anyway, I cracked open some stouts and cranked up the screeching weasel, so as I could bounce around the apartment while waiting for basketball to start..
as far as the royals: they still playing? are the mathematically eliminated yet? um, spring training, yeah yeah, some guys doing good, some guys not – you know the team's already set, right? but, anyway, the few "contests" going:
pickering vs. harvey: I really think they could use both of those guys. thing is, harvey's a fan favorite, due to being a little tubby and pretty jolly, plus providing some obscenely fortunate hits at very opportune times. thing is, putting a winning team on the field isn't exactly allard baird's #1 priority right now – see, you get rid of one of the only players actually recognizable to most standard royals "fans", and even more people will write off this team (apparent by the fact that, currently, 37% of the voters at kcroyals.com think that ken harvey should bat cleanup after mike sweeney, as opposed to 18% john buck, 19% calvin pickering, and 27% matt stairs. seriously, *any* of those guys should bat cleanup over harvey. I even like harvey – he's just not as good as any of our other 1st baseman candidates). obviously, winning will bring tons more people back, but I doubt calvin pickering alone would make this team more than it is. that said, he goddamn sure should be on this team. that whole "For every two he drives in, he's going to let in one" quote by allard is really, really stupid. first basemen catch throws from professional fielders most of the time, field actual ground balls and bad throws occasionally. I hope allard is not as dumb as that quote makes him sound. I don't know why the royals are averse to, you know, sluggers, but seeing as how, in the age of players with tree trunks posing as legs swinging at expansion-addled pitching staffs our club record home run total is less than half of the artificially-achieved single-season home run "record" – shit, can't we jump on the power bandwagon, too?
gotay vs. graffanino: graffanino is fine, gotay isn't going to ever be a superstar. honestly, for every person calling for gotay to replace graffanino at 2nd, you realize they're gonna be like the same player, right? and, with graffanino already under contract, you have to play him. plus, gotay just doesn't have that much power. he'll be a solid fielder with a decent bat – oh, right, like graffanino. if tony's hurt (again) though, there's no harm in having gotay start the season. and, for those worried about his "free agent" clock ticking – just hope he's still a major leaguer in six years, all right? that's the first concern.
5th starter: bautista vs. gobble vs. tankersley vs. wood vs. jensen vs. appier vs. george – bautista obviously has it. gobble will be up at some point when a starter gets injured, tankersley will be in AAA, wood will be in long relief, jensen will be the kris wilson of last year (always rumored to be coming up for an injured/ineffective starter after gobble), appier is done, and george is gone. it seems pretty obvious to me right now, anyway.
3rd base: teahen vs. truby – well, of course, truby's out with a broken wrist right now. teahen will start, won't be anything special, and, like gotay, you just hope he's even *in* the major leagues in 6 years as something more than a journeyman backup. hey, like truby! good thing we have one to replace another..
shortstop: blanco vs. berroa – why is this a contest? seriously, is this a joke amongst royals fans I'm just not following? blanco make flashy plays – so does berroa! blanco runs fans and hustles hard – so does berroa! blanco hits like shit – berroa can actually hit! I really don't understand why there's a comparison. blanco is wimpy. no one would give us shit in a trade for blanco. he can't possibly top berroa. I don't understand how this discussion is still happening.
outfield: guiel vs. nunez vs. brown – dee brown? whoops, no, emil brown. who? exactly. needs to prove something in the minor leagues. as in: 20 at-bats is not enough to judge a player. nunez? needs to prove something in the minor leagues. as in: has the guy ever proved anything. guiel? I don't mind guiel. I'd actually like to see him playing every day to begin this season. no, he'll probably never be a long-term solution, but I think he's proven enough to actually let him have a shot over a guy who is apparently physically more impressive (nunez) or fortunately lucky (brown). I don't understand why guiel didn't give everything he had to work during the offseason. I mean, really – especially after what happened last season:
“Even from my perspective,” Guiel admitted, “I feel like I probably should have gone to winter ball. Not because I feel like I needed it. Because I feel like they needed it. I don't regret it.”
no shit, aaron? you really kinda screwed yourself there. why would he not go? goddamn man – and I even want to root for you! bad, bad move.
other things: no reason at all to carry 12 pitchers. of course they will. terrence long? I really don't think he'll be that bad. the signing of matt stairs? kind of like carlos febles – the royals apparently like to sign guys that they hope will come back as coaches. fine for your minor league teams, I guess. not fine for the major league ones. matt stairs would be an effective guy, if he didn't clog up two different positions where you've brought in way too many players to play anyway.
last thing – local adult baseball league update:
I went to the local batting cages last weekend. pretty rough at first, considering I haven't actually swung at a fast pitch baseball in pretty much 10 years. I started in the 60 mph cage, and after the second set of pitches was hitting the ball pretty well, so I moved up to 80 mph. took a couple ridiculous misses before I actually started making better contact with the 80 mph balls than in the 60 mph cage. I went through 3 sets of 80's before I called it a day, but I'm pretty pleased with how I did the first time out. honestly, if these guys in the local nobody league can actually even throw 80, I'll be surprised. tryouts are a week from tomorrow – I'm pretty confident right now.
anyway, basketball's up and going – and that's all I got for now.
stoutly,
Joe Blow
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