Moore article in the Star

At the very least, it’s a joke to make during game threads and whatnot.

On the serious side…

As NYRoyal (who is in no way responsible for my use of his point) pointed out to me in a discussion about Guillen (who else?), there is a difference between caring about OBP and caring about plate discipline.

Moreover, while it is, on a basic level, encouraging to see DMGM talk about plate discipline, I’m not sure that it’s an automatic positive. Let me try to explain what I mean by that.

We often talk about “GM speak” being a skill of Dayton’s. I think it is a good thing, generally speaking, if a GM is a good PR guy. Jose Guillen sucked ass this year, and frankly doesn’t look like he’s going to be much better (at least to me). I hope DMGM sees that, but I’m glad he isn’t saying it in public. It wouldn’t make Jose any easier to deal with, and it wouldn’t help his trade value. So when he says elsewhere that “Jose has had a pretty good year,” I really don’t worry that much about it. Let’s face it — if Moore really believes Guillen had a good year, then the Royals are screwed.

What does this have to do with OBP/patience? Any somewhat informed fan knows that the Royals sucked at getting on base this year. The only guys on the team who had decent success at it this season were Gordon, DDJ, and (when he finally got to play) Callaspo. I suppose Aviles should be added to that list, although I think we all know (and I imagine DMGM knows) that his OBP is so BABIP-dependent that it won’t stay good.

Anyway, DMGM knows this. He knows JoPo is an OBP guy. He knows JoPo is the most respected baseball writer in KC — probably want to keep him on your side. I don’t know if it played a factor, but he also knows that JoPo didn’t like the Guillen signing (and I hope DMGM realizes, even if he shouldn’t and won’t admit it publicly, that JoPo was dead right about it), and probably didn’t appreciate DMGM calling the Hillman article “sensationalistic” or whatever. Well, he’s a good PR guy, so it makes sense to get on JoPo’s good side, say the right things, right?

I’m not saying he was totally trying to put on over on Posnanski or anything, but if we have to take the “Guillen had a good year” or “Greinke is off the table” talk with a grain of salt, we should take this interview, where he obviusly went out of his way to talk to JoPo about OBP (29 times? c’mon) with a grain of salt. Particularly since it never really prominently came up in talks with DMGM before, that I’ve read.

Another more cynical way of looking at it (which I do not endorse) would be that it took DMGM the last three seasons of miserable offense to finally figure out/decide, “hey, this OBP thing might be worth looking into.” This is pretty much the worst case scenario — DefCon 12 or whatever for smart Royals fans (well, the worst is that he says it, but doesn’t believe it). Once again, just so no one “overreacts,” I refuse to believe DMGM is this stupid.

Finally, and most importantly for judging the “fairness” of fan reaction and jokes, there’s the track record. I haven’t “given up” on DMGM’s ability to evaluate position players. More pointedly, we can look at this interview, but then contrast it with GMDM’s actions, but other than Callaspo, the record isn’t great on OBP/plate discipline.

1) Extended Ichi-Gload (in general, outside of Callaspo, compare the OBP acquisitions to the holdovers — even Grudz looks like Jason Giambi compared to Guillen, Gathright, and Gload. That’s hyperbole of course, but not by much.)

2) Tried to trade Billy Butler for Yuniesky Betancourt

3) In an interview, reportedly said that Billy Butler was a more advanced hitter than Gordon. I don’t know what that meant exactly, but even if you think that Butler is/will be better than Gordon (and I hope Butler sticks around long enough for us to find out), Gordon is clearly more patient/more aware of the strike zone.

4) Jose Guillen — his OBP was never great, but it was acceptable in his good years.. But, good or bad, it’s always been heavily dependent on his BA (and thus BABIP). This is where the NYRoyals’ useful plate discipline/OBP distinction comes in… Even if you thought that his 2007 performance was sustainable, signing Jose Guillen at best shows an appreciation for power hitters, not good plate discipline.

These are just some general examples that people might latch onto — some better than others. Personally, I think people can say whatever they want about anything. I don’t think the verdict is back either way on Moore’s evaluations of hitters.

But this isn’t like the Meche thing. Ol’ Gil he’s been a kick-ass pitcher for two seasons now (Gil, if you want to swing by my place to pick up your “Best No. 2 in the AL 2008” Trophy, make sure and call first). People who think that Meche sucks or whatever are either making a dumb joke (and I’m hardly one to condemn dumb jokes) or just uninformed.

But all this is to say that DMGM hasn’t “pulled a Meche contract” with his actions in acquiring hitters, yet. As I said elsewhere — Guillen is the anti-Meche, and (to a certain extent) that goes for how we should look at DMGM, as well. Actions speak louder than words. Even 29 of them.

How’s that for a “proportionate response?”

So they’re not ignorant to OBA, just gloriously incompetent at finding players who are good at it.