Prince and the Paupers?

Prince signs for a ton of years for way too much money. That makes the Detroit Tigers the runaway favorites in the AL Central, right? Prince and Cabrera are very, very good. Verlander and Velverde are very, very good. The Tigers won the division by 15 games last year. The addition of Prince Fielder has to make them the favorites. I guess I agree with this assessment. The Tigers are good. Cabrera and Fielder are a ridiculous combo. The White Sox are a mess. The Indians are trying, but they need pitching. Preferably guys who say who they really are. Ubaldo is good and they will be OK. The Twins, remember them? The group that gave a huge contract to Mauer and Morneau. Mauer pretty much can't catch and Morneau is struggling coming back from concussion symptoms. Investing huge cash may pay off in the short run, but I'd take the Royals finances over the Twins any day of the week. The Twins are no threat to the Tigers. Twins, Sox, Indians are not credible in the long run. I see the Indians having the best year. I don't like the mix of players in Chicago. They will be better simply because Ozzie brought his freak show to Miami, but they are too old and too expensive to compete. I'd take the Royals finances over the Sox. I think I'd even take Moore over Williams. Don't care for Kenny's persona. Maybe he was just trying to outdo his former manager, but he is hard headed and makes some dumb moves. I've eliminated every team in the division except for the Royals. The Royals don't have Verlander, no team outside of Detroit has him. They don't have Cabrera. They have Butler who can't play the field, either. Could you imagine Billy trotting out to third base? It has been a long time since Miguel played third base. That was many years and many six packs and tequila bottles ago. He is way too heavy and disinterested to make the adjustment to third. The Royals don't have Prince, either. He of the 38 homers and too many RBI's for me to remember. Prince is playing in Comerica Park now. Miller Field is more hitter friendly. I'm not saying Prince won't hit 30 homers, I'm saying he will hit closer to 30 than 40. He won't be playing all those games in Houston and Wrigley. He will be playing in Minnesota and KC. Those parks, along with Comerica are pretty tough homer parks. I'm saying the Royals have a shot at second place, I really believe that. They play well against the Tigers, that won't change because of Prince. Victor Martinez kills the Royals anyway. I see the Tigers being good but not unbeatable like they were in 1984. What a team that was. This Tiger crew won't go 35-5 to start the season. The Royals won't either. The Royals need pitching, pitching, pitching. I'd bet right now that Hosmer has equal numbers to Prince at the All Star break. Hoz hits for average and he will hit more homers. He and Butler and Gordon will lead a formidable line up. If and it is a huge IF, but if the Pitching can be good the Royals will not lose the division by 15 games to the Tigers. They may not win the thing but they will be close. Luke and Sanchez have to realize potential. Paulino has to prove that last years flashes were what we can expect. Chen has to be Chen, come on Chen! Duffy has to take a giant step forward.If this occurs and the bull pen is as lock down as I see it being, I see the Royals at 500 and in contention, even with the big, bad Tigers. Royals fans know that Billy Butler can't play third base. Tigers fans have to watch their star struggle trying to turn back time. I'd take our position on that. Now imagine how financially strung out the Tigers will be over the next decade. They have to sell a ton of Hot and Ready Pizzas to cover that payroll. I just hope Miguel gets to the pizzas first. Just having fun, Tigers are good, but the Royals COULD be good too.

Arbitration, Royals style

The Royals seem to be cruising to spring training. Arbitration went well for the club. Raises across the board, which is expected in baseball. Maier, Getz, Pena are coming back very cheap. Sanchez and Luke are getting expensive so they had better produce. We knew that going in. The Royals are going to be 500 and in contention. That only happens if Luke and Sanchez are very good. Getting Paulino back relatively cheaply is good, too. Felipe needs to prove he can do it. He looked good at times last year. The team is rounding into shape. I'm not expecting any major moves. I have mentioned that I liked the Kouz move. I have also mentioned that the Yuni deal had to have been made by Lloyd Christmas. Broxton, Sanchez, and the young guns make for exciting times in KC. I mentioned earlier in this blog that the Royals should lock up Gordon long term. You do have Bubba in the system, but it may be years if he develops. Why not reward Alex for that special season. OK, I get it, last year may have been a fluke so lets go the arb route. I see that, I do. I'm just thinking that getting Alex into the fold for 4 years might be very good. We all hope that the young guys are super successful. Hosmer and Moose and Gio and Salvatore, and Cain. Those guys all go off the way we want them to this club will be expensive in 2-3 years. Lock Alex up now. That's my thought. I'm getting ready for the season. My favorite football team was shown the door in the playoffs. I guess its easy to figure out I'm not a Chief fan. Go Royals, looking forward to pitchers and catchers.

Kouzmanoff in the fold

The Royals signed Kevin Kouzmanoff to a Minor League contract. Good insurance for Moose. He hasn't been Mike Schmidt, but Mike would never be on the waiver wire. Moose and Gio have me worried. If they break out the lineup will be very good. If they struggle then the team won't win many games. Moose and Gio have to be plus bats or they are liabilities. They aren't gold glove contenders. I like this move. I wish the Royals never resigned Yuni but this move is small step in a better direction. You need to have a solid backup for young guys. The Royals are playing the IF game. IF Alex can continue, IF Cain can hit, IF Frenchy can have the same type season, IF Perez can actually hit as well as he showed, IF Gio can hit, IF Moose can hit like he did late in the year. All those ifs, and we haven't even talked about the pitching. I'm a Royal optimist. I feel that many of the ifs will be positive. Frenchy should not have been given the extension, but DM was impulsive. IF Moose struggles then Kouz is a legit back up. If Escobar or Gio get hurt then the trouble really begins. Yuni, yuck. Kouz isn't Pineda, but at least the Royals did something positive. It has been a good off season. Yuni is overshadowed by the Broxton and Sanchez deals. Go Royals!

Pineda a Yankee

Michael Pineda to the Yankees. This is the kind of deal the Royals needed to make. I mentioned before that I'd be willing to trade Butler in a Pineda deal. No dice. The Yankees are getting way too much equity for Montero. There is no way Montero is worth Pineda. It is early but the Yankees didn't buy this pitcher they stole him. Why can't the Royals make a play for someone in a deal like this? The Yankees don't need the Mariners help to be good. They got it here. How is Montero going to help that team win in Seattle? You would think an ace would help them. King Felix is good. I think Pineda will be just as good, or even better. Good for the Yankees. Nice to see that rich get richer. The Royals, however, are rich enough. Monty, Monty he's our guy. Myers maybe the guy. Bubba, wow he may be great. All these maybe guys. The Yankees have a pitcher better than CC for a young guy. I didn't expect the Royals to make a deal, but it would have been nice. I think DM should have to give his salary back if Luke can't match Pineda this season. I'm disappointed that the Yankees are better. I'm sad the Royals are betting on maybe guys. Myers had better be Clemente and Bubba will be Mays. I'm sure that will be the case. Oh well, go Royals. January is almost half over. Pitchers and catchers are stretching already.

Montgomery

Chirping crickets in Royals land recently. I doubt they are trying to piece together an offer to Prince, but who knows? The team seems to have done all they are going to do this off season. They need to tighten up the roster later, but I don't see any significant moves on the horizon. I'm a pretty optimistic Royals fan. I have been a fan for a very long time, and I can tell you that 1985 was great, but that was a long time ago! I always expect good things from the team and I'm generally very much into the NFL draft because our Royals have played themselves into a big hole. I'm used to being disappointed. I read an article on the Royals homepage about Mike Montgomery and it bothered me. Montgomery had an awful season last year. He was BAD. ERA over 5. Trouble with control. An overall BAD year. The article says the stats and calls them bad. The tone of the thing was such that he will get a shot at the big club in the spring. Really? Dude walks AAA hitters and gets slapped around for an ERA over 5. He should be invited, absolutely. He should have to be devastatingly good to be even considered for the big league club. You bring him up now he will get blasted and his confidence will be zero. Yost will leave in the game until every ounce of confidence is gone, just ask Mazzaro about that. Monty isn't, or at least wasn't last year, the guy we hoped he would be. Maybe it comes this year and he makes an impact. I hope so. I just don't see how the season he had last year gives anyone confidence that he will be average next year. I'm not as familiar with Monty as I am with Duffy. Danny was beaten around and he had an ERA over 5, in the Major Leagues! He seems like a fighter and I expect him to improve over last year. Control is his issue. Does Monty have that make up to comeback from adversity? I don't know, but we will find out. That season was very adverse! Lets just hope he finds it and becomes a 1/2 starter in the next few seasons. I expect Odorizzi will land in KC next year. I'm guessing early, like June. He is the real deal. Now, he may suffer a set back just like Monty did. That would be bad. The Royals need great young pitching to lead them where I think they can go. I'm hoping that Jake, Monty, Duffy, and Lamb will lead that charge. The injury to Lamb was awful. He will be back, though. Stausbergh is doing just fine, so will John. I'm expecting the Royals to be 500 and in contention. Monty isn't ready to help yet. Chirping crickets are fine. Lets just hope no news stays that way. We don't need Lloyd Christmas getting antsy. Oh, I mean Dayton Moore, of course. Go Royals.