Joe is right on again as usual. The Royals made several moves that on paper looked great. Crisp is an upgrade over CF last year and an improvement in the leadoff spot. The problems is that he was injured late April or early May and rather than DL him to get healthy again, he was allowed to play through it and now he is out for the year. Aviles was injured in spring training and again alloed to play through and now he is out for the season. Gordon was injured in spring training, had surgury and now is due back in July. Guillan in obviously a former juicer. He is noticably smaller than in the past and is breaking down.
In the past KC was considered a small market team, but now with revenue sharing that isn’t the case anymore. In the past they took risks to try to be competitive, now with a $70 mil payroll that isn’t anexcuse anymore. The team appears to be trying to rebuild the farm system, but those players are still 2-3 years away. Better decisions need to be made on current players. The old days of taking flyers on players and hoping they will be productive are past. It is time for the Royals to produce.
Doesn’t it really come down to whether or not KC’s infield is as good (especially on the left side) as they think it is? Is Gordon a sensation-to-be or is he what he is? Seems like if you had those 4 guys playing consistently and could get rid of your entire outfield for something different (can Teahan play their all the time?) it would be a start. Seems like the question is whether those young infielders can stay healthy and are as good as advertised or more just average ballplayers.
Joe is right on again as usual. The Royals made several moves that on paper looked great. Crisp is an upgrade over CF last year and an improvement in the leadoff spot. The problems is that he was injured late April or early May and rather than DL him to get healthy again, he was allowed to play through it and now he is out for the year. Aviles was injured in spring training and again alloed to play through and now he is out for the season. Gordon was injured in spring training, had surgury and now is due back in July. Guillan in obviously a former juicer. He is noticably smaller than in the past and is breaking down.
In the past KC was considered a small market team, but now with revenue sharing that isn’t the case anymore. In the past they took risks to try to be competitive, now with a $70 mil payroll that isn’t anexcuse anymore. The team appears to be trying to rebuild the farm system, but those players are still 2-3 years away. Better decisions need to be made on current players. The old days of taking flyers on players and hoping they will be productive are past. It is time for the Royals to produce.
Doesn’t it really come down to whether or not KC’s infield is as good (especially on the left side) as they think it is? Is Gordon a sensation-to-be or is he what he is? Seems like if you had those 4 guys playing consistently and could get rid of your entire outfield for something different (can Teahan play their all the time?) it would be a start. Seems like the question is whether those young infielders can stay healthy and are as good as advertised or more just average ballplayers.