What say you?

by Home Run Tony Cogan on Sep 5, 2008 11:59 AM EDT

I'm curious, now that the boys in blue have cracked the 60-win barrier, what the outlook for the rest of 2008 will be? I went through the rest of the schedule, and honestly I see 6 more wins - one against Cleveland this weekend, one on the road trip, 2 against Seattle, one against Chicago at home, and then one on the road trip to end the year.

Or, does it really matter, have we learned what we needed to learn about this team regardless of record?

Poll

How many games will the Royals win from here on out (out of 23)?

<5 (the nuclear option)

0 votes

5-7

7 votes

8-10 (basically same as last year)

27 votes

11-13 (improvement in the strictest sense of the word)

26 votes

14+ (nice high note to end an uneven season)

5 votes

65 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 32 comments | 1 recs |

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Comments

23!!!!!!!

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Sep 5, 2008 12:01 PM EDT reply actions

I like the optimism

I hereby resign from this post.

by Home Run Tony Cogan on Sep 5, 2008 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions

24!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111111111111111

I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.

by philofthenorth on Sep 7, 2008 10:21 AM EDT up reply actions

You see only 6 more wins for the Royals this year?

You must really think they are LOSERS! LOSERS! LOSERS! LOSERS! LOSERS! LOSERS! LOSERS! LOSERS! LOSERS! LOSERS! LOSERS! LOSERS! LOSERS! LOSERS! LOSERS! LOSERS! LOSER! LOSERS! LOSERS! LOSERS! LOSERS! LOSERS!

Well, if your expectations are that low, at least you’ll be pleasantly surprised when they do better. For some reason, I don’t think it will change our disposition.

This is just my opinion. I could easily be wrong.

by Scott McKinney on Sep 5, 2008 12:19 PM EDT reply actions

yeah, I guess that's partly the point

but, I think that the pitching has been doing a lot better, even through our losing spell (don’t have time to look it up as I’m on my way to a meeting).

I do think that, like the rest of the year, it’s going to depend on how we win these games. If Gload hits 7 HR, that really doesn’t give me too much of a good feeling. But, if the pitching continues to do well, Butler continues to rake, and we can go 11-12, then it’s a nice end to the year and there’s some feeling that we’re continuing to go in the right direction.

Plus, I think my estimate is based as much on the fact that we’ve got 12 games against Chi and Min to close out the year, and I’ve got to believe that they both are going to be very motivated while us, not so much. I say 3-9 in those games and 3-8 in the other 11 (6 against Cle, which has been on fire).

At some point, I’d like to have a discussion with you about how much of the roster needs to be replaced. You say we don’t need to replace 1/2 the roster, I tend to disagree but maybe I’ll put up a post and we can discuss another time.

I hereby resign from this post.

by Home Run Tony Cogan on Sep 5, 2008 12:35 PM EDT up reply actions

I'd be happy to make a wager with you

I think your prediction is just pure pessimism. It is basically the worst case scenario. No, I don’t think the worst case scenario will happen.

Replace half the roster? Yeah, I think that is ludicrous. If you want to make a case for doing that, go for it.

This is just my opinion. I could easily be wrong.

by Scott McKinney on Sep 5, 2008 12:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Not being pessimistic

to be honest I think it’s somewhat irrelevant, I think it’s more important at this point for the individual components to finish strong. Yes, if we win more than last year, it’s a nice psychological hurdle to get past, but I think we’ve already learned a lot about the roster without the last 23 games.

My analysis is based more on whom we’re playing than my take on the team. It’s going to be really hard to match Chicago and Minnesota’s motivation during those games, and I do think that makes a difference.

Also, just to clarify, I’m not making any sort of prediction on how many of the roster will be replaced, I don’t think there’s any way in hell they could replace 12 people on the team, logistically it would probably be impossible. My point is more about who should be replaced if we want to be a contending team.

I wear the L proudly.

I hereby resign from this post.

by Home Run Tony Cogan on Sep 5, 2008 3:06 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm sure you think you are being realistic

Also, just to clarify, I’m not making any sort of prediction on how many of the roster will be replaced…My point is more about who should be replaced if we want to be a contending team.

Oh, I understand fully. You don’t think half the roster will be replaced, but you think it should be. I think that idea is ludicrous.

I wear the L proudly.

Actually, it should be a “Q” and I have no idea why you’d be proud of it.

This is just my opinion. I could easily be wrong.

by Scott McKinney on Sep 5, 2008 3:20 PM EDT up reply actions

you need to lighten up

man. i went over the whole thing with my post from earlier this year, but here i am, the team’s 19 games under 500 and i’m still discussing, analyzing, etc.

Here’s an idea, if you don’t like what I have to say, or don’t like what I posted four months ago, then just don’t respond to my posts anymore. very simple.

I was actually looking to have an intelligent discussion/analysis of what this team needed to do to truly become competitive, but whatever, man. you’re right.

I hereby resign from this post.

by Home Run Tony Cogan on Sep 5, 2008 3:33 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm pretty light

man. i went over the whole thing with my post from earlier this year, but here i am, the team’s 19 games under 500 and i’m still discussing, analyzing, etc.

You deserve a cookie. :)

Here’s an idea, if you don’t like what I have to say, or don’t like what I posted four months ago, then just don’t respond to my posts anymore. very simple.

You need to lighten up. Hey, we all get teased about our prior posts which come back to haunt us. I thought Bannister would be good this year. I thought Pena would be better than he was last year. I didn’t think Aviles would amount to anything. Whoops! I get reminded of that from time to time. As djk said, you have a scarlet letter to wear. We all have our baggage. I did find it odd that you said you “wear the L proudly.” So I made a very small comment about it.

I was actually looking to have an intelligent discussion/analysis of what this team needed to do to truly become competitive, but whatever, man. you’re right.

And I’m happy to freely engage in that discussion with you or anybody.

This is just my opinion. I could easily be wrong.

by Scott McKinney on Sep 5, 2008 3:40 PM EDT up reply actions

wearing the L

was (at least I thought) an obvious joke on my part and response to your post below. However, above you appeared to not get the joke whatsoever. Of course I’m not proud of letting my frustration get the better of me.

I’m fine with being teased about it. After all, I changed my tagline a while back as a reference to “the post”, but to be honest your comment didn’t appear to be teasing in nature, especially coupled with the fact that you called my idea ludicrous.

I hereby resign from this post.

by Home Run Tony Cogan on Sep 5, 2008 3:52 PM EDT up reply actions

Of course I’m not proud of letting my frustration get the better of me.

Good.

but to be honest your comment didn’t appear to be teasing in nature

The comment about you being proud about it? No, that wasn’t teasing, but I said that because I thought you were being serious. And it wasn’t like I tore into you. It was a short and not particularly biting comment.

especially coupled with the fact that you called my idea ludicrous.

For better or worse, when dealing with people’s ideas, I call a spade a spade. If I think an idea is ludicrous, I say it. It’s not just you, trust me.

This is just my opinion. I could easily be wrong.

by Scott McKinney on Sep 5, 2008 3:55 PM EDT up reply actions

Fair enough

I hereby resign from this post.

by Home Run Tony Cogan on Sep 5, 2008 3:58 PM EDT up reply actions

Never forgive. Never forget. The LOSER post will be his scarlet letter for you for all time.

by djk royal on Sep 5, 2008 12:44 PM EDT up reply actions

He should wear a scarlet "L" every day of his life

It’s authentic puritan justice.

This is just my opinion. I could easily be wrong.

by Scott McKinney on Sep 5, 2008 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Hester Prynne Approves

I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.

by philofthenorth on Sep 7, 2008 10:30 AM EDT up reply actions

Make That Hesther

My fingers betray me.

I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.

by philofthenorth on Sep 7, 2008 10:31 AM EDT up reply actions

OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG

by Matt Klaassen on Sep 7, 2008 8:23 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm willing to be over-optimistic

we’re due.

Chaim Mattis Keller New York City's # 1 Royals fan!

by cmkeller on Sep 5, 2008 12:33 PM EDT reply actions

I voted for 8-10, does that make me an optimist or pessimist?

I guessed 8.5 (I guess that round up to 9).

OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG

by Matt Klaassen on Sep 5, 2008 12:48 PM EDT reply actions

One concern for September is a big doze of the Twins

7 games with them doesn’t do much for my optimism. They are the total opposite of KC – young guys perform well, they have positive surprises out of the minor leagues, fundamentally sound play, make smart decisions in front office and are in contention in September.

by daveyork on Sep 5, 2008 1:04 PM EDT reply actions

I have to disagree

while I do think we will have a tough time winning against the Twins, it is because they have more overall talent than we do. I really don’t think they are a fundamentally sound team at all, our last series against them showed that a number of times over.

Can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not, b/c they ARE in contention quite often, but I think it’s a testament to having good pitchers that throw strikes, a good bullpen, and some good hitters.

I hereby resign from this post.

by Home Run Tony Cogan on Sep 5, 2008 3:10 PM EDT up reply actions