Gordon isnt extended, KC probably sports the worst rotation in the AL, a complete junk bench with Getz highlighting, they have a team that could compete but refuse to throw pieces at it that cost. Ever. Dayton signed two guys in his tenure to big contracts. The Mariners 4th starter that lasted 3.5 years and a guy that was on the Mitchell report before the signing and never had a 2 year deal before. Can he add pieces to a winning team? Can he build a winning team. And before the Jim’s of the world talk about Melky and Frenchy (million dollar flyers he got lucky on…you never mention Ankiel or Ponson or Horacio Ramirez) the Royals only won 71 games last year. Baseball is about winning. Unfortunately the culture in KC has been beat down with the decades of losing that the guys just having “fun” is good enough. With all the predictiosn of 85 wins etc this year for a team that is only banking on everyone taking huge leaps..the fact that other teams will try and get better never factored in. Well, Detroit in the short term just got better. And they were 20 games better last year.

Starting to feel that way. Royals Nation!

An interesting take on it Jim & on balance i think i agree as well!

Certainly the move to Comerica will be very interesting,FWIW i had Fielder in my fantasy team a couple of years ago & his production could be quite sporadic at times,the few occaisions i got to see Brewers matches last season he wasnt getting total lift on all his big boomers,hence they were falling short which of course will accentuate in Detroit!

I think its fine,we can all stay calm!

PTP -Not sure if i like the new look as much as you (I can never get used to why sites always feel the need/urge to “upgrade” when things are perfectly fine as they are?),the grey background doesnt do anything for me & its seems slightly slower to upload.

The variety of writers & constant production is a big plus though as are your comments of course,not much to choose between here & there to be honest,its all good for Royals fans….

http://www.pinetarpress.com/

Turning into the most comprehensive and best written of Royals sites.

The Tigers are probably a better team than two days ago, but not so much better that the Royals and Indians should just pack it in. They probably also aren’t enough better to be considered a favorite against the Yankees, Rays, Rangers, or Angels. Should be an interesting season and fun for KC fans, getting to see Pujols and Fielder a little more often.

The analysts were suggesting it might be time to give the DH to the NL due to competitive balance issues. (As was pointed out recently on this blog, Hosmer has no chance of making the All-Star game…)

Since people are generally strongly for, or against, the DH rule, my solution would be to settle the issue ‘on-the-field’ so to speak. Make the rule that the home team manager gets to decide prior to the first game of a series if the DH will be used in the series or not.

The net effect of this, I believe, is that some games will have the DH and some will not. Any home team manager who hosts the Angels or Tigers will probably decide not to use the DH – forcing Pujols and Fielder/Caberera to play in the field or sit the bench.

When the Royals go into a town with an average DH, they may decide to go without a DH to keep Billy Butler out of the lineup. But when that team comes to Kansas City, Yost would use the DH – a strategy based on the relative impact of the DH for the two teams.

Long-term this will do three things – 1B sluggers will begin to sign with NL teams again, a pure DH will be phased out (Sorry Billy) and the long-term contracts will probably be cut down by several years. Just how many games would Pujols play in the last year of his contract – closer to 81 than 162.