Cashing out in April?

Remember the Eduardo Villacis debacle? Listen to what Joe Posnanski said in his column in the Star this morning:

I'm convinced that the day Villacis pitched, the Royals packed it in. I'm not saying they quit — teams don't quit (As Kansas State coach Bill Snyder has pointed out “They don't let you quit.”). Deep down, though, they had to know it was over. The players had never heard of Villacis, they could tell he wasn't a major-league pitcher, they knew he had absolutely zero chance of beating New York at Yankee Stadium. Management had cashed out. It's hard for players to believe after that.

I had never heard of Villacis until that day in Yankee stadium, but to find out that our players had never even heard of him speaks volumes. How could fans conclude anything except what Posnanski did here—that management cashed out the season while we were still in April (the Royals were 7-14 at the time)? What a sickening thought.