Favorite Royals Hall of Famer

The following poll is now closed. Here are the results:

Who is your favorite player in the Royals Hall of Fame (other than George Brett)?

Player	Percentage	Votes
Frank White	23%	11
Dan Quisenberry	19%	9
Mark Gubicza	10%	5
Amos Otis	10%	5
Brett Saberhagen	8%	4
John Mayberry	6%	3
Willie Wilson	6%	3
Steve Busby	2%	1
Dennis Leonard	2%	1
Hal McRae	2%	1
Jeff Montgomery	2%	1
Fred Patek	2%	1
Cookie Rojas	2%	1
Larry Gura	0%	0
Paul Splittorff	0%	0

It’s cool to see that Amos Otis got a few votes. I was kind of bummed that Gura and Splittorff didn’t receive any votes though, but I also understand that a person can only have one favorite. Thanks for participating. Another poll will be up soon.

Why Not the Royals?

Rany from Rany on the Royals was quoted extensively in an Omaha World Herald story this morning entitled “Why Not the Royals?” Check it out if you get a chance.

It’s a Wrap

We’re down to the final couple of roster spots after Ryan Shealy was sent to Omaha on assignment after clearing waivers. Tony Pena is in. He probably shouldn’t be, but he is. Mitch Maier was sent to Omaha. That was expected. So, it comes down to Brayan Pena or Shane Costa. The theory behind Pena makes sense—he could be a third catcher and give Hillman the ability to DH John Buck or Miguel Olivo. He can also play a little first, third, and outfield. Costa hit .455 this spring though and that’s hard to ignore.

Mark Teahen will start at second base on Opening Day. I like that move. He’ll probably struggle defensively for a while, assuming he keeps the position, but I expect him to adapt over time, and I think he’ll put up decent numbers for a second baseman.

So, on to my 2009 predictions.

As a team, I think the Royals will go 81-81. Their rotation is coming together. Their bullpen is solid. They’ve added some power in Mike Jacobs and a legitimate lead off hitter in Coco Crisp (.489 OBP this spring). The Royals finished at 18-14 this spring and most analysts believe they have a shot to contend for the AL Central. Not many people think they have a shot at winning it, but just being in contention has a nice ring to it.

Now for the rotation. I expect Gil Meche to put up similar numbers to last season—maybe going 15-13 with a 3.86 ERA. Zack Greinke struggled this spring, ending up with a 9.21 ERA in eight starts. But he’s 21-17 since the Royals fed him to the lions in 2005 and he’s too good not to win 14 games. I predict he’ll go 14-10 with a 3.66 ERA. But I think he has the talent to be the best starter on this team. Kyle Davies had a good spring. He also had a solid 2008 campaign. Assuming he doesn’t get off to a disastrous start (I know, I’m hedging my bet and making myself sound like a weather man), I can see him being around .500 with an ERA in the mid 4.00s. I’m not even going to venture a guess about how Sidney Ponson and Horacio Ramirez are going to do. I simply have no idea.

On offense, I have a feeling that Coco Crisp is going to have a career year in stolen bases. David DeJesus should fit nicely in the two hole. Will he drive in 73 runs again? I don’t know. I’d be happy if he repeated his numbers from last season (12 HR, 73 RBI, .366 OBP). This is Mark Teahen’s chance to finally prove that he’s everything we’d hoped for when we obtained him. He hit 7 HR this spring in 19 games and I’m going to drink the Mark Teahen Kool-aid and say he’s going to hit 20 HR for the first time in his career. Jose Guillen will be Jose Guillen. He’ll hit 20 HR and drive in 90 runs and offend nearly everybody he comes into contact with. Mike Jacobs will have another big year. I’m not sure he’ll hit 32 home runs again, especially playing in Kauffman Stadium, but I expect 25 out of him. I don’t have a prediction for Billy Butler or Alex Gordon. I just hope they find their way and establish themselves this season. Miguel Olivo is supposed to start the majority of the games. I can see him hitting 17 HR. Mike Aviles? Who knows, but I’m convinced he’s the real deal.

I can’t really predict bullpen numbers. Although I could venture a guess as to how many saves Joakim Soria might get. His 5.87 ERA this spring doesn’t scare me. And if he saved 42 games on a losing team last season, I don’t see why he wouldn’t do the same thing this season. When you look at Ron Mahay, Kyle Farnsworth, Juan Cruz, and Robinson Tejeda, you have to like the Royals’ chances if they get the ball to the pen with a lead. I’m not high on Jamey Wright or Doug Waechter, but maybe they’ll surprise me.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though. Our fourth and fifth spots in the rotation are total question marks. Kyle Davies might even be question mark. Our offense is improved, but still doesn’t have enough power. I still say we are playing a few guys out of position defensively and that’s a concern. And it’s always hard to scare away the dark cloud that seems to hang over a losing organization.

A lot has to happen for the Royals to make a run at the Central. But for the first time in a long time, I think they have a legitimate shot. First they need to play .500 ball for the better part of the season. If they do, they might just be doing a little scoreboard watching come August or September.

Roster Coming Together

As we head into the home stretch of Spring Training, Dayton Moore is getting close to setting the roster for Opening Day. There have been some surprises along the way and some givens.

One of the surprises was Jimmy Gobble being released (he’s since signed with the Rangers and then was released by them).

Another one of the surprises was Luke Hochevar being sent to Omaha recently. After going 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA in 16.1 IP this spring, it looked like he had a lock on the fifth spot in the starting rotation. Not so, though. Hillman pointed out a couple of things Hochevar needs to work on:

“There are things he needs to finish off to be more successful as a Major League starter. Primarily, pitching to both sides of the plate with consistency to allow his great stuff to open up the zone to secondary stuff. And be more consistent in monitoring damage when he gets in a bind—keep it a single-run inning instead of two or three or four on the board.”

We learned today that Sidney Ponson and Horacio Ramirez are the fourth and fifth starters to open the season. Brian Bannister was optioned to Omaha. Who would have thought that Omaha would have both Hochevar and Bannister in the rotation to start the season? I just received my media credentials yesterday for the 2009 Omaha Royals season, so I should be able to bring you a first hand report about how both are doing as the season gets underway.

So, for the record, here is the starting rotation to open the season: (1) Gil Meche (2) Zack Greinke (3) Kyle Davies (4) Sidney Ponson (5) Horacio Ramirez. But technically, Ramirez will start the season in the bullpen since there are three open dates in the schedule in April. He’ll move to the rotation in mid-April.

If you’ve been wondering what the Royals were going to do with Ross Gload this season—the answer is, trade him to the Florida Marlins for a player to be named later and cash.

They Royals also released Joel Peralta and placed John Bale on the 15-day DL. Neither of which was a big surprise. So, the team is down to 32 players in camp. Seven more to go.

Mike Sweeney Update

I’m listening to the Royals play the Mariners this afternoon while I work. Mike Sweeney just got a hit for the Mariners and that prompted me to do a quick search to find out what his chances are of making the Mariners’ roster. I found this short AP article saying that “Mike Sweeney’s chances of making the Seattle Mariners’ roster on opening day keep improving.”

In nine games this spring, Sweeney is hitting .296 with a .355 OBP. He has 1 HR and 5 RBI.

Royals: 30 Clubs in 30 Days

Did you have a chance to watch the feature the MLB channel did about the Royals during their 30 Clubs in 30 Days series? At times, it was painful to watch while at other times you get the sense that the analysts believe the Royals are headed in the right direction.

First things first. John Hart really needs to learn how to pronounce players’ names before going on the air. The two Ls in Alberto Callaspo’s last name are pronounced like a Y. His name is not Alberto CaLLaspo. And Mark Teahen’s name is not pronounced Mark Tea-HAN.

The brief interview with Zack Greinke was pure Greinke. The reporter asked him, “Looking at the way the team is built, why does this team feel like now it could be successful and get over that hump?”

Here was his response: “Ummmm. Mainly cuz they’ve been rebuilding for a long time—like semi-rebuilding—that’s more just saying they’re rebuilding because the team was bad, but uh, they were doing a little rebuilding a long the way and the younger guys are finally starting to get to the age where they’re not really too young anymore and then we put some pieces around them too . . .”

You gotta love Zack Greinke—first for his honesty and second because it’s sort of like having our own Yogi Berra around. Oh yeah, and he can pitch too. You can read all sorts of comments about Greinke’s interview over at Royals Review.

John Hart rightly slammed the Royals for not developing enough talent over the last ten years, saying that they missed on a number of guys at the top of the draft. I don’t know how anybody could argue with that. But he also said that there’s a new regime who understands the market the Royals play in. Time will tell.

Mitch Williams said that the Royals just don’t have enough power in their line up—even with the addition of Mike Jacobs. Hard to argue with him. But the Royals have more power this year than they’ve had in any recent season.

They accurately pointed out that the Royals have back of the rotation issues. The fourth and fifth spots will be a crapshoot, no doubt about that. But you have to feel good about the front of the rotation, and maybe even Kyle Davies in the middle.

Dayton Moore was interviewed briefly and he said that the current roster is the best one the Royals have had since 1994. That sent me scrambling for my Royals media guide to look up our Opening Day roster in 1994 (they finished 64-51 that season, good for third in the AL Central).

Here’s the batting order on Opening Day:

Player	Pos.	HR	RBI	OBP	Comment
Vince Coleman	LF	2	33	.285	50 SB
Brian McRae	CF	4	40	.359	28 SB
Wally Joyner	1B	8	57	.386	His best days were behind him
Mike Macfarlane	C	14	47	.359	Hitting clean up? Really?
Gary Gaetti	3B	12	57	.328	You had to love the G-man
Bob Hamelin	DH	24	65	.388	Won rookie of the year
Dave Henderson	RF	5	31	.304	I forgot all about Dave
Greg Gagne	SS	7	51	.314	As smooth as they come at short
Jose Lind	2B	1	31	.306	One of the best fielding 2B we’ve had

The Royals also had Terry Shumpert, Brent Mayne, David Howard, Hubie Brooks, Keith Miller, Kevin Koslofski, and Tom Goodwin on the roster.

Our 2009 line up certainly looks more potent that this one.

According to Baseball-Reference, here is what the rotation looked like in 1994, in no particular order from what I can tell:

Player	GS	W-L	ERA	Comment
Tom Gordon	24	11-7	4.35	Flash was a starter then
Kevin Appier	23	7-6	3.83	A down year for Apes
David Cone	23	16-5	2.94	Made just $5 million
Mark Gubicza	22	7-9	4.50	Made $610,000
Bob Milacki	10	0-5	6.14	Wow
Chris Haney	6	2-2	7.31	2nd rounder who never got it going

Our current rotation could put up very similar numbers, although I’m not sure that we have a David Cone on our staff. If we do, it would be Zack Greinke.

Here is the bullpen from 1994:

Player	G	W-L	ERA	SV	Comment
Jeff Montgomery	42	2-3	4.03	27	Had 45 saves in 1993
Billy Brewer	50	4-1	2.56	3	Not bad, not bad
Hipolito Pichardo	45	5-3	4.92	3	Michael Jackson look-alike
Stan Belinda	37	2-2	5.14	1	Made $1.6 million
Rusty Meacham	36	3-3	3.73	4	Now the pitching coach for the Vermont Lake Monsters
Mike Magnante	36	2-3	4.60	0
Jose DeJesus	5	3-1	4.73	0	The other DeJesus
Jeff Granger	2	0-1	6.75	0	Another 1st round bust

Our current bullpen will put up better numbers than this one did.

On paper, the 2009 Royals look to have a stronger team than even the 1994 roster, but I’m not convinced that they’ll end up 13 games over .500 like 94 team did. Mitch Williams predicted that the Royals will finish above .500, but still end up last in the AL Central. Mathematically speaking, I guess it’s possible for a team to play above .500 and still finish last, but it’s not going to happen and it seems like a bizarre prediction to make, doesn’t it? John Hart predicated that the Royals would finish last.

Funny Quote

During the broadcast last night, you may have heard Ryan Lefebvre and Frank White talking about the phrase, “You just need to tip your cap to him and move on.” It’s a baseball cliché that’s used when a pitcher throws a nearly unhittable pitch to get a guy out. Lefebvre said that hitters never really tip their cap to a pitcher in that situation which led White to say, “You only tip your hat to the ladies.”

No Situational Lefty for KC

I’m still a little stumped by the notion that the Royals believe they don’t need a situational lefty in the pen. Bob Dutton confirmed it again today in an article:

The decision this week to jettison veteran reliever Jimmy Gobble signals that the Royals believe their bullpen has sufficient depth and versatility that a left-handed specialist is an unneeded commodity.

This raises all sorts of questions in my mind:

Is Dayton Moore saying that he doesn’t think there’s anything to the lefty vs. lefty match up or is he saying that the guys we have in our pen are good enough to get lefties out? If he doesn’t think there’s anything to lefty vs. lefty match up, then why sign Horacio Ramirez with the intent of putting a lefty in the rotation? If he thinks our pen is good enough to get lefties out without a situational lefty—what is he basing that on? As Dutton pointed out, left-handed opponents posted a .257 OBP against Gobble last season; he was better against lefties than everybody else in the pen, including Joakim Soria (.261). Neither John Bale (.356) nor Ron Mahay (.327) were even close to being as effective.

I could be reading too much into all of this, but if Moore’s theory is that situational lefties are unnecessary—presumably because a good pitcher is a good pitcher, no matter what side he throws from—then will Trey Hillman stagger righties and lefties in our own batting order? If so, why?

The caveat here may be that since the Royals believe their bullpen is deep and versatile, then they don’t feel the need to carry a situational lefty—otherwise, they would. But if you look at the numbers, their argument just doesn’t make sense.

The Royals Release Jimmy Gobble

I’ve seen the Royals release a lot of players over the years. I expected it in most cases. Not this one. They cut Jimmy Gobble this morning. Gobble was a sandwich pick in the 1999 draft (taken 43rd overall). He certainly had his problems last season, but Trey Hillman just admitted a couple of weeks ago that he mishandled Gobble last season by not using him as a situational lefty.

From what Dick Kaegel is reporting, the Royals simply don’t want to carry a situational lefty on their roster. I’m not sure why they didn’t try to trade him instead, but maybe they tried and his numbers last season hampered any chances of moving him. One thing is for sure, they’ll save some money by making the move today:

By asking release waivers on Gobble, the Royals met a money-saving deadline. They're obligated to pay him just one-sixth of his $1.35 million salary or $225,000 instead of one-fourth of that salary ($337,500) if he were released after March 18.

The Royals have continued to stockpile arms and they’ve re-loaded their bullpen for 2009. I’m surprised that they don’t see a place in the pen for Gobble, but I understand not wanting to carry a situational lefty—especially if you have enough guys who can get both righties and lefties out. I just hate seeing a sandwich pick not pan out.

The Royals went out and signed Anthony Lerew to a Minor League contract and they invited him to camp. He’s a power pitcher who is returning from Tommy John surgery. He comes from the Braves’ organization (big surprise, huh?) and is 0-2 in 11 games at the Major League level with an 8.31 ERA and 1.98 WHIP.

Go Deep Into Royals’ Stats

I was reading Sam Mellinger’s post about Alex Gordon this morning and he lost me before I finished the first paragraph. He introduced me to Play Index on the Baseball Reference website. I already loved that website. It just went to a new level with Play Index. PI gives you stats you never had access to before.

For example, I just popped in Mike Sweeney’s name and discovered that he hit more home runs on the first pitch he saw (41) than any other count. I was stunned to learn that he only hit seven home runs on 3-1 counts. But if you look a little closer, you see that he had 132 career ABs with 3-1 counts and he ended up with 149 BB, so more times than not, he ended up walking (like most other players I suspect). He hit .290 with 35 HR and 252 RBI with two outs and runners in scoring position. In tie games, he hit .294 with 50 HR and 210 RBI. And here’s a stat for all of those who said Sweeney didn’t do much except when the Royals were getting blown out: he hit 177 of his 199 (88.9%) home runs when his team was within four runs of its opponents. He also hit .301 when his team was within four runs and .290 when his team was losing by more than four runs.

Yeah, I’ve been digging into the stats of other Royals’ players past and present. PI is a baseball fan’s dream. Check it out.

Royals Sign Sidney Ponson

Royals’ scouts have been watching Sidney Ponson and they “are convinced this guy needs to be part of our rotation competition” according to Dayton Moore, so the Royals signed him to a Minor League contract.

Ponson is 32. He’s certainly had his share of success—at least for a season or two in Baltimore. Overall, in his 11 seasons at the big league level, he’s 90-106 with a 4.95 ERA and 1.47 WHIP. If that were all we had to go by, then it might seem foolish not to take a chance in issuing a guy like Ponson a Minor League contract and then let him fight for a chance to make the rotation. But that’s not all we have to go by.

According to Bob Dutton, Ponson was . . .

. . . arrested on Christmas in 2004 for assaulting a judge in his native Aruba following an incident concerning a complaint regarding Ponson’s operation of a powerboat.

Ponson was also cited twice in 2005 for driving under the influence. The Rangers released him last June, despite a 4-1 record, because of what club officials characterized as behavioral issues.

I’m all for giving a guy a second chance if he’s shown a desire to change, but obviously the Rangers had enough problems with him last season that they released him even though he was 4-1. Who can afford to release good starting pitching without something bad going on below the surface? What makes Moore think 2009 will be different than 2008 for Ponson? In Dutton’s article, Moore is quoted as saying that “if we didn’t think it was manageable or something that could be positive for us going forward, we wouldn’t take the chance.”

I hope the chance turns out to be worth taking. Of course, we may never find out if Ponson doesn’t pitch his way onto the club over the next couple of weeks.

Two Interesting Tidbits About John Buck

The Kansas City Star has an interesting article by Bob Dutton on their website about John Buck’s new workout regimen. The article contains some interesting information and two quotes I want to point out.

First, from hitting coach Kevin Seitzer about Buck: “Last year, I think he got into trouble because he was worrying about chasing pitches. And when a guy is worrying about chasing, he’s usually late on fastballs. And when you’re late on fastballs, your swing looks long and slow.”

So, presumably, Seitzer has Buck looking for fastballs this spring. Apparently, it’s working. Have you seen Buck’s numbers? In 11 games (27 AB), he’s hitting .407 with 3 HR and 8 RBI.

Second, last May, John’s wife gave birth to twins, and according to the article, her life was in jeopardy during the delivery. One of his sons also needed extra medical attention. His wife and son eventually came through it okay, but he kept everything private and returned to the team after a three-day bereavement leave.

Here’s what he said in the article about his family and the 2008 season: “I care about my family way more than the game, but the game is how I support my family. So I tried to keep rolling with it. But did I want to be on the road playing baseball while my wife was in the hospital? Heck, no.”

What a horrible situation to be in. The article doesn’t go into detail, but I’m wondering why Buck didn’t get more time to be with his wife and son. Whatever the case, rather than sitting in his hotel room (when the Royals were on the road) Buck began to work out with David DeJesus (under the supervision of Ty Hill) just to keep from going crazy thinking about his family. And then he began to eat better. All of that lead to him feeling better physically.

Here’s to hoping that John Buck has a great 2009, both on and off the field.

Who is Your Favorite Player in the Royals Hall of Fame?

You have until the end of March to vote in the latest Royal Reflections poll: Who is your favorite player in the Royals Hall of Fame (other than George Brett)?

The poll is on the right side of the page.

Trey Hillman on Gil Meche’s Performance

I got a chuckle out of Trey Hillman’s comments after the Royals 11-7 win over the White Sox yesterday. Gil Meche started the game and gave up four runs on four hits in 3.1 IP, which prompted Hillman to say: “I liked Gil’s outing a lot until he started jacking around a little bit with change-ups in counts he wouldn’t typically throw them in.” I’m thinking that Hillman is feeling a little more comfortable this season than he was last season.

March Madness Misery

Mark Teahen is upset that St Mary’s (the college he attended), didn’t make it into the NCAA basketball tournament with a 26-6 record. I feel his pain. My Creighton Bluejays, who were 26-7, were snubbed as well. Both teams are headed for the NIT. I don’t really follow college basketball anymore, so I can’t make any good arguments for either team (other than their records), but misery really does love company.

I just checked and St. Mary’s and Creighton are on opposite sides of the NIT bracket. So, I’m rooting for a St. Mary’s vs. Creighton final.