Amid the bewildering buzz of the Draft, the first-place Texas Rangers head into Kansas City this week for a three-game series that promises to answer questions, establish the identity of both teams, and generally be one of the most memorable three-day periods of all of our lives.
The Rangers send Kevin Millwood (6-3, 4.85 ERA) to the mound, as he looks to justify his off-season contract. Personally, I've always felt Millwood was overrated, but then somehow he reinvented himself without really changing in his Cleveland tour of duty. This season, Millwood's allowed a 7.23 ERA at home, but a 2.31 ERA away from Arlington.
Our Royals send Scott Elarton (1-6, 4.94 ERA) to the hill, off of a 5.54 ERA through May. So much for his "tough-luck" status in April -- which honestly wasn't even that good, with a 4.28 ERA -- and all its attendant sympathy/hoopla. Still, his status as "Self-Appointed Team Effort Inspector" continues.
As for the Draft, check below for an early collection of thoughts on Luke Hochevar. Thinking things over more, the pick seems better and better. Maybe not as good as Miller would have been, but better than something like the possible Lincoln pick, or worse. Word for word, the best summary of the pick is from Kevin Goldstein,
"When I first mentioned this possibility a couple of weeks ago, it was just a whisper, but as one team executive put it, "it just makes too much sense for everybody involved." The Royals get to claim that they got the best pitcher in last year's much stronger draft, and Scott Boras gets to say he did the kid right, getting him more money than the $2.98 million deal that was temporarily agreed to last year. Boras wins again. Shocking, huh?"Reportedly, the money's already agreed upon, so we don't have that to worry about. Still, I can't keep helping that the current "Moore's the GM, but not quite handling the Draft" situation is one of the stupider developments of the decade, to say nothing of the fact that he's also ostensibly involved with the Braves' Draft. Worse still, Moore supposedly wanted UT's Stubbs. Ugggg.
And of course, this unwieldy thing called the Draft continues unabated, and the Royals are still picking players.
Be sure to post your in-game comments here. Time to get win #15.