While the consensus seems to be that the Royals are still potentially interested in Milton Bradley (stats here) for the time being he'll go down in the annals of history as a Royal that never-quite-was. As is often the case, the words of Don Henley again ring true, namely, that you can "you can make advances, you can make big plans/ plant sloppy kisses all over her hands/ you can tell her everything you're dreaming of, but - you can't make love".
The match between Milton and the Royals just wasn't meant to be.
In the few hours that Milton was a Royal-to-be, the topic at hand was Dayton Moore's willingness to look past Milton's supposed "character issues" in pursuit of something like a major league outfield. Whats also clear is that in his current injured/injury-prone/injured-again state Milton's price is as low as its ever been and that Moore's willing to buy a commodity at twenty-five cents and sell at thirty, if thats what it comes down to. We can go back and forth about this, but I'm not sure the Royals are in a position to be picky about who meets the Chamber of Commerce's morality test anyway, not with their financial weaknesses and talent-gap. Nevertheless, for now, all matters Milton have been cast into murky waters. In the meantime, I hope everyone's ready for another eventful trade season, because its apparent that our GM isn't going to be sitting around. (Side note: Milton still has his fans in Oakland.)
Ohh, and I'm sure its an interesting day to be Leo Nunez.
In the meantime, what everyone plainly needs is a win. The losing streak ticker has hit a still modest "3", yet with the rotation denigrating to "Meche, Bannister and a bunch of guys", the last thing we need is to miss the seeming opportunity to win that sending Brian Bannister (4-3, 3.21 ERA) to the mound represents.
While Bannister's last start veered closer to rocky territory than he'd been in nearly a month, allowing only four earned runs over six innings still stands as a performance that both theoretically and circumstantially pushed the Royals towards victory, in this case his fourth straight. Bannister's walk total on the season now stands at 15, a Brad Radke or even Carlos Silva level of control. As someone who was critical of the Bannister acquisition throughout the off-season, I'm happy to admit I was wrong.
Here's an interesting question: would you trade Bannister at the deadline?
The Brewers counter with Dave Bush (4-6, 5.48 ERA), currently mired in the worst season of his career.
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ps- According to BP's Playoff Odds Report the Royals are now on pace for a 65-97 record, which would be their second-highest win total since 2000.
pps-If you happen to be from Trenton, Missouri, please check out this week's profile of your fair city.