Positive 2009 Developments Open Thread
by Freneau on Sep 8, 2009 11:11 AM EDT
in Kansas City Royals News
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PrintSo you say I'm too negative, too critical and too repetitive?
It is always the same, you say. OK, give me your 2009 positive developments, stories, memories, regarding the Royals.
The strange promos for the new Yahoo Mail should inspire us all.
Change begins at home. Positive 2009 Royals thoughts. No snark or sarcasm allowed.
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We spent some real dough in the draft again.
GMDM won’t hit on all those picks, but the law of averages suggests that the draft will produce more good players than in the past.
We’ve spent serious money the past three drafts, so that’s a genuinely positive development. By 2013 we may not need to carry a Luis Hernandez on the roster. That’s exciting.
that's a finger wag for you!
By 2013 we may not need to carry a Luis Hernandez on the roster. That’s exciting.
seems a tad sarcastic
I was being serious.
If we draft some real guys we won’t feel compelled to have guys like TPJ and TPJJ starting games. We might not even feel compelled to give huge contracts to guys like Yuni.
As many have pointed out, we shouldn’t get too excited just because the Royals are finally behaving like a major league baseball team by investing in the draft. But for real, I’m excited about it.
I like the Outfield Experience
As for positive developments that will result in better teams in the future? Yeah, right.
Baseball's that swingy stick game, right?
by royalsroyalsroyals on Sep 8, 2009 11:21 AM EDT reply actions
It generates an energy
even just by looking out toward it from the old seats. Gives the appearance of sumthins-a-happnin-at-the-ol-ballyard all throughout the game. It’s pretty cool, and then you walk around out there and it offers lots of nice views and some fun stuff to distract you from the misery of the actual game.
Baseball's that swingy stick game, right?
by royalsroyalsroyals on Sep 8, 2009 11:34 AM EDT up reply actions
Billy Butler
Although his Doubles pace is lagging a bit, due in part to those pesky HR’s (hopefully ANOTHER positive trend for next year), he is still close to a pace for 50 doubles on the year. If he accomplishes that feat, it would put him as only the 8th player in the history of MLB with 50 doubles before or at the age of 23.
BOOM! ROASTED!
Greinke emerging as the best pitcher in the AL, obviously.
But other than that, 2009 has been an unmitigated disaster.
Perhaps the new K, but I have never been.
Waiting for April.
Yuni
Less ridiculous than we all thought he would be.
StonewallPDS
Hardball Times' defensive metrics
put him a whopping 45 runs or so behind an average SS over a full year (lowest in majors by a lot). And even worse during his time in KC. (I like THT’s zone ratings system even though it isn’t presented in a single, concisely conclusive number.)
Not to be negative, mind you.
Baseball's that swingy stick game, right?
by royalsroyalsroyals on Sep 8, 2009 12:33 PM EDT up reply actions
Without Any More
Wheeling and dealing in the off season by GMDM, our position players next year could be:
B. Pena- C
Butler- 1B
Callaspo- 2B
Betancourt- SS
Gordon- 3B
DeJesus- LF
Maier- CF
Teahen- RF
Guillen- DH
Bench- Buck, Aviles, Bloomquist, Ka-aihue
Crisp and Jacobs will be gone. Anderson will be gone or stashed in Omaha as the new Maier. Aviles could supplant Betancourt or Callaspo if he returns to even 80% of his ‘08 form. Maybe I’m dreaming, but Parraz may be ready to jump on “The 29” and move DDJ back to CF (unless he can handle CF?) by mid-season. Free agent position players look pretty old, crappy and/or expensive this year, so I would be OK with running this team out there for a year while we rebuild the farm system.
I won’t talk about pitching because we’re staying positive here.
I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.
I'm Hoping He'll
Bump Betancourt or Callaspo to the bench. Fat chance, I know, but if he does it that’d mean he’s back for real. It could happen. 2008 was a bolt from the blue; why not a repeat in 2010.
I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.
by philofthenorth on Sep 8, 2009 1:30 PM EDT up reply actions
Short list
Less Treystache – agreed
Billy Butler!
Zack freinkin’ Greinke
Soria – did not collapse after his breakout year, recovers from injury, 2-inning saves!
Tejeda’s promising start
DDJ continues to be dependable and durable
Alex Gordon is still young
Some of the bullpen arms could be ready soon
Coleman and Keating anyone?
for two months we thought we'd win the division
that’s two months longer than normal…
where's ross gload to explode the process?
Though it does make where we're at now even more painful..
It is truely better to have loved and lost rather never loved at all.
I Thought That
Was Bobby Vinton.
I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.
by philofthenorth on Sep 8, 2009 2:10 PM EDT up reply actions
the odd thing is...
the tennyson line is from In memorium, which is about friendship, not romantic love
gotta love the 19th c.
i've never felt as if the truth and fame of that saying were quite in line
i guess you’ve learned about yourself and about humanity, but i think that’s what oedipus is supposed to be going through at the end of his story and who would want to trade places with him?
by 9il on Sep 8, 2009 2:40 PM EDT up reply actions
Wil Freakin' Myers
The Race for Bryce Harper
TPJ gone and converted to a reliever that’s doing well, even if it comes a year too late.
Kila’s OBP skills are real, even if his power was depressed this year
Callaspo had a nice breakout even if he is slumping to end the year, he could just be worn down, as this is 56 games more than his previous high.
Mike Montgomery looks pretty sweet.
David Lough, Jeff Bianchi, John Lamb, Jordan Parraz have all looked very good at times.
Everyone (well, almost everyone) came around on Dayton Moore
And whatever one might think of Moore, it should be clear now, even to Moore, that paying full price (or even above full price) for no better than middle-of-the-road talent is the wrong way to build a team.
This is my first year following KC and I started back in around May, when the team was around 1st/2nd in the division. Still sticking with ’em- if they can play as well as they did in May then I know they have potential.
Some highlights for me include Greinke, Meche and DeJesus. It has been great watching these guys play some good baseball this season.
We have fans in England...
…and he likes DDJ, just like us!
by YouDon'tPhaseMeGobble on Sep 8, 2009 9:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Or maybe he
only likes the Royals who speak English…
If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's probably propaganda.
MITCH! got off the HR schneid
maybe he’ll find that decent power he had through the minors (.458 SLG).
"The life of a (Royals) fan must be lived forward but can only be understood backward" -- Kierkegaard (more or less)
My stuff
1) Zack and Billy
2) The K is still—and now even more so—the best place to watch baseball.
3) NW Arkansas, Wilmington and Burlington all make the playoffs with teams possessing several real prospects (if the best teams are composed of the best players, then a lot more winning in the minor leagues should mean better players overall, shouldn’t it?)
4) TPJ is no longer on the ML roster and is not likely to return as a shortstop
5) Hosmer’s Lasik didn’t go horribly wrong, and now his vision is (reportedly) 20/15. That’s gotta count for something, doesn’t it?
6) Bale and Yabuta are not under contract for 2010 and are thus in their last month as Royals (that really isn’t snark, I really am glad for this).
7) If The Process can be believed, we’re looking for a catcher this offseason, so Brayan Pena and somebody else should be the only two catchers on next year’s 25-man roster (okay, that might have been a little snark).
If you look closely, it really says "CentralChamps2012."
by CentralChamps2009 on Sep 8, 2009 1:42 PM EDT reply actions
The disdain I had for your user name
has been replaced with sheer joy for your signature
BOOM! ROASTED!
I'd like to say it was sarcastic
back when I selected it in 2006, but, I really had hopes that the ship could be turned around. You could say that I Trusted the Process from the start.
I tried to figure out a way to change it about mid-June without having to get a new account, but I couldn’t. So instead, I’ll wear it as a stark reminder that being a Royals fan and having positive expectations remain mutually exclusive (okay, I’m sorry that was not positive either).
If you look closely, it really says "CentralChamps2012."
by CentralChamps2009 on Sep 8, 2009 4:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Reasons to stay positive.
1) The AL central is weak, and will most likley stay weak for a while. Last years worst, is this years best. We are not directly competing with the AL East, so we don’t have as big of hill to climb.
2) The Free agent whiffs that we made will be gone this year or next. There is another good class in 2010, about the time we will have payroll flexability, new talent coming up, and still have control of most of the talent on the club.
3) The Bees, the Blue Rocks, the Naturals, all these teams are in the playoffs.
Go Royals!
The AL Central is weak
That’s a good reason. Despite being the worst team in the league, we’re “only” 23.5 games out of first. Baltimore (whose record is 4 games better) is 32 games out. Toronto (9 games better) is 27 games out. As you say, they have a bigger mountain to climb than we do. You could say something similar about the AL West – Oakland is 9 games better than us but only 3 games closer to first (plus all of the other teams are above .500).
Tension is the enemy. - Charlie Lau
by aHorseWithNoName on Sep 8, 2009 3:43 PM EDT up reply actions
Crow
In addition to having some great prospects in Montgomery, Melville, Lamb, Coleman, Dwyer, etc… we should have Crow as well (hopefully)
Memories
I was at the Royals – Indians game in late May when we came back in the bottom of the 9th from 3 runs down after back to back homers from Jacobs and Teahan. It was the second best game I’ve attended behind the Opening Day comeback from a few years ago. I’m also 3-2 in the five Royals games I’ve attended this year, so that’s pretty nice, too.
Greatest comeback I've ever witnessed
Never hugged/hi-fived so many strangers in my life.
sigh May, back when I thought we could make the playoffs.
by NaturalsLight on Sep 9, 2009 3:15 AM EDT up reply actions
Positives
I’ll agree with Greinke and Butler.
Greinke has shown the rest of the country that he is the ace most Royals’ fans thought he would be this year. He has also grown beyond that and is upon the Cy Young Award pedestal at the moment. Hopefully, he wins.
Butler has not only shown that he can be a #2/3/4/5 hitter (depending on who is managing and what their philosophy is for each spot in the order), but he can man 1st base well enough to be a first baseman rather than a DH.
Mike Jacobs...
Okay, he may have been a bust overall…and we may have destroyed our bullpen to get him… but when he did hit home runs, they were absolute BOMBs. It was fun to be in awe of a long ball hit by a Royal for once.
by YouDon'tPhaseMeGobble on Sep 8, 2009 9:48 PM EDT reply actions
My list
1) Greinke becoming Cy Young.
2) Butler starting to become a fat George Brett.
3) Maier starting to make the adjustment — I don’t think he’s DiMaggio or anything, but he looks like he’ll be a not-embarrassing starter.
4) Cut bait on TPJ.
5) Continued development of the farm, which frankly is more important than whether or not we win this year or next year or even 2011.
6) Continued exposure in Latin America, and a potentially intelligent approach to scooping up talent there.
7) Montgomery.
8) Myers.
9) Did I say Greinke?
10) Did I mention Butler turning out to not be a butcher at 1B?
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