I am a big Kila Ka’aihue fan and I am also a big fantasy player. Do you see the Royals ever giving this guy a legit chance. We all know Butler can’t actually field, so what is the hold up on the man with the greatest Homerun name…Kila?

With the Alex Gordon injury, Kila Ka’aihue may make the 25 man opening day roster. Which 15 hitters would you like to see the Royals break camp with? I think the 13 players listed below should make the opening day roster. Mitch Maier, Brian Anderson, and Willie Bloomquist should battle for the two remaining spots. One of the survivors or Ka’aihue would be sent down when Gordon is activated.

C Jason Kendall
C Brayan Pena
1B Billy Butler
1B Kila Ka’aihue
2B Chris Getz
2B Alberto Callaspo
SS Mike Aviles
SS Yuniesky Betancourt
3B Josh Fields
LF Scott Podsednik
CF Rick Ankiel
RF David DeJesus
DH Jose Guillen

Heading into the 2002 season, Sweeney was on an absolute – and historic – tear at the plate.  It had taken him nearly four years to become a regular fixture in the KC lineup, but once that happened in 1999, the numbers were untouchable.  Over the next three years and 456 games, Sweeney but up a collective line of .320/390/.528 while averaging 27 homers, 115 RBI, and 101 runs scored.  Most of baseball was ready to give the first baseman his pick of the numbers when it would come to free agency following the ‘02 campaign.

Instead, Royal fans received one of the biggest surprises of the decade (and, for once, it was a good kind of surprise) when GM Allard Baird announced in late-March that Sweeney had signed his name to a 5-year, $55-million deal.  The deal included an out-clause after four seasons if the Royals franchise failed to finish over .500 in any season between ‘02-’05 (the surprise of ‘03 would render the issue moot).  This was one of the few cases where it seemed that the star player really did care about the community he was playing in, wished to stay there, and wanted to build a winner.  All in all, it was another example of why Sweeney has been the greatest Royal of the past 25 years.

Sweeney still pummeled the ball in ‘02 finishing with a .340 batting average, 24 HRs, and 86 RBI’s in just 126 games.  That final number is the most important, though.  For the first time in his career, Sweeney had to spend time on the DL.  After averaging 152 games of play from ‘99-’01, Sweeney managed less than 100 games per year from ‘02-’07.  By the end of the deal, he was an overpaid, injury-prone, has-been.  Many fans whispered about steroid usage and boo’s started to rain down from the K’s upper deck.

But, there was never any doubt here that Sweeney wanted to be out on the field.  He loved to put on the Royal uniform.  And, he wanted to turn things around.  It never happened.  But, for however badly it turned out,  Sweeney’s re-signing with KC in the Spring of 2002 was a rarity for the franchise.  A shining light in otherwise very dreary decade.

One Royal Weiner in the Face Comin’ Right Up

It appears that Sluggerrr is akin to John Bale when it comes to hitting a target with a thrown projectile.  Plaintiff John Coomer has filed a Jackson County lawsuit alleging that our favorite carpeted King of the Jungle smacked him in the face with a soggy hot dog.  And, instead of celebrating the fact that he just saved $3.25 at the concession stand, Coomer has the audacity to sue the Royals for 25K!

You’re probably now wondering what possible issues could arise when you’re hit in the mug by a sodium-packed weiner-shaped meat that consists  of surplus animal parts claimed off a butcher’s blood-soaked floor?  Well, Coomer claims that he suffered a detached retina and is now in the process of developing cataracts.

In addition to the fact that the Royals are doing you a service by eliminating your ability to watch them play, Coomer’s law suit seems to be just a tad fallacious.  Seriously, the team can’t even make money by having folks come watch them play.  Why should a fan make money by going to a game?

Let’s make this simple — If a judge finds in a favor of this law suit, the court costs, penalties, and lawyer fees will likely keep KC from signing Atlee Hammaker this spring.  That’s a risk that I’m unwilling to take and is reason enough for us to begin a fund-raising petition to defeat Defendent Coomer and his ridiculous assertions.

After a Brewers-Royals game in Kansas City, I yelled out to him as he walked to his car. I yelled, “You are on my Rotisserie team.” This was before the popularity of fantasy baseball exploded. I expected him to ignore me or to wonder what the heck I was talking about. He replied, “How am I doing for you?” He was doing great, and I appreciated his humble, friendly response. He is a great analyst on MLB, and he is a very underrated pitcher. Who would you guess is the career leader in saves for the Milwaukee Brewers? Many people might guess Rollie Fingers. Plesac is the leader with 133. Fingers had 97. Plesac is also Milwaukee’s best when it comes to career E.R.A. (3.21). Thanks for your support of the Royals last year, Dan. You were not alone. I remember someone said the Royals were the best team in baseball on the days Zack Greinke pitched. This year, I think the Royals will give Greinke just enough support to make him a 20 game winner.

Glass had all manner of successful moments when in charge of our favorite low, low, low, still lower-priced shopping center.  He sheparded the idea and creation of both Super Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club, all the while introducing us to the wonder and need of a single 924 oz. of Miracle Whip.  Over a dozen years under his direction, Wal-Mart went from revenues of $16 billion to $165 billion.  Surely, he was going to give George Steinbrenner a run for his money, right?

Unfortunately, going cheap, marketing to the lowest common denominator, developing yellow-faced mascots, and making a living off of blue-light specials didn’t work so well in the world of major league baseball.  Since arriving in 2000, Glass’s Royals have lost 276 more games than they have won.  Amazingly, after all the success he found with taking advantage of Latin American workers at Wal-Mart, Glass invested less money than any other team in baseball when it came  to finding talent in Latin American.  There’s been more time spent lamenting the “small market” inferiority of KC instead of focusing on what made small spenders  in Minneapolis, Miami, and Oakland, relative success stories over the past 10 years.

There has been a turning of the leave lately (much more money invested in Latin America, the payroll, the stadium, scouting, etc.), but overall, this ownership has been a failure from the day it was announced in 2000.  Oh, wait, I failed to mention the two legitimate successes of the Glass Reign — and, the two that matter the most to Glass — Since 2002, Kansas City has been receiving about $50-million every single year thanks to MLB’s revenue sharing formula.  Plus, Glass’s team is now worth $314-million.  He bought it for less than a hundred in 2000.

1.  Billy Butler made tremendous progress in his development last year hitting .301 with 21 HR and 93 RBI.  Do you see him taking his game to the next level in 2010 and if so, what kind of stats are you projecting?

I do see Billy Butler improving in 2010.  Butler will turn 24 on April 18th.  He has his best years ahead of him.  I like his .492 slugging percentage.  He hit 18 HRs in 83 AAA games.  I project Butler to hit .300 with 30 HR and 110 RBI in 2010.

2.  Better ethnic nickname:  Joakim Soria : The Mexecutioner or Alexei Ramirez: The Cuban Missile?

The Cuban Missile is catchier.  We just hope there is a Cuban Missile crisis when the Sox play the Royals.

3.  After Zack Greinke, your rotation seems a little shakey with Gil Meche, Brian Bannister, Luke Hochevar and Kyle Davies.  Do you see any of them stepping up this year and if not, do you see the Royals doing anything this year to improve their pitching?

I would like to see Meche and Bannister turn the clock back to 2007, and I think they can.  Meche was an All-Star, and Bannister was third in the voting for American League Rookie of the Year.  I would like to see Robinson Tejada and Juan Cruz get a chance to compete for the #4 and #5 spots in the rotation.  The career ERAs for Hochevar (5.88) and Davies (5.54) are scary.  It is likely that the player with the second lowest career ERA on the Royals opening 25 Man roster will be Rick Ankiel (3.90).  Have we considered having a pitching coach watch him throw a bullpen session or two?

4.  Alex Gordon was supposed to be a cornerstone of your team but has failed to live up to the hype.  Is the general consesus that he is too injury prone and therefore a bust, or are you still holding out hope that he can string together a few full successful seasons?

I always hold out hope.  If I played poker like I root for the Royals, I would draw to an inside straight too often.   Some day, Gordon will be our every day 3B and hit for a high average.  For 2010,  I would platoon Gordon with Josh Fields at 3B.  Fields kills lefties, and Gordon can’t hit them. 

5.  If the Flash were to retire and pass off his red leotard, who would rock it with more style and make for a better superhero, Juan Pierre or Scott Podsednik?

I would pick Pierre.  I think a superhero should have a higher success rate of stealing bases than 70%.  Podsednik stole 30 bases in 2009, but he was caught 13 times.

6.  Do you think the Royals would have been better off spending their money on a better middle infield than on the world’s largest HD scoreboard that you have at your stadium?

At least, we can stay we are first in something.  I don’t think our middle infield is a weakness.  I hope we start Callaspo over Getz at 2B.  Getz has more speed and a better glove.  On the heels of criticizing Podsednik’s caught stealing numbers, I applaud Getz for stealing 25 out of 27 bases last year.   Callaspo’s 2009 OPS (.813) is much better than Getz’s (.670).  I like SS Mike Aviles.  If he can repeat that OPS of 2008 (.839), we will be happy with our middle infield.  If he hits .183 like he did in 2009, we might try to trade a jumbotron to be named later for a quality SS.

Knowing that our projected starting OF is LF Scott Podsednik, CF Rick Ankiel, and RF David DeJesus makes me miss Mark Teahen.   Podsednik and DeJesus have better range in CF and have higher fielding percentages in CF than Ankiel.  DeJesus has started only 16 career games in RF.  Jose Guillen has started 1,151 career games in RF.  The Royals must see Guillen as a DH only now.  I would have preferred an OF of LF Podsednik, CF DeJesus, RF Teahen.  It may work to have three outfielders who are capable of playing CF patrolling Kaufman Stadium for us in 2010.

Two things helped me get over the Mark Teahen trade.

First, my friend Mark Penny pointed out that not many players as unproductive as Teahen get as much playing time as he did in 2009.   He’s right.  Very few players with more than Teahen’s 524 at bats in 2009 had an OPS  lower than his .734.

Second, I looked at Josh Fields’ career numbers against LHP.  Fields has a .580 slugging percentage with a .937 OPS against LHP.  Fields should hit fourth in the Royals line-up against LHP.  A Fields-Alex Gordon platoon should work well.

That home run helped the Royals finally beat the hated Yankees in the playoffs after losing to them in 1976, 1977, and 1978.  My Dad had been promising for a long time that he would buy the family a VCR if the Royals ever made it to the World Series.  This was back in the day when VCRs were very expensive.  I think we were at the store before George Brett’s home run blast off Rich “Goose” Gossage landed in the stands.

She said, “I can tell you are a baseball fan.  I am leaving.  You can stay as long as you want.  Just lock the gate when you leave.”  We had the keys and the stadium all to ourselves.  What a great day.  I took it as a wonderful compliment that she could tell I was a baseball fan.

The ones who don’t rely on “media training” courtesy of their club or agent always prove to be the go-to guys for postgame sound.  During most of the century’s first decade, that go-to guy was Mike Sweeney.  He seemed sincere.  He could string togehter coherant thoughts without littering his sentence structure with the word “like.”  Plus, he was worth a damn on the diamond … again, so unlike many of his teammates.

It is with this in mind that we land at the #7 Moment of the decade – Sweeney vs. Weaver.

I left the clubhouse on the evening of August 9th thinking to myself that Sweeney was just about the coolest professional ball player going.  He’d talk to anyone … no matter how unknown or how small.  Sure, it was probably just a put-on, but in talking to those who regularly covered the team, Sweeney was the real deal.  He embraced his role as the statesman of the team.  He understood that golden rule of being a human being.  Plus, did I mention that he was actually worth a damn when on the field of the play?

All of this made the events of August 10th, 2001, more alarming.  With Detroit’s Jeff Weaver on the hill, Sweeney called for time and asked the home plate umpire to have the pitcher remove the rosin bag from the top of the mound.  Weaver muttered into his mitt and Sweeney absolutely lost it, juking the ump, hurling his helmet at Weaver, attacking the pitcher like a rabid wolverine, and delivering a myriad of solid punches to the body of Weaver.  Of course, this set off a massive bench-clearing brawl …

http://www.cylive.com/content/22844/Mike_Sweeney_and_Jeff_Weaver_Slug_it_Out

Yes, perhaps the nicest guy in the game went positively bonkers over … what?

“Webster never put in his dictionary,” what Weaver growled into his glove, Sweeney said after the game.  The team’s leader also said that Weaver had rubbed him the wrong way by criticizing some of KC’s younger players and also calling Sweeney’s love of faith into question.

This outburst sticks with me to this day.  It’s a classic baseball moment and the punches were delivered with such velocity, that Sweeney missed the next five games with a bruised hand.  Hell, it’s the one moment in the past decade when you could sit there as a Royals fan and say, “Damn, these guys are fighting and showing some heart!  I’ll fork over some money as they continue to battle and make their way back to respectability.”

There may have been better moments in the past 10 years … according to this countdown, there are six better … but no moment is more etched in the mind.  The good guy gone bad … it’s not what Mike Sweeney wants to be remembered for, but then again, who gets to write their own obituary?