In light of the current losing streak and the rapid deflation of expectations, hopes, dreams and promises of "Our Time" I have decided to start to look forward a bit just to give us, the Royals Review faithful a glint of hope and sigh of relief. So I crack open the trusty Laptop and I being to write.

via www.skinit.com

Follow me after the Jump

1st off WE all had a collective out roaring burst of expectations of dominance and dreams of the royals 1st wave of talent to just start ballin’. Completely swing the bats and drive in runs. Thus far it has been flat, like the wheels of a 1985 Yugo….. that’s right the Yugo…. the Car that everyone loved the hate

via t0.gstatic.com

..And Like the 1985 Yugo we have been flat, under-rated, overlooked, laughed at and forgotten.

In fact the Starting Pitching rotation has been that of the Yugo. The only exceptions has been the Honda Accord performance of the Bruce "Chen master K", and the surprising pitching of Daniel "Duff Man" Duffy who has been playing like Soup-ed up Rousche Ford Mustang.

Our First wave of talent has been the pieces we need in the field, everywhere but the mound.

Take a glance and look what we had in 2009 and compare it to what we have now in 2012

2009__________________________________________________ 2012

The Position Players

CF Coco Crisp __________________________________CF Maier/CainUpgrade / Cain Positive Stop Gap 2-3 Yrs

SS Mike Aviles __________________________________ Alcides Escobar Major Upgrade / Long term

LF David Dejesus________________________________ Alex Gordon Major Upgrade / Long Term Gold Glove

RF Jose Guillen_________________________________ Jeff Francoeur Upgrade / Will be replaced (Hopefully)

1B Mike Jacobs_________________________________ Eric Hosmer Unparallel Comparison / FHOF (IMHO)

3B Alex Gordon _________________________________Mike Moustakas Upgrade / Great glove /Defense

C Miguel Olivo __________________________________ Sal Perez Major Upgrade / Long Term but hurt

2B Alberto Callaspo______________________________ Chris Getz/ Yuni Push / Stop Gap / Not happy

2009 _______________________________________ 2012

Starting Pitching Rotation

Gil Meche__________________________________ Luke Hochevar Stop Gap/ possible trade bait in future / BUST

Zach Grienke_______________________________ Bruce Chen Stop Gap / Great reliable pitcher

Luke Hochevar_____________________________Jonathan Sanchez Stop Gap / 1yr deal

Brian Bannister____________________________Luis Mendoza Stop Gap / Will be sent down to AAA or traded

Horacio Ramirez __________________________ Danny Duffy Highlight of SP/SP Future with growth of Maturity (key)

Felipe Paulino Stop Gap / reliable pitcher / Hurt

This IS NOT a Pro- DMGM speech or a Mr. Glass has the intent of putting a winner on the field Post.

This Post if for us we few, we happy few.. we band as brothers.

To Read for just a split second, let it marinate, simmer about in the head and take a second and realize what we started off with back in 2009. The Year the Stadium was re-furbished. Take a second look at the 2009 players listed above. Take a look at what we have now. I say there IS a reason to be optimistic. There are tangible reasons to be excited about this team; whether it’s the possibility of a .500 season, shot at the (now) 2nd Wild Card Spot. It’s evident. It’s black and white what improvements we have accomplished, and hey let’s face it; If you pick in the top 5-10 in the draft year in a year out your BOUND to get a phenomenal team.

via t0.gstatic.com

The second portion or flip to that token IS: Once you have them, you keep them- Long Term. Sal Perez, Billy Butler, Alex Gordon, Alcides Escobar are prime examples of those whom we have extended already. And I am sure they won’t be the last. So Now that I am coming down from the hoorah speech / Soap Box shapeal;

If this whole time we have suffered. This whole rebuilding stage (whenever you started following the team) the entire time being a part of the "True.Blue.Traditon", "Major League Moments", "Its Our Time" or whatever other slogans were used over the past years…is a Process and DMGM tell us to "trust the process" than we must look at it subjectively (whatever the hell that means).

Is it " OUR TIME" or Waste Our Time?

via lh3.googleusercontent.com

Or is it "Trust the Process?"

via sportsdrenched.files.wordpress.com

PLAN

(as I see it)

1. Get rid of the old players, over paid contracts and dead weight. CHECK
2. Bring in fresh talent from the Minors, home grown, heavily invested highly touted. – CHECK – (SORTA) More on this is a min.
3. And this is what we have been waiting for since the LAST time the beloved KC Royals went to Post Season (1985): Championships. Or as BearManPig depicts it: DOMINATION!

Back to the 2nd phase of this plan and the word "Sorta":

We have seen the 1st Wave of talent and it was a Typhoon wave of talent that caught the eyes of everyone in and outside of Kansas City.

The 1st wave:

Hosmer

Moustakas

Duffy

Giavotella * Back in AAA

Lorenzo Cain ** Hurt

Sal Perez ** Hurt

Aaron Crow

Kelvin Herrera

Alcides Escobar

Jarrod Dyson

Jeremy Jeffress

Tim Collins

There were other key additions from trades that brought some players mentioned above in the 1st wave and are not "Homegrown" but they are a part of the 1st Wave.

Q. Where are we hurting or lacking at?

A. Starting Pitching.

Lets Look at the 2nd Wave possibilities and I know there will be a lot of IF’s

The 2nd wave:

Noel Arguelles – If he pans out

Jeremy Jefferess – If he learns control

David Lough – Replace Francouer

Derrick Robinson – Possible Platoon/ replace Bourgeois MITCH (blasphemous I know)

Christian Colon – He won’t be a SS with us / maybe 2B maybe a trade piece

Starting Pitchers in the 2nd Wave

Mike Montgomery – Can’t find the strike zone

Will Smith – Not sure on status

John Lamb – Tommy John Surgery

These are the only 3 SP Pitchers I can think of that are possible candidates to help with our SP rotation.

If I am missing anyone RR let me know. I thought it prudent to speak my piece and give a little hope and insight to where we were. I came back to Royals and watching hard core in 2009 (the year I got back stateside from being stationed overseas in Germany, Italy, Korea, 2 tours in Afghanistan .. 6 years worth of living " La Vida ..Mas Cervezas"…needless to say I was gone a while)

As long winded as this post has been I want to leave you with this quote:

"You always pass failure on your way to success"

Stay Classy Kansas City!!!