "ready" and which are not.

http://www.baseballnation.com/2013/2...s-2013-GAMBLOR

He probably is. Hes a solid major league player, dont get me wrong. But go to a royals game and listen tonwhat the casual fan thinks. I overheard some of them touting Lough as a perennial all star and better than Alex Gordon. Just cuz a guy is hitting .300 at the time doesnt mean hes going to do it after 1500 at bats. Ive been saying for a while now that ppl are going to be disappointed with guys like Perez and Escobar regress back to their mean. Its gonna be the same w Lough. Hes a good player, but there is absolutely no way he will be a perennial .300 hitter.

Everybody keep on telling yourself that was a good trade. Got rid of your best offensive and major league ready prospect and a guy in Odorizzi that would have been in the rotation this yr. 6 years of control for Will Myers. Just renting Shields.

And none of us would be talking about the Royals right now because we would be so far out of it as usual due to no pitching.

Odorizzi in the rotation this year? ROFL

This is simply not true. Before last night's game, Shields and Davies had combined for .3 WAR. Myers was 1 WAR.

So Myers + 2 RLP = better than where we're at now.

Hes worse than Davis? ......OK

Yes, i think he is.

No.
****ing.
Way.
Posted via Mobile Device

Are you kidding me? Odorizzi's been slapped around routinely in the majors. At least Davis has had some success at this level.

Routinely? He's pitched 18 innings this year.

Last year? He got lit up for the Royals damn near every time he pitched.

How many innings has he pitched in the majors?

25?

Yeah he's routinely been slapped around
Posted via Mobile Device

In seven innings?

Seven.
Posted via Mobile Device

I don't give a **** how many innings he has pitched. When he has, he has not been better than Davis. Period.

Point one
Posted via Mobile Device

He had a 4.98 era for us.

You are talking out of your ass
Posted via Mobile Device

Pfft, if you seriously believe that we would be where we are record wise right now with out the the pitching staff we have you are smoking dope.

Davies and Shields are almost a wash. The numbers don't lie, so I don't need to resort to smoke when I have facts.

No you are talking out of your ass. 4.98 era in 7 innings is not good. He has a 6.00 era in 18 innings this year for TB. That's not real good either.

And Davis is better?

Nope worse even after the good game the other night.
Posted via Mobile Device

And if not for the trade we run Hoch and Chen out all season. What would those numbers look like?

The numbers do not tell how things WOULD have played out had the trade not been made. Different circumstances often lead to different results. Who is to say that Myers would hit anything playing for the Royals? No one else on the team seems to be able to.

Davis was a 1.5 war player last year. Odorizzi is a -0.2 war player so far. This has been a bad year so far for Davis, i will agree, but Davis has had success at this level. Davis also has a better arsenal of pitches.

I would trot Davis out there over Odorizzi any day.

We would still have been allowed to participate in FA, and the Shields money could have gone elsewhere. Again, we would need two pitchers to amount to 0 WAR to have been better with Myers from the start of the year and Dayton's son cut, who was a negative WAR player himself.

Myers didn't "develop" in TB. He was ready to go.

he was a ****ing reliever last year.

you are talking about using him to start which he hasn't shown he's any better than Odorizzi at this point.
Posted via Mobile Device

Odorizzi is a career reliever as well. What's your point?

Hindsight is 50/50 when reviewing trades brahs!

Still no garauntee that Myers does not become affected by the offensive woes that plague this team. And even if not, I still do not believe that he alone on offense would be enough to compliment Santana to keep us hovering around .500 at this point.

Where? He started for the royals last year. He started three out of four games for the rays this year.

might as well just leave it be now.
Posted via Mobile Device

We're still talking about the Royals at the end of July. You can thank the starting pitching for that.

Maybe Myers is a stud, maybe not. If he's in right and Hoch is our staff ace again, we're on pace to lose 90-100 again.

I would also add that even with Santana, we had no idea that he was going to pitch any where near the level he has. If you're focus is upgrading the pitching staff, he alone at the time was not going to be enough. More needed to be added, and so it was.

Hoch, Chen and Myers > Shields and Davis. /DeezNutz

Regardless, Odorizzi hasn't shown shit at the MLB level. Davis has at least shown he can pitch here. Davis has shown to be a more capable pitcher than Odorizzi.

Odorizzi is hot garbage.

Wow. Let's completely disregard reality.

If we didn't trade Myers for Shields, I have it on good authority that Moore was looking to bring back Kyle Davies and Scott Elarton, with the latter being the opening day starter.

Hoch was starting. Chen was starting. Wait! He still is! And we could not acquire another starter, per league rules. Forget that there were a host of options.

The math is wrong. I swear.

They've combined for 4.0 war. Your numbers apparently are lying.

Baseball Reference. I'm not paying attention to what FanGraphs says about a starter with Davies' numbers.

Our 2nd and 3rd choice in the FA market + Myers > Shields and Davis so far.

So you admit your numbers are selective. Cool.

The Royals are on the edges of contention at the end of July because their pitching has been outstanding.

Shields has been outstanding. Santana has been outstanding. Guthrie's been good, hell, even Chen has been good. The bullpen's been nails mostly.

No Shields and we're not having this discussion. He brings more than just numbers.

At some point here, players like Gordon, Butler, Hosmer, and Moustakas are all going to get hot at the same time and this team can and will go on a run. Statistically speaking, Billy and Alex aren't .275 or .280 hitters. It's gonna happen. The only question is, will they be too far gone to make up the ground?

No way Moustakas gets hot the rest of this season.

He is a pile of shit at the plate with no power when he does get hits.

What does common sense suggest that the value of a pitcher with a 5.50 ERA and a WHIP of 1.75 might be?

Oh, so you admit that you're not going to factor in common sense? Cool.

The Royals record matches their pythagoraen record. That would suggest they are not getting lucky. So, would they need to get lucky to contend for a wild card?

He's got a 4.29 FIP. I don't know what you want from a 4 starter in the AL. He's got a .375 babip vs. the league average of .300 and his career total of .296. He's been unlucky if anything.

Odorizzi is better. ROFL

Maybe you missed the point about how his power sucks and it's taken him damn near 3 months to get going.

TV deals by team:

eam RSN Avg. Annual Rights Fee Equity Stake Expiration Year
Arizona Diamonbacks FS Arizona $31 million 2015
Atlanta Braves FS Sports South/Sports South $20-$30 million 2031
Baltimore Orioles MASN $29 million 87% N/A
Boston Red Sox NESN $60 million 80% N/A
Chicago Cubs CSN Chicago/WGN $50 million (combined) 20% CSN Chicago WGN: 2014/CSN: 2019
Chicago White Sox CSN Chicago $45.5 million 40% N/A
Cincinnati Reds FS Ohio $30 million 2016
Cleveland Indians FS Ohio $40 million 2022
Colorado Rockies Root Rocky Mountain $20 million 2014
Detroit Tigers FS Detroit $40 million 2017
Houston Astros CSN Houston $80 million 45% 2032
Kansas City Royals FS Kansas City $20 million 2019
Los Angeles Angels FS West $150 million 25% 2032
Los Angeles Dodgers SportsNet LA $340 million 2038
Miami Marlins FS Florida $18 million N/A
Milwaukee Brewers FS Wisconsin $20 million 2019
Minnesota Twins FS North $29 million N/A
New York Mets SNY $65 million (inc. over time) 65% 2030
New York Yankees YES $90 million (inc. over time) 34% 2042
Oakland A’s CSN California $43-$48 million 2029 (opt-out after 2023)
Philadelphia Phillies CSN Philadelphia $35 million 2015
Pittsburgh Pirates Root Pittsburgh $18 million 2019
San Diego Padres FS San Diego $60 million 20% 2031
San Francisco Giants CSN Bay Area $30 million 35% 2032
Seattle Mariners Root Northwest $115 million more than 50% 2030
St. Louis Cardinals FS Midwest $25-28 million 2019
Tampa Bay Rays SunSports $20 million 2016
Texas Rangers FS Southwest $150 million 10% 2034
Toronto Blue Jays Rogers Sportsnet $36 million N/A
Washington Nationals MASN $29 million 13% N/A

There wouldn't be any sting because we'd be division leaders at this point of the season...and would probably get the division crown for the first time since the 80's.

It would be more of an accomplishment than anything the Chiefs have ever done in the last 15 years.

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal 27m
Source confirms #Angels willing to listen on Kendrick, Aybar, others, as first reported by @jeffpassan. Goal is to upgrade starting pitching

Could we get Kendrick?

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal 27m
Source confirms #Angels willing to listen on Kendrick, Aybar, others, as first reported by @jeffpassan. Goal is to upgrade starting pitching

Could we get Kendrick?

Santana for Kendrick....:D

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal 28m
For Kendrick or Aybar, #Angels would seek a starter under multi-year control. Some teams want major leaguers for such pitchers, source says.

Needs to be multi year control

I'm glad we're at .500. I'll be honest, I didn't think it would happen... I hope they keep digging...

Rather have Gaybar than Kendrick. We're set in the outfield for the rest of the year. Think they'd take Hoch? They've been showcasing him over the past week. Hey, why not trade for both of them? Make them the SS-2B combo and move Escobar to third, send Moose to AA NW Arkansas!

Kendrick is a 2nd baseman with a little pop....give me him w/o question over Aybar.

This