Canadian Beatdown

I had a bad feeling about this Toronto series.  The Royals Radio pregame show had a discussion about how Toronto was floundering, had a weak lineup, and no real pitching depth in the rotation.  When you're the Royals, that kind of talk gets a Canadian flag thrown over your head while members of the Blue Jays run by and beat you in the stomach with a bar of soap in their socks...Full Metal Jacket style.  And make no mistake about it - after all the years of futility, the Royals are the MLB version of Private Pyle. 

As soon as I heard Scott Podsednik would be out of the lineup, having traveled back to KC to handle a personal matter, I thought we might be in trouble.  He's been the real spark in this lineup, hitting in the two position between DeJesus and Butler.  Then the news came across the airwaves that catcher Jason Kendall would get his first day off - another spark towards the bottom of the order.  The two of them were replaced by Brayan Pena (who had one at bat prior to Monday night's game) and Mitch Maier.  Ouch. 

Not to mention we have another sinkhole in the lineup with Alex Gordon back from his injury.  I have lost all faith in Gordon, and the fact that he's batting .167 (yeah, I know, small sample size so far) and has already struck out twice hasn't changed my tune.

Bannister has his first rough outing to top it all off, and we get an 8-1 loss at the hands of the Blue Jays. 

Looking at various articles this morning, I'm left wondering why Trey Hillman would want to keep Pods out of the lineup again today.  According to an article I found at Yahoo Sports, Hillman says he doesn't like to play guys who are traveling.  Well...okay...but would you rather have Pods in the two hole batting .457, or have to shuffle the lineup and stick Maier back in the bottom of the lineup so he can try to improve on his .100 average?  I say go with the guy hitting .350 points higher...but what do I know?  Yeah...Pods may be a little tired, but I think I'd take my chances.  And if he looks a little sluggish, well, you can always pull him.  Oh wait.  No...your hands are tied there, aren't they Trey?  I almost forgot Dayton Moore has screwed this roster up so badly that you're short handed on the bench because you have to carry 13 pitchers....

Speaking of 13 pitchers - why is Luis Mendoza (22.50 ERA, 3.25 WHIP) still on this roster?  Time to make room for another position player guys.  There is absolutely no point in having this clown continue to to give up three or four hits per outing.  Give your manager the roster flexibility he needs, Dayton.  Recall Aviles, or bring up Kila...do anything but let Mendoza continue taking a roster spot away from a more deserving player.  I think we've all seen enough.

You Down With OBP?

"Yeah you know me!"

Or in the case of Royals GM Dayton Moore: "No, not really."

Rick Ankiel is the latest in a flurry of off-season moves that have left me scratching my head. Looking at what he did last year, and yes I know he was banged up, paired with what he's projected to do in 2010...I don't like it one bit. I'd be surprised if his OBP can keep it's little head above water (and by above water, I'm only asking the guy goes .300+).

The addition of Ankiel also creates another problem, the Royals seem to have a surplus of outfielders now (seems like they have about 12 or so at this point). Clearly, there is going to be an odd man (or men) out. Who will it be? Since our shiny new toys are Ankiel and Scott Podsednik, I highly doubt one of them will be put out to pasture. I would hope they don't do anything with David DeJesus...although I keep wondering if they'll dangle him out in a trade and see what they can get (he's one of the few valuable pieces KC has to move in a trade).

So, that being said, at this point I assume our outfield is DeJesus in LF, Pods in CF, and Ankiel in RF.

That leaves us with Pods leading off (most likely) with a career OBP of .340 - which isn't terrible, but I'd think we'd demand more from a leadoff hitter. Not to mention he's 34 and on the decline. Dayton Moore will point to last year's numbers when defending this signing .Hell, at the Royals Fan Fest, Moore was talking Pods up based on his rookie year - back in 2003...pretty relevant, right?

Anyway...Pods leading off, DeJesus batting second maybe, and guessing Ankiel will hit somewhere between four and six in the order. Yikes.

Sorry, sidetracked...where were we? Odd men out in the outfield jumble...

Assuming they don't trade DeJesus - we've still got Jose Guillen, Mitch Maier, and Brian Anderson - which leaves us with six outfielders on the big league roster right now - not to mention Josh Fields (who can play corner outfield and corner infield), Willie Bloomquist, etc.

Not sure what to think at this point. If the plan is to move Guillen to DH full time, where does that leave Alberto Callaspo? I mean, he was only the second best hitter on the team last year behind Billy Butler. In the Mark Teahen trade, we picked up Chris Getz to play second base due to Callaspo's atrocious defense, which I assumed meant he would DH. Maybe not? Maybe he splits time with Guillen at DH, and also fills in at second and third?

As it stood a few weeks ago, I had a pretty good idea of what the starting lineup would be (and it wasn't pretty). Now, I really have no idea (outside of a couple of guys) and the moves we've made to add depth haven't made the team any better. Especially when you consider the guys we've brought in can't get on base....which I suppose ends my rambling and brings me back to OBP.

Some of our leftover players from last season who will likely start, or could at least see a lot of playing time, in 2010:

Yuni Betancourt (.274 OBP in 2009)
Bloomquist (.308)
Maier (.333)
Guillen (.314)

New guys:

Kendall (.331)
Podsednik (.353, although it was .322 in '08 and .299 in '07)
Ankiel (.285)
Fields (.301)
Getz (.324 - but I do like his potential)
Brian Anderson (.328 - his career OBP is .290)

Podsednik I'm guessing will come back to earth a bit, maybe have an OBP around .330...which means, looking at last year, Kendall and Maier are the "bright spots" and Maier has been squeezed out of a job (most likely). As far as potential, I like Getz, and that's about it. Although Dayton Moore, again at the Fan Fest, reminded those of us who watched his Q&A session that Betancourt was a very highly touted prospect once upon a time. When he was 16. Which was 12 freaking years ago.

Royals baseball...catch the fever!