“If you change your values on how you evaluate things, those things can make sense. Depending on whether you choose to believe propaganda, you can convince yourself that certain things are good things.”

Oddly he came to the conclusion that Yuni really isn’t a bad utility IFer (despite all evidence), but that he’s just not a good fit for this team. One out of two ain’t bad, Rany.

he hints at the “there are cheaper options than Yuni out there” argument when discussing Andres Blanco.

But overall I agree with you. Rany was trying to talk himself into not only not bashing BUT liking this signing, when there’s really no way to spin this. Bringing Yuni back is just more proof that Dayton Moore doesn’t get it.

Will might have taken his comment “the Royals will not make the playoffs under Dayton Moore” a bit too far, but at this point in the Moore regime I am definitely in the “if the Royals make the playoffs it will be despite Dayton Moore” camp.

But he gives little attention to the huge question mark that is second base.

Unfortunately, I suspect that Rany has accurately assessed the 2b depth chart, and concluded that Getz will be the problem there, not Yuni.

well, yeah

It seems like I could feel him wrestling with himself as he wrote it. He really wanted to figure out that it was a pretty shrewed, if unpopular signing, but he just couldn’t get there.

Yeah, it’s weird how he went from the “I’m done” post to being a quasi Dayton Moore fanboy almost overnight. Literally the only thing that changed in the intervening time period was higher external evaluations of the farm system.

And it’s not like Yuni has gotten better since then. He’s gotten worse. And the whole “well he’s a bad starter, but utility players are bad starters” is crappy analysis. That logic basically means that any player not good enough to be a MLB starter is good enough to be a MLB utility player. There are actually some players not good enough to be utility players either. And, of course, if there are better, cheaper players for a given role, then signing a worse, more expensive player is a bad idea that really isn’t defensible.

It’s amazing how much Rany has changed his opinion of Moore and the Royals front office. And what was that based on? Moore’s great signings which show that he really does look closely at statistical analysis as well as scouting? Moore’s spectacular track record?

late entry for comment of the year.

Renteria’s time with the Braves and his awesome post-season experience. INTANGIBLES!

Through age 30 Renteria had one season worse than Yu-Bet’s best, and his defense has been far better, to say the least. In limited duty in 2010, Renteria had better offensive numbers than Yu-Bet has posted since he was 25. Yep, they’re almost twins.

…Rany is clearly full of shit here. He’s just not thinking rationally, and is instead—like the most Hosmer-blinded fans—influenced by some silly notion that the AL Central is a dartboard 5 feet away. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s the same distance away it’s always been.

Then you’re not looking. Was it not a valid criticism of his work that he lamely assumed that all utility players are crappy, therefore they are all pretty much equal and signing any of them makes sense? Was it not a valid criticism that he failed to recognize that there are better, cheaper alternatives out there? Was it not a valid criticism that when comparing players, he compared hitting but not defense? Was it not a valid criticism to point out that he just assumed that Getz would take over for Gia as the full-time 2B if Gia is injured, benched or demoted?

I agreed with his conclusion, but I felt like he got there in an odd way and that he missed a lot and quite frankly used some poor analysis.

Nothing valid there? Just being pissy? Did you actually read the serious critiques of his article, or were you just being pissy?

it’s more like comparing an apple with one of the greatest fielding SS’s ever.