Comments on: Juan Cruz Is The Scapegoat

By: 3rd Period Points

3rd Period Points — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:58:06 +0000

Yeah, everyone seems perplexed: Me, Rob Neyer, Craig Brown, Rany, RJ Anderson at Fangraphs. Nobody’s particularly surprised, but no sane person is still “trusting the process” at this point.

By: cHRIS

cHRIS — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:28:05 +0000

3rd Period, did you see that blog ESPN had written about us?? They have questioned about why we released Cruz…They didn’t even post up the statistics if I’m correct

By: 3rd Period Points

3rd Period Points — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 02:37:49 +0000

Excellent analysis, Craig. In fact, I think you were unnecessarily diplomatic in your assessment of this move (releasing Cruz). There is no defensible, performance-related reason to release a 3M dollar RP with a 2.64 FIP, nearly 12 K/9, and a decent overall track record after only 5.1 IP. It’s particularly egregious when you compare Cruz to the Royals’ other options. It’s simply not a thing that a competent GM would do.

By: Abh

Abh — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 00:30:06 +0000

this is a total non-sequitur, but damn, those new twins uniforms are fantastic.

By: % (intheUK)

% (intheUK) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 20:34:07 +0000

I for one am happy with this move

I think the key to it is the speed of deterioration (for whatever reason) from the point of when he started with us of which he was quite effective!

Also happy with the way Hillman is being more decisive in his actions & use of the pen,surely we can give him a little credit that the Twins left seven stranded through four innings,it wasnt an accident in any case!

By: gbewing

gbewing — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 17:43:37 +0000

Joe I agree with your argument but it’s misplaced in regards to this current team. The argument is “OK we have a bad pen lets get some new arms up here” Is Cruz the worst pitcher or just a bad pitcher? Cruz as bad as he’s pitched may not be in the bottom 3 worst pitchers in that pen. He’s better than the Bruce Chen who replaced him and might be better than the other call up Brad Thompson. My question is why bring in the same person over and over again then get upset when they fail and cut them Roman Colon, John Parrish, Rupe, Chen it’s a freaking Independent League team, Daryl Strawbery is making a comeback soon.
Carlos Rosa and Chris Hayes can’t get a shot but Bruce Chen gets 3 or 4 shots- thanks for the concern but yes I will stay worked up over this one as The Who said so well
“meet the new boss same as the old boss” and I won’t be fooled again my man

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 06:24:51 +0000

I don’t know about you guys but, even though our problems with the bullpen isn’t over…..take a look at meche’s outing today. If that guy isn’t doin well as our #2 ….. That really worries me a little inside….I was watching his whole start today, he had pitched 25 in the 1st, 8 in the 2nd, but in the third that when his pitch count really exploded….30 pitches that inning….although to say the least I am very concerned about how Gil commanded his pitches today..the last 2 or 3 batters so he faced, missed his target consistently… that is very troubling

By: Joe Hamrahi

Joe Hamrahi — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 06:12:59 +0000

Perhaps there’s more to the Cruz situation than we know…like maybe he has a physical problem (I mean that seriously). We can look at this year as a small sample size, yes. But was last year too small a sample size too? I see this as a continuation of something that is wrong with Cruz, whether it be an injury, mechanics, whatever. If you’re going to call out the small sample size of 2010, you can’t just ignore 2009. You’re leaving out a big part of the picture.

By the way, for those who don’t know, Craig and I are friends so this isn’t me challenging him to a fight. It’s just a healthy debate. I know it’s hard to be even the least bit optimistic as a Royals fan after going so many years without a winning season, but this is hardly a move I’d waste a lot of time ripping apart, even if you’re forced to consider the $3.25 million a sunk cost.

I mean, the way Cruz has pitched the last 7 or so months as a Royal, I’d like to see someone else too. Do you keep throwing him out there in the hope that he’ll get better just because you’re paying him $3+ million? I personally prefer they admit that he’s no good, that the move was a mistake, and move on. Should the Angels have played Gary Matthews Jr. every day because they overpaid him, even if he didn’t perform? Or should the Dodgers have started Juan Pierre over Matt Kemp because they gave him an atrocious contract? Right, the answer is no. Same goes for Cruz.

By: KC Refugee

KC Refugee — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 04:15:16 +0000

I wonder if part of the reason to dump Cruz is because of his salary. Just as you can do the analysis and say that he isn’t as bad (or can’t stay as bad) as the numbers go, maybe the Royals figure other teams will think the same thing and decide to sign him. If that happen do the Royals just have to pay the difference?

By: gbewing

gbewing — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 01:08:35 +0000

and to make matters worse – I thought Royals bullpen getting worse as impossible we call up retreads Bruce Chen and Brad Thompson. Thompson I have 15% hope he can be Jamey Wright, Chen should not be in baseball.

Again and a 1 mo time in 4 years a GM and organization should be able to develop a middle freaking reliever. Rosa-Hayes-Marte even- and if you must go retro Matt Heges has best skill level of the old parade

Our bullpen is J Parrish, Josh Rupe, Bruce Chen, Dusty Hughes, not MLB caliber pitchers in 2009 nor skilled nor young.

and Brad Thompson (barely an MLB pticher in 2009)

which leaves the blazing fastballs of K Farnsworth and Rube tejeda – you couldn’t try and put together a worse bullpen.