royalsandcelebs

First of all, I wanted to apologize for my inconsistentcy lately with the blog.  I’ve had a busier week than I’d anticipated.  Between job interviews, visiting my dad in the hospital (he’s doing very well right now), picking up my fiancee’s brother from Springfield, and Fourth of July celebrations, I haven’t had too much time to write about the Kansas City Royals and their journey towards average baseball.  I wanted to fit something in that wasn’t me just going on a rant on how much “Disaster Movie” is going to suck.

It gets a little daunting to try and find things to write about with this team.  If they’re not on a massive winning streak or a massive losing streak (and if Jose Guillen is keeping his mouth shut), there’s slim picking to choose from.  DeJesus has a 16 game winning streak going, which is nice.  I’m still not sure if DeJesus will be a great player, however.  He just has the potential to be good.  I’m not sure about great.  This team is filled with players who have the potential to be good, and maybe great, if they caught a lot of breaks.

I think one of Dayton’s biggest challenges will come with knowing when to give up on players and when to upgrade.  When do you say enough is enough with a player?  It’s difficult to define that with this group.  Sure, it’s easy to walk in from the outside, see Angel Berroa bumbling around at short, and say, “Yeah, no, he’s not a Major League baseball player.  He’s gotta go.”  This team was loaded with those guys in 2006.  I distinctly remember Dayton Moore sitting with Paul Splitorff and Bob Davis in the TV booth, talking about the team, and his new job, and being interrupted by quite a few defensive gaffes by his new team.  You could just hear him silencing each groan as Mark Teahan bobbled a ball at third, Berroa lost a ball in the sun, and Emil Brown miss a cut-off man (I’m probably misidentifying some situations, but not exaggerating too much, since I have witnessed these occasions soooooo often).  It’s a lot easier to identify the misfits just two years ago, the players who had no business being on the field for this team.  Now, however, we’re in a different situation.

The time is coming very soon to figure out what to do with some of these young veterans Dayton both inherited and brought in.  Constantly patience is battling success.  When do you wait on a player to perform?  How long is too long?  How short is too short?  We’re going to have to answer this with such players as DeJesus, Zack Greinke, John Buck, Teahan, Alex Gordon, Billy Butler, and a few others.

DeJesus looks productive now, but will he remain consistent?  Is he a ballplayer who wishes and drives to progress and learn, or is he satisfied with just being a “solid” Major Leaguer?  Will Zack continue to be a pressence, or will he give up one day?  He already gave up once, after all.  What do we do with Mark Teahan?  Does he have value to this team?  He’s horribly flaky and, for as nice and charming of a guy as I’ve heard he is, has a tendency to not absorb instruction.  That’s what got his butt sent to Omaha a few years back.  His second half of ‘06 seemed to be a turning point, but was that an abberation?  He’s regressed big-time since then in terms of his power.  Moving from position to position certainly hasn’t helped his development.  Gordon seems to possess the same inability to retain information from coaches.  And Billy Butler?  Who knows.  He still has potential, and has only played about a full season in the major leagues.  Still, Billy Butler last year doesn’t look like Billy Butler this year, although his double and homer against the Orioles Thursday night were encouraging.

All of these players have been in the league about 3-4 years, surrounded by only themselves and a losing mentality.  Dayton Moore inherited a lot of them, and has given them time.  He hasn’t pulled the trigger on a firesale of his young veterans.  If they keep playing like they’ve been playing, however, only flashes moments of great baseball, when can you cut them loose?  It’s a very difficult question, and I’m glad I’m not the general manager of the Royals.

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