Read this interview and then tell me the snark is unjustified.

My favorite two paragraphs:

"The biggest criticism that I’ve read that people have of Trey is he can’t manage our bullpen," Moore said. "I’ll tell you, I’m not sure the greatest baseball mind in the history of the game could figure the right matchups on certain nights.

"And I’ll clarify that by saying we have very talented relief pitchers in our bullpen who just haven’t performed up to their capabilities. To me, that’s no fault of Trey’s. That’s just a reflection of guys all having down years at the same time."

I just can’t.

hold out the camera and take a pic of himself for that article?

These Royals struggle to score runs while simultaneously displaying severe defensive shortcomings and an alarming inability to execute such basic fundamental skills as situational hitting and running the bases.

As for the manifold breakdowns and inefficiencies, mental and physical, that so often bite the Royals at key moments in tight games — Moore places blame primarily on the players.
"I don’t hold our coaching staff accountable for that at all," he said, "because I know it is stressed every day. I know when mistakes are made that Trey Hillman is the first person to confront (a player).

I think those two quotes sum up one of the problems I have been noticing about the Royals administration recently. It is not Trey Hillman’s job to “confront” players who perform poorly for months on end. It is his job to help them improve. No amount of Trey’s badgering will be of any value if the players he is coaching show no improvement. It is the difference between “wanting” to do a job well and actually “doing” a job well. And it would seem that Dayton Moore is evaluating Trey based on his level of desire rather than on his level of competence.

This all kinda makes sense in this organization. After all, Dayton Moore was just given a four year extension based on similar criteria. Moore constructed a team that is simply awful and likely to get worse with time, but he really tried to do a good job and things didn’t work out as he envisioned they should work out. Thus he refuses to accept that the team’s collapse in 2009 was in any way his fault. He really tried to be a good general manager. He thinks the team is “underperforming” because reality hasn’t conformed to his predictions. He blames reality (the poor performance of the players he acquired in a long series of heavily criticized moves) for not more closely matching his dream world.

Stories like this one make me believe that Royals fans can expect more of the same from Moore and Hillman next year. Apparently one of the things they do best is refuse to accept responsibility for their failures.

Moore recognizes this and openly accepts the mea culpa while apologizing to fans.

But that doesn’t fit into the predetermined opinions so let’s leave it out.

Having said that, I think it’s stupid to bring Hillman back…he sounds stupid when he talks, he’s sensitive and defensive which to me shows a lack of confidence, and he makes terrible tactical decisions. I think this is a bad move by Moore. There is a grain of truth in the fact that you can’t make chicken salad out of chicken shit, but Hillman is still a bad manager. My only hope is that if/when Hillman gets this team off to a 17-32 start next year that he’s shitcanned.

"I hear some of that stuff," he said. "I should be blamed on that if anybody wants somebody to blame. I sat Trey and (pitching coach Bob McClure) down before the year and said I wanted these guys stretched out.

"Last year, I felt we were too conservative, that we didn’t let guys stay in long enough and work through situations and pitch deep into games. I wanted that mind-set changed."

Goodness I wish he would take some fucking responsibility for something already.

"I hold our players accountable for that," Moore declared. "They understand the situation, and they’ve got to execute. I also, at times, have to recognize that we’re just not good enough. When we’re trying to execute in those situations, the other club is trying to execute in a way to prevent us from being successful.

"I hold myself accountable with regard to that as well. Here’s why: If our players can’t be successful in those types of situations, they have to be held accountable. But it’s very difficult to hold them accountable when we don’t have enough resources at Double-A and Triple-A in terms of players — not in terms of finances but in terms of (capable) players — at this point in time."

What a f@cking pussy!!!1111111111111onnnnnnnneeeeeeeeee

No wonder the players don’t take accountability for their shitty underperformance this year, the fucking guy in charge won’t hold himself accountable.

I used to be a big supporter of his but his idiotic trades, FAs and excuses are just too much

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4440174&name=arangure_jorge_jr&addata=2009_insdr_mod_front_xxx_xxx

Its an insider article on ESPN, its just the basic story of impossible journey to dominant Reliver

At the game? At the Winter carnivals?

Just what are you people doing to voice your concern over your ballclub?

I’m not smart enough, steadfast enough, or good enough to appreciate Dayton Moore. I hold myself accountable with regard to that.

Yet, there will come a day when we have a trade for a bad defensive player with a low OBP for a pitcher with upside — and we’ll tell the GM to go home. Just goodbye. We’re not there yet.

He has to live with the choices he has made (the past few years) and realizes that a management change isn’t going to improve the outcome of those choices. Some would say he is just buying time for the inevitable (his firing or a complete teardown that he orchestrates). But, he seems arrogant enough to believe that next year will be a significant improvement and will buy him even more time.

He is right though, bad bullpens and injuries can absolutely devestate a talented team (see: 2008 Yankees, 2008/2009 Indians). You cannot predict a bullpen’s performance based on previous stats (see: 2008 Rays). So, even the most brilliant baseball GM’s kind of cobble together a bullpen through their prospects, washed up stars and trades. A patchwork that is akin to catching lightening in the bottle and goes a long way to determining whether you are a playoff team or a .500 team (or much worse).

So, maybe Ryan has the answer. You stretch out your starters (arguably your best pitchers) so you can minimize the exposure (and possible poor performances) that your bullpen may endure. The only other option you have is to do what the Indians did this season and cram a bunch of “high 90’s, two-pitch” arms in your minors and hope that a few shake out as relievers down the road.

And first let me say this article made my day. A gem in every paragraph.

“I just believe Trey is the right leader for our baseball team, and I’m not going to waver in that at all.”

My translation: “It’s true because I believe it and if I believe it then it will never stop being true.”

Great decisions are always made this way.

Of course he’s right that the manager doesn’t matter if the players are terrible, but there’s no need to go on and on about how bad the players are.

Not to mention it makes DM look like an idiot for signing all those crappy players.

He should just say “We’re not playing well and I take responsibility for that. I think Hillman is the right manager for us and he’ll be here next year.” No need to show up your own players just to give Bob Dutton an article in the Star.

picking up a Gload-esque player to be the everyday 1B.

Hilarious! It’s a fucking joke! It’s not Trey’s fault or his fault whatsoever! That’s the kicker right there.