There’s not much to talk about that hasn’t already been covered on the real Royals blogs. The team sucks – this weekend they managed to not score when Bannister went 7+ giving up only one run and lost, scored nine runs the next night and still lost by six, then were shut-out again on Sunday – and at times it looks like some of the team is giving up. I was listening to games over the weekend and you can almost predict when someone is going to boot a room-service ground ball or toss a potential inning-ending double-play ball into right field. Poz even busted out a “Here Are All The Ridiculous Things That Have Happened This Season, So Far” column today, and it stands up with all the dumb things the Royals have done for the past decade.
Then there are the trades. I mentioned the Ryan Freel trade last week. Then came the real doozy, two young arms for a shortstop that every statistical measure shows is one of the worst players in the majors over the past three seasons. I’ve looked at that deal from every angle (I’m not even going to bother to learn how to spell his name. Let’s just call him Y). The only justification I can come up with is that Dayton Moore thinks things are so bad that Y is worth the risk, understanding he may completely wash out. Now I don’t think that’s the case, Moore has been in love with Y for years, but that’s the only benefit-of-the-doubt argument I can find. “We’ve been running Tony Pena, Jr, and Luis Hernandez out there for the last month. Can this guy be any worse? And if he pans out, I’ll look like a genius!” Argh.
(I tend to agree with Rany’s suggestion: this season is over. Put Bloomquist at short for the remainder of the year. With Gordon coming off the DL, Teahen becomes the super-sub (unless/until he’s traded). If you really love Y that much, chances are he’s going to be available for free when the season is over. Cortes may not pan out, but why take the risk of trading away a promising arm for a 27-year-old shortstop that is clearly in decline?)
Things are so bad one prominent Royals blog busted out an “<a href=”http://www.royalsreview.com/2009/7/11/946005/i-quit-as-a-royals-fan-mad-lib”>I Quit As A Royals Fan</a>” Madlib this morning.
I do think I found what the Royals really need, though. After reading the Sports Illustrated, Where Are They Now? article about Earl Weaver, I checked YouTube for some of the Earl’s greatest arguments and came across this epic Dick Hauser explosion. Simpler times, because I don’t ever remember hearing about this and that was back when I lived-and-died with the R’s. Perhaps something like this would get them playing halfway decent ball again. Not that Trey should try this. I think they’d just laugh at him.