Comments on: Draft day and daft decisions

By: KHAZAD

KHAZAD — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 19:27:36 +0000

Yost has been doing stuff like this all year. At one game I was at this season, the Royals got two leadoff doubles early in the game. Yost bunted after both of them. One of them was “successful” though the run did not score, the second time the lead runner was Pena, and he got nailed at third.

Doing this is worse than what he did last night. When you factor in the amount of hits and the amount of failed sacrifices and double plays (using AL averages for 2011-many people fail to do this, only factoring in a successful bunt attempt.), bunting with no outs and a runner on second not only reduces the amount of runs you score, it also increases your chances of scoring 0 runs in the inning. At least the situation last night decreases your chances of not scoring at all, but infinitesimally, from 37% to 35%. There is still no excuse for doing it before the 8th inning.

By: airgoesit

airgoesit — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 12:34:22 +0000

Ted: get the MLB package, watch it on your computer or tablet and turn off the volume while you watch something else on the flat-screen.
And then, like me, you become fully qualified to make ridiculous statements and crucify three blogger dudes that are actually on your side at the end of the day. Win-win!

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 05:16:07 +0000

Ah, Jeff. The ole “anonymous internet douchebag” post. What’s great about drivel like this is that Jeff gets to be critical of content, act like a toolbag and offer absolutely nothing to the discussion.
It should be noted that Nick Scott hosted one of the most critically-acclaimed MLB podcasts available. I currently host a far crappier podcast with a co-host and don’t have anywhere near the content or quality Nick had going solo.
I might not always agree with Nick but I appreciate what he brings to the table. He still churns out a tremendous amount of quality content that’s well thought-out, entertaining and oh yeah, free!
Oh, and Nick, glad you came around on Yost.

By: daver852

daver852 — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 23:54:19 +0000

Draft picks are always a crap shoot. Success at the high school or college level doesn’t often translate to success in the big leagues. I’d have liked to have seen the Royals trade their draft picks, save the signing bonuses, and and use the money to acquire a decent – or even mediocre – starting pitcher. As for Yost, you’re just now realizing this guy couldn’t manage a two-car funeral? He does a lot of things wrong, but his worst tendency is leaving his starters in too long. We have a better than average bullpen; don’t wait until Hochevar gives up five or six runs to pull him. Gonna be a long, long season.

By: DanL

DanL — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 22:29:29 +0000

While I agree Hudler can be annoying, I have actually started liking what he brings to the broadcast. Despite not being a top-level star, he played many years and on many teams – always seems to have an unexpected story to share about a player, coach or famous game.

With Verdugo being called up, I hope the Royals continue to rotate the AAA starters in and out the rest of the year (including Monty and Jake). This will help weed out the contenders from the pretenders going into the offseason. Give everybody some major league experience – then they can perform better next year when call upon – no more having a rookie pitcher making his major league debut in Yankee stadium.

By: Ted

Ted — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 21:01:04 +0000

Purchase mlb.tv and watch the opponent’s broadcast. Problem solved. I don’t do this myself, mostly because other announcers tend to be just as unbearable and I would rather listen to someone blather on about the Royals than about any other team, but I have considered it just for a change of pace.

By: Adam C.

Adam C. — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 20:53:28 +0000

I just figured it out! They brought in Hudler to get more fans to the stadium.

That is the only way to watch the Royals without having to hear “Go ahead” 452 times in a game.

Genius! Well played Royals, well played.

By: Adam C.

Adam C. — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 20:49:53 +0000

Well, Hudler knows how to keep his job. Where Frank might have questioned if bunting with Escobar was the best move, Hudler praised it as a good idea.

“Go ahead” and get you some real estate Huddy, with that kind of praise the Royals top brass will keep you around a while despite being unbearable to legions of fans.

By: Ted

Ted — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 20:45:22 +0000

Remember when we had Ibanez and Beltran and Damon and Dye and Sweeney and still sucked? Yeah, that might be us at the end of the Hosmer/Moose era. It might not be, but fans need to temper the expectations a bit. Contention would be nice, and I hope for it to be here starting next season, but right now the groundwork for that feels more distant than present.

By: Sean

Sean — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 19:57:38 +0000

To validate Nick’s point, you can look no further than Hosmer and Moose last year. They had a quick attendance spike when they came up and the excitement was there but when all was said and done, the team still lost. As much as everyone wants to see Wil Myers, he’s not gonna draw 40k until this team can sniff a playoff hunt. The Royals toe a fine line between fan interest and prospect service time. Without a formidable pitching staff, I see no rush at this point. It will be interesting to know what the state of the team is by the time those two get to the end of their arbitration years.