Grienke to the Bullpen

by rockchalk on May 9, 2007 9:49 AM EDT

In order to make room for one (or both) of the DL starters, Elarton and Huddy, Grienke is being sent to the bullpen.

I personally disagree with this move, if he is a starter in the future he needs to stay a starter, whether that is in the majors or down in AAA. Hopefully we can let go of Elarton, Perez or even Huddy fairly soon and we can bring Grienke back up. In the bullpen, he won't get as many innings. Of course, we also might figure out he's a better fit there so who knows.....

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I think they should send him down to AAA

for a while. He should be in the rotation, and he could build his confidence while we show other teams what we have in Elarton. Here is another bullpen candidate that might help us out:

http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/1178700210128410.xml&coll=2&am p;thispage=1

If you were a hotdog would you eat yourself? I know I would!

by greggagneHOF on May 9, 2007 9:53 AM EDT reply actions

GRENKE

I totally agree
keep him on a 5 day routine

by PREDATOR1 on May 9, 2007 10:24 AM EDT reply actions

Oh, good... the Affeldt treatment

Well done, Royals.

This is maddening, particularly since neither Elarton or Hudson are likely to outperform Greinke in the starting lineup.

by marbotty on May 9, 2007 10:46 AM EDT reply actions

Bad move

"Affeldt treatment" - well put. I think Hudson would be a great candidate for the pen.

Greinke is struggling in the rotation, but so what? Let him solve his struggles. He has to overcome adversity. He isn't costing us the division title.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on May 9, 2007 10:54 AM EDT reply actions

Totally Agree

It is the "affeldt treatment". Most of all Greink needs innings, if he can do that at Triple A where there's less pressure let him do it and get his confidince back. Hudson would solve our long/middle relief problems. I still believe Zack will one day outperform everyone in our current rotation, but we need to give him time to do so on his own terms. Remember - He's still younger than most of our upper level pitching prospects.

lordbyronk

by lordbyronk on May 9, 2007 11:24 AM EDT up reply actions

Send him down...

In the Omaha rotation he will be able to work out what ever is the problem or maybe just get his head back together. Remember this is a kid that is really fragile mentally and his last interview sounded like a whipped puppy.

The air in Omaha would do him good.

by grudz69 on May 9, 2007 11:36 AM EDT reply actions

I don't know what the right thing to do is, but

I do know Perez and Bannister deserve to be removed from the rotation way before Greinke (ESPECIALLY PEREZ), and that's based on PERFORMANCE SO FAR THIS YEAR, not potential.

Anyway, I would put the odds at over 50% that whatever the Royals would select to do would be the wrong thing.

by loyal2s dad on May 9, 2007 11:44 AM EDT reply actions

The other arguement

would be that maybe the Royals are showcasing their trade-bait in Perez and Elarton. If we get rid of those two Greinke has a spot in the rotation.

lordbyronk

by lordbyronk on May 9, 2007 11:53 AM EDT reply actions

I'm fine with that

Then put Zack in Omaha's rotation.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on May 9, 2007 1:03 PM EDT up reply actions

or, better yet, put Perez in Omaha

by marbotty on May 9, 2007 1:08 PM EDT up reply actions

Not sure what to make of this

On one hand I think that Greinke probably needs to get innings which will be tough for him to do out of the pen, especially the way BB uses the pen, so he should probably go to AAA. Another reason to send him to AAA is that a lot of people I have seen commenting on Greinke say that his problem isn't mental it's mechanics and that someone needs to get him back to his easy repeatable delivery that he was using before, which can best be done in AAA. However there is also the idea that it doesn't do Greinke any good to dominate AAA hitters and he needs to face big league hitters to prove he's improving. Pretty much the same argument that was used when we talked about sending Gordon down to AAA to find his stroke. I think if we stick with Gordo through his struggles to allow him to face major leagu pitchers there's no reason not to keep Greinke around to face major league hitters while he finds himself.

by EricConley on May 9, 2007 12:44 PM EDT reply actions

Showcasing Perez and Elarton

Lordbyronk, you may have a valid point; however, I can't imagine a team desperate enough to give up much of anything of value for either of those two guys. Perez looks borderline washed up, and Elarton is coming off major surgery, plus he is barely replacement level when healthy anyway!

by loyal2s dad on May 9, 2007 12:52 PM EDT reply actions

I agree.

Even in the base case scenario, no one is going to give up anything of value for either one of those guys. If this is really what Dayton is up to, he obviously sees the 2007 Royals very pessimistically and doesn't hold out much hope for Greinke either. Sadly, I can't argue with those points of view.

by tfn on May 9, 2007 1:21 PM EDT up reply actions

The Royals' goal

The Royals' objective as an organization should not be constantly showcasing marginally talented veterans for other teams. The goal should be sticking with the plan - developing young players and improving the young guys' fundamentals. This is where Dayton Moore completely contradicts himself.

Fans salivate over the idea of what we could get in return for Elarton, Hudson, and Perez. The reality is that their past statistics show that they will blow up in our face anyway, which means we will either release them or trade them for flat-out nothing. I can't get excited about this as a fan.

Words can't even describe how wrong I think this move is (sending Greinke to the bullpen).

This organization is as much of a sad joke right now as it ever was under Allard Baird.

http://royalsnation.proboards62.com/

by Royals Nation on May 9, 2007 2:54 PM EDT reply actions

But where has GMDM explicitly said

that the Royals are making these moves to allow the showcasing of Elarton, Hudson or Perez? I think we are just guessing that is his agenda.

I'm not willing to give Moore a free pass on anything. I've concluded that it would have taken a miracle or a huge pile of luck for him to right the ship immediately, given what he had to work with. Well, despite a few encouraging signs last summer, its clear now that the miracle and the wild good luck haven't happened. That's OK. Lets give him a few drafts (which is where the Royals really must improve) before we conclude that things are at the Baird level.

by tfn on May 9, 2007 3:34 PM EDT up reply actions