The Royals stand at 43-53 heading into the All-Star break, their second-best record put up at the year's half in the last 15 years (51-41 in 2003). The main question put into Dayton Moore's hands is whether to buy or sell.
No, this isn't the TV show Around the Horn, but similar topics will be discussed.
The bottom line is that the Royals are not going to contend this year. No way. Standing 10 games under .500 and 12 games back in the division puts forth no hope in contention.
And that is not a shock to anyone. KC wasn't expected to push the other teams for the AL Central crown. Not now. If anything, I look at this season as being on the right path to improving and striding to be Division Champs. They're on their way.
However, this team is not there yet, and they are lacking players in crucial areas. KC has scored 397 runs so far this year, which are more runs than only five other teams in the league.
The Royals need a big thumper in the lineup to give them some protection to, not only Guillen (which is no doubt the team's midseason MVP), but to developing young hitters in Alex Gordon and Billy Butler.
- B/R Ticket Guide
As for Guillen, I couldn't be happier with his performance. The guy carried this team through a solid three weeks in May, is fourth in the AL with 65 RBI, and provides the only every-at-bat threat to go yard.
I was out at the last game before the All-Star break (yes, the disastrous ninth inning) and couldn't stand to hear the "boo's" and "jeers" towards Guillen when he didn't hustle down the line on a ground out in the sixth. He is our best player, get off his back.
Back to the "Buy or Sell" discussion: The Royals are a few good players short of contending in the AL Central. They should definitely be buying players instead of selling away their talent.
Hitters
Matt Holliday and Richie Sexson. Holliday is an up-and-coming experienced hitter who posted a .337 average with 14 homers and 51 RBI at the break. He can play.
Richie Sexson (first baseman who was recently released by the Mariners, more because of "bad attitude" than his anemia on the field) is a proven power guy. Six times in his career he has hit more than 25 home runs and drove in at least 100 runs in a season.
Would he be a good fit at first base, especially to replace Ross Gload who is on a blistering pace to hit maybe three homers this year? We'll see. Don't get me wrong, Gload is a great team player and has been hot as of late, but he is not the future and is not a Richie Sexson power guy.
Pitching
The pitching staff is well equipped with a young rotation and future stars in Greinke, Hochevar, and Soria. Also, Ron Mahay has been superb in the bullpen. Look for John Bale and Leo Nunez to come back from injuries and take the spots of Jimmy Gobble and Joel Peralta, two players who have not pitched well all year.
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4 months ago
LOL is this a satire??? You are 10 games below .500! The Royals have NO infield. Try getting a SS, 2B, 1B and another pitcher. Then you can talk about being a contender.
Oh yeah, and LOL!
4 months ago
Yea, sure Holliday would be great for the Royals lineup, but who are you gonna give up for him? im not really familiar with the royals system but im pretty sure hochevar would be a name brought up, along with others.
Sexon? HA. Im a mariners fan, sure he had some great years to start his contract, but since the beggining of last year he's been hovering around the mendoza line. It wasnt about his "bad attitutude" he was just upset because he was riding the bench for a while. The mariners would have kept him if he was hanging in there and willing to sit for a while until he got better, but the mariners had been very patient with him, and since he wasnt showing the same patience, they let him go. Anyways the Yankees picked him up. Good luck going for Holliday, you'll need it.
4 months ago
Alex.. look at your comment and then the TITLE of the article
3 months ago
Lol thanks sean, you can't see everthing. Ok first off Mike Aviles is solid fit for this royals team at SS. He's batting .313 and can make all the plays that Tony Pena Jr. made. His bat is well worth it. As for 2B, Grudz is hitting .308, but is pushing 39 years old and has showed little to no ability to drive in runs. Butler should and hopefully will be the starter at 1B for many years to come. If Hillman would have just thrown him out there and left him there for 200 games or so he would have been fine. That's exactly what they did with Gordon last year, so they need to give Billy the chance.
The rest of this year is nothing but a time to figure out our starting rotation (Greinke, Meche, and Hochevar are locks to me-and Bannister, Davies are candidates, but i agree, we need another starting pitcher), find out if Butler can play first, and solidify the bullpen.
Now that the Rockies are finally starting to play and the Royals are nowhere near contention this year, I would scratch out any hope of Holliday. And Sexson, well he's played six games with the Yanks and hit two homers. I'd take that.
3 months ago
I'd take 2 out of 6 games too, but it's because he's only brought on to hit lefties, right handed pitching is the reason why he's so horrible this year. He would be great in a platoon role but the M's didnt want to keep him around just for that.
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