OK, so here’s the rub: I’m flat sick and tired of going on Baseball Think Factory or one of the other baseball Web sites every other day and reading some headline that says: “Red Sox Back in Santana Derby,” or “Don’t Count Out Yankees In Race For Santana” or “Mets Take Santana Lead.” First off, you can’t take a “lead” when it comes to a trade. This isn’t NASCAR. You don’t get points for leading a lap. Some team may trade for Santana, or maybe not, but one thing is certain: There won’t be a second place. And no team will get even one scoreless inning because they “led” the Santana race in December.
But that’s not my real problem here. No, my real problem is that whenever there’s something enormous like this going on in baseball — some gigantic free agency deal or some monster trade involving the best pitcher in baseball — the Kansas City Royals might as well be playing Major League Soccer. I’m not just saying that the Royals are not involved. I’m saying they are a MILLION MILES AWAY from being involved. I’m saying they are more likely to pick up Carlos Santana or Johann Sebastian Bach or some other play off the guy’s name. I’m saying Royals fans — and probably from from 10 or 15 other teams out there — realize that they are playing a different game.
And no, I’m not trying to rehash the whole big market, small market, luxury tax, where does the revenue sharing money go mess — no. The smartest teams can compete with the big guys — that whole discussion is so 1997. No, I’m simply talking plain fan emotion. Offseasons have become more and more depressing. The other day, Bud Selig was talking about how on September 1 of last year, fans could look at the standings and see that 19 out of 30 teams were in contention for a playoff spot of some kind. It should be noted that the claim is pretty suspect — the 19 counts Cincinnati, Houston and Minnesota who were sort of, vaguely, mathematically clinging for dear life in the Wildcard Race, even though the teams themselves were quite aware than they were dead. Plus, as mentioned here, the Wildcard sucks.
But the point the Commissioner was trying to make was that competitive balance is stronger now than it has been in years. I don’t really see it — in the American League, it still looks like an awful lot of Yankees, Angels and Red Sox with Detroit now stockpiling weapons — but maybe he’s right. Maybe the season is somewhat more competitive. The offseason is not. Pretty much the best you can hope to do if you are Kansas City, Cincinnati, Tampa, Milwaukee and a bunch of other places, it seems to me, is vastly overpay for the Yankees and Red Sox rejected pile of applicants. Then hope for the best.
For instance: Everyone here knows I didn’t like the Jose Guillen signing, mostly because I just have this hunch that his numbers will fall pretty rapidly. But I also am fully aware that the Royals first tried to vastly overpay Torii Hunter and Andruw Jones, who were (I guess) the valedictorians of the free agent outfield class. The Royals came very close to signing Hunter, but then the Angels simply did their Thurston B. Howell, “No, I’ll offer you a hundred billion for the last coconut” bit, and Hunter was gone. Andruw Jones had a different situation, but he’s similar in that the Royals offered a lot of money and could not land him.
And so, in that context, yeah, Jose Guillen was the next-best thing out there. He has been a pretty good hitter, after all. So that’s the deal in Kansas City: You are left hoping that the third-best free outfield free agent — the one you just gave $12 million to after his previous team let him go rather than pick up a $9 million option — will turn out well. He might. And he is better than anything the Royals had before.
But that’s not exactly as much fun as wondering where you stand in the flurry to pick up Johan Santana. Come to think of it, that’s really not much fun at all. Like I said before, it’s not that the Royals are not able to trade for Santa. It’s NOT EVEN THE SLIGHTEST POSSIBILITY. It’s like playing in a crooked fantasy baseball league or something.
So you know what? Forget all that. Royals fans deserve to be in the discussion — hey, Kansas City is a major league town too. So I decided to write my own, “Hey, now the Royals are in the Santana chase,” story. I got to Royals general manager Dayton Moore and asked, “Hey, why can’t you guys go get Johan Santana?”
He responded, basically, by suggesting that was not exactly one of the world’s great questions.
But you will notice … that’s not a denial. Am I right or am I right?
So here’s my story:
KANSAS CITY — Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore on Wednesday did not deny that his team is very close to completing a trade for Minnesota Twins ace Johan Santana.
“That’s a ridiculous question,” he said, when asked why his team just didn’t go out and trade for Santana.
Santana won Cy Young Awards in 2004 and 2006 and is widely regarded as the best pitcher in the game. His presence in the Royals rotation would give them their first true ace since Kevin Appier in the 1990s. it is widely believed among baseball sources that if the Royals had a rotation featuring Johan Santana, Gil Meche, Brian Bannister and Zack Greinke, they would be better than they have been the last few years.
Over the last few weeks, several teams — in particular the New York Yankees, Mets and Boston Red Sox — have been rumored to be close to acquiring Santana, so it would be quite a coup for the “small-market” Royals to beat them to the bunch. As one scout who would prefer to remain anonymous said on Tuesday when first told about this potential Santana-to-the-Royals trade, “Are you drinking and taking medication at the same time?”
Santana would be a very likely candidate to break a few somewhat disheartening trends for Royals starters:
1. The Royals have not had an 18-game winner in 15 years. Santana has won more than 18 twice.
2. The Royals have not had a pitcher strike out 160 batters in a season since 1997. Santana has struck out more than 200 batters each of the last four seasons.
3. He would not suck, as many Royals starters have over the last decade-plus.
Commissioner Bud Selig was not available for comment about this potential trade, but two days earlier, when speaking to the St. Louis Baseball Writers Dinner, he did say that competitive balance in baseball was at an all-time high and that he expected the game to only get more balanced. This would prove that point, wouldn’t it? Selig also announced publicly, without any prodding at all, that baseball is popular.
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70 Comments, Comment or Ping
steve
dear joe:
please make your posts less funny.
i can’t read them in class, for fear of laughing my ass out of the chair.
sincerely,
me
Jan 24th, 2008
Old Man Duggan
Funny.
Why doesn’t Dayton pitch something like Alex and Hochevar for Johan. Then he could just give that money he’d have to re-sign them with to Johan?…
Pipe dreams are still dreams, right?
Jan 24th, 2008
Andy
That’s quite possibly the greatest blog post I have ever read. Ever.
Jan 24th, 2008
Jonathan
So I’m sitting here reading this & my wife can’t figure out why I keep laughing so hard. Very funny stuff Joe!
Thanks for keeping a die-hard Braves fan entertained w/ the blog…
Jan 24th, 2008
Minda
I laughed, I cried, two thumbs up, and other review-related clichés!
This line:
“3. He would not suck, as many Royals starters have over the last decade-plus.”
Is so blatantly obvious, and yet so…ouch. Ouch, ouch, ouch. I lost count of the number of former KC starters who are now in AAA for other teams. Someday, the Royals will have starters who don’t suck. SOMEDAY…it has to happen or I will be very sad.
Jan 24th, 2008
Josh
Just remember it could be worse…. you could be a middle of the road franchise (read: Mariners) in talks to acquire a stud pitcher (Bedard) and give up 3+ top notch prospects (i.e. the future) to make an ill-fated run at glory….
On a side-note I hate Bill Bavasi….
Jan 24th, 2008
Joe
Joe,
I feel your pain. I am a life long Brewers fan and I actually got excited this off-season for the first time in a long time. Why? Because the Brewers finally got rid of the $7 million bagage that is Geoff Jenkins. That is how slim pickings the offseason excitement has been for the Brewers for the last 2..4..6……12…15 years (give or take). I got excited about clearing salary! Oh boy! Sad, just sad.
Jan 24th, 2008
AaronB
hahahaha Joe, great piece
but how could you forget about your hometown Indians as one of the big dogs of the AL, considering they have probably the best young core in the game right now and a good farm system to boot?
And as badly as the Royals have it, at least they aren’t the Giants right now, who probably have the dimmest future for the next five or so seasons….
Jan 24th, 2008
Fresh
Joe,
Funny stuff. I hate to get too serious and disagree with your initial premise. Just because you say don’t want to get into the economic disparity issue, it doesn’t mean your post is not about the economic disparity issue. In fact, that’s what makes your fake column funny. The Royals will never be able to go after Johan Santanta because they don’t have the money to compete with the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets. They most certainly could package a Cortes, DeJesus and Butler together for Santana, but they can’t afford to lose their cheap young talent for a one-year player they can’t afford to keep in free agency. Once again, I know your column was written in jest, but in baseball — just like most things — it’s always about the money. Small market teams have small windows when they can compete with the big boys, but sustained excellence will never be possible in the current system. The big market teams have larger windows and they can afford to make mistakes. Still, I realize that has all been written before, which is why your view is appreciated.
Jan 24th, 2008
Pokey Joe
As a fan of another small market Midwest team (albeit it one that regularly draws over 3 million), I can relate to the Hot Stove blahs. Although in the case of my favorite team, they are often in the hunt, just always finishing second.
Can you create a post about how the Chiefs overcome the odds and actually win a playoff game? THAT would make me happy.
Jan 24th, 2008
Oddibe Kerfeld
KC certainly is a long way from 1990 when they had the two reigning Cy Young award winners on the same staff (Saberhagen and Mark Davis.) I remember what a big deal it was for the Royals to sign Davis after the ‘89 season and how he promptly became horrible. Joe, a good story might be about when Royals fans realized they were no longer a top club anymore. I’d think it was sometime after they lost David Cone for the second time circa 1995 or such.
Jan 24th, 2008
skott
hilarious.
that being said, i think the WildCard is really great for baseball. That invention alone has made the game much more competitive for smaller market teams. Sure, you can’t take Tampa out of the AL East, but just a couple of years ago the Sox finished 3rd in the East. A better BlueJay or TB team could have snuck into a 2nd place wildcard situation…certainly the A’s have benefited.
personally, i think thats great. Baseball is about hope and the year’s too long to be out of it from may 1st on. (sorry TB).
Jan 24th, 2008
Kevin
Detroit was Kansas City just five short years ago. To turn it around you need an executive who knows what he’s doing through trades, drafting, scouting and free agency. True, Mike Ilitch has finally opened up the purse strings, but that’s largely based on the team getting competitive and drawing significant numbers again. The current Tigers team owes everything to Pudge asking for too much money everywhere else, Ordonez hurting his knee to the point that no one else would gamble on him and on Dombrowski stealing Carlos Guillen from the Mariners. A few good drafts later and they were in the position to land Cabrera and Willis. The Royals could do the same thing. But it’s going to take some ingenuity and a little bit of luck out of Moore to do it.
Jan 24th, 2008
MikeJ
Several years back, the Detroit Tigers were a laughingstock on par with the Royals. But then they grossly overpaid for Pudge Rodriguez, a move both SABR-diehards and SABR-haters agreed was silly. But think of at that as step one and look at them now.
I’m not saying that giving Hunter $150 million would have been the first move on a path towards success, but it might be one way to get there. (You could even consider that step 2 after the Meche signing last year.)
Of course, it could also backfire severely like the Orioles and D-Rays cluster of moves in the late 90s.
Jan 24th, 2008
MikeJ
Kevin, you read my mind.
Jan 24th, 2008
Guelphdad
I KNOW it was a typo in there but I still think the Royals should make a deal for Santa. Just think of the possibilities!
Jan 24th, 2008
Kevin
MikeJ - I am telepathic. I am sensing that you are bored on a Thursday morning. My powers are uncanny.
Jan 24th, 2008
Butch
Why do the Royals need Santana anyway? They just got Brett Tomko!
Jan 24th, 2008
steve
Dear Joe:
Guelphdad raises an excellent point. If we can’t get the best pitcher in baseball, maybe we can get extra presents?
Still sincerely,
Me.
Jan 24th, 2008
Scott
The underlying problem that this article ignores is the complete ineptitude the Royals have exhibited at drafting players.
The top draft picks of the last decade look like this:
Year Player, Position 2007
1998 Jeff Austin, rhp Out of baseball
1999 Kyle Snyder, rhp Red Sox
2000 Mike Stodolka, lhp Royals
2001 Colt Griffin, rhp Out of baseball
2002 Zack Greinke, rhp Royals
2003 Chris Lubanski, of Royals
2004 Billy Butler, of Royals
2005 Alex Gordon, of Royals
2006 Luke Hochevar, rhp Royals
2007 Mike Moustakas, ss Royals
Other than Butler, Gordon and Greinke (and hopefully one day Moustakas) there are too many busts to have tradeable commodities at the minor league level. We simply don’t have the minor league talent that teams like the Tigers or Diamondbacks have to deal, without leaving the cupboards completely bare. That is to me is a bigger problem then the alleged disparity in money that Joe points out.
Hochevar number one overall? Are you kidding me?
Jan 24th, 2008
Tim Lacy
Great piece. And, JoeP, you’re too quick to dismiss the small/large market argument with resignation. I won’t go all philosophical, but is MLB a microcosm about why pure, free-market capitalism doesn’t work in the world? Without some socialism, all you get is resentment—and a lack of fun.
On Santana, I’ve actually been depressed that even a few other large-market teams haven’t been in the running. The Cubs, for instance, are truly in a situation where one key player—especially a stud pitcher—could actually put them over the hump in a short playoff series. Whey they’re not being more aggressive is beyond me. And since the Cubs are a NL team, you’d think the Twins would feel more inclined to get Santana out of the AL. - TL
Jan 24th, 2008
Creston
Teeheeee!
You failed to mention Santana’s complete no trade clause. So a paragraph like this would have worked well :
When asked if he would waive his no-trade clause upon completion of the trade, Johan Santana said “What? Kansas City? Are you f*****g kidding me?! Why the hell would I ever want to pitch for Kansas City?!”
A mention of the lack of any really top tier prospects would also have fit well.
Jan 24th, 2008
Creston
“Other than Butler, Gordon and Greinke (and hopefully one day Moustakas) there are too many busts to have tradeable commodities at the minor league level.”
Four out of ten really isn’t all that bad you know? I believe typically only one out of 3 first round draft picks - on average - turns into a solid big leaguer. (I think I read that in a Keith Law chat at one point, it seems to fit fairly well.)
So for the Royals to get 4 out of 10 would mean they’ve done a bit above the average.
And ofcourse, the biggest problem isn’t even TRADING for Santana, it’s the 6/150 deal he wants as an extension.
Jan 24th, 2008
Creston
“The Cubs, for instance, are truly in a situation where one key player—especially a stud pitcher—could actually put them over the hump in a short playoff series. Whey they’re not being more aggressive is beyond me.”
They don’t really have the top tier prospects that Minnesota would want. Rather than the Cubs, I’ve been surprised why the Dodgers aren’t doing more. They’ve got the upper tier prospects (Kershaw, Kemp) and solid other pieces to build with (LaRoche, Loney, Ethier). I think there it’s also a problem with the 6/150, since Frank McCourt really isn’t all that rich. (in baseball terms.)
Jan 24th, 2008
Oil Can Boyd
Hasn’t the real problem with the Royals drafting been that they wouldn’t spend any money after the first round? I know we had quite a few terrible first round picks but the lack of productivity from the lower rounds is a far greater concern.
Jan 24th, 2008
Ryan
Can you imagine if the Royals did pick up Santa? His entourage would be ridiculous. Elves everywhere. Singing annoying songs. It’d be awful. Plus, I bet he’d be awful in the muggy KC summers. All that extra weight he’s carrying around.
On the other hand, the elves could save the Royals some cash by making the team their own wooden bats. The Royals could use that extra cash to buy Billy Butler a really big first baseman’s mitt.
Jan 24th, 2008
Scott
I guess my point was the lack of quality, as opposed to quantity (although only 3 of the 10 listed are in the bigs and I would argue Greinke has a marginal ceiling at this point) that the Royals have seen in recent drafts.
When your drafting where the Royals have been drafting you simply have to come away with better talent then they have come away with from the draft. I realize its been pointed out a million times, but the year they grabbed Hochevar #1 overall, they passed on Longoria, Andrew Miller, Linecum, Scherzer, and Ian Kennedy. Any of those guys could be packaged with other prospects in a nice trade - ala’ Miller to Florida. But the Royals are a long ways from being able to pull off those type of deals because our minor league system is so weak. I believe BA currently ranks it at 26 out of the 30 teams.
Jan 24th, 2008
Brian
Hmm… someone posted a link to this on my blog, saying it was like the post I made today… and I have to agree.
I like the Royals angle though, very funny.
Mine is at: http://riverascutter.wordpress.com/2008/01/24/from-the-news-wire-mets-fan-thrilled-to-be-leading/
Jan 24th, 2008
Nate P.
Man, it’s one thing to realize that your team’s out of the running in the Santana sweepstakes, but when it’s your team that’s dealing him away because they can’t possibly afford him? Not fun either. Especially when the best offer seems to be a handful of unproven prospects that will maybe be good at some point, none of whom will solve the problem of having Boof Bonser as the rotation’s elder statesman.
Jan 24th, 2008
Max
“The top draft picks of the last decade look like this:
Year Player, Position 2007
1998 Jeff Austin, rhp Out of baseball
1999 Kyle Snyder, rhp Red Sox
2000 Mike Stodolka, lhp Royals
2001 Colt Griffin, rhp Out of baseball
2002 Zack Greinke, rhp Royals
2003 Chris Lubanski, of Royals
2004 Billy Butler, of Royals
2005 Alex Gordon, of Royals
2006 Luke Hochevar, rhp Royals
2007 Mike Moustakas, ss Royals”
While I don’t disagree with the premise that the Royals did not draft particularly well during the Baird administration, that list is actually pretty comparable when you compare it to most other teams.
First round busts for the Indians in the last ten years: Dan Denham, Corey Smith, Will Hartley, Jeremy Guthrie, Michael Aubrey
Twins: Ryan Mills, BJ Garbe, Adam Johnson
A’s: Chris Enochs, Freddy Bynum, Brad Sullivan
Marlins: Chip Ambres, Garrett Berger, Jeff Allison, Taylor Tankersley
Jan 24th, 2008
Harry
Wait, wait, wait…Kansas City has a baseball team?
Jan 24th, 2008
will
This post is so good I’m finally going to pony up for your book.
Jan 24th, 2008
RP
Before we give the Royals a free pass on the drafting, let’s consider that they were drafting very near the top in most of those years. The return should have been better.
Colt Griffin…yikes.
Jan 24th, 2008
Jeff P.
I think if KC had offered Emil Brown and Jason LaRue for Santana last year then the Twins would have jumped on that in a second. But now both those guys are gone and we dont have anything to show for it. Way to go Dayton.
Jan 24th, 2008
patrick
Max,
I do believe that jeremy guthrie was one of the best pitchers in baseball this year. The overall problem with the royals drafting is that from 1993-2001 the Royals have had 14 1st round draft picks and the only two to contribute AT ALL are Gobble and MacDougal. These are the guys who should be the core of the present team and we have a single middle reliever out of them. The last 5 or so years have been pretty good, but its tough to overcome 12 complete misses in a 9 year span in the 1st round. No wonder we sucked so beautifully for the past 5 years.
Jan 24th, 2008
Craig Hooten
Joe,
The talk of the Royals and their failed drafts reminds me of a subject that I’d be interested in you doing a blog about. Drafting hitters vs pitchers with high draft picks and college players vs high school players. (Yes, I know that was part of Moneyball’s premise, but it also appears that teams continue to ignore statistical evidence because some kid is “special”)
Personally I think it’s always a bad idea to draft a pitcher (especially a high schooler) in the first round because pitchers are always a crap shoot while hitters are usually more projectable.
I believe the statistics will show in the case of #1 draft picks:
college hitters > high school hitters > college pitchers > high school pitchers.
Yes, I know pitching is extremely important, it’s the key to winning in baseball. However, consider Johan Santana, the subject of today’s blog.
Santana (who wasn’t originally drafted since he’s from Venezuela) was picked out of the Astro’s minor league system in the 1999 Rule V draft by the Marlins who then immediately traded him with cash to the Twins for Jared Camp(No, I haven’t heard of him either!).
Joakim Soria was also a Rule V draft pick last year for the Royals. At this point who do you project to be a better pitcher: Soria or Hochevar. Most people would probably say Soria today.
Jan 24th, 2008
Woo
I hear you, man. I’m a Twins fan, and that’s usually us.
Jan 24th, 2008
Jeff
You can win in KC, but you wont do it with stars. Stars are what excite the masses that flock to the stadium. People that read blogs about Royals and visit message boards about Royals will always come to the K. But what brings the money is something bigger than just baseball so people can be pulled into the game. You can win baseball games in KC, but it’ll never be sexy. And sex sells.
Jan 24th, 2008
SoxSweepAgain
This was fantastic.
Jan 25th, 2008
antoniomo
Great post, Joe. I’d love to see a sentence like “He would not suck, as many Royals starters have over the last decade-plus” make it into the paper. Fun stuff.
Jan 25th, 2008
El Lay Dave
The Dodgers actually have a prospect named Carlos Santana, so that deal could be made!
Jan 25th, 2008
90alida
RAB sent me to you, toooooooo freakin funny
Jan 25th, 2008
Walter
I read here regularly, so this link didn’t help me or help you by bringing me here. BUT, Deadspin did link to this today. That surely brought some people. Keep it up Joe!
Jan 25th, 2008
Aaron
Great post! I have to admit this is a first time for me, reading one of your posts. So, I’m not sure if there is a part of you that is serious with any of this. But, you got a laugh out of me.
Jan 25th, 2008
JGaryW
Great stuff, but I can’t believe these comments have overlooked Joe’s obvious homeristic historic revisionism. In what world was Jose Guillen the third-best outfielder in this year’s free agent class??
Jan 25th, 2008
Rubin Sierra
Awesome. I couldn’t stop laughing. Will have to start visiting this blog regularly.
Jan 25th, 2008
Clayton
My wife just brought me home a genuine 13″ Brett Brothers glove, not even broken in, from the charity shop (US readers, translate “thrift store”) on Cowick Street, Exeter UK, for two quid ($4). Stranger things have happened…
Jan 25th, 2008
TK
I’d just like to comment that IF Santana was a Royal in this same situation, the Twins would have NO chance of signing him. Small market teams can’t compete consistantly with the large market teams. Every few years, you make a run, but then it’s back to not competing for a number of years…don’t think about it. It sucks.
Jan 25th, 2008
steve
I definitely feel the royals pain. I am a lifelong twins fan and I am sick and tired of the twins developing good young talent and just when guys come into their prime, watching the big market teams swoop in and steal them away. Some of the blame for the santana and hunter situations should go to the twins front office, however, they should have been more proactive in signing these guys to long term deals one or two years ago. Before an also ran pitcher like barry zito sent the price of an ace out of 85%-90% of teams budgets.
Jan 25th, 2008
Guelphdad
The sad thing about Twins and Royals, is both owners have deep pockets and don’t spend on their teams. Say what you will about king George, at least he knew you had to spend money to make more money.
Jan 25th, 2008
Max
“I do believe that jeremy guthrie was one of the best pitchers in baseball this year. ”
Yea, after being let go by the Indians. It would like giving the Rangers credit for what Carlos Pena is doing now.
I’m not giving the Royals a pass. They have been bad at drafting. Their entire 2001 draft I believe has only produced ONE player who even reached the big leagues - superstar Angel Sanchez. I’m just saying looking at first round picks is a pretty misleading way of evaluating a draft record. First rounders are pretty hit and miss. The Royals have drafted really well in the first round the last few years, but I still don’t think that means they’ ve drafted particularly well - they don’t seem to be adding that much depth in the later rounds.
Jan 25th, 2008
johansantana17
That was pretty funny, not the funniest ever. I beleive the Royals did well in this years draft with Mike Moustakas, and they have some above-average prospects in the system (Daniel Cortes, Danny Duffy).
Jan 25th, 2008
Justin
As a Blue Jays fan, I can’t say as I feel quite the same pain as Royals or Twins fans. Our team CAN spend a bit, and management has lured/retained some decent talent in recent years (nothing on par with a Santana, who we don’t have the chips to acquire, and wouldn’t be able to re-sign anyway.)
But there’s something utterly depressing about being stuck in a division behind the two teams that are ALWAYS in the thick of things when discussing where the top players will sign or be traded.
Every year, when my friends talk about what could be done to make the Jays contenders, we always come back to the same conclusion: the realignment of the divisions, with the Jays moving to the NL.
Jan 25th, 2008
Alan
I keep telling you, pay the players based on performance. The stats are there. It would solve the All-Star problem. It could help in solving the Hall of Fame problem. It would definitely help the small-market problem that doesn’t exist. And the competition would be fierce as there would be a team, as well as an individual, component.
And it wouldn’t be about batting average or home runs. It would be about stats that win games.
Jan 25th, 2008
Fernando Alejandro (Respect Jeter's Gangster)
I’m a Yankees fan, but started pulling for the Royals back in 2005 when they had their 19 game losing streak. I decided they needed a fan, so I bought a couple Royals shirts and started following the team. Though I’m a die hard Yankee fan, the Royals are my second team. Screw the Mets!
Now, three years later, I can say that I find the Royals to be an exciting team despite the fact that they are not involved with the big trades. The Yankees just take who they want for the most part, but teams like the Royals, Rays, and Nationals have to be smart about their moves. I truely beleive that all those teams will compete in their divisions and in the post season in the near future.
Jan 25th, 2008
Josh's Thoughts
Haha. Perfect.
Jan 25th, 2008
Deaner
Nice one Joe!
Come on down to Unpainted Arizona!
Jan 25th, 2008
Creston
“I guess my point was the lack of quality, as opposed to quantity (although only 3 of the 10 listed are in the bigs and I would argue Greinke has a marginal ceiling at this point) that the Royals have seen in recent drafts.
When your drafting where the Royals have been drafting you simply have to come away with better talent then they have come away with from the draft.”
Okay, I’ll agree with you there. The Hochevar pick in particular was just jaw droppingly awful.
Always nice when your owner has 800 billion dollars in change in his couch, but refuses to spend money on some draft picks.
Jan 25th, 2008
Jimmy27NYY
Very Funny Post…
I don’t know if it’s more sad, or true…
Yes, I agree. It is very difficult for small market teams to compete with the larger markets. But, I also believe if a team has a multi-billioniare owner who is willing to treat his Baseball Club as a hobby business, and spend whatever it takes to build a Championship team - then it is possible to compete on the open market in Baseball….You have to spend money “to win”, period!!!
I think the Minnesota Twins fans should be more
outraged [than KC Royals fans] when their young players are not re-signed [or, free agents are not pursued] because the Twins are owned by ” the richest ” baseball owner, Carl Pohlad, 93, worth an estimated $3.1 Billion. As a way of comparison, George Steinbrenner, owner of the Yankees, is worth about $1 Billion, three times less than Mr. Pohlad…
But, Mr. Steinbrenner has known right from the beginning, in 1973, when he bought the Yankees from CBS for about $10 Million [not a bad investment], considering the Yankees today are worth about $1.5 Billion; and, their Baseball Network [YES] is worth about $3.5 Billion…that to win Championships, you have to spend money! To his credit, George has always spent whatever was needed to bring the best players to the Yankees, that has resulted in many winning years in New York.
With a new tax-payer funded Stadium due to open shortly, I think Mr. Pohlad owes the fans of the Minnesota Twins a commitment, to hold onto Johan Santana, and other young players in their farm system; and, also, look to the free agent market in the future, to build winning teams that will meet the standards that a new Stadium deserves.
And, the above comments come from a die-hard Yankee fan, who is very happy that the Yankees have decided to keep their great young prospects, and not make a trade to bring Johan Santana to New York…
The Yankees off-season has been very successful without making any major trades. They have decided to keep many of their young players, who hopefully will have very long successful careers as part of the Yankee Organization…
But, the major part of the successful off-season was the re-signing of an all-star roster of their own players: Mariano Rivera, A-Rod, Posada, Abreu, and Pettitte; and, also, long-term deals [that will be finalized soon] to keep Cano and Wang in Pinstripes for the next 4-6 years.
This is how Championships are built; and, Carl Pohlad has the money to compete on this same level, even though Minnesota is considered a small-market. The Twins have a rich baseball history, and have won Championships in the past. The question for Mr. Pohlad, is: How much is it worth to put winning baseball teams on the field, year after year?
Well, of course, the answer is “It’s Priceless”.
Just ask George Steinbrenner!!!
Jan 25th, 2008
Bob
Great stuff… “It is widely believed among baseball sources that if the Royals had a rotation featuring Johan Santana, Gil Meche, Brian Bannister and Zack Greinke, they would be better than they have been the last few years.”
Hard to argue when you are leading with facts. That would be better.
Jan 25th, 2008
SANTANASaMET
has it really come to this..?
the only good thing about this blog is that Bill Smith may read it, see how ridiculous it is and instantly send him to the Mets
Jan 25th, 2008
YF
“The other day, Bud Selig was talking about how on September 1 of last year, fans could look at the standings and see that 19 out of 30 teams were in contention for a playoff spot of some kind. It should be noted that the claim is pretty suspect — the 19 counts Cincinnati, Houston and Minnesota who were sort of, vaguely, mathematically clinging for dear life in the Wildcard Race, even though the teams themselves were quite aware than they were dead. ”
Do you count the Rockies in with those “dead” teams as of September 1?
Jan 25th, 2008
Drew
Regarding the draft, also consider that there are top players the Royals and other small market teams DONT draft to begin with because of money expectations. It is not uncommon for the ‘best’ player in a baseball draft to fall to the 10 or 15th pick for this reason. Money is not everything in sports but it impacts everything.
Jan 25th, 2008
Dave
This is of course true, but I feel like there must be some kind of creative solution to problems like this in the case of someone like Santana for small teams. They have to assume there is a way to get Santana and then figure out what it is. The royals can’t just add $20 mill to their payroll for 6 years, or whatever it is Santana would want, but they can pay $12 mill for Guillen and whatever Meche’s ridiculous deal was? Ok, maybe they really can’t. So maybe they trade players for money. Maybe the can make a trade offer that’s so wonderful, Minnesota will agree to pay Santana’s 2008 salary.
Small market teams should be getting awesome draft talent, and using their minor league players to get money.
Jan 25th, 2008
Scott
I think Max is right, the first round picks are a poor barometer of the overall picture of the draft/minor league system, but I thought it was the quickest way to highlight the overall lack of success the Royals have exhbited in developing their own talent. When you consider where the Royals have drafted the last 10 years, its embarassing that Beltran is the last home grown talent that is considered to be a true All Star. Hopefully by adding a few additional scouting directors and bolstering international signings, this is a trend that will change.
Jan 25th, 2008
Nate Hays
Nice! At least you can’t blame Peter Angelos for shooting down every possible trade. Not that my Orioles have ever even been mentioned in the same sentence as Johan Santana, except this sentence: “Johan Santana’s scoreless innings streak increased to 30 after striking out 14 Orioles batters .”
Jan 25th, 2008
Pete Townshend
Great job. Santana = Santa? Satan?
Indeed.
Jan 25th, 2008
Royals Fan
do you have bi-polar disorder? Dayton signs Santana and I’ll buy season tickets…
Jan 26th, 2008
chuckbo
When did the Royals become a downhill team? To me, it happened when Bo was injured playing football. (And it was for Oakland, of course — doesn’t ever matter if it’s the A’s or the Raiders; we know that Oakland teams always play dirty to thwart us!) After we lost Superman, it’s like we’ve just been clutching at air ever since then, like Wile E Coyote when the dust around his feet clears and he discovers he’s actually several feet over the edge of the cliff.
Jan 28th, 2008
Noel
Alas, Joe! It appears those sneaky Mets have come and taken Santana from the Royals! No truth to the rumor that they’ll just give him Rafael Santana’s old jersey.
Jan 29th, 2008
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