Tony Pena, Jr. - New Shortstop

Wow. That was fast.

Last Wed., March 21, I posted about Angel Berroa and how uncomfortable I was going into another season with him as our starting shortstop. I begged and pleaded for anything to be done…any kind of change at that position. Well….ask and ye shall receive.

Two days after my frustration with Berroa culminated in my posting a blog entitled “Angel Berroa sucks”, Dayton Moore pulled the trigger on a deal that landed us a new starting shortstop – Tony Pena, Jr. The Royals sent Eric Cordier to Atlanta in exchange for the son of our last manager (who gave us one decent season of baseball in 2003).

Now….I could probably moan about the fact that we gave up a pitcher with MAJOR upside (although injuries have kept him from realizing his potential to this point). I could also probably complain a little about the Royals replacing one non-hitting shortstop with what could turn out to be another. However, Pena is a clear upgrade defensively – and he’s got a lot more speed, which is never a bad thing (you know the old saying: “speed doesn’t go into slumps”). But…..I’m not going to complain at all. I’ll take my chances with a guy who’s probably a better teammate, got a better work ethic, and is a few years younger – so he’s not done developing as a ballplayer (as Berroa, at age 29, was).

I do hate to see Cordier go – I had him ranked as the number five prospect in the KC farm system (in the blog archives somewhere). He’s got tremendous upside and is still only 21 years old. If he ever puts it all together, he’s probably got the tools to rival Luke Hochevar in the pitching department. So, yeah, I’m sad to see us give him up. The end of the Angel Berroa era does soften the blow quite a bit, though.

Angel Berroa sucks.

It looks like Berroa's rigorous off-season training program didn't work out for him.....he's still horrible. I was doubtful we'd see him turn the corner. I suppose somewhere in the back of my mind, I hoped. That's what fans do in February and March, they hope their team's problems will work themselves out. Not going to happen in this case. It looks like we're stuck with a sub-par (to put it nicely) shortstop making way too much money.

So, what to do? Berroa does have options left, so we could ship him to Omaha. I've got to believe Dayton Moore is trying like hell to shop him to other teams...I don't know who'd be dumb enough to take him....Allard Baird, perhaps? Too bad he's not a GM somewhere else. Even if Moore finds a taker, there's no way we'd get out of eating a good portion of his salary - although I'd pay him double his salary to do nothing more than empty his locker and go home. He'd do more good sitting on his couch and watching the team from a good distance. I say his couch, as I think he should be completely banned from the ballpark....even being at The K as nothing more than a spectator, he'd find a way to screw something up

At this point, I say we cut our losses. Berroa's 29, I don't think he's going to magically improve one of these days. Players that old don't hit their stride (at least not without some HGH). If he were only 22, 23, 24.....I'd have more patience, but as it stands, my patience with Berroa is no better than his own patience at the plate. Let's see what Blanco can do...let him hit ninth in the order and play a decent shortstop. We've got enough decent bats - DeJesus, Grudz/German, Teahen, Sweeney (at least he looks good on paper), Gordon, Brown, Sanders, Shealy - to absorb a guy who may struggle with his first shot at playing full-time in the bigs.

So, let's help our offense by taking his league-worst OBP out of the order and let's help our pitchers by taking his awful glove and inaccurate throwing arm off the field. It's been a fun ride (wait, no....it hasn't), but it's time to say bye-bye to Angel. I mean, how sad can we possibly be to see him go, when the most he's inspired out of this fan base is to honor him with the nickname "Aw Hell", which is uttered every time he boots a ball, throws off-target to first, or strikes out on three straight pitches with men in scoring position.

**for those who don't know (I'm sure nobody pays enough attention to realize this) - Angel is pronounced "on-hell"...which is where the nickname comes from...it's too perfect**

It's time for change. I don't care if the next guy is all that great, or even good....I just hope he doesn't suck nearly as much as Aw Hell.

Spring Update part 2 - Hot Pitchers

Here are the pitchers who have impressed:

Joakim Soria - A Rule 5 guy, Soria has shown why the Royals were so interested in acquiring his services. So far, Soria has thrown eight innings and has a 1.13 ERA. In the three games he's pitched, he's allowed only three hits and has yet to walk a batter. He's struck out five and allowed only one run. I don't always put a lot of stock into Spring Training stats, but if this is any indication of what's to come, I think we found a real diamond in the rough.

Luke Hudson - Hudson's seen action in two games now, going a total of 6.2 innings. After pitching pretty well as a starter last season, he's continued to impress. So far, Luke's only allowed two earned runs, giving him a 2.70 ERA. He's also struck out five, although he's given up three walks and seven hits for a total of 10 base runners in his limited time (for a WHIP of 1.61). Overall, Hudson's looked good, but I'd like to see him cut down on the number of batters he puts on the basepaths.

Brian Bannister - Another young starter fighting for a rotation spot. Bannister came over from the Mets in the Ambriorix Burgos deal (which I think we got the better end of). In five innings of work, Bannister has yet to allow a run and has a perfect ERA of zero. He's only walked one batter (he also hit a batter) and allowed three hits, meaning he allows about one base runner per inning. If he keeps showing this type of control, he should be a lock for the rotation as a fourth or fifth starter.

Gil Meche - Couldn't leave out Meche, our big free agent acquisition this past off-season. Meche has pretty much impressed me, and I think he'll be a solid guy to lead this revamped starting rotation through the 2007 season. He's gone seven innings and given up six hits while only walking one and striking out four. Meche has given up one homer and has allowed only two runs during his time on the mound. Hopefully he keeps up the good work and this will carry over into the regular season.

Other pitchers of note:

Octavio Dotel - He's looked sharp in limited time (only two innings so far), and I have no regrets (not yet, anyway) about brining him in as our closer. He's given up one hit, struck out two, and walked none.

Zack Greinke - Zack got shelled in his first outing and rebounded a little in his second. He's gone five innings and has already allowed nine hits and six earned runs (for a 7.20 ERA). On the plus side, he has yet to walk a batter, which means he's throwing strikes and challenging guys. He's also struck out five, for a pace of one K per inning. I'm pulling for Zack to make the rotation and hope he improves yet again in his next outing (which is today).

Jimmy Gobble - Jimmy seems to have found a role last season as a reliever. He's looked pretty good this spring, going six innings with two earned runs (3.00 ERA). Gobble's another guy who needs to watch his walk totals (three so far), but he has struck out four, which is pretty good for only six innings of work. I figure Gobble will be a long/middle reliever and may get some late inning work against lefties.

Spring Update - Hot Hitters

Well....we're a little deeper into Spring Training now, and we've had enough games to see who's hot and who's not. Here's a quick breakdown of a few of the hotter hitters this spring...I'll report on the pitchers tomorrow......


Billy Butler - Butler's played 11 games and had 22 plate appearances. He's batting .526 with a 1.000 slugging percentage and an on-base percent over .600. Out of his 10 hits, 3 are doubles and 2 are homers - and he's got 8 RBI. I'd say Butler's trying to make the decision to send him to Omaha a tough one....unfortunately, our roster's a little full when it comes to outfielders - and at DH we've got Mike Sweeney (at least until he hurts his back again). Unless there's some kind of trade - look for Butler to start off in Omaha and be called up due to injury or someone like Reggie Sanders being shipped out in some kind of deal.

Andres Blanco - Making a push to start the season as our utility infielder....in my opinion - they should hand him the starting shortstop job and let Berroa sit the bench, but I'm guessing they give Berroa one more chance to show us what he's got. Blanco's hitting well, with a .346 average (although he's drawn no walks in 26 AB's). He's also got a slight edge on Berroa in the field so far - Berroa's got one error, Blanco's been flawless.

Joey Gathright - Fighting for his spot on the 25 man roster, Gathright has responded by hitting .400 this spring with a .464 OBP. He has yet to show he can really hit at the big league level, but could be a dangerous leadoff hitter if he improves his ability to get on base - he's generally regarded as probably the fastest player in baseball. He's stolen three bases this spring (although he's been caught twice), and has only struck out three times. Maybe this is the year he starts putting it all together?

Ross Gload - One of Dayton Moore's recent acquisitions, Gload has been pounding the ball. A first baseman/outfielder, he should have no problem making the team as some kind of utility player....I think he'll see plenty of at bats splitting time at first and between corner outfield spots and DH. He's batting .444 with an OBP of .524 and a .778 SLG.

Other hitters of note (followed by AVG/OBP/SLG):

Alex Gordon - .316/.480/.526 - Gordon started off a bit slow, but has come on strong. Recently hampered by shoulder stiffness, shouldn't keep him out of the lineup.

Justin Huber - .368/.435/.579 - May not have a future in KC, if not, I hope we can flip him for a decent prospect at shortstop or pitcher.

Ryan Shealy - .346/.370/.577 (2 HR in 26 AB) - May lose some at-bats to Gload this year, but should see the majority of time at first base. I expect Shealy to have a breakout season, hitting for decent average and power. Probably a guy who will bat somewhere between fifth and seventh in the lineup most days.

Jason LaRue - .333/.385/1.083 - with 3 HR in only 12 AB - may have taken Buck's job.

Injuries take down two Royals

First our gold glove winning second baseman, and now one of our better relief pitchers from the 2006 season.

The first injury was to second baseman Mark Grudzielanek, who went down with torn cartilage in his knee. Grudz had surgery earlier this week and all went well. The surgery was a minor one, and should only keep him out of action for about the first 10 to 20 days of the season. During that time, it's likely that last year's utility man, Esteban German, will fill in at second.

The second blow came when Joe Nelson found out he'd need shoulder surgery - leading to him missing up to three months of the 2007 season. Nelson has an injured labrum that needs to be repaired - which is nothing new to him, having torn his labrum before.

The good news is that we've got enough depth to cover these two missing time. With German filling in for Grudz, we'll see a drop in defense at that position, but German will definitely hit. With the acquisition of several pitchers - including closer Octavio Dotel - we should be okay in the bullpen as well. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that we don't have a major injury at a position where we don't have any depth.....

The Good, the bad, and the ugly

The Good.

We've seen some good pitching out of a handful of our new guys. Bannister and Soria combined for 4 innings of shutout baseball in the spring opener. Bannister had a real shot at the back end of the rotation, while Soria will likely end up in the pen....but, as a rule 5 guy, it's nice to see him pitch well. Hopefully he won't just be a burden that we have to carry all year.

The Bad.

Zack Greinke got rocked over the weekend. I'm really pulling for this guy, as he's got amazing stuff. Hopefully, he's got his past problems worked out and will be able to continue moving forward with his career. It's only one game, but after last season....it's hard not to worry......

The Ugly.

Former Royals Ambriorix Burgos had some not so nice comments on the Royals.

Read the article HERE.

Nice attitude. No wonder Dayton Moore got rid of the guy.

Opening game recap

Bannister and Soria both pitched extremely well....each went two innings of scoreless baseball, Bannister gave up one hit, Soria none.

In a symbolic moment....Alex Gordon - the player all fans are pinning their hopes of future success on - scored the first run of the game. A perfect way to usher in the new era of Royals baseball.

Gordon's Wichita teammate (and other savior of the franchise) Billy Butler saw some action later in the game and had a two-run single in the ninth inning.

The main thing I took away from this game were the performances of Bannister and Soria. I think they'd like to see Bannister in the rotation, and if he keeps pitching like he did yesterday, it'll be hard to keep him out. I think Soria's got an outside shot at it as well, although he's most likely destined for bullpen duty this year. Should be interesting to see how the rotation starts shaking out after a handful of games are played.

In today's game against the Rangers - we'll get to see Esteban German take his first shot at playing shortstop, furthering his role as a super-utility player. Pitchers going for KC today will be Billy Buckner, Tyler Lumsden, Luke Hochevar, Carlos Rosa, Danny Christensen and Matt Wright.

Spring Opener today

The Royals finally see some action today in their Cactus League opener against the Los Angeles Angels. According to what I've heard on the radio, it looks like Brian Bannister and Joakim Soria (both possibilities for the starting rotation) will each go 2 innings today. After that, the Royals will likely use a different pitcher for each inning...so we should get a look at 7 pitchers today.

Not sure what the lineup will look like - no telling who'll play or for how long. Hoping Gordon and Butler both get a couple of AB's....

I'll post some results either later today or tomorrow.