Friday, April 29, 2005

Jason White

Yeah. I saw that we are working him out. Note importantly though we haven't signed him to a contract. What I read was that everyone is scared off by his knees - "an injury settlement waiting to happen".

I think he's definitely worth a shot and am glad we invited him. I'll be eager to hear how the rookie minicamp went today and this weekend.

Hopefully some of the new free agents show too. I'd like to hear how Kendell Bell is moving.

Monday, April 25, 2005

Defensive-minded...

Yes, the Chiefs have made a firm statement that they are defensive minded. And the Royals have just given indications of being absent-minded. Jose would fit right in with our OF crew.

Matt, I definitely agree the Chiefs have had a great off-season. Perhaps the best one since signing Priest as a free agent. I am eager to see how all the pieces for the Chiefs fit together, but I'll withhold judgement until then. You're also correct that this is our last shot for a while too.

One thing I am sure of though, is that Carl Peterson must go. This year should be his last too. His comment: “I haven't had any letters from outside of that — if you want to say — sphere of what I consider real Kansas City Chiefs fans,” Peterson said Wednesday, “because they step up each year and put their money down and say, ‘I'm here to see the Chiefs.' ” basically sums up that as long as Arrowhead stays full and the Chiefs make money, he considers himself to be doing a good job. He has gotten comfortable and arrogant in his power. He is content with packing the stands full of rabid fans. We need a young talent evaluator and administrator who bears none of the arrogance and complacency that Carl exhibits. Someone who views success as picking out stones in a Super Bowl ring.

My vote? Get someone from Baltimore or Arizona. Phil Savage has already been stolen from Baltimore, but maybe there is still someone worth hiring there. Balt always kicks butt in the draft. If not for TO's whining, Balt may have been a super bowl team last year. As for Arizona, Denny Green has had a couple great drafts, did wonders at Minn, and his team is up and coming. I'd love to pick off someone from this org.

Sunday, April 24, 2005

Derrick Johnson articles...

I'm still not sure who I wanted more, Thomas Davis (faster, big-time hitter) or Derrick Johnson, but I guess it doesn't matter.

Derrick Johnson (profile from nfl.com)

AGILITY
4.55 in the 40-yard dash … 345-pound bench press … 495-pound squat … 315-pound power clean … 32½-inch vertical jump … 9-foot-10 broad jump … 32-inch arms … 9½-inch hands.

ANALYSIS

Johnson is a natural leader with exceptional quickness and is regarded as one of the finest pass defenders to ever play linebacker in the collegiate ranks. He has good size, but needs to dedicate more hours to the weight room; he lacks strength on his lanky frame. This is Johnson's major weakness; he does not show enough power to shed blocks and gets washed out on plays when working in-line. He also needs to use his hands better; he leaves himself too exposed, resulting in the blockers getting into his chest to lock on and sustain. Johnson did add bulk before the 2004 season, but the added weight did not affect his exceptional quickness.

He is best when making plays on the move, but can get a little bit out of control, resulting in over-running plays. Still, he is a natural playmaker who can make plays anywhere on the field. Johnson has excellent instincts in pass coverage, coming out of his backpedal quickly to stay on the hip of the receiver. He gets excellent depth in his pass drops and sees the play develop quickly. Johnson has excellent hands for the interception and shows an explosive burst to elude. He has a very strong work ethic and a motor that never quits. Johnson excels at making proper reads and has that sudden burst to get to the play almost instantly. Johnson's ability to take proper angles to the ball cuts down on the route he must take to disrupt the play.

Johnson is more of a drag-down tackler than one who will collide on impact. He is very effective rerouting the tight ends in the short area and shows excellent avoidance skills when penetrating the backfield off the edge. Johnson has good hip snap and change-of-direction agility to pursue the action on the outside. He closes with a sudden burst and is very effective to wrap and drag down the ball carrier. He gets a good jump on the ball, easily recognizing formations and blocking schemes.

Despite his lack of ideal strength, Johnson is a good outside run defender who plays with leverage and speed to cut off the ball carrier. His lateral pursuit is evident; he consistently avoids trash and the cut block to make the tackle in space. His zone drops are excellent; he shows more than enough flexibility to gain position. While he will play the receiver mostly, Johnson also does well at reacting to the ball in flight. He has the foot speed to stay with most backs and receivers in long-passing situations and is very effective using his hands to reroute and control tight ends in the short area.

He shows a strong desire to get the sack and very good explosion shooting the gaps. Whether working in-line or outside the box, he shows above-average ability to break down and wrap, and a superb burst of speed coming off the edge as a pass rusher. Johnson will struggle with plays run directly at him; he lacks the lower-body power to face up, stack and control the bigger blockers. He loses leverage at the point of attack vs. the offensive guards working in-line, but has good rip, swim and club moves to get an edge on the shoulder of the offensive tackles coming from the outside.

Once he gets heavily involved in a good weight-training program, he will be a steady playmaker at the next level. With his instincts, pass-defense skills and quickness, he will be perfectly suited to roam the field as a weak-side outside linebacker. His ability to drop back and settle into the zone soon will see him rival Miami's Zach Thomas for the right to be called the best pass defender among linebackers at the NFL level.

Here are a couple articles about him from nfl.com.

Little background story
http://www.nfl.com/draft/story/8379026

Interview after UT Pro Day
http://www.nfl.com/draft/story/8320534

Note, at the combines in 2000, Urlacher measured out at: At 6-3 3/4, 258 pounds, he ran about a 4.62 40-time. (4.48 at other locations.)

Oh yeah. In the 3rd round, I had hoped Blackstock would fall to us.

Friday, April 22, 2005

Thomas Davis...

Oh yeah. What do people think about taking Davis and moving him to linebacker? He did play some at Georgia.

Check out his bio: (from nfl.com)
1. Thomas Davis, Georgia (6-1, 230)
Played running back, quarterback, wide receiver, defensive end and returned kicks in high school, while also playing baseball and running track. Qualified for the state meet in the 100 meters. Redshirted in 2001 at Georgia and started four games in 2002 at both free safety and strongside linebacker. Started 14 games in 2003 at free safety. He worked as a linebacker in spring practice before returning to safety for the 2004 season and started 11 games, missing one with an injury. Led the team in tackles that year. He is a player that will punish people when making a tackle. Plays hard on every play no matter what the score is. A very good blitzer, very good against the run and can surprise people when covering tight ends. May lack great range for the safety position, which could make Davis a possible linebacker candidate for the NFL. He will be a very good player.

Pro Day results: Davis (6-0¾, 227) ran his 40s in 4.43 and 4.44. He had a 9-foot-10 long jump and 12 reps. Scouts worked him at safety and at linebacker, and the consensus is that he will remain at safety in the NFL.

Certain about Surtain?

Ok, so apologies as I've been trying firefight at work. I have quite a queue of comments, but the recent announcement of the Surtain trade was too hot not to comment on. I hate giving up our 2nd round pick, but after reviewing past Chiefs drafts with Monte and Matt, I am a fan of the deal. Carl has many flaws and has outstayed his welcome, but this is a good deal.

Surtain is certainly better than Phillip Buchanon (pbuck for you black hole residents) and I guess the price had been set. Now with him in the fold, the rest of the cornerback corp seems acceptable. I chomped at the bit when we didn't sign herndon, lucas or some of the other free agents, but holding out for a #1 corner rather than a #2 is the right move.

Heh. I guess I'll have to scrap my post about how I am hating being in Seattle and hearing how they keep signing guys as the Chiefs move slowly. I mean, with the Raiders and Broncos both making bold and smart moves, we were losing ground by standing still. (Carl, why weren't you calling Gibbs and Snyder?!!! The redskins 1st Rd pick for next year! That is very likely to be a high pick. Sigh.)

Anyway, at this point, I'm not sure what I want to see. If Johnson is there, we take him. I'm w/ Matt. A stud LB would be fantastic. But if not, I wouldn't mind trading back and picking up a 3rd or 4th rd pick. Given Carl's miss rate in the draft, especially first round picks, I'd rather give him a few more lottery tickets. The best option would to be trading one of our safeties for first-day picks.

Royals sidenote: WTF is up w/ Brian Anderson? I thought he was going to have a better year. He is killing his trade value. At least Sisco is pitching well. Note, he is definitely out-performing the guy AZ selected before him in the Rule 5 Draft.

Sunday, April 17, 2005

Royals have the same record as Yankees...

Who would have guessed.

Friday, April 08, 2005

Cynicism from the Northwest

So much to talk about, so little hope. ;)

There is much to talk about regarding the Royals, but let's take a brief moment to discuss Kansas City's favorite team, the Chiefs. It looks like Gunther is drawing upon his brief hiatus away from the red and gold to pull in some talent. Like Denver raiding the Browns, we appear to be raiding the cap-strapped Titans. The three signings are Carlos Hall, Darren Hill, and just today Robert Holcombe. It remains to be seen how these moves will work out, but let's make some early evaluations.

Carlos Hall: This is the most exciting of the three signings. We also gave up the most. For one of our 5th round picks, we got a young defensive lineman with 3 years of starting experience. However, he doesn't appear to have been very productive as a Titan. Given that the Broncos had to ante up Droughns, a proven running back in a depressed running back market, to get 1.5 youngish defensive linemen, i'm ok with this trade. We need to win now, and hopefully Hall is ready to break out. I'll trust that Gunther knows what he is getting. -- This is a solid move for the Titans. Parlaying a 2002 7th round pick into into a starting lineman for a few years and then getting a 5th round pick as the rookie's deal expires.

Darren Hill: Another '02 7th round pick by Tennessee, he appears to be a special teamer. Given that we have quite a few low round draft picks (2 5th, 2 6th, and 2 7th), I'm not sure about this signing. Unless he is a modern day equivalent to Steve Tasker, I am afraid that he may keep one of draft picks from making the team. Ideally, I'd like to see us pick wisely and turn these late round picks into higher round picks. Net, if he is slightly better than someone we draft and we have to cut them, bad signing. Otherwise, I'm ok but not thrilled.

Robert Holcombe: I have watched Holcombe since he was drafted by the Rams. Not much exciting here, as he's just a backup to TRich.

More on the Chiefs draft later, now back to the Royals.
After our terrible pasting by Detroit on Opening Day, we won yesterday and then came back to lose the series today. Notably, we didn't have Pickering in today. Unsurprisingly, our lineup of Sweeney and the 8 dwarfs lost handily. What was both surprising and alarming is that Greinke took a line drive off his forearm. Hopefully, he is ok.

What's more, TLong got caught stealing today. Yes, that means in 3 games, we have been caught stealing 3 times vs. 0 successes. Ouch. That's right, we aren't even good at small ball.

Yes Matt, we may be young. But that may be all we have going for us.

That said, I was pleasantly surprised to see Emil Brown had hit a home run. He was my favorite player in Spring Training this year. Like Pickering and Richie Thompson last year, I irrationally started liking him. In Emil's case, it was his stubborn approach that resulted in consistently good at bats and a home run vs. the Mariners. All the numbers state that he won't be much, but who knows, maybe he could surprise. We deserve some karma after gambling on Gonzo last year.

As Rob and Rany try and guess our win total for the end of the year (pythagorean method be damned), lets extrapolate out the number of times we are caught stealing. Currently on pace for 162 times caught stealing, we are leading the majors. Last year, we were caught stealing 48 times, 4th worst in the league. Notably however, our success rate for stealing (58.2%) was 2nd worst in the league. This was with Beltran and his amazing steal percentage. Given Colorado, the last place team, only got caught 33 times, and most teams had a success rate of over 70%, we were the worst running team last year, and look to be even worse this year. My prediction for this year: 68.
Stats from 2004.




























Team SB CS %
Colorado Rockies 44 33 57.14%
Kansas City Royals 67 48 58.26%
Chicago White Sox 78 51 60.47%
Pittsburgh Pirates 63 40 61.17%
Arizona Diamondbacks 53 32 62.35%
Cleveland Indians 94 55 63.09%
Detroit Tigers 86 50 63.24%
San Francisco Giants 43 23 65.15%
Toronto Blue Jays 58 31 65.17%
Texas Rangers 69 36 65.71%
San Diego Padres 52 25 67.53%
Oakland Athletics 47 22 68.12%
Florida Marlins 96 43 69.06%
Boston Red Sox 68 30 69.39%
Chicago Cubs 66 28 70.21%
St. Louis Cardinals 111 47 70.25%
Los Angeles Dodgers 102 41 71.33%
Minnesota Twins 116 46 71.60%
New York Yankees 84 33 71.79%
Seattle Mariners 110 42 72.37%
Atlanta Braves 86 32 72.88%
Montreal Expos 109 >38 74.15%
Houston Astros 89 30 74.79%
Cincinnati Reds 77 25 75.49%
Los Angeles Angels 143 46 75.66%
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 132 42 75.86%
Milwaukee Brewers 138 40 77.53%
Philadelphia Phillies 100 27 78.74%
New York Mets107 23 82.31%

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

Inaugural post

This is the inaugural post of Matt and Wally on the Royals. General venting about Kansas City athletics.