Time for a more positive post from me

I would rather wait for the best trade opportunity than rush a trade and get less value so we can call someone like Aviles up sooner (I’m not saying you are suggesting the latter, but some have suggested that).

It depends what one means by “fringe prospect.” When I use that expression, I mean someone who isn’t a good prospect but also isn’t a complete non-prospect. But I do think he’s on the outer fringe of the guys we could list as genuine Royals prospects. His stock has fallen a lot, and I think rightly so. Part of it is performance, but a lot of it is what the scouts are saying. From what I’ve read at BP, BA and scouts.com, his tools don’t look good. His bat and foot speed were both down last year. He doesn’t project as a particularly good hitter or defender in the majors. Right now I think he’s a longshot to be a good 4th OFer.

going out of our way to give him an opportunity, retro. I was saying that he could make the bigs if we trade some middle infielders in july.

There are a few reasons why Aviles’s SLG doesn’t mean much to me and I don’t think it is very telling about how he’d hit in the majors.

1. He’s doing this in the PCL (an extremely hitter friendly league)
2. He’s now in his third year in that league, older than the genuine prospects at his level. It’s common for older players repeating a league for multiple times to suddenly perform well (See Craig Brazell and Timo Perez)
3. He hasn’t hit for impressive power in any other minor league season.

At this point, it is a guess to say that he’s an upgrade over Gathright. Personally, I’d say that Gathright is better defensively (Gathright looks A LOT better in the field this year, getting really good reads). There is no way that Maier matches Gathright’s range. And can Maier hit in the majors at all? Even at Gathright level? Hard to say.

If some player has good numbers in AAA, many fans will call for him to be called up. His skills, age, league, park and prior performance be damned. CALL HIM UP!!!!!!

worse than Gathright.

But not that much worse.

How he does in June-August. By then, any adjustment period should be over. He should be raking in AAA, or else its probably time to relegate him to organizational filler status.

for enough power to be a corner outfielder. He looks to be just another 4th or 5th outfielder. He doesn’t have the power that Aviles or Costa do and doesn’t have the speed that Gathright has. If he was worth a look wouldn’t someone have grabbed him in Rule 5 draft when they had a chance? Unfortunately for KC fans the roster is full of too many similar players.

Of – Maier/Gathright/Teahan/DeJesus/Costa/Lubanski – Feels like you could reach in to that mixing bowl and grab the same piece of crap. Average speed (Gathright being the exception) with little to no power. I doubt if Maier is the answer his speed and range aren’t that of Gathright’s. (0-1 SB)

If – Pena/Callaspo/German/Aviles/Berroa/Grudz – Little to no plate discipline, limited range, little to no ML seasoning (Grudz being the exception) and no pop at the plate (Aviles with no chance to show he has no power yet)

For the most part I blame Allard the Idiot and the scouting department under his regime. How you continue to make the same mistakes over and over again is mind boggling. The Twins get the same players over and over again yet they work. Allard continued to get the same players over and over again. Yet it continued to not work. The proof is in the minors as NY pointed out.

As for GMDM comments about the roster I am just perplexed. Would losing German really be that big of deal? The guy is 30 and a .203 hitter with 6 XB hits since Aug 1 of last year his defense tonight was disgusting. I didn’t know 30 yr old middle infielders who can’t play SS and are proving can’t really play 2b are that hot of a commodity. I would be more pleased to watch a 27 year old do the same in the admittance of seeing if we have a diamond in the rough. If Aviles doesn’t pan out so be it at least the questions and wondering would end. Some guys do develop late you know (Jack Cust, Cecil Fielder, Ryan Ludwick, Casey Blake, Phil Nevin, Jeff Conine) not often but has happened.

I do believe September trades are the answer. The other answer is shipping away someone young with some value. Maybe limiting Nunez (I will say it not the answer at closer) role so he doesn’t blow his value and send him away. Teahan, DeJesus and Grudz would definitely be on the block as well as Mahay or Gobble. The head of player personnel told a friend of mine just yesterday that Rosa should be ready to come up by the end of the year. With Cortes dominating in AA and by any stroke of luck (I SAID LUCK DON’T jump on me) maybe Wood and he could be ready by mid season next year. This group of pitchers could be a nice replacement for some that we have now.
Davies, Rosa, Cortes and Wood all have overpowering stuff it appears and could be used out of the bullpen if they don’t continue to develop as starters.

I would direct your attention to Retro’s reply to my comment in which he showed you how much above average DDJ has been for a CFer most of the time. While an OPS+ of 100 is average for all players, it is not the average for every position. 100 is below average for a corner position and above average for positions up the middle. Get it now?

and you aren’t off the hook for “intellectualizing” either, kcscoliny, bringing up dinosaurs or something in that last sentence

I did mean the Royals. I don’t think DDJ or Teah are bad I never said that. I said they are totally average. I think German is on the downside of his completely avg career. As for Callaspo he is and was a good prospect and I have no prob with him on the team.

I’ll repeat my above points and try to clarify more for each member.

DDJ- Highest trade value of the group (Maier,Lub,Costa, Gator or Teah) in my opinion. His range seems to be declining and therefore his OPS and Arm aren’t what you want in a corner OF’r. Trade him and try to obtain value.

Teah- Suffer thru it

Maier/Lub/Costa- Take the bullet as to which lefty you wanna call up to replace DDJ. Why couldn’t one of them be RH? My pref would probably be Maier he hasn’t been given a shot and maybe (but I doubt it) his speed could be +Speed. Giving another PR option.

Gator- I’m not really as depressed by Gator as everyone else seems to be on this site. The guy is playing to max potential for the most part. His d has been good this year, stealing bases effectively and the last two weeks his eye has improved. He is a solid PR, who when I saw him in person (Balt series) applied a lot of pressure on the pitchers when he was on.

Pena- Cut Bait and run he is in no way a +Defender and I and everyone on this site could at least bunt if we couldn’t hit. No options oh woops. I’ll take Aviles 30+E at SS if he sees the ball like he has all spring and so far this year.

Callaspo- Start him at SS and hope he hits closer to his April than his May.

German- Why do we carry he and Gload on this team? Do we need multiple backup 3b options. He proved last night he can’t play 2b.

Aviles- Platoon him between 2b, SS and 3b ala Jason Smith last year. Give him 200 Ab’s. I think he has earned it. Spring- .419Avg/571Slg PCL 1.003 OPS

I heard a depressing little stat today. Since ‘05 we are now on our 5th 9 (includine 1 19 gamer) game losing streak. Minnesota, Chicago and Cleveland have none in that same time.

has the best radio announcers of any of our MILB affiliates.