Hey all,

As I was looking at the Royals main website, I noticed the 2007 team stat leaders. It had the leaders in all basic categories from the past season. What I want to do for fun, is just have people guess as to who will be leading those categories and with what number.

So for this year we have:

AVG: M. Grudzielanek, .302
HR: J. Buck, 18
RBI: E. Brown, 62

W: B. Bannister, 12
SV: J. Soria, 17
K: G. Meche, 156

For 2008 I predict:

AVG: B. Butler .322
HR: A. Gordon 31
RBI: A. Gordon 112

W: G. Meche 16
SV: J. Soria 37
K: Z Greinke 187

Lets see yours.

This is just god awful. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are now officially the Tampa Bay Rays.

http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=tb

These things look like minor league uniforms. They are bland and boring. Are the Rays not even supposed to be sea creatures. From that sunny thing in the middle of the uniform and logo it looks like a sun. Wow, how imposing. The Tampa Solar Flares. Just give up Tampa. Ugh.

Also good job on the TB hats. Its always good to have your hat also be sort of an acronym for a well known disease. Go Tuberculosis Rays.

Whatever. Whatever.

Hey all, I am beating around the bush with some HW right now so I figured I could distract myself more doing this.

Basically, I've seen a couple diaries lately that had pieces of what I've been wanting to post about, but they didn't have the complete goal I had in mind. What I want to do is to rank a relevant portion of the 2007 draft, with fantasy purposes in mind. I think its very interesting to look at because our perspective changes a lot when looking at almost every player. Please don't blast me for posting a "fantasy" diary. I think this can inspire discussion just as much as anything.

I just want to see people rank their top 20 (or more if you feel like it) with a fantasy focus. Do you prefer long-term projects or someone closer to the majors? (ie lincecum vs kershaw last year). How important is position? Is Daniel Moskos going to be the lights out middle reliever the Pirates so desperately needed at #4 and will he set the all time holds stat record?

I'll go ahead and rank mine in a second. The stuff part of the title has to do with our offseason top prospects list. The WS is over and I am ready to go. I am ready to have at it with you all over our lists.

So here is how I think fantasy value shakes out with regards to the mlb draft.

1.Matt Weiters
2.David Price
3.Matt Laporta
4.Mike Moustaks
5.Rick Porcello
6.Ross Detweiler
7.Jarrod Parker
8.Beau Mills
9.Jason Heyward
10.Madison Bumgarner
11.Nick Schmidt
12.Josh Vitters
13.Matt Dominguez
14.Phil Aumont
15.Devin Mesoraco
16.Joe Savery
17.Blake Beaven
18.Kevin Ahrens (just a guess putting him here)
19.Wendell Fairley
20.James Simmons

What do we think? A top 15 probably would have been better but whatever.

First off, I want to say to all hardcore RR readers that I feel bad for not being able to contribute all that much here in the last two weeks. I am moving down to LA on Friday, and I've never come close to moving out so it has been hectic around the house. I was hoping for a day game tomorrow so I could watch and then accomplish all the things I need to get done later but I will have to wait until Thursday to really get some time and watch a game.

The main point of this basically to bring up a lot of what we know and expound on it a little more. After taking steaming, heaping, piles of crap from every sportswriter and blog jockey outside of the KC area, and even the laughably sardonic jabs from another GM (it's made even more funny by the fact that he's probably on a short leash starting pretty soon), we have some piece of validation. One of the best and most irrefutable points against the Meche signing was his consistency, his ability to last over a full season, or to put in a benchmark, 200 innings pitched. In his first 6 seasons with the Mariners he didn't achieve this feat once. I'll give him the fact a couple of seasons he probably didn't have the opportunity to reach the milestone, but when he did he didn't.

Today, Mr. Meche reached that 200 IP plateau, and he has started to transform his potential into actualized performance. Just looking at his stats also tell you how much he has developed. He has allowed less HR (three) in nearly 30 more IP, and has walked 25 less batters over those same amount of innings. One could also explain his decrease in K/9 as learning to pitch to contact better, and the rest of his numbers don't really dispute that kind of claim.

So officially, Gil Meche has turned himself legitimate big league starter, and he has most definitely earned his money this year, in my opinion. I think GMDM deserves a ton of credit for winning big with Meche. It's exciting to finally have a couple good pitchers after witnessing the sheer horror of the Royals rotation and in the early 00's.

Of course, you may already know and agree with this, but I am excited and very much satisfied with Gil.

Other things, down at UCLA, welcome week starts on sunday with a concert by none other than T.I. himself, and I look forward to going, probably hammered, and seeing what its like. I also would also like to implore the readers of RR what I should do and if they have any experience in the matter. After the concert there is a dance til 3am, and I probably would be hammered or more there. Are college dances fun? Esp ones in the actual basketball arena? I remember HS dances were pretty cool, but does the chance to be housed make it more or less fun. The other option would be to go to a large outdoor screening of the movie "The Kingdom" a full 5 days before it comes out. It looks pretty cool, but is there anyone out there who is especially excited for it or anything? I'm not really pumped for the movie but I would go just to say I've seen a movie before it comes out, and also if its good then even better.

Finally, any thoughts on frats? I am initially against them for a good set of reasons, but I could see some situations where they could be beneficial.

GO ROYALS!

Hey all, I don't normally post this but I decided to take some initiative when I noticed that Jeff Clement is apparently making his ML debut tonight against KC. I hadn't heard or seen anything noting it and I would imagine it is because of the whole Hargrove resigning overshadowing effect.

So yeah, I haven't checked any Minor League boxes yet but that is seemingly significant enought to kickstart this thread.

Thanks for stopping by. And you stay classy. But thanks for stopping by.

Well, after an anxious few months leading into the draft, and speculation having us take guys from Porcello(who I like much less knowing its pronounced Por-Chello), Weiters, Vitters, among many others, but now we finally have our guy in Mike Moustakas.

Did I think we would draft him last week? Hell no.

Did I know who he was last month? Hell no.

Am I happy with who we got? Hell yea.

Our first pick, out of Chatsworth HS, (known as the Chancellors, http://www.chatsworthhs.org), Michael Moustakas, appears to be a very astute selection, and becomes 100x more wise if he can actually play a big league SS. At 6'0" 200, hes a big kid, but I still think he can play the SS relatively well. I'm just gonna glance at some weight/height listings and list them, obviously ignoring differences in ability, body type, quickness etc.

Stephen Drew 6'1 185
Miguel Tejada 5'9 213
Bobby Crosby 6'3 217
Yunieski Betancourt 5'10 190
Orlando Cabrera 5'9 185
Brendan Harris 6'1 200
Rafael Furcal 5'8 196
Derek Jeter 6'3 195
TPJ 6'2 180
Michael Young 6'1 200
Carlos Guillen 6'1 213

Point being, just by looking at this list we can see his size and weight don't really look out of place. I do think he could still fill out though which could be a problem, but for purposes of this we'll ignore that.

So here we are, looking at a potential lineup in the 2009-2010 seasons based on development ascent to the bigs. Lets take a look at the lineup we could possibly field, and contrary to how BB assembles his lineup we will do it permutatively(making up words, always a good sign,  I just mean in a specific order) and hopefully it could be a lineup we could lean on for years to come.

1. CF David Dejesus- Good leadoff hitter, good centerfielder, his latest slump is pissing me off though, possible trade bait to places like Atlanta or Florida, where he could be extremely valuable to both. FLA overvalues pitching and would try and screw us. Wondering if Gathright is for real he would be a dominating leadoff guy.
   
2. LF Chris Lubanski- One of my personal favorites. Very hard worker.I don't see why he cant be a solid two hole hitter that puts up a ton of XBH. If he does what hes doing right now in Omaha at .280/.350/.480 he would be an awesome asset.
   
3. 3B Mark Teahen- Ideal three hole hitter, good power, good eye, I think he could go .290/.380/.480 at least with a good lineup around him as he progresses, or a slightly less powerful JD Drew.
   
4. Alex Gordon- I really don't care about getting a L/R/L/R split in the lineup, but Gordon will be our best all around hitter and all we do now is wait.
   
5. 1B/DH Billy Butler- Supposed to be the best hitter, and batting fifth should give him a ton of chances to get runners in. I imagine he will split time between first and DH while he is young with a guy like Gload, or even Huber,and maybe DH on daygame after a nighter.
   
6. SS Mike Moustakas-The hardest to project, but this is a dream lineup, so I'm putting him 6th at short. Really have no clue as to what he could do, but a 30 HR guy at short sounds like a perennial MVP candidate. If he can be a good OBP guy, also might consider the two spot.
   
7. C John Buck- Offensive breakout this year, and just by watching his approach you get the feeling he is for real. Don't see too much flailing and outside pitches, he has been able to get his pitch and hit it hard even with TPJ, well usually just TPJ batting behind him. 20+ HR power is exciting.
   
8. DH Justin Huber- I don't see Shealy being a long term option, (funny what 6 months time does), which may actually actually put the ostracized Mr. Huber back into contention for a semi prominent spot on this team. He was basically terrible for the first 6 weeks, but has been destroying the ball lately, and hopefully can earn his way into the future picture. This could also possibly be a FA that may split time at 1B or could be a rotating thing with Mitch Maier in the mix.
   
9. 2B Esteban German- This is really a tough choice because its so hard to project. I think its 50/50 that German will be around in two or three years. He will be 31 in 2009, and I think his value would be maximized through a trade. Given that, I still have to go with him basically because I have no clue what guys like Maddox or Bianchi might wind up doing. Both of them could be options here, or hell, even Tony Pena possibly, but someone will have to step up to win the 2B job if German goes.

Condensed version:
Dave Dejesus
Chris Lubanski
Mark Teahen
Al Gordon
Bill Butler
Mike Moustakas
John Buck
Justin Huber
Esty

So yeah, someday this offense could be really good. Just throw a pitching staff around it and you have a really good team. It will make George Brett proud. I can't wait!

WHY?!?!?! This weekend just keeps on getting worse. UGH.

KANSAS CITY -- The Royals added some infield depth and promoted a familiar face Sunday. Kansas City recalled shortstop Angel Berroa from Triple-A Omaha and placed Ross Gload (strained quadriceps) on the disabled list.

Berroa, the 2003 American League Rookie of the Year, will see time at multiple infield positions, including shortstop and third base. He was supposed to be the starting shortstop, but was demoted to the Minors on March 24 after hitting .263 with 14 strikeouts and no walks in 38 at-bats during Spring Training.

Berroa will backup Tony Pena at shortstop and Alex Gordon at third. With Ryan Shealy (hamstring) and Gload on the disabled list, Mike Sweeney and Gordon become the primary first baseman. Bell recently said Billy Butler could also see some time at first base.

The move could also help resurrect Berroa's career, a career that has gone downhill after a 2003 season that yielded a .287 average with 17 homers and 73 RBI. Since then, Berroa's average, on-base percentage and slugging average have fallen every year, bottoming out at .234/259/333 in 2006. The on-base and slugging percentages ranked as the worst in baseball among players who qualified for the batting title.

Berroa worked out in Kansas City in the offseason to improve his hitting and range in the field, but struggled throughout the spring. Bell still wanted Berroa to be in the Opening Day lineup on March 15, saying "We expect him to be our shortstop," but little consistency forced the trade for Pena. Bell said he wished Berroa would improve, improvement that came with a promotion after six weeks with Omaha.

"If he's doing great, we're going to see him with us or with somebody else. If he is doing well, I'd have no problem at all putting him in the lineup again," Bell said on March 24.

Berroa was hitting .303 with a .336 on-base percentage and a .369 slugging average with four walks and 17 strikeouts for Triple-A Omaha before the call-up.

Gload, the team's primary first baseman against right-handed batters after Shealy hurt his hamstring, also tweaked his quadriceps earlier this season and hurt it again Sunday. Gload was batting .284 and was tied with Mike Sweeney for the team lead in RBI (17).

After winning 11-1 over the White Sox on Sunday afternoon, the Royals begin a four-game trip against the Athletics on Monday night in Oakland.

Nice post by thedude... Happy birthday loyal2-RR

Hey everyone

I'm just making this thread for the 24 party that is May 1st. So much is happening that I just felt we need to consolidate it into 1 single thread. Today is a busy day for billions, and as mentioned in the past, a day for two extremely important American holidays.

Just a rundown of what will be going on today 05/01/07....
-Rush Will Release Their 18th Studio Album entitled Snakes And Arrows
-Bart Colon, America's least favorite Cy Young Award Winner, and he of 5'10" 250lb Stature, squares off against, everyone's favorite headcase Zack Greinke, on what will be exactly three weeks and three years to the day of his MLB debut, which I witness against the Oakland A's.
-The Golden State Warriors will try and close out the Dallas Mavericks in 5 games in Dallas. Town biz is what it is. The Town will be going dummy dumb retarded all night if they can actually finish off the vaunted #1 seed.
Going Dumb in the Bay

Historically May 1 has been a bland day, there are some important events for almost every war, but there is something from just about every damn war for every day. It will, however, mark the anniversary of the following events:

-Actually its the 300th anniversary of the Union Act which brought England and Scotland together as Great Britain. Cool
-The U2 Crisis involving Gary Francis Powers
-The George Bush Mission Accomplished(I'll use the RR article staple with the strikethrough here) declaration of success defining debacle.
-Law Day and Loyalty Day: I think all fines and jail sentences doubled today just like automobile violations driving through a contruction zone. But also take some time to reaffirm your loyalties, be it to dog, country, baseball team, or even significant other.

There aren't too many significant birthdays, and deaths have to be real important to be significant (ie assassination or something):
-The dad from Orange County Choppers-58
-Tim McGraw-hes 40
-D'Arcy-shes 39
-Curtis Martin-34
-Anyone born today in 1987 is celebrating the completion of their second full decade of life as they move onto their third. Shahar Pe'er is our winner, the Israeli tennis player celebrates 20 years old. Lets congratulate her. 20 is a great birthday and her b-day is the crux of this thread. It's really good to see someone my age have that special day. I happy for Shahar.
-We also send out our condolences to BIG HAWK, the famous Houston rapper, died a year ago today.

We also would like to wish the following people a pleasant day:
-National Love Day int he Czech Republic (sounds good to me)
-May Day, International Workers Day, Labour Day, whichever you call it, have fun sitting on your ass drinking and cooking whatever indigenous food is comparable to our own Labor Day meals)
-Lei Day in Hawaii (make sure you get lei'd, haha what a classic joke)

Anyway so that about covers everything about this May 1 day. I really can't think of anything else to say here, but if I missed anything let me know.   If you want to fact check or find something I missed just know I'm pulling this all straight for Wikipedia, which should by now be everyone's ultimate source for everything.

So in conclusion, remember, celebrate, cherish, declare loyalty toward, obey, love, drink, eat, fornicate, lei, watch the Royals, watch the warriors, listen to Rush, whichever you do, just make sure you do it.

Oh yeah, one last thing, I remember someone had a birthday here, I think it might might be Marbotty, or maybe it was stook. Yeah i think it was Stook. So definitely have a good one man.

But seriously, have a happy birthday loyal2.

It's been almost a year since we've felt that heartwarming buzz around the ballpark. That oh so familiar hum in the background of every baseball game in America is creeping back into our lives. Yes, All Star balloting has arrived for the great annual debate. For 25 home games, and through millions of untrackable E-ballots, there will be an election process that brings together an entire country, nay, an entire world to focus on one game. Last year, we were represented by the ever so memorable Mark Redman, who will live on for years as the All Star for our Kansas City Royals. Just Ask RoyalsReview, and he will regale you with fascinating tales of Redmans feats, and reminisce about the ballgames won and lost, but most of all. how we all grew as people every time he took the hill to prove us that one man CAN make a difference.

Now, I know we've been battered by the poor stats of many of our hitters, but as per MLB rules we MUST have an All Star! So now, we can do a quick glance at who just might don the noble All Star Jersey, right here in San Francisco.

Players on the Ballot for KC:
C-John Buck
1B-Ryan Shealy
2B-Mark Grudzielanek
3B-Alex Gordon
SS-Tony Pena Jr.
OF-Mark Teahen
OF-Emil Brown
OF-David DeJesus

Given that we can't vote for pitchers, the following are candidates from the Pen and Rotation.

Gil Meche
Zack Greinke
Ryan Braun
Joakim Soria

I'm only going to look at hitters and pitchers that actually have a chance to win the award right now barring a hot streak.

So as far as hitters we have John Buck and David DeJesus and pitchers I think Meche and Greinke are the only ones with a legit chance, unless they stiff us Lance Carter Style.(http://www.sptimes.com/2003/07/07/Rays/Carter_surprise_All_S.shtml)

A look at the stats:
DeJesus- .339/.406/.581/.987 3 HR 7RBI - David has been tremendous in the leadoff spot everyday, if he just gets on base at a 40% rate, hes one of the best leadoff men in the game. David has been on fire since day one, and has been the go to guy on offense over guys that should be right now. Probably should be our All Star.

John Buck- .440/.517./960/1.477- Buddy's decision to split Buck's time right now with LaRue has looked foolish, because all Buck has done is hit the hell out of the ball. In 25 AB he's tied with DeJesus with 3 HR, as well as doubling 4 times. He has stated his case to be the starting Catcher, and hopefully his GW HR the other night will be enough to convince Buddy that the Offensive Force known as John Buck is here to stay.

Gil Meche-2.22 ERA 6.75 K/9 2.25 BB/9 1.21 WHIP- Gil has been worth every penny of his 55 million through his first four  starts. He has looked more like Carpenter/Schmidt minus the injury, than the whatever the negative comparison was for him. At 1-1, hes going to have to win a couple games to get some love on the roster, because wins are everything. Gil has been great so far, and with a couple nice wins, he could garner some All Star love.

Zack Greinke- I dont feel like listing his stats, because he probably won't get enough mainstream love, but Zack has been fantastic so far this year. The blow up in Detroit wasn't really his fault. It was insanely windy, batters kept improbably fouling off good pitches to stay in the inning, the ump wouldn't give him a call on anything that wasn't over the middle, and Pudge's slam was NOT well hit at all, it looked like a pop that should have landed 40-50 feet from the wall, but the wind carried the ball out. In every other start, Greinke has been fantastic. He's looking more like an ace, and less like he was in 2005.

Well, based on this, there are 4 legit choices right now for our All Star rep, but you know what, I think Leyland will show us some love and not only pick up DeJesus, but I think Meche will also be our SECOND all star. That would be amazing!

This is news to me! I thought this joker was sent packing to AAA. What the hell. And its no surprise that he got rocked either. I really thought he was not on the team because of Braun, and this just really makes me mad. Hopefully Moore's justification was along the lines of Dwight and his cholesterol.

"I can raise and lower the cholesterol levels in my body"

"Why would you want to raise your cholesterol"

"So I can lower it"

I hope Moore is using the logic that he can have standridge up just to send him down.

Oh well. We lose 9-1 with our worst pitcher on the mound. And with standridge, probably our second worst. Nice showings from Braun, Gobble, and Welle, but especially Braun. Hopefully Greinke can be our stopper tomorrow night. And hopefully we can trade Sanders to Baltimore and get an RP and send standridge back to Omaha for some more innings there.