Ramblings:
The Kansas City Royals just completed a particularly inept series (even for THEM). KC scored ONE run in the 3-game series. In two of the three games, Kansas City got only one hit against the opposing starter.
This season, the Royals are 2-12. No Royal starting pitcher has won a game. They have currently lost ten in a row, and NONE of their losses this season are one-run losses. They can’t even stay in the games.
Royal wins: One of their wins was a “Slow Pitch Softball”-type game, where the opposing starter pitched poorly enough to get removed early, both bullpens were bad, and the ROYALS had “last bats.” In their other win, they managed to overcome 6 walks and a wild pitch to win, 4-3, using 5 pitchers in the process. In 2 1/2 weeks, the Royals have not won ONE game in which they played well and earned the win. In my estimation, they don’t have ONE Major League pitcher. And, lately, they keep getting one hit.
Think about this: If the Royals were disbanded and all of their players were made free agents, is there anybody who would catch on as a a major league regular on another team? Mike Sweeney, definitely, if healthy. Mark G, probably. Matt Stairs might platoon if the team he joins is weak enough. Anyone else? No one comes to mind.
I’m sure that these are nice kids; major league players, they are NOT.
Is the Mets’ loss record (40-120) in danger?
The Money Question: How many years must this go on before MLB throws the Kansas City Royals out of the Major Leagues. This team is getting WORSE every year, and it’s obvious to me that they aren’t even trying.
Clarification: The PLAYERS are trying, but the ORGAN-I-ZATION is not trying.
Here’s Another Thing: Lesser players are sent to the minor leagues all the time, replaced by guys who might be better. Why can’t the same thing happen to complete teams with bad ownership? Why can’t major league TEAMS be sent to the minors, replaced by owners and players who might be better?
As an aside: The reason The Boss is against the luxury tax is because bad owners don’t put the money back into their teams. The money goes into the owners’ pockets, because the owners are NOT TRYING TO WIN. The team is a “Money Machine” to these guys, and the lower the salaries are, the more money they make.
Another point: Would the value of minor league franchises skyrocket if potential buyers knew, “If we run our Organ-I-zation well enough, we might get promoted to the big leagues?” Would that be good for baseball?
Something to think about?
DonS.
Reggie Sanders is another quality ballplayer on their team who would probably be a regular on another MLB team, but I get your point. I don’t know if sending entire MLB teams to the minors would be a good thing for the continuity of baseball. Part of its attraction is the game’s history, and the history of franchises and players alike. But it certainly is something to think about. I remember when the KC Royals were one of the elite teams in the American League, not to my liking as a White Sox fan. But I certainly don’t enjoy seeing some franchises unable to compete, let alone win championships, due to money, or lack there of. The solution seems simple enough IMHO, a salary cap, with revenue sharing, whereby each franchise would be forced to have a minimum & maximum salary cap.
KC is bill james’ fav team.
I kinda hated to see Tony Pena let go. It was obvious the job wasnt getting done but I guess i just like the guy.
To answer DonS’ question about who from KC would get picked up, let’s look at it this way:
I was in an AL/NL fantasy draft with 11 teams with 26 plyrs per team. So 286 players picked total.
Among KC’s current roster, these are the ones I remember being picked:
Buck
MarkG
Berroa
German
Sanders
Affeldt
Mays
Redman
Gobble
Greinke
I could be off on a few either way. And kidding about Greinke.
That Zealot, a real jokester!!! We’re all a little crazy. Once Zack gets the all clear, he may be as Jimmy Piersall once said of himself, “one of the few people officially declared sane”.
Awesome blog. Peace out until next time TabathaOster