Let's get to a short description of this blog. I do not claim to be a professional writer by any means. I do my best to make my writings easy to understand and lighthearted. That being said, I am also a very passionate Royals fan and as such I am not afraid to speak my mind. Hopefully, reading this blog will leave you with a better understanding of my thoughts about the Royals. My intentions are to help organize my thoughts and to spread knowledge and passion for the greatest sport on earth.
Before I go further, a little about me. I have an unhealthy obsession with the Kansas City Royals as well as Mark Teahen. I have lived in Kansas City my whole life, and as such have never lived to see a Kansas City Royals team make the playoffs. The average wins for a Royals team in my life team is 72.2. However, The Royals have only finished with more than 72 wins 3 times in the last 10 years, so the majority of the time I have followed this team closely they have been awful. That being said, I have always stood by them. I wish not to talk about the losing past of this franchise nearly as much as the hopeful future. On another note I also have a wide interest in other sports. I closely follow the NBA, the NHL, the English Premier League, the NFL and the MLS. Well I'm sure I will delve into my background a bit more in the future, but for now I will move onto my thoughts so far into Spring Training.
Spring Training only officially started last week, and already we have news that Alberto Callaspo is again not doing his part to stay out of the news off the field. Alberto is once again having visa problems in his attempt to travel from Venezuela to the U.S. I understand the difficulty of international travel, but I would think he would find it more important to arrive in camp early this year, if he cares about winning the 2nd base job, which I think he has a legitimate chance of doing. Last year Callaspo being late to camp was annoying, this year it makes me think the level of commitment needed to succeed at the big league level may not be there at all.
Another frustrating report out of spring training is that according to Ken Rosenthal (Hudson Interested in KC) Orlando Hudson WANTS to play for the Royals. First off, when was the last time an above-average caliber major league starter WANTED to play for the Royals? Longer than I can remember. Secondly, not only does a good player WANT to come to Kansas City to play, but it is actually at a position of need. Granted, that is probably a large part of why Hudson wants to play for the Royals, it is relevant because it should indicate reciprocated interest by the Royals. The problem is the Royals aren't willing to open their pocketbook! By most accounts Hudson would sign for between 4 and 5 million dollars on either a 1 or 2 year deal. Granted, this may not be the case, but not being an insider I must go by the information supplied to me by people in the know. This is frustrating because 4.5 million dollars just isn't very much money in today's sports world. I understand that owners are very afraid the down economy will hurt them (just take a look at the report out today that up to 15 NBA teams will borrow around 10 million dollars each this year to help counter their operating losses). However, the Royals just signed Kyle Farnsworth for around the same money Orlando Hudson allegedly wants. If ever there was an offseason to spend like the Royals have been spending the last 3 years, it is this one, and the Royals just stand pat instead of trying to sign an impact player.
Signing an impact player this offseason would be better than in years past in two ways. First off, that impact player is going to sign for much less than in the past. Adam Dunn signed for 2 years 20 million dollars this offseason to learn a new position. Jose Guillen signed for 3 years 36 million dollars last offseason and refused to play a position that he did not want to. Desire to play baseball aside, Adam Dunn is twice the hitter that Jose Guillen is, and their defenses are very similar too. Secondly, not only can an impact player be had for much cheaper this offseason than in years past, but the impact of that player could be worth more wins in a down division this year. Imagine what a AL Central pennant and playoff appearance would do for this franchise. The money spent on Free Agency would be made back twice over. Players are an investment, after all.
Just a short note, Ken Griffey Junior has reportedly signed with the Mariners, presumably to finish his career there. I wish him well, he has had an awesome career, and despite being so great is probably one of the most underrated players of all time due to some unfortunate injuries.
To wrap it up I will say thank you to anyone who enjoys this experiment, hopefully there will be many more to come in the future.
Good start to the blog.
ReplyDeleteMy only guess is that there is some injury concern about Hudson that hasn't been let out. IMO, there is no other reason why there should not be interest in him from multiple organizations.
True, although there is no injury concern with Orlando Cabrera (at least recently) and basically only the A's are interested in him. Granted the price tag is supposedly higher for O-Cab than O-dawg, which makes little sense to me since Hudson is younger and better, although Cabrera plays the more premium position.
ReplyDeletegood first post.
ReplyDelete