GO ROYALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[shinatoo]

scott elarton is a good pickup so far, if he pitches like that all year, 3.00 era, i would be happy.

Agree

elmer dessens, if he pitches like that all year, i would be happy

Elmer looked great.

angel berroa, who, got a free pass from his coaches and manager last season to swing away all of the time, and got criticized here and on other message boards for it, took a lot of pitches yesterday. i knew there was a good reason that the royals told him to swing away last year all of the time, and for good reason. why not? you are a 100 loss team, why not just swing?? he looks good, and great d this spring for him.

Angel was crap. first two at bats he swung at the first two pitches he saw and was, consequently, down in the count. Plus he put no effort into retrieving the only grounder that came his way. Looked like a disinterested 10 year old in the field on a hot day.

mark teahen, looks a lot less overmatched this year. last year he looked lost. yesterday, he looked a lot more comfortable.

Played to deep (because of limited range) and was two slow coming up with the ball resulting in one base hit that should have been an out and one very lucky call that should have been a base hit. If Sweeny or Stairs had been at first the ball would have been in the tarp.

why did we boo mike sweeney, a future hall of famer, for a ground out?

Didn't hear that. Hall of Famer? Hope you mean the Royals cause there is no way he is going to cooperstown.

man, that field looked AWESOME.

yep

[kcdcchef]

Didn't hear that. Hall of Famer? Hope you mean the Royals cause there is no way he is going to cooperstown.

if he plays 6-7 or 8 more seasons, which, at 33 he easily could, he will get to 300 home runs, and 2,500 hits, with a career average of .300, and will have more then likely spent his whole career in one city. that, is a hall of fame career. easily. 300 home runs will start being the line or respactibility, since, steroids are gone.

Angel was crap. first two at bats he swung at the first two pitches he saw and was, consequently, down in the count. Plus he put no effort into retrieving the only grounder that came his way. Looked like a disinterested 10 year old in the field on a hot day.

so, how does someone swing at the first pitch they see if they are down in the count? down in the count is 0-1, 1-2, not 0-0.

[shinatoo]

if he plays 6-7 or 8 more seasons, which, at 33 he easily could, he will get to 300 home runs, and 2,500 hits, with a career average of .300, and will have more then likely spent his whole career in one city. that, is a hall of fame career. easily. 300 home runs will start being the line or respactibility, since, steroids are gone.

so, how does someone swing at the first pitch they see if they are down in the count? down in the count is 0-1, 1-2, not 0-0.

I don't think he will last that long or put up those numbers. He has 182 in about nine seasons. That is about 20 per season. He would have to play till he was 40 to hit 300 at that pace. Plus he will be remembered as a DH and you have to have much betters numbers as a DH to get in the hall, since the DH is an abomination.

Swinging at the first two pitches puts you down in the count and at a disatvantage, thats why it is bad and the reason that Angel has turned into such a disapointing player.

[LenexatoKCMO]

I don't think he will last that long or put up those numbers. He has 182 in about nine seasons. That is about 20 per season. He would have to play till he was 40 to hit 300 at that pace. Plus he will be remembered as a DH and you have to have much betters numbers as a DH to get in the hall, since the DH is an abomination.

Bingo.  Plus Butler isn't that far away from being ready to take over the DH slot

[KCMax]

Plus Sweeney will not retire as a Royal. If he doesn't get traded in the next year or two, he is definitely gone once his contract is up in 2007.

[kcdcchef]

Plus Sweeney will not retire as a Royal. If he doesn't get traded in the next year or two, he is definitely gone once his contract is up in 2007.

if he plays the way he played the last 2 years, and the team improves this season, he stays. maybe not at 11m, but, he stays.

[LenexatoKCMO]

if he plays the way he played the last 2 years, and the team improves this season, he stays. maybe not at 11m, but, he stays.

So the broke-ass Royals are going to dump cheap Butler so they can keep paying the big bucks to fragile Sweeney?  I guess I wouldn't be shocked to see them do something that stupid. 

[shinatoo]

Plus Sweeney will not retire as a Royal. If he doesn't get traded in the next year or two, he is definitely gone once his contract is up in 2007.

And Sweeney was talking about retiring last year, I don't think it was serious but still, doesn't make him sound like he will be around another 5 to 7 years. maybe....MAYBE!!! if he gets picked up by one of the LA teams. But otherwise no. Then there goes the "played for one team" factor.

[kcdcchef]

So the broke-ass Royals are going to dump cheap Butler so they can keep paying the big bucks to fragile Sweeney?  I guess I wouldn't be shocked to see them do something that stupid. 

why play butler before he proves he can hit at the major league level? brandon berger hit 44 homeruns a few years back in the minors. where is he now??

gregg jeffries anyone?

you do not replace the franchise face with some kid out of AAA who god only knows what he can do. you guys talk a bunch of shit on number twenty nine, but, he is the FACE of our franchise, and the only all star who WANTED to stay. pr nightmare to trade him for 2 young blake steins.

[KCMax]

Sometimes PR should take a back seat to best long term interests of the team. If we can get two good prospects for Sweeney (and I don't think we can at this point) we should definitely trade him. Billy Butler will be a big leaguer by 2007.

[kcdcchef]

Sometimes PR should take a back seat to best long term interests of the team. If we can get two good prospects for Sweeney (and I don't think we can at this point) we should definitely trade him. Billy Butler will be a big leaguer by 2007.

thank god all you pessemists do not run the royals. THANK GOD.

[KCMax]

What's pessimistic about thinking Billy Butler is going to be a stud?

[kcdcchef]

What's pessimistic about thinking Billy Butler is going to be a stud?

the pessimism, or apathy, is about a 5 time all star who likes kansas city and even as an oft injured player, still hits .300, with 80-85 rbi's, and gives a 100%. why lose that for prospects? you think if mintky re-establishes himself this year, or if ellarton wins double digits the next 2 years, affeldt wins 15 this year and next, you think those guys stay? hell no. they leave. sweeney, loves kc, and we need to keep him. if nothing else, he gives us a player who you refuse to miss his at bats, because you know he is our best bet to do something.

[StL_Dan]

The Royals finally implemented ticket scanners?  That's a good thing.

I hated tearing/sorting/rubberbanding/counting those stupid things.

[KCMax]

Its not pessimism. Its maximizing your resources. Mike Sweeney cannot make this a .500 team on his own. If we can turn him into 2-3 good players, we're a lot closer to being a good team than we are with just Sweeney.

Plus, on the next good Royals team (hopefully 2008 or 2009) Sweeney will be a very old, expensive DH. That's not the kind of player a team with limited resources should be allocating its money towards. I'm not being pessimistic about him aging - just realistic. Everyone gets old, and when they do, they tend to get worse. Its not his fault.

I know he's a great guy, popular player, but sometimes you have to stand back and look at the bigger picture.

[shinatoo]

the pessimism, or apathy, is about a 5 time all star who likes kansas city and even as an oft injured player, still hits .300, with 80-85 rbi's, and gives a 100%. why lose that for prospects? you think if mintky re-establishes himself this year, or if ellarton wins double digits the next 2 years, affeldt wins 15 this year and next, you think those guys stay? hell no. they leave. sweeney, loves kc, and we need to keep him. if nothing else, he gives us a player who you refuse to miss his at bats, because you know he is our best bet to do something.

The only reason Sweeney is a five time all star is because every team is required to have a representive. He has never been voted as an allstar. Please quit using that as plus for Sweeney.

[kcdcchef]

The only reason Sweeney is a five time all star is because every team is required to have a representive. He has never been voted as an allstar. Please quit using that as plus for Sweeney.

yeah, certainly the fact that at the all star break almost every year the guy is in the top 10 in rbis, avg, hits, has nothing to do with it.

please.

[shinatoo]

yeah, certainly the fact that at the all star break almost every year the guy is in the top 10 in rbis, avg, hits, has nothing to do with it.

please.

Address the facts. He has never been voted to an allstar game. Prove me wrong.

Or get ready for the "Black Knight" designation once again.

[lock+load]

Address the facts. He has never been voted to an allstar game. Prove me wrong.

Or get ready for the "Black Knight" designation once again.

But, but, but, but ..............

[LenexatoKCMO]

You don't get hall of fame votes for being the "face" of the most irrelevant team in baseball.