Boy, baseball sure isn't fun when literally every single ground ball and bloop is finding a hole...we've given up a couple home runs..but ground ball singles have pecked us to death in a couple of these games............four ground ball singles in one inning with a HR mixed in........you're just not gonna win when that happens. Oh well. Hopefully we can turn it around in Toronto.

Yeah, I'll take the blame for the jinx since this comment. 10 hits today and only 1 friggin' run.....brutal.

On behalf of the Toronto Blue Jays, I'd like to thank the Royals' pitching staff for helping us break out of our hitting slump.

Thanks guys, you're good peeps.

Thank our inability to hit/score runs more than the pitching. In our 8 game losing streak we've been outscored 49-16 and that's with a 8 run outburst in one of those loses. Sure, giving up an average of 6+ runs isn't good, but taking into account 1/2 of those games were against the 2nd best hitting club in the AL in their high run producing ballpark, our offense is what's gross. If we only had an average offensive attack...well, there's always next year (the usual Royals fan comment in late May)

This is the worst offense I've ever seen. Period. Good thing our GM hasn't made ONE single change to the offensive roster..and thank goodness we still stand by our starting SS with a sub .400 OPS.

Good luck with 4th place, never getting better and being better than the Royals. Quite the accomplishment.

We're in third right now, have won more world series than you guys in the last 20 years, our hitting is better, our starting staff is one of the top 3 in the AL (ahead of yours) and you don't have a prospect as good as Travis Snider.

I'd rather be a Jays fan than a Royals fan ANY. DAY.

LOL. Both franchises suck. Neither has room to trash-talk anybody. This ain't a KC vs. Toronto debate.

Also, you don't even know what prospects we do have, so how can you simply randomly state that Snider is better than anyone else?? LOL, .815 OPS in AA ball, OMG what an amazing amazing stud. LOL, our guy Billy Butler's minor league numbers make this guy look like a woman. WAY better A ball numbers and AA ball numbers at younger ages....but if you wanna talk about World Series titles won in the early 90s.......guess you really embarrassed me with that one.

KC is on the way up, but it's a long way back from where we were. Easy to criticize us during a long losing streak, but we played pretty good for 43 games and we'll be fine. 75 wins, getting better every year. Yeah, Toronto is the better team right now, no one says otherwise, but neither of them are contenders this year...so I'm not sure why you are trying to trash talk.

I'll just say this about the laughable "Toronto RULEZ!" guy....As long as Toronto plays in the AL East, they won't finish better than 2nd in the division in the next 10 years, imo.


/stupid dick measuring contest between 2 bad franchises

sadly, i have to agree with this.

My original post wasn't meant as trash talking...well, i guess it was a little, just poking some fun after a four-game sweep.

Truth be told, i like the Royals and have Grienke, DDJ and Butler on my serious fantasy team, so I'm rooting as much as anyone for them to do well.

No hard feelings?

Jose Guillen just called his Royals teammates "babies" after a crushing loss where KC blew a huge lead.

My pot/kettle/black meter is off the charts....

"I'm sorry, Royals fans. I know you're going to hate me for saying this. But while the franchise has showed a few signs of life since Dayton Moore took over as GM, this organization is now indisputably the worst in the American League. They have two good pitchers (Joakim Soria and Zack Greinke) and one good hitter (Alex Gordon) and very, very little talent in the farm system. I'm not sure how one gets from here to respectability in the foreseeable future."

Rob Neyer, ESPN

and the losing streak is broken....thank god. so much for dayton moore being the front office answer.

Funny. For the first 43 games, we were 21-22 and everyone was saying 'oh, the Royals are getting better" and talking about how we had a lot of good young pitching and blah blah blah....but one losing streak and all that is erased and now we are the worst organization in baseball?? LOL please.

That losing streak was awful and we played awful during it......but acting like all the progress we've made in terms of developing a foundation is gone is just dumb...but think what you want. DM is doing a fine job. We have a lot of good pitching from the MLB level to AAA, AA, A, and rookie ball. We've gotten better each of the past three years and are a better team this year than last year. No, we aren't a "good" organization yet...but we're getting better. One losing streak doesn't erase everything....it would be incredibly short-sighted to think so.

Just like a 21-22 start doesn't mean we are contenders (like a bunch of others were saying that we were contenders..), one losing streak doesn't mean we are the worst organization.

On the offensive side, he is pretty much right...although Billy Butler remains an elite hitting prospect. If he actually thinks that because a 22 year old has two bad months in the major leagues that that makes him not a prospect anymore...he's just retarded...Also, Mike Moustakas is regarded as an elite hitting prospect as well. We need a lot more offensively though.

He couldn't be any more wrong on the pitching side. We have quite a few very good pitching prospects...Carlos Rosa, Daniel Cortes, Blake Johnson, Pimentel, Davies was a top prospect with the Braves, Blake Wood, Mitchell, Duffy, Runion. All very good prospects at various levels. Neyer doesn't have a clue about the Royals, he's just making a statement based on an awful looking losing streak and our repuation. I am not saying we are good yet, but we've gotten better each of the past three years and contiune to do so. What, was DM supposed to take over a 56 win team and turn them into contenders in two years with a 60 million dollar payroll???

Everyone talks about how small market teams should build from within and especially develop a good pitching foundation in the farm systems...and that's exactly what we are doing, yet are still criticized. Criticizing the way the MLB team played in the losing streak, that's fine...but using that streak to criticize our entire organization, that's just inaccurate. The organization is clearly getting better. Our MLB pitching is decent and there is a LOT more on the way...Grienke is emerging as an ace, Meche is fine, Hochevar clearly has a lot of potential, Bannister is decent, Davies has potential....Soria is amazing, Ramirez is good, Nunez is good...and the pitching depth in the minors is really apparent to anyone who would check it out.....but Neyer works for ESPN....so I understand.

no but everything I hear and read says that it is the same old same old. Several national columnists (including Royals fan Rob Neyer) have commented recently on the lack of talent in your farm system and the sense of hopelessness around the franchise. Plus, I was talking to a couple friends who cover the Royals for KC radio and they insist that there is still no light at the end of the tunnel and that the 21-22 start was a complete mirage.

remember, I get lots of inside info about the Royals.....I wont just speak out of my butt against them. And as a fan of a small market team, I really really want the Royals to turn it around.....just reporting what I hear.

Today showed exactly how I feel about Tony Pena, Jr....i don't know. The guy is obv. a killer for us at the plate, especially with us struggling for offense. That being said, after watching Callaspo boot that relatively routine double play ball and then see TJ come in for defense in the late innings and make another great diving play that looks so routine. If he could just improve to a .250 hitter....THAT'S ALL I'M ASKING!!!

Anyways, good series win. I know Cleveland isn't exactly lighting it up right now, but hopefully that series gave us some confidence back to right the ship as best as we can. Keep it up, gents.

On a personal side note, I'm FINALLY gonna make a game this year. I just booked the Sheraton there for the July 11 game vs Seattle. I just checked their website for the promotion going on that day, and it's gonna be COWBOY HAT NIGHT, WEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

I remember getting to go down on the field before a Royals game a few years back when Tony Pena sr. was still the manager. Junior was hanging around the field playing catch and goofing around. I remember thinking he was such a chubby kid and I was stunned to hear how highly the players talked about his defensive skills.

I hope he can figure out a way to just be an OK hitter because that is all you need to justify having him start if his defense is that strong....

They are just flat incorrect then. Listening to "national sportswriters" for Royals news is just not going to get you anywhere. The Royals have a lot of pitching throughout the organization. We are pretty empty offensively. I'm definitely not saying our organization is in "good" shape yet, but it is CLEARLY getting a lot better. We have so much pitching depth that we will surely be trading some of it for offense as we move on. We still have a long way to go....but saying there is no light at the end of the tunnel..that's just inaccurate. We've gotten better each of the past three years and continue to do so. I don't see what's wrong with that.

Was our 21-22 start a mirage because of our offense? Sure, I don't expect us to be a .500 team this year, but we're certainly better than we were last year. If you wanna talk about the state of offense in the organization right now...it's awful..that's fine...but the overall state of the organization is getting to be a lot better b/c of all the pitching. No way anyone reasonable can think we are in as bad of shape as we were two or three years ago. We still have a ways to go...but all of this talk is just because of one losing streak..and that's just extremely short-sighted. KC radio topics went from trying to trade for a bad midseason because we were contenders to wanting to trade Greinke and Bannister and Butler three days later because we were awful. That's too shortsighted for baseball.

I ain't saying we're good, but I am saying we're clearly getting better..and that's indisputable...all you have to do is look at our pitching throughout the organization and compare it to 2-4 years ago and it's obvious.

??? Are you sure it was the same Tony Pena Jr. Pena Sr. had other sons..and Pena Jr. was a minor leaguer in the Braves system if I recall..............I obviously wasnt' there, but it doesn't make sense that TPJ would be there.

nah it was him. i specifically remember someone mentioning he was in the braves organization so it had to be him. fits your recollection....most likely he had a week off or something considering the minor league schedule differs from the major league schedule.

as for your other post....like I said I can only tell you what I hear from people I trust. It is entirely possible that the radio guys I know (many of whom have covered the Royals for a decade now or even more) are completely jaded about the franchise and more pessimistic than the evidence warrants.

That's wierd then, if it was him. Wierd to think of a Braves player hanging around the Royals clubhouse..even if he was (still is...) a minor leaguer

Yes, I know you are only saying what you hear. I don't think anything you are saying is wrong..I'm disagreeing with them. Listening to KC radio, 90% of them are overly negative all the time. Of course there is reason to be negative about the team in the past....but that doesn't mean everything is bad all the time. The team is getting better, but until we go to the playoffs, they won't change their tune. No big deal. The organization is getting better, but that certainly doesn't mean it's good yet.

pretty sure he was just there to hang with his dad.......which meant coming to the ballpark. doubt the Braves would mind that.

I think KC radio suffers from the fact that the Chiefs are really struggling too.....like the dolphins they were the kind of franchise you could always count on to be decent at worst until recently. With both professional teams in the toilet, people want to hear the radio guys tee off on the local squads.

however, much of what I hear from them comes off the air in passing conversation....where they have less incentive to play to the will of the masses. fwiw, I agree that royals had decent organizational pitching depth. problem is the success ratio for highly touted young arms is like 1 out of 3. Pitching is fickle like that.....and having bad hitting prospects is a problem in the run crazy American League.

Yes, that's why I just don't pay attention to the radio. They aren't really trying to do much other than say what people are feeling so they will listen.

...as for pitching prospects, yes, of course they won't all work out, but with our depth in that area...you have to think some of them will...and DM will almost certainly trade some of them for good hitting prospects as some point. Yeah, there's a ways to go....but it's going in the right direction. The MLB team is better than it was last year..and one losing streak isn't going to change my mind about that...and the farm system is better than it was a year or two ago. People are just impatient b/c of how long we've been bad...and that's understandable.



Zack Greinke vs. Gavin Floyd tonight. Floyds 1:1 BB/K ratio and insane .193 BABIP has to regress sometime...right. We'll see if the fluke ends tonight.

Good win tonight. It's still so gross that it should've been a 4-1/5-1 win, but since we are absolutely terrible at driving in runs right now, we had to make it close in the late innings. Great outing by Davies and another solid performance from the bullpen (Soria is so sick). Also, I didn't catch Aviles 1st start, but with the little I saw of him tonight, I'm already giving the green light for him to take over for Pena, Jr. at short. When TJ's in the lineup, it's more like a national league game where the 9 hitter is basically a sure out. I don't want to think about what it's going to be like when we have away games in inter-league play w/ him in the lineup, ugh. Let's just hope the pitching gets back to being solid, and we can find a run here and there to pull out some wins more regularly. Also, they mentioned during the telecast tonight that Berroa was traded to the Angels today. That guy had a fast fall from grace after his rookie year.

Berroa was traded to the Dodgers for an A-ball player. His play was absolutely pathetic in his last couple years with KC, but I'll give him this...when he was demoted, he didn't whine or complain or anything...he went down and worked hard..he played different positions..he did every single thing he was asked to do. He's still an awful player, but I wish him all the best, I hope he figures something out and does well.

As for tonight's game...Davies was awesome, Soria is simply better than the hitters..the offense is still absolute garbage though. Now Gordon is even struggling..though he'll be fine. Oh well, at least we have a lot of good pitching...it'll be interesting to see which arms we may trade for bats later on in the year or in the future....we don't really have a choice.

What are your thoughts on the Aviles kid? I know it's still early, but I'm already anxious for a replacement for TJ who will be a decent fielder with an above average bat (what I was told about the kid from my "die hard Royals fan" friend who follows alot of the guys through the minors)

I hate Saturday afternoon games that are blacked out. FOX sucks. Guillen is having a monster game with 2 HR's and 7 RBI's, including the go-ahead, 2-out grand slam in the 7th. 10 runs!! Finally... now hopefully the bullpen can hold the Yanks off.

nope.

it must suck to be a Royals fan lol

yeah, it must.

luckily for me, and the Royals ownership, I am a Cardinals fan.

Ah, the kicking on us while we're down routine........classy.

im not kicking the fans or the team. management has fucked both for years. i more feel sorry for Royals fans than anything.

but i have taken shots at the royals in the past. it was just too easy.

Somewhat understandable, but I'm still optomistic that the new management will change that, and they already have in some degree. I'm just a little touchy with random bashers of the franchise, even though at times it's deserved. Carry on...

I'm fairly optomistic (sp ?) about taking this kid from St. Louis that was rated as a first round talent but wanted lots of cash. If the Royals can get him signed it could work out to be a great steal and risk. Even if they don't get him signed, but make a reasonable effort, it seems to signal a change in philosophy. It has been talked about a lot recently that Ryan Braun (the crappy pitcher, not the stud hitter) was very upset about being offered the minimum $1000 signing bonus after being drafted out of college.

Here's something I don't completely understand: This Posey kid out of Florida State was said to be demanding $12 million from whatever team drafted him. I guess I was sort of under the impression that college seniors had the worst bargaining leverage, and that the team that drafts a college senior can lowball fairly successfully. If this is so, then why didn't the top 4 picks take him (as the consensus top talent)? Is it because he could still go to an independent league and then go back into the draft next year? I think this may be what Hochevar did a couple years ago but I'm not sure.

Buster Posey can demand 12 million all he wants. He will never get that money. There have been much stronger prospects who did not get even 10. This is just typical Scott Boras hardball.....he will scare the Giants into overpaying (something like 8 mill is my guess) and make them think they got a bargain.

OK I didn't realize he was a Junior, so I guess he still does have some leverage since he can just go back to school and re-enter the draft next year. Baseball really needs to fix that.

Edit- I completely agree he won't get 12 million.

Ugh. What a disgusting finish to tonight's game. A great start by Meche gets totally fucked by an inexcusable drop at 1st by Teahan, and then some bad pitching from the bullpen. We DEFINATELY gave a win away tonight. Why can't Soria be ready to go every night???

P.S. The home plate ump tonight sucked balls.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3438827

LOL

Jesus, what a freakin' lunatic. I think this guy seriously needs therapy, and NOW.

yeah, by what the article says, bradley basically made lefevres point by going after him.

Exactly. About 75% of what Lefebvre said was positive - saying he's a good player and having a great season. But the negative part was that he couldn't control his emotions. Um, Milt, you can't control your emotions. Charging after the guy like a lunatic isn't making your case any better.

I like how now Bradley claims that he was merely going to introduce himself to Lefebvre. Yeah, with his fist, most likely.

Rosa looked pretty good in his first career appearance. Nice to see a little power tonight, and lately in general.

Team playing better lately..offense coming around. Man I wish we were an NL team...the NL is just so weak compared to the AL. We dominate the NL and then go back to the AL and get killed. We just don't have enough offense yet to hang with the AL..the pitching is there. Meche is looking stronger, Greinke is an ace in the making...Hochevar is starting to look good, Bannister is decent....and Davies has looked pretty good so far..though he'll definitely need to maintain it for a while. Offense is coming around....but it still sucks.

Royals = NL champs?

If I remember right, wasn't the Royals the first team MLB offered to switch to the NL awhile back, but they turned it down and Milwaukee took it?? If I remember that right, MAN doesn't that seem to be a terrible decision now!!!

Yes, that is true...but if we had taken it...then in a few years from now when the NL is the better league (which it inevitably will be)...then the fans will wish we'd stayed in the AL. I'm glad we didn't go...NL baseball is alright....but I like the DH.

Royals > National League.

At the contending Marlins, at the playoff-bound D-Backs, at the contending Cardinals....won all three series on the road with a possible sweep of the Cards coming up tomorrow. Offense coming around...Gordon and DDJ with bombs in the 8th for the comeback win...pitching coming together again after a rough few weeks. 30-42 record is ugly..but I really do think the team is better than that record. I still say 75 wins.

It's fun to watch the "best fans in baseball" cry. SWEEP!