the question is if he can even swing a bat… or stand up for that matter, come mid-July

Steve, YES!

How much better would the Royals be if they simply released Farny, Guillen, Yuni (as well as a couple of our “major” free agent aquisitions from this year) and let our non-prospect 4A players fill the roles?

Seriously, by just eating $25 million or so in salary this looks like a much better team

although apparently when Felix dials it up that high, he has something peculiar about his delivery which an experienced hitter like Sweeney can pick up on

word has it that Sweeney’s rep among those who’ve been around him is this: he’s such a great guy that everyone assumes it has to be an act, until they spend time around him, then they realize it isn’t an act.

One well-placed story has him saying in ST last year that he was going to turn Russ Branyan into an All-Star 1B, and made a point of taking infield with Branyan everyday. Of course, Sweeney wasn’t exactly Keith Hernandez himself, even in his healthy days, but it was the point of getting Branyan out there or something.

I don’t think it probably made much of a difference (who knows, maybe Branyan “caught” his back problems from Sweeney!) for Branyan, but it does tell you something about Sweeney’s character, I think.