I’ve been putting this one off for awhile, hoping that the Royals might get their act together and I would have something positive to write about. Instead, they’ve run off an impressive streak of badness that makes even the most optimistic fan think the days of contending are a lot farther off than we had hoped. As I write this, the Royals somehow blew a four-run lead in the time it took me to read through a couple e-mails and straighten a few things up before I sat down to hopefully watch them close out a series-opening win in Cleveland.
Sigh.
Things have really spiraled out of control quickly. Just a couple weeks ago, when the cause wasn’t completely hopeless, there were persistent rumors that the Royals were going to be a player in the trading market, searching for talent rather than unloading as they’ve traditionally done. It seems kind of dumb to be chasing a shortstop or Brad Penny now, though. Baring a hot streak that runs over several weeks, it’s far more likely that the Royals will be looking for a pennies-on-the-dollar trade that involves Guillen. Baring that, the smart move would seem to be trading Teahen and ending the misery he’s gone through as he’s hopped from position-to-position.
Cruz and Wright just blew up and a four-run lead has become a four-run deficit.
Big sigh.
So, much of the early-season enthusiasm is gone. They can’t score runs, the bullpen can’t hang onto a lead, Hillman burns Soria at the wrong times and keeps sending Jacobs out against lefties, the defense is looking more-and-more like the stone handed fools who kicked the ball around for the last ten years, and Greinke seems mortal.
Sigh.
I can’t even pretend to understand the MLB draft, but it sounds like the Royals might have at least got a decent arm with their #1 pick tonight. I was pulling for a bat, but with baseball you have no idea who is going to pan out. Some of the comments I’ve read tonight make it sound like Crow could be in the rotation next year. Which I guess is a good thing.
So maybe we write off June and when they’re 10 games back they play respectable ball for the next three months, win 73 games or so, and in the offseason we talk about how those six bad weeks sunk the team and if they can just get a little bit better, stay healthy, etc. 2010 could be their year.
Sigh.