Royals Trades

Sorry for the delay in updates, its been a crazy time.

Royals Trades Updates:

The Boys in Blue announced today (11.19.08) that they have received CF Coco Crisp from the Red Sox for reliever Ramon Ramirez. Excellent trade if you ask me. Proven winner to anchor CF as well as provide some much needed leadership in the dugout.

Rumor: Mark Teahan to the Cubs for any of the following pieces...CF Felix Pie, SS Ronny Cedeno or 2B Mark Fontenot. Personally, I'd love to see Fontenot or Cedeno here to lock down the middle infield spots.

Finally, in case you missed it, the Royals traded reliever Leo Nunez to the Marlins for 1B Mike Jacobs. There's been a lot of discussion on this trade but I happen to think it'll be a good one.

Blueprint for the Future

The Royals' season has almost hit the half way point. Although my judgments about the team are not complete, I think I can reasonably deduce which players should be here to stay, and which should hit the road. There are still those players that haven't had enough time to prove they can be an integral part of the team, and there are still some players who the Royals need to start producing. On to the lists:

Here to Stay:

Zack Greinke - His last few outings have not been spectacular, but that just means we can resign him for cheaper. He can throw heat. His curve is sick. I just love watching this guy throw. He has potential to be the ace of the staff.

Gil Meche - Besides the obvious point that he is the $55 million dollar man, Gil is an innings eater who rarely gets shelled. He can be a quality number 2 or 3 pitcher going forward.

Joakim Soria - Right now, maybe the best closer in baseball. The guys got a 1.55 ERA and is on pace for 36 saves. The deal was well worth it.

Alex Gordon - Gordon is starting to put it all together. He's had a plethora of web gems at third base already this year, and he's starting to hit for both power and average. He needs to be more patient and lower his strikeout total to be more effective.

I know it's short list. I wanted to include some other players, but there are just too many questions for the long term. This is meant to focus on the young nucleus of the team, so while Jose Guillen and Miguel Olivo are raking as of late, three years from now they may not be part of the Royals core. The next post will contain the players the Royals should wave bye-bye to. Minor leaguers will be brought up later.

A new low

As if the Kansas City Baseball Royals haven't given us fans enough to ponder over the last 20+ years, our Boys in Blue hit a new low this past week.

We were swept in back-to-back 4-game series.

What Are We Waiting For??!?

It's about time the Royals started signing the players the think will be their core moving forward. Joakim Soria just inked an extension through 2011, with a possible option of extending it to 2014. Thank God. With very few players signed through the next couple of years, it's important that they finish evaluating all their young players and figure out who they're keeping, and who they are tossing aside. Soria has been lights out so far this year, after a great season last year. That extension was a no-brainer. So who's next? It should be Zack Greinke. Out of 10 starts this year, he is 5-2 with a 2.82 ERA. His command has been incredible, and his head seems stable. I actually saw some positive emotion out of the kid when he got out of a jam with 2 men on. There is no doubt that Zack has all the talent to be an ace. With his performance at the end of last year, and the great start he's off to this year, the Royals would be wise to add Zack and his high quality arm to their future core.

Juan Gone second coming?

I know he's hurt...and it's early in the season...but seriously. David Glass gives 36 million dollars to a guy who hits a weak grounder to third with the bases loaded? Really?

Jose Guillen is really pushing the limits of Royals fans' patience.

Here's the thing. I'm watching the game last night on television. Guillen comes up with the bases loaded, two outs against a rookie pitcher. If this isn't the scenario we hired him for, what is? He takes a 94 mph fastball down the middle of the plate. A fat juicy steak. And he takes it for strike one! Then he swings like he wants to pop his bad hip out of place for strike two! Then hits a weak chopping grounder on a pitch that was probably ball four?

Even though I was watching on TV you could tell the place was ready to go nuts and embrace Guillen with open arms. Instead he ends a potentially enormous inning. And the fans continue to be weary of him. NOT a good way to win over your new team's fans.

One Great Movie Trailer

We all love draft grades.

I love to hear what the experts think about the draft. Everyone puts out draft grades. And I read every single one of them. This year, I especially want to get every piece of information and analysis so I can to prove just how awesome this Chiefs draft class is.

But the truth is, we have no idea how good it is, or if it is good at all. And neither do the experts. We won't know for 3-4 years.

You see, every team's draft is like a movie. With the Chiefs drafting Glenn Dorsey, Branden Albert, Brandon Flowers, and a cast of others, we have just seen an incredible movie trailer. I want to see this movie right away. It looks like it is going to be extremely good. I feel like I just saw the trailer for Cloverfield. Right now, King Carl and the Chiefs are parading their marquee first round draft picks all over the media. They just released their half-season ticket packages to try and cash in on the excitement. They are doing everything they can, because they really don't know how the movie is going to turn out.

A lot can happen before then. The director (Herm) and the editors (Gunther, Chan, etc) need to do their jobs. They need to keep Brodie on his feet and off of his back, find someone to play defensive end, keep LJ healthy, and develop all of the young talent they just accumulated. I think most fans know this isn't all going to happen this year, but we should see flashes of it in 2008. And in 2009 we'd better start seeing major progress. Otherwise, the team's greatest draft in history might turn into this.

Best draft in recent history?

We won't really know for 3-4 years if the Chiefs 2008 draft was the best draft in recent history, but that isn't stopping the critics from gushing about it. Check this out - an interview with vice president of player personnel Bill Kuharick, breaking down rounds 1-7 and talking about what made the Chiefs take Glenn Dorsey instead of trading down with the Saints.

Rumor

Just heard from Arrowhead Addict a rumor that the Bucs may release Chris Simms. They currently have 7 QBs on their roster and only intend to keep 4 going into Spring Training. You would assume Garcia, Griese and Johnson stay. That would leave Plummer (He's retired), Gradkowski and Simms possibly on the cutting block.

If they do release him, Simms could be an interesting pick-up for cheap. Sign him to a deal and see what he can do. He pushes Croyle to be better or he becomes the Pro Bowl QB Tamba Bay thought he would become?

UPDATE: The Bucs have confirmed that several teams tried to trade 6th round and 7th round picks for Simms last weekend. The trades fell through however you might wonder if the Chiefs were one of those teams?

Day 2 Picks - Round 7

The Chiefs finish up the seventh round and the 2008 NFL draft with a couple of interesting picks - DE Brian Johnston and TE Michael Merritt. Johnston has the size to wreak havoc on the defensive line - but his college career at Gardner Webb will not have prepared him for what he will start seeing on Sundays. We like the long term potential. A second tight end? I guess the release of Jason Dunn leaves us with a hole at blocking tight end, but it's hard to justify taking 2 tight ends when you have Tony Gonzalez and a seventh rounder from last year already on your roster. Merritt is 6'4" 263 lbs, so maybe they think they can develop him into a guard like they did with Brian Waters, who was a tight end in college at North Texas.

Day 2 Picks - Round 6

Another position of need! Kevin Robinson looks to be more of a special teamer than a starting wideout. He's a little on the small side, and his .40 time was around 4.7, but his production in the special teams cannot be overlooked.