Uncompetitive Royals blown out in Chicago

Remember, folks, these are the players Dayton Moore didn’t trade because he believes they’re going to contend for a playoff spot next year!

That’s four straight losses for Kansas City since their ball-busting move to mostly stand pat at the trade deadline, which has basically erased their “hot start” they came out of the All Star Break with. They were completely uncompetitive in Chicago on Tuesday night, getting mowed down by Dylan Cease. They struck out 14 times. They’ve scored two runs in the last 27 innings.

Cease, who gave up just one hit while striking out 11 Royals in six dominant, shutout frames, bamboozled Kansas City’s lineup without incident. The concept of a pitcher who is both good and has made less than 50 big-league starts is completely alien to Dayton Moore. Cease started rough, took a big step forward in year two, and has blossomed into a very good starter in year three. Whoa, what a concept! Players getting better at the big league level!

With the Royals, young pitchers have to either suck out loud or be sent down to the minors, and there isn’t an in between. They’re only good after they’ve been in the big league for 7 years, or if they’ve been developed by somebody else. Considering how “loaded” the farm system supposedly is with arm talent, you’d think one of their many starting pitching prospects would just come up and be pretty good, but nah. Brady Singer has a career ERA near 4.70 and that’s about as good as they come for Royals starters under the age of 30.

The one measly run came courtesy of a Ryan O’Hearn sacrifice fly, which made it 3-1 in the seventh, but the White Sox blasted Kyle Zimmer and Richard Lovelady for four runs in the home half to put the evening out of reach. Zimmer has completely fallen off following a really good first two months.

Also, Andrew Benintendi got hurt sliding into second base on a stolen base. It looked really bad, as he kind of jerked his neck around trying to avoid a tag and immediately grabbed his left shoulder. It was his left arm that he extended sliding into the base, and he was helped off the field with his arm elevated. It did not look good.

Kris Bubic was alright, giving up three runs in six innings. He struck out eight, which was good. The broadcasters praised him for “keeping the team in the game,” but on a night when Cease was unhittable, Bubic needed to be far better than he was for the Royals to have a chance.

The Royals are 45-60. Remember that hot start out of the break that both gave Dayton Moore false confidence in the future of the squad and hurt their draft position? Yeah, that’s gone now, as the Royals are just 9-7 in the second half. They’ve lost four straight and they have to deal with Lucas Giolito, who is unofficially 97-0 with a 0.01 career ERA against the Royals tomorrow. Good friggin’ luck.

Your patience with Dayton Moore should be running very thin. This team lost 100 games in 2018, they lost 100 games in 2019, they would have lost 95 games in 2020 had the season been normal, and they’re on their way to losing 95 in 2021. They are not getting better. They could have traded Whit Merrifield two or three years ago and gotten way more pieces that would be setting them up for actual success, but they stubbornly (and foolishly) thought they were close to contending. Hell, this is the same mistake they made just last week! Carlos Santana, Whit Merrifield, Scott Barlow, and all of the other guys Dayton didn’t trade will NEVER play in a postseason game here. Never. Therefore, trade them and get younger guys that will actually be here when the eternity-long rebuild is complete. If you happen to make a couple of decent trades, the returns may just be players that can help speed up the rebuild! Imagine that.

They are not putting themselves in a position to get better any time soon. The beat writers are apparently not even counting on next year, as I saw an article earlier talking about how 2023 is going to be the year. Are you kidding me?

Teams go from bad to competing very quickly in sports. Look at the San Francisco Giants, who were 64-98 in 2017 and have completely rebuilt themselves in just a couple of years. When Dayton says it takes years and years to rebuild, that’s completely untrue. It just takes quality roster-building. The Royals should be further along than they are, and that falls at the hands of the people who make the very excuses about why it’s going to take lots and lots of time to win again. It is unacceptable.

Dayton Moore has been working on this “rebuild” for four full seasons now. It’s time to either (poop) or get off the pot.

Maybe the precedent will flip and Dayton’s draft picks will suddenly turn out to be solid big leaguers, but it’s just not something you can count on. And if things don’t start getting better in a hurry, I have to think John Sherman just may be growing impatient.