Byrd Shuns Royals

I like Paul Byrd. I think we offered him too much money (reportedly $22 million for three years), but that's the way the market is going right now. I was a little surprised to see him sign with Cleveland for two years for $14.25 million. But his reasoning was quite clear, "I want to win," Byrd reportedly said. "And that was more important than the larger contract in Kansas City."

Kansas City, we have a problem. If we can't overpay for Paul Byrd—a good pitcher who is injury prone—then who can we overpay for? (Forget paying market value.) After losing in excess of 200 games the past two seasons, we've obviously become known as an organization that has no interest in winning. As much as we've been trying to portray an imagine of an organization that's in the midst of rebuilding via a youth movement, players like Paul Byrd don't seem to believe it.