This is what makes it so hard for a baseball fan. 122 games left in the season and no shot at the playoffs. Baseball is so regionalized that most people do not have a second favorite team or really a national rooting interest. It is disappointing that the Royals couldn't be even close to playing 500 ball at this point. Is there any shot at Bobby Witt Jr winning rookie of the year at least? Not following how other rookie players throughout MLB are doing.
So…..yesterday was rough and it was the only game I watched on a busy weekend. I’ve already spilled my frustrations so no real reason to go over it again. I know you still believe but I’m most frustrated with this window getting pushed out another year. I just don’t see how if you finish worse than last year how you can say your are going to win 20 more games just on the backs on players getting better. Yes, some will get better….but that’s not how it usually works. Some will also digress or age (Salvy, Whit). The offense has been bad…but a path to get better. The starting pitching has been ok but it seems like some things might be starting to get figured out there….now we just need health. Bullpen….that was supposed to be a strength. It’s so damn frustrating to see the Cardinals bring up prospects and more often than not they start off relatively hot before cooling off.
Would love to see a 40 game analysis on the - starters, bullpen, offense, front office from you. Lol
Outstanding article! I have been unhappy with Eldred for a looooong time. Time for the Royals to stop the BS and get some new management/coaches/manager. Does Sherman want a winning team? Do they want fans? Or are they waiting for a possible new stadium and tell us again everything will be fine?
Going to Arizona is just going to make it even more painful that we didn't try to get Brent Strom on the staff. Probably wasn't a super likely scenario to begin with, since I think (?) he wanted to come to Arizona for location/family reasons, but I can still dream.
Thank you for always the voice of the truth David! It's why I've been a subscriber since the beginning! It is so painful to be a Royals fan these days and especially for us diehards. Been a fan since I was 6 years old in 1983 so we've been through a lot. My prediction this year was 77-85 with hope we'd have some of the veterans rebound from down years last year to go along with BWJ and improved pitching staff. That obviously hasn't happened besides Hunter Dozier, but then you have Salvy who has basically struggled from the get go and is now injured. The one positive with the injuries to Mondesi, Salvy, MAT and Santana when he was out is it has basically forced us to play some of the young guys which you know as well as I do wouldn't be happening otherwise. BWJ's struggles has proven why this is so important. Baseball is very hard and to expect all these young guys to come up and have success out of the gate is unrealistic. We need to see these guys, get them experience and get a better idea of who is going to be part of the the next run or where we might need to find an alternative. I'm hoping to see Pasquantino soon whether it's from cutting O'hearn or benching Santana. I'm all about cleaning house with the front office, Matheny and Eldred. It pains me to say that because Dayton seems to be a great human being, but if you take away the name and the personal side out of the equation that guy is getting fired by every other organization in baseball. Keep up the great work David and I'll continue reading/interacting with you from your column or twitter.
Good article, thank you. You pretty much said it all. If Methany is blocking the firing of Eldred, then he should go too. I like your ideal lineup also. One small question and one bigger one.
Small question: why Dozier at 1B and Pasquantino at DH rather than vice versa? Doesn't Pasq need to work on defense? And wouldn't it be better to have him in the field rather than on the bench except for his at bats? Seems to me Dozier is a mediocre first baseman at best.
Bigger question: With the death of Roger Angell, I wondered if he was a baseball writer that was important to you? He certainly was for me in the 80s and 90s.
I have thought for some time that Matheny needs to go as well as the pitching coach. I think the players are hitting better now that the hitting coach was fired. Ned Yost was a terrific manager and it may be difficult finding someone as good as he was. He started out being a bit hard-nosed, but soon figured out that the players cared about winning and was willing to listen to them. It is sad to see so many games the Royals had in the bag this year, but lost due to lousy decisions by management. Part of managing is knowing your team's strengths and weaknesses. Keeping a pitcher in the game when he is fading is just like gambling in Las Vegas--you eventually lose. Let's hope Mr. Sherman (maybe with a little help from his junior partner who knows more than a bit about baseball), can hire some competent leadership to help this team achieve it's potential.
This is what makes it so hard for a baseball fan. 122 games left in the season and no shot at the playoffs. Baseball is so regionalized that most people do not have a second favorite team or really a national rooting interest. It is disappointing that the Royals couldn't be even close to playing 500 ball at this point. Is there any shot at Bobby Witt Jr winning rookie of the year at least? Not following how other rookie players throughout MLB are doing.
So…..yesterday was rough and it was the only game I watched on a busy weekend. I’ve already spilled my frustrations so no real reason to go over it again. I know you still believe but I’m most frustrated with this window getting pushed out another year. I just don’t see how if you finish worse than last year how you can say your are going to win 20 more games just on the backs on players getting better. Yes, some will get better….but that’s not how it usually works. Some will also digress or age (Salvy, Whit). The offense has been bad…but a path to get better. The starting pitching has been ok but it seems like some things might be starting to get figured out there….now we just need health. Bullpen….that was supposed to be a strength. It’s so damn frustrating to see the Cardinals bring up prospects and more often than not they start off relatively hot before cooling off.
Would love to see a 40 game analysis on the - starters, bullpen, offense, front office from you. Lol
Outstanding article! I have been unhappy with Eldred for a looooong time. Time for the Royals to stop the BS and get some new management/coaches/manager. Does Sherman want a winning team? Do they want fans? Or are they waiting for a possible new stadium and tell us again everything will be fine?
For what it's worth, the featured video on royals.com right now is "Pasquantino launches 10th homer"
Just.....................oooof.
Going to Arizona is just going to make it even more painful that we didn't try to get Brent Strom on the staff. Probably wasn't a super likely scenario to begin with, since I think (?) he wanted to come to Arizona for location/family reasons, but I can still dream.
Thank you for always the voice of the truth David! It's why I've been a subscriber since the beginning! It is so painful to be a Royals fan these days and especially for us diehards. Been a fan since I was 6 years old in 1983 so we've been through a lot. My prediction this year was 77-85 with hope we'd have some of the veterans rebound from down years last year to go along with BWJ and improved pitching staff. That obviously hasn't happened besides Hunter Dozier, but then you have Salvy who has basically struggled from the get go and is now injured. The one positive with the injuries to Mondesi, Salvy, MAT and Santana when he was out is it has basically forced us to play some of the young guys which you know as well as I do wouldn't be happening otherwise. BWJ's struggles has proven why this is so important. Baseball is very hard and to expect all these young guys to come up and have success out of the gate is unrealistic. We need to see these guys, get them experience and get a better idea of who is going to be part of the the next run or where we might need to find an alternative. I'm hoping to see Pasquantino soon whether it's from cutting O'hearn or benching Santana. I'm all about cleaning house with the front office, Matheny and Eldred. It pains me to say that because Dayton seems to be a great human being, but if you take away the name and the personal side out of the equation that guy is getting fired by every other organization in baseball. Keep up the great work David and I'll continue reading/interacting with you from your column or twitter.
Good article, thank you. You pretty much said it all. If Methany is blocking the firing of Eldred, then he should go too. I like your ideal lineup also. One small question and one bigger one.
Small question: why Dozier at 1B and Pasquantino at DH rather than vice versa? Doesn't Pasq need to work on defense? And wouldn't it be better to have him in the field rather than on the bench except for his at bats? Seems to me Dozier is a mediocre first baseman at best.
Bigger question: With the death of Roger Angell, I wondered if he was a baseball writer that was important to you? He certainly was for me in the 80s and 90s.
I have thought for some time that Matheny needs to go as well as the pitching coach. I think the players are hitting better now that the hitting coach was fired. Ned Yost was a terrific manager and it may be difficult finding someone as good as he was. He started out being a bit hard-nosed, but soon figured out that the players cared about winning and was willing to listen to them. It is sad to see so many games the Royals had in the bag this year, but lost due to lousy decisions by management. Part of managing is knowing your team's strengths and weaknesses. Keeping a pitcher in the game when he is fading is just like gambling in Las Vegas--you eventually lose. Let's hope Mr. Sherman (maybe with a little help from his junior partner who knows more than a bit about baseball), can hire some competent leadership to help this team achieve it's potential.