The Same Old Royals...

It has been a long, frustrating, time since I last decided to blog on the Royals, and it is time to vent.

Positives: Zack Grenke. 8-2 | 1.55 ERA | 91 K

What can you say about a guy who gives up 5 earned in his first "poor" start and is ERA is still 1.55, leading the league by a large margin. Zack is the lone reason to watch the Royals. If he is on a team that scores runs he may win 25 games, a Cy Young, and contends for a MVP. On the Royals he is good for an additional 7500 butts in the seats and hopefully approaches 20 wins. My prediction is that Zack wins 18 but should win 25 with an ERA around 2.2. Go to the K on nights he pitches check out something else the rest of the time. Unless it is T-Shirt Tuesday! (just heard the commercial)

Negatives: This could take a while...

• 18-11 Start, 6-21 Since
• Entire Offense
• Entire Defense
• Trey Hillman's Lineup
• The "New K"

Well it is easy to pick on the team for the complete collapse since a good start. Is the team as good as 18-11 or as bad as 6-21? I still think it is somewhere in between...this team should be around .500 but with NO offense, partly but not completely attributed to the interesting Trey Hillman lineup. Not all of this can be Trey's fault, he is working with a bad hand of cards. The pieces of this team are better than they have been but still not good enough. The check book needs to be opened and a real shortstop, catcher, and big bat corner outfielder needs to be brought in, one that can move see Jose Guillen. I could go on for days and that is easy but it would be all venting. Here is what I would do for a lineup and I would stick with it and allow each to settle in.

1. David DeJesus (LF)- He gets hot in June and hits best in the leadoff spot.
2. Coco Crisp (CF)- Good but not great on base guy but speed and bat control good in the 2 hole.
3. Billy Butler (1B)- Best pure hitter on the team.
4. Jose Guillen (RF)- Best RBI guy on the team with power. He has been a good boy let him hit.
5. Mark Teahen (3B)- Now but when Alex Gordon is back this is were the Royals need him to hit.
6. Mike Jacobs (DH)- This is by default, good power guy but thats it. I would love to bat him in the 7 hole or lower.
7. Alberto Callaspo (2B)- Has been ok at 2nd but needs to return to the lower third where he was successful. Hit over .330 early in the season now batting .296.
8. Miguel Olivo/John Buck (C)- Catcher hits here doesn't matter who is in the spot the options are not good enough to hit higher in the order.
9. Enter Bad Shortstop Here (SS)- There is not a good shortstop in the organization don't look for improvement here. Bloomquist is the best but needs to be a fill in not an everyday player.

Just my thoughts, now on to the "New K." First it has always been one of the best parks in the country, but not one of the best stadiums. The "New K" just doesn't look good to me, all the new then 35 year old concrete around it. Go to Home Depot and buy some paint or something. This will be a revenue boom for the team since it distracts you from the poor team on the field, but for how long. Once it is just the "K" again and the new wears off look for it to be just as empty. I am still mad that Kansas City didn't have the foresight to build a downtown stadium. The newer stadiums that I have been to in Denver, Cincinnati, and St. Louis are amazing and you can make a day of it by having fun in the area of the stadium. Yes they spent $250 million to and a new stadium would have cost double that but in 10 years when the "New K" is not up to par how much will it cost then to update it or build a new one (1 billion?) I like what they have done in the outfield but its not for me the baseball fan who comes to watch the game. I hope it works, I hope they make money and spend it on the field. That will make me happy because I don't care about the stadium as long as the lineup above looks much different.

Here is to more wins in June!