Thursday, June 22, 2006
The Ghost of Carlos Beltran
As of this moment Carlos Beltran has 19 home runs, 55 RBI, 12 stolen bases and is batting .286.
Besides starting off with a bunch of numbers that you could have found in seconds yourself, there is a good, purposeful reason for these numbers. Tonight, in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Royals’ lineup combined for only 6 more home runs than Beltran has had all year.
Only Mark Grudzielanek is batting higher than Beltran’s mediocre .286 and only newly acquired Joey Gathright has an equal amount of stolen bases.
After Reggie Sanders’ 37 RBI, nobody comes within 20 RBI of Beltran’s 55.
True, why compare Beltran to anybody on Kansas City?
Well, the first reason is of course because he was a former player there—a player some say the Royals couldn’t afford.
The truth is, the Royals could afford Beltran, and you don’t need to have your hands in the Glass’s piggy-bank to prove so.
For the past three years, the Royals have paid Mike Sweeney $11 million. Last year Beltran made $11,571,429 according to baseballreference.com. This year he may be making more money at $13.5 million, but he’s giving the Mets all five tools he’s capable of bringing—hitting for power and average, stealing bases, covering acres in the Shea Stadium centerfield and driving in runs.
For the past month all Mike Sweeney has been able to do is comment on the Jason Grimsley episode.
Of course failing to sign Beltran was the Royals’ second mistake, their first came when they traded him in a three team deal that sent their All-Star centerfielder to the Houston Astros in exchange for Mark Teahen, then in the minor leagues, and John Buck, their current catcher.
After being traded Beltran had hit 23 hr, 53 RBI, and stole 28 bases without being caught for Houston.
Combined, Beltran ended 2004 fifth in the major league in runs (121), tenth in total bases (328), fourth in stolen bases with 42 (did I mention he didn’t get caught once?), fourth in extra base hits with 83, first in power/speed number with 39.9 (ahead of Bobby Abreu, 34.3, and Alex Rodriguez, 31.5).
Beltran almost succeeding in bringing Houston to the World Series with 8 home runs, 14 RBI, a .435 batting average and 6 stolen bases (giving him a total of 48 stolen bases without being caught).
There’s no real problem with either Teahen or Buck, with the exception that they aren’t producing nearly as much offence combined as Beltran would.
Recently in an interview with mlb.com Teahen was asked if he thought some people forget he's 24 and don't give him the credit he deserves becuase he's linked to such a big deal.
"I do think that happens sometimes," Teahen said. "But I don't worry about it all that much.
They are being paid peanuts compared to Beltran, and peanuts can’t win games or put fans in the stands, although fans can buy peanuts when they’re in the stands.
Last week at the end of an article in the Kansas City Star by Bob Dutton in the “etc.” section, Dutton snuck in quip about Beltran, saying: “Carlos Beltran had a hit and RBI in eight straight games last week. He was batting .471 with four homers and 16 RBIs in that span, all Mets victories. This isn’t fair, but we’ll tell you anyway. Over the last seven days, the Royals are hitting 57-241 with three homers, 21 RBIs and two victories.”
This just further proves just how much the Royals and their fans should miss Carlos Beltran.
As of this moment Carlos Beltran has 19 home runs, 55 RBI, 12 stolen bases and is batting .286.
Besides starting off with a bunch of numbers that you could have found in seconds yourself, there is a good, purposeful reason for these numbers. Tonight, in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Royals’ lineup combined for only 6 more home runs than Beltran has had all year.
Only Mark Grudzielanek is batting higher than Beltran’s mediocre .286 and only newly acquired Joey Gathright has an equal amount of stolen bases.
After Reggie Sanders’ 37 RBI, nobody comes within 20 RBI of Beltran’s 55.
True, why compare Beltran to anybody on Kansas City?
Well, the first reason is of course because he was a former player there—a player some say the Royals couldn’t afford.
The truth is, the Royals could afford Beltran, and you don’t need to have your hands in the Glass’s piggy-bank to prove so.
For the past three years, the Royals have paid Mike Sweeney $11 million. Last year Beltran made $11,571,429 according to baseballreference.com. This year he may be making more money at $13.5 million, but he’s giving the Mets all five tools he’s capable of bringing—hitting for power and average, stealing bases, covering acres in the Shea Stadium centerfield and driving in runs.
For the past month all Mike Sweeney has been able to do is comment on the Jason Grimsley episode.
Of course failing to sign Beltran was the Royals’ second mistake, their first came when they traded him in a three team deal that sent their All-Star centerfielder to the Houston Astros in exchange for Mark Teahen, then in the minor leagues, and John Buck, their current catcher.
After being traded Beltran had hit 23 hr, 53 RBI, and stole 28 bases without being caught for Houston.
Combined, Beltran ended 2004 fifth in the major league in runs (121), tenth in total bases (328), fourth in stolen bases with 42 (did I mention he didn’t get caught once?), fourth in extra base hits with 83, first in power/speed number with 39.9 (ahead of Bobby Abreu, 34.3, and Alex Rodriguez, 31.5).
Beltran almost succeeding in bringing Houston to the World Series with 8 home runs, 14 RBI, a .435 batting average and 6 stolen bases (giving him a total of 48 stolen bases without being caught).
There’s no real problem with either Teahen or Buck, with the exception that they aren’t producing nearly as much offence combined as Beltran would.
Recently in an interview with mlb.com Teahen was asked if he thought some people forget he's 24 and don't give him the credit he deserves becuase he's linked to such a big deal.
"I do think that happens sometimes," Teahen said. "But I don't worry about it all that much.
They are being paid peanuts compared to Beltran, and peanuts can’t win games or put fans in the stands, although fans can buy peanuts when they’re in the stands.
Last week at the end of an article in the Kansas City Star by Bob Dutton in the “etc.” section, Dutton snuck in quip about Beltran, saying: “Carlos Beltran had a hit and RBI in eight straight games last week. He was batting .471 with four homers and 16 RBIs in that span, all Mets victories. This isn’t fair, but we’ll tell you anyway. Over the last seven days, the Royals are hitting 57-241 with three homers, 21 RBIs and two victories.”
This just further proves just how much the Royals and their fans should miss Carlos Beltran.
Monday, June 12, 2006
The Battle of the Worst
Ladies and gentleman, I hope you feasted your eyes on one of the best series baseball has to offer this weekend.
No, it wasn’t the Yankees losing three straight to Nick Swisher, Houston Street and the rest of the Oakland Athletics (although I did enjoy that). And no, it wasn’t Toronto versus Detroit, or Atlanta at Houston, or even the Texas Rangers fighting the rain and the Red Sox in Boston.
It was what I have deemed “The Battle of the Worst”. Because when you look back on this year and have the obligatory, “Okay, okay. Who was the worst team in the league this year?” conversation, all you’ll have to do is look back on this series.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays at the Kansas City Royals.
In an over-under situation, I lost the series combined three-day attendance (57,229) against Sunday’s game in Yankee Stadium (54,570) when I chose the under.
Their combined 42 wins (Tampa Bay’s 26, Kansas City’s 16) are only two more than Detroit’s 40, and with Kansas City being the worst home team in the American League with a 9-17 record and Tampa Bay being one of the worst road teams at 10-21, it was likely Commissioner Bud Selig would pull another 2002 All-Star Game and call all three games in a tie.
But to no avail, Bud Selig let the games go on, and against the odds somebody actually won in all of the three games played, with some mild entertainment going on in between.
And in the end it was definitive which team came away victorious in the “The Battle of the Worst”.
Now you can say all you want about either team and the effect their divisions play on records; Tampa Bay plays 19 games against powerhouses Boston and New York, Toronto and a deceivingly good team in Baltimore; while Kansas City plays 19 against a re-tigered Detroit (I made that word up), an even stronger World Champion White Sox team and one of the best young teams in all of baseball, Cleveland (although they haven’t played that way lately).
Still, much has to be said about their ability to win games.
Take for instance, Tampa Bay. On the road they were 10-21 before this series. They got Rocco Baldelli finally back after a whole season and over fifty games this season. The impact he’ll have on their lineup will be tremendous.
Then take Kansas City. Struggling to find any power in the lineup, Kansas City’s explosion of 16 runs on 18 hits against Texas looked like a sign of good things to come, especially with the outburst of David Dejesus and Mark Teahen getting big hits for them in the game. Up until the game with Texas both were unproductive, with Dejesus batting .263 with just one home run and three runs batted in, and Teahen batting .204 with three home runs and thirteen rbi’s.
It looked as if things were turning around for both teams heading into this weekend.
Only one’s turnaround was short-lived, and reality set back in.
Kansas was out-hit, batting just .267 against Tampa Bay’s .369. They were outscored 19-11 and they mustered just one home run over the weekend.
The only glimmer of hope this weekend seemed to be when they managed to turn an unconventional triple play in the second inning of the Sunday game, which they still won 8-2.
Huff, unimpressed with the triple play after being called out for leaving early on a tag-up from third, said, “I didn't realize that was a triple play. That's how unimpressive that was. It's a joke.”
However legitimate, the play was ruled a triple-play and proved to have no impact on the final outcome of the game.
Scott Elarton, who started for Kansas City, wouldn’t hear none of that negative stuff Huff was saying, “The triple play was the highlight my day. That's pretty sad. That's about the only good thing that happened today.”
Considering Elarton gave up four runs on eight hits, including three home runs, it’d be safe to say it was the only highlight for Kansas City, the leagues official worst team.
At least for now.
Ladies and gentleman, I hope you feasted your eyes on one of the best series baseball has to offer this weekend.
No, it wasn’t the Yankees losing three straight to Nick Swisher, Houston Street and the rest of the Oakland Athletics (although I did enjoy that). And no, it wasn’t Toronto versus Detroit, or Atlanta at Houston, or even the Texas Rangers fighting the rain and the Red Sox in Boston.
It was what I have deemed “The Battle of the Worst”. Because when you look back on this year and have the obligatory, “Okay, okay. Who was the worst team in the league this year?” conversation, all you’ll have to do is look back on this series.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays at the Kansas City Royals.
In an over-under situation, I lost the series combined three-day attendance (57,229) against Sunday’s game in Yankee Stadium (54,570) when I chose the under.
Their combined 42 wins (Tampa Bay’s 26, Kansas City’s 16) are only two more than Detroit’s 40, and with Kansas City being the worst home team in the American League with a 9-17 record and Tampa Bay being one of the worst road teams at 10-21, it was likely Commissioner Bud Selig would pull another 2002 All-Star Game and call all three games in a tie.
But to no avail, Bud Selig let the games go on, and against the odds somebody actually won in all of the three games played, with some mild entertainment going on in between.
And in the end it was definitive which team came away victorious in the “The Battle of the Worst”.
Now you can say all you want about either team and the effect their divisions play on records; Tampa Bay plays 19 games against powerhouses Boston and New York, Toronto and a deceivingly good team in Baltimore; while Kansas City plays 19 against a re-tigered Detroit (I made that word up), an even stronger World Champion White Sox team and one of the best young teams in all of baseball, Cleveland (although they haven’t played that way lately).
Still, much has to be said about their ability to win games.
Take for instance, Tampa Bay. On the road they were 10-21 before this series. They got Rocco Baldelli finally back after a whole season and over fifty games this season. The impact he’ll have on their lineup will be tremendous.
Then take Kansas City. Struggling to find any power in the lineup, Kansas City’s explosion of 16 runs on 18 hits against Texas looked like a sign of good things to come, especially with the outburst of David Dejesus and Mark Teahen getting big hits for them in the game. Up until the game with Texas both were unproductive, with Dejesus batting .263 with just one home run and three runs batted in, and Teahen batting .204 with three home runs and thirteen rbi’s.
It looked as if things were turning around for both teams heading into this weekend.
Only one’s turnaround was short-lived, and reality set back in.
Kansas was out-hit, batting just .267 against Tampa Bay’s .369. They were outscored 19-11 and they mustered just one home run over the weekend.
The only glimmer of hope this weekend seemed to be when they managed to turn an unconventional triple play in the second inning of the Sunday game, which they still won 8-2.
Huff, unimpressed with the triple play after being called out for leaving early on a tag-up from third, said, “I didn't realize that was a triple play. That's how unimpressive that was. It's a joke.”
However legitimate, the play was ruled a triple-play and proved to have no impact on the final outcome of the game.
Scott Elarton, who started for Kansas City, wouldn’t hear none of that negative stuff Huff was saying, “The triple play was the highlight my day. That's pretty sad. That's about the only good thing that happened today.”
Considering Elarton gave up four runs on eight hits, including three home runs, it’d be safe to say it was the only highlight for Kansas City, the leagues official worst team.
At least for now.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
The "Meaningless" Draft
For the past week there's been hustling and bustling on the airwaves and television networks about the importance of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft.
For good reason of course.
There are 50 rounds in which over a thousand of high school, junior college and college baseball hopefuls are drafted. And don't forget a good percentage of those players will never get as high as Triple-A baseball, let alone get to see their dream of being in the major leagues come true. Even if they do eventually join a major league ballclub they might not get there for years.
So why should anybody believe the 2006 baseball draft will be important?
Just ask the Kansas City Royals.
Being first in anything these days should feel somewhat relieving considering the Royals' current 14-42 last place record, so when the time came for first pick of the draft -the highest pick in team history- the Royals didn't waste the opportunity, selecting the fireball-pitcher Luke Hochevar.
Hochevar, whom some had going first in the 2005 draft, dropped to 40th overall before being picked by the LosAngelos Dodgers. Before being drafted (the first time) many teams had reservations becuase of the question surrounding Hochevar's signability. The reluctance to nab Hochevar proved to be a good move as the star University of Tennessee pitcher failed to agree to terms with the Dodgers and instead played for the independent Fort Worth Cats of the American Association.
He re-entered the draft and became the Royals' top pick not only because of his 97-mph sinking fastball, his repertoire of pitches, the scouts' projections that he'll be a number 1 starter in the very near future, but because of his signability, something that couldn't be guaranteed in last year's draft.
In an MLB.com article Hochevar said: "I'm going to bust my tail to make them extremely happy. [The contract] is in Scott Boras' hands and obviously mine as well. We want to be treated fairly and the Royals are a great organization and they're willing to get it done so we're excited to proceed and move forward with this. It sounds like the Royals are ready to get it done and get me out playing."
It also sounds like somebody learned their lesson.
It also sounds good to the Royals. Hochevar will most likely end up being the second big draft pick in two years to successfully get to the majors within a couple years after being drafted; first being Alex Gordon, which is bound to happen before year's end.
In just one year after being chosen second overall in the 2005 draft, Gordon is posting up huge numbers for the Royals' minor league affiliates, and currently with the Wichita Wranglers.
In almost all offensive categories, including stolen bases, Gordon is in the top three on the Wranglers with 9 hrs., 27 rbi, .312 avg. and 14 stolen bases while being caught stealing only once. He's also proving to be the same patient hitter he was at Nebraska when his walk/strikeout ratio was 58/34, now with a 29/40 ratio.
The future looks obviously bright for Gordon with Kansas City. Currently the Royals have been plutooning Tony Graffanino and Mark Teahen, which are both struggling at the plate. The Royal's seemingly only hope for power this season was with veteran leader Mike Sweeney, who before being placed on the 15-day disabled list with a bulging disk in his upper back, was batting only .167 with 2 home runs.
With a power drought and lack of producing runs, don't be surprised if the Royals give Gordon a shot a bringing his much-needed power to their big-league lineup.
And whenever that time comes this season, as it is bound to, Hochevar should be looking on in the distance and making a note that the Royals, if need be, will call up a big-time prospect to the big leagues because next year around this time he might be the one being called up.
For the past week there's been hustling and bustling on the airwaves and television networks about the importance of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft.
For good reason of course.
There are 50 rounds in which over a thousand of high school, junior college and college baseball hopefuls are drafted. And don't forget a good percentage of those players will never get as high as Triple-A baseball, let alone get to see their dream of being in the major leagues come true. Even if they do eventually join a major league ballclub they might not get there for years.
So why should anybody believe the 2006 baseball draft will be important?
Just ask the Kansas City Royals.
Being first in anything these days should feel somewhat relieving considering the Royals' current 14-42 last place record, so when the time came for first pick of the draft -the highest pick in team history- the Royals didn't waste the opportunity, selecting the fireball-pitcher Luke Hochevar.
Hochevar, whom some had going first in the 2005 draft, dropped to 40th overall before being picked by the LosAngelos Dodgers. Before being drafted (the first time) many teams had reservations becuase of the question surrounding Hochevar's signability. The reluctance to nab Hochevar proved to be a good move as the star University of Tennessee pitcher failed to agree to terms with the Dodgers and instead played for the independent Fort Worth Cats of the American Association.
He re-entered the draft and became the Royals' top pick not only because of his 97-mph sinking fastball, his repertoire of pitches, the scouts' projections that he'll be a number 1 starter in the very near future, but because of his signability, something that couldn't be guaranteed in last year's draft.
In an MLB.com article Hochevar said: "I'm going to bust my tail to make them extremely happy. [The contract] is in Scott Boras' hands and obviously mine as well. We want to be treated fairly and the Royals are a great organization and they're willing to get it done so we're excited to proceed and move forward with this. It sounds like the Royals are ready to get it done and get me out playing."
It also sounds like somebody learned their lesson.
It also sounds good to the Royals. Hochevar will most likely end up being the second big draft pick in two years to successfully get to the majors within a couple years after being drafted; first being Alex Gordon, which is bound to happen before year's end.
In just one year after being chosen second overall in the 2005 draft, Gordon is posting up huge numbers for the Royals' minor league affiliates, and currently with the Wichita Wranglers.
In almost all offensive categories, including stolen bases, Gordon is in the top three on the Wranglers with 9 hrs., 27 rbi, .312 avg. and 14 stolen bases while being caught stealing only once. He's also proving to be the same patient hitter he was at Nebraska when his walk/strikeout ratio was 58/34, now with a 29/40 ratio.
The future looks obviously bright for Gordon with Kansas City. Currently the Royals have been plutooning Tony Graffanino and Mark Teahen, which are both struggling at the plate. The Royal's seemingly only hope for power this season was with veteran leader Mike Sweeney, who before being placed on the 15-day disabled list with a bulging disk in his upper back, was batting only .167 with 2 home runs.
With a power drought and lack of producing runs, don't be surprised if the Royals give Gordon a shot a bringing his much-needed power to their big-league lineup.
And whenever that time comes this season, as it is bound to, Hochevar should be looking on in the distance and making a note that the Royals, if need be, will call up a big-time prospect to the big leagues because next year around this time he might be the one being called up.
