Press about the ASG & Kansas City ASG visits

[brewcrew1000]

Maybe it wasn't Cano's decision and purely ESPN. ESPN televised the event and they need to market players with some name recognition and get players in big markets. If Trumbo wasn't in the HR Derby its possible a lot in the LA/So Cal market wouldn't watch.
Trumbo and Butler are pretty much the same kind of players but I guarantee you more people know who Trumbo is based on the market he is in.

[phuqueue]

I agree that the twitter battle was really annoying, and I think Passan is way way off base (as just noted on the radio by Mellinger), but I have absolutely heard complaints that Butler does not hit for enough power. Not this year, but that was the big complaint a few years back and one of the biggest reasons some people say we should trade him. DHs that don't crush the ball are sometimes perceived to be a waste of space, especially on teams that do not hit for a lot of overall power. I'm not a fan of that way of thinking, but I think a lot of traditional people think that way.

No DH is going to "Crush" the ball in our park. That's where everyone is wrong to think that "Someone" will. Nobody has, ever. Not with the Royals, or against them. Nobody hit's HR's like they're nothing in the K. It just doesn't happen, and won't. I'd rather have Butler with his 16 first half HR's, and a .300 average over Jose Bautista (A guy that was taken for the HR derby team over Butler) who has 27 first half homers (In parks outside of the K) but a lowly .244 average. If we played in some tiny ass stadium, like in Houston, then I would agree, but playing in the K..forget about it.

I guarantee that Butler would have lit up the K with some amazing HR totals the other night had he been given the chance.

I think Butler would have been fine in the HR derby, but you're insane if you think the only difference between Butler and Bautista is home park. In Butler's early years his lack of power was absolutely a criticism that was leveled against him frequently, and his relative lack of home runs remains a point of criticism (but less so now that he at least hits doubles, something he didn't do in those first couple years). Batting average is a flukey and unreliable predictor of future success (Bautista's is so low this year due to his career-low BABIP of .215 -- last year when his BABIP was roughly league average he hit .302). Their OBPs are the same despite Bautista's much lower batting average (okay, Butler has him by one point), Bautista actually plays a position, and he hits for far more power (fun fact: although Rogers Centre favors the home run a little more than Kauffman, Kauffman is a marginally better hitters park overall -- certainly the differences between them aren't stark enough to account for an 11 homer differential).

Don't get me wrong, I love Butler and I hope he stays a Royal for a long time. I think that after Cano said he was going to play a local guy, he should have played a local guy. But loving Butler doesn't have to mean denying that there are obviously better hitters and more valuable players than him in the league. I wouldn't have expected Butler to be in HR derby or cared whether he was there if Cano hadn't said he was going to play a local guy. Butler's a solid player having a solid season but he didn't especially deserve to be in the derby -- park factor is not the only reason he trails so many other players in homers.

[beautyfromashes]

..Bautista actually plays a position, and he hits for far more power

You must not have seen the ASG last night. That guy locked dreadful in RF!

(fun fact: although Rogers Centre favors the home run a little more than Kauffman, Kauffman is a marginally better hitters park overall -- certainly the differences between them aren't stark enough to account for an 11 homer differential).

What accounts for a difference of 11 homers is Billy Butler being 26 years old vs. 32 for Bautista. It takes some time to develop a power swing. I'd take Butler over Bautista anyday. And I hate the BABIP stat. That Bautista flies out every other at bat or dribbles one to the pitcher shouldn't be the basis of some stupid 'just dumb luck' stat creation.

[Brodees]

Yea, I like the implication that we were in line to bid on free agents, but now that we booed a guy, players won't sign here. What a crock. He lives here, he should know who our owner is. My guess is Jeff got insecure among his national writer buddies about his hometown.

This isn't his hometown, but that's not what he wants you to know..

Friggin crook.

I think Passan is either being naïve or he's kowtowing to his media cohorts (I suspect the latter). The fans' reaction wasn't solely the result of a singular incident in which a player went back on his word. The reaction was due also -- and potentially even more so -- to the culmination of 15-plus years of fans' frustrations given that the hypocrite is, of all people, a Yankee -- the representation of perennial success under MLB's grossly imbalanced economic system which has, amongst other factors, left the Royals at the opposite end of the spectrum constantly looking up.

Add to that the fact that the Homerun Derby has absolutely no affect on the outcome of the season, and the tiny scrap that the Yankee promised to throw caused years of anger and resentment to manifest when he ultimately didn't

I guess I can appreciate the somewhat irritating "nice" and "hospitable" descriptors that KC is typically given by out-of-towners, but it tickles me that these types are so surprised that after getting slapped in the face, we don't turn and offer the other cheek. My ultimate hope is that Kansas City itself was represented as the wonderful "hidden gem" that it is, and not the cowtown that so many of these idiots perceive(d) it to be. As long as that was accomplished, then the New York / national media and their ilk can take their surprise at our less-than-pleasant sports demeanor and shove it clear up their collective ass.

[brotherdarrell]

You guys would rather have Butler over Bautista or Trumbo? Lay off the Royal Kool-aide.

[brotherdarrell]

You guys would rather have Butler over Bautista or Trumbo? Lay off the Royal Kool-aide.

[KCMax]

Deadspin: What Did Sportswriters Think About Kansas City Barbecue? We Investigate.

[KCMax]

FWIW, Billy Butler has hit more career home runs in Kauffman Stadium (48) than on the road (42), so I rather doubt the stadium is suppressing his HR totals.

[shinatoo]

So following Passan's logic, when Billy becomes a free agent, he will want to leave because the entire city had his back??? Free agents won't want to come here because we passionately and vocally support our players???

I don't get it.

[bobbyhawks]

So following Passan's logic, when Billy becomes a free agent, he will want to leave because the entire city had his back??? Free agents won't want to come here because we passionately and vocally support our players???

I don't get it.

There was no logic in that article, so there really isn't much to get.

As for the entire Billy vs. Jose or Mark T. question, that is just a strawman. The issue was never whether or not Billy is a better overall player or even home run hitter, but whether or not a promise to select the hometown hero would be honored or not. Read Pos's blog post for an example of the terrible home run hitters that have been included in the derby in the past. If the event were to be taken seriously, then people would not decline to participate because they don't care about it. 5 of the top 7 AL home run hitters either declined or were not selected... 3 of the top 6 in the NL, and Matt Kemp is tied for 26th. It is not a serious event.

For the record, I'm happy with Butler instead of Trumbo. They are both great players to have, but I would still need to see more from Trumbo before I project him as a definitively better player over a career. They are both the same age, and outside of home run power, we have too small a sample size to see if Trumbo can maintain a decent on-base percentage over many years. He was actually terrible in that department last season. I'd take Bautista for Butler right now, no problem, but on the plus side, we can get productivity out of Butler for a much longer period of time than we could with Jose, who is 5 years older. Neither here nor there, though. This was never the argument.

[phuqueue]

..Bautista actually plays a position, and he hits for far more power

You must not have seen the ASG last night. That guy locked dreadful in RF!

Let's make snap judgments based on a few innings of an exhibition game, yes. Actually it's true that he's not an elite defensive outfielder, but he's not that bad, and the fact that he plays a position at all provides quite a bit of value that you don't get from a DH.

(fun fact: although Rogers Centre favors the home run a little more than Kauffman, Kauffman is a marginally better hitters park overall -- certainly the differences between them aren't stark enough to account for an 11 homer differential).

What accounts for a difference of 11 homers is Billy Butler being 26 years old vs. 32 for Bautista. It takes some time to develop a power swing. I'd take Butler over Bautista anyday. And I hate the BABIP stat. That Bautista flies out every other at bat or dribbles one to the pitcher shouldn't be the basis of some stupid 'just dumb luck' stat creation.

Butler has been in the league since 2007 and should be entering his peak right now. If he were going to become a big time home run hitter, it probably would have already happened, or at least we'd be seeing signs that it's going to happen (note: 16 homers at the AS break is not a sign of an emerging home run hitter). There are always exceptions (Bautista himself is one), but let's not act like Butler is some fresh-faced rookie who's still adding muscle to his frame. He is who he is, and there's nothing wrong with that because he's a great player even without the home runs. But let's not kid ourselves here.

Re: BABIP, not exactly sure what your problem with it is. I mean it should be common sense that if your batting average is low on balls in play, it's going to be low overall, unless you're hitting a hundred home runs a year. So if you're with me that far then maybe you just don't want to believe that players have little control over their BABIPs, in which case I'm not sure how you explain that Bautista's BABIP is a hundred points lower than it was last year. You think he just decided he doesn't want hits anymore? Or maybe it's not bad luck, just that he's a bad player (good luck making that argument about a guy with an above average OBP who leads the league in homers over the past 2.5 years)? I mean I guess you can believe whatever you want to believe, but facts are facts, you shouldn't throw them out just because they don't say what you want them to say.

[AllThingsKC]

Robinson Cano says KC fans "crossed the line" by yelling at his family.

If he said KC fans verbally abused his family, THEN IT MUST BE TRUE! He's proven himself to be a man of his word. [/sarcasm]

[im2kull]

In Butler's early years his lack of power was absolutely a criticism that was leveled against him frequently

Not that I remember. If anything his inconsistency in batting average was the only criticism, and the reason he was sent down to AAA repeatedly. Never had a power issue, just a putting the ball in play issue, that was QUICKLY resolved.

Batting average is a flukey and unreliable predictor of future success (Bautista's is so low this year due to his career-low BABIP of .215 -- last year when his BABIP was roughly league average he hit .302).

But BA is a great way to show past sucess, and Billy Butler has never had a piss poor BA, he's always impressed in that regard...Especially considering his age, and the multiple coaches/systems we have shoved down his throat. Unlike Bautista, who is perennially a bottom dweller in BA.

fun fact: although Rogers Centre favors the home run a little more than Kauffman, Kauffman is a marginally better hitters park overall -- certainly the differences between them aren't stark enough to account for an 11 homer differential).

You do realize that Rogers Centre is an enclosed, indoor stadium...right? Maybe not on a permanent basis, but at least on poor weather, windy as heck days. Besides, it's not like Bautista has spent his whole career in Toronto, in fact he never had a major HR season till he was there. Maybe Rogers Centre IS an advantage??

Let me ask you this: IF Jose Bautista is SUCH a great power hitter, why did he SUCK so bad (Yes, absolutely suck) hitting just 3 HR's in a full season, and never surpassing 16 HR's in any of his first 6 years before going off for 54 two years ago? Why, even with 54 HR's did he still have a shitty .260 BA? Where do you think all that power suddenly came from? Guy can't bat, and has never before hit long balls..then puts up over 100 in 2 seasons. Can you say "Steroids", because I can!

Stat per Stat, Butler is FAR more impressive than Bautista, and the odds of Butler doping are hugely less..just look at his natural big boy build. Butler would have been a better bid for the HR derby, KC or not. End of story.

[im2kull]

You guys would rather have Butler over Bautista or Trumbo? Lay off the Royal Kool-aide.

How many HR's did Trumbo or Bautista put up the other night? Yeah, I'd like to give Butler a chance to show why he's better.

Trumbo will be a one year wonder, the benefactor of Pujols arrival.

[phuqueue]

In Butler's early years his lack of power was absolutely a criticism that was leveled against him frequently

Not that I remember. If anything his inconsistency in batting average was the only criticism, and the reason he was sent down to AAA repeatedly. Never had a power issue, just a putting the ball in play issue, that was QUICKLY resolved.

I mean I'm not really concerned with what you do or don't remember -- Butler came up and didn't hit for much power in his first couple years. Even if you don't remember people talking about it, you can just go look at his stats from those seasons and see it.

Batting average is a flukey and unreliable predictor of future success (Bautista's is so low this year due to his career-low BABIP of .215 -- last year when his BABIP was roughly league average he hit .302).

But BA is a great way to show past sucess, and Billy Butler has never had a piss poor BA, he's always impressed in that regard...Especially considering his age, and the multiple coaches/systems we have shoved down his throat. Unlike Bautista, who is perennially a bottom dweller in BA.

"Perennially a bottom dweller"? Even if I entertain an argument about whether batting average really matters, I just told you -- in the part that you quoted, even -- that Bautista hit .302 last season. Granted, that was his best season, but a year ago we don't even have this discussion because you look up Bautista's batting average and realize it's higher than Butler's and drop this silly argument. Aside from batting average, which is flukey and unpredictable, Bautista is better than Butler across the board (well, Billy also leads Bautista on doubles, since so many of his hits fail to clear the wall).

fun fact: although Rogers Centre favors the home run a little more than Kauffman, Kauffman is a marginally better hitters park overall -- certainly the differences between them aren't stark enough to account for an 11 homer differential).

You do realize that Rogers Centre is an enclosed, indoor stadium...right? Maybe not on a permanent basis, but at least on poor weather, windy as heck days. Besides, it's not like Bautista has spent his whole career in Toronto, in fact he never had a major HR season till he was there. Maybe Rogers Centre IS an advantage??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_factor

Let me ask you this: IF Jose Bautista is SUCH a great power hitter, why did he SUCK so bad (Yes, absolutely suck) hitting just 3 HR's in a full season, and never surpassing 16 HR's in any of his first 6 years before going off for 54 two years ago? Why, even with 54 HR's did he still have a shitty .260 BA? Where do you think all that power suddenly came from? Guy can't bat, and has never before hit long balls..then puts up over 100 in 2 seasons. Can you say "Steroids", because I can!

Stat per Stat, Butler is FAR more impressive than Bautista, and the odds of Butler doping are hugely less..just look at his natural big boy build. Butler would have been a better bid for the HR derby, KC or not. End of story.

You know baseball tests for steroids now, right? Maybe for the past three years he's been using something they can't test for -- don't know, don't care, not interested in speculating. "His improvement was rapid, ergo it must be steroids, although there is no other evidence of this" is no kind of argument. I will point out that Bautista has always had good plate discipline -- his lowest ISOBP in substantial playing time was .075 in 2008. Last season he led the league in walks. If you're willing to wait for your pitch, you're eventually going to get it. This is basically the argument people used to make about Gordon, too, that when pitchers realize he won't swing at everything, they'll have to throw him strikes and then maybe he'll finally get good (and now he is -- you think Gordon's juicing too because he was terrible for four years and then suddenly broke out?). Steroids or no steroids, his breakout a few years ago was highly unusual, but it happened and he is the player he is now. You're not going to make much headway arguing that a guy who leads the league in homers since 2010 isn't a good player now because he didn't hit for a high batting average in 2007. Batting average is a stupid stat to pin your analysis on in any case. I mean are you trying to suggest that a guy who hits 54 home runs is a bad player if he does it with a .260 batting average? Who cares? In 2010 you'd have rather had Billy Butler with 39 fewer homers (and 22 more GIDPs) because his batting average was higher? Thank god you aren't running the Royals.

[KCPowercat]

Typical of this city that only its local citizens who write for a "national" website would be three only one to put it down..... And then have the balls to call everybody else insecure

[bbqboy]

http://mashable.com/2012/07/11/mlb-all- ... ial-media/

[AF]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd ... b&c_id=mlb

http://kansascity.sbnation.com/kansas-c ... -game-host

http://kansascity.sbnation.com/kansas-c ... ansas-city

http://www.kctv5.com/story/18996651/la- ... s-possible

[KCMax]

Typical of this city that only its local citizens who write for a "national" website would be three only one to put it down..... And then have the balls to call everybody else insecure

Another local writer on a national website bitching.

Hampton Stevens: I'm So Glad the All-Star Game Is Over

Nevertheless, having the game at Kauffman was a royal pain. The city spent weeks scrubbing sidewalks and planting flowers. Formerly free parking spaces suddenly jumped to $20 an hour, with none to be had. We got overly cheerful greeters at the airport and pennant-shaped "Welcome!" signs in the intersections of big thoroughfares. The city dyed the fountains blue, too, and bathed buildings with projected lights. Someone even had the twisted foresight to build a new Taco Bell across the street from the stadium just so there would be one on camera for Sunday's Bell-sponsored Legends & Celebrity Softball Game. It got grating—and massively inconvenient. Like yesterday before the game, when they held a red-carpet parade with players through the city's ritziest shopping district. The average fan elsewhere in the country experienced the march of cars on carpet as a few seconds of cute video. Here, the parade was also a massive, traffic-snarling, afternoon-ruining lump in the middle of town about twice the size of a Presidential motorcade.

I hate when everyone has a good time!

[WSPanic]

Typical of this city that only its local citizens who write for a "national" website would be three only one to put it down..... And then have the balls to call everybody else insecure

Another local writer on a national website bitching.

Hampton Stevens: I'm So Glad the All-Star Game Is Over

I hate when everyone has a good time!

Holy cow. What a whiner.