clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Spring Training Game 27 Open Thread- Roster Moves Edition

By Freneau

The Battle for Grass Creek resumes in particularly dramatic fashion as Gil Meche takes on his former team this afternoon in Arizona.

I just had the computer eat my post on JDLR/Tomko/Davies/Ramirez, etc. Which is probably for the best. I will say that I believe that using Spring Training performance (at least in JDLR's case) to determine these matters is less than ideal, and while we can't know for sure that that was the case, the timing strongly suggests as much. In last night's Game Thread I went on record as saying that I prefer'd JDLR to Tomko, but it really wasn't a strong preference. I've come to accept Tomko for what he is, a human arb-clock pause button for Hochevar, no more, no less. But above all else, he's our human arb-clock pause button, and so it's time to embrace him in all his park-factor aided glory.

As for Ramon Ramirez, check the diaries... all I could think of when hearing about the signing was the end of Wallace Stevens's poem "The Idea of Order at Key West". Stevens always said the Ramon Fernandez who appeared in the poem was purely a random name, so there's no reason why it can't become Ramon Ramirez:

Ramon Fernandez Ramirez, tell me, if you know,
Why, when the singing ended and we turned
Toward the town, tell why the glassy lights,
The lights in the fishing boats at anchor there,
As the night descended, tilting in the air,
Mastered the night and portioned out the sea,
Fixing emblazoned zones and fiery poles,
Arranging, deepening, enchanting night.

If you have a BP subscription, check out Will Carroll's (friend of Sterger and friend of RR) Team Health Report on the Royals, whom he ranks as the 27th healthiest team over the last three seasons. Not good.

Just as the Royals once won division crowns and a World Series not that long ago, things seemed to be better medically not so long ago. Losing Ewing Kauffman didn't change things; David Glass' ownership isn't to blame here. The facts are just the facts, and for the last three- or five-year period, the Royals have simply been bad in this area. Nick Swartz, the long-time trainer who replaced another long-time trainer, Mickey Cobb, has overseen this slide. It took a number small, perhaps unnoticed steps to help bring the franchise to its knees; it will take many similar small steps going the other direction to build it back up again.

Recognizing that health is something that seemingly any team can decide to make better by making a small organizational commitment and an only slightly larger budgetary commitment makes it even more frustrating that a mid-market team would be on the trailing edge. The facts show that the Royals, among many other problems, still have this one to deal with. "One of these days I'm going to lay this hammer down," Steve Earle sings. Today is not that day.

Notably, Carroll ranks Guillen and Greinke as a red-light risks. Meche and Banny are yellows.

More From Royals Review