Lucking into good decisions...

So, with the "injury" to Grienke, we are going to start Affeldt and Bautista. I'm quite happy about this, Affeldt in particular. I feel he still has a chance to develop and we just need to give him the opportunity. Being rushed to the majors is tough, and I think it is particularly tough on pitchers who get here early and fair poorly. If they lose their confidence, they need the chance to regain it.

Anyway, I've wanted to draft one of them in a fantasy draft, but I can't justify having either on one of my teams. Sad huh.

Regarding the waiver claim for Graffinino, it sucks. We should have kept McEwing and saved the money. Spending an extra million is just a waste here.

Irrational pulls

Tony Graffanino was just claimed off waivers by the Royals from the Red Sox.

This reminds me of fantasy baseball, and how many owners seem to have an irrational attraction to former players. Ignoring all conventional wisdom and making the play for an over the hill player who once had a good game or two.

Perhaps Baird is a fantasy owner at heart, but one with a bad strategy. (collect mediocre players til the team is saturated with them).

Next thing you know, we'll see Jose Lima again.

Royal Blue Hope....

Here's an article about having hope that the Royals could win it all.

whatever.

Royal Pain

First potential Ace, Mark Redman goes down and has to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery, and now the incumbent closer (who apparently can put down a mean pie of pizza), Mike MacDougal strains his terres major muscle under his shoulder so he'll miss at least the first month of the season.

Early reports are that Buddy Bell has named Ambiorix (is the x silent?) Burgos the new closer.

Greinke still MIA

So, props to the Chefs for resigning Will Shields, guaranteeing that he spend his entire career with the Chiefs. However, a big raspberry to them for not signing anyone else, especially Rocky Bernard. Having watched him some up here, I think he would have been a great addition.

Now, down to business. Grienke, the hallmark player development example for the Royals, is still missing. This sucks for the Royals as well as Grienke. Having had the chance to talk to a few people, there is belief that the "personal reasons" are psychological in nature. Hopefully, he can get his issues and be reincorporated back into the clubhouse without too much trouble. I had previously thought he was a punk, but if it really is a more serious problem, I just hope he figures out a treatment.

DeJesus signed long-term....

So, while watching the feeding frenzy that is NFL free agency after the new CBA (with 7.5M of extra room), I noticed that David DeJesus signed a long-term deal. It is 5 years and 13.5M, buying out his first year of arbitration-eligible years. Not a bad move at all. Even the club option at 6.5M is pretty reasonable.

Allard should still be fired.

Scott Elarton, Opening Day Starter

The great Royals manager, Buddy Bell, has named Scott Elarton the Opening Day starter

6 years ago, this guy was a frontline pitcher in waiting. Unfortunately, a stint through Colorado derailed his career. A move to Cleveland seems to have cleansed him of the bad habits he picked up in Colorado.

In any case, with Redman hurt, this was probably the right choice.

Chefs in a world of hurt....

With no eleventh hour CBA in sight, the Chefs are screwed. They are one of the top 3 teams over the salary cap. Carl has stated at least 6 players will have to restructure their contracts to get under the cap. We don't want to just get under the cap. We want to have room to sign all the bargains that should be available. Facing the possibility of an uncapped year, we should really be looking to sign players to 3-4 year contracts and lock in our costs.

But alas, we are way over the cap and thus going to be scraping by to make it.

So, one might wonder why teams like the Eagles and others are successful on the field while being under the cap. Good question. The key is that they draft well. Finding good draft picks or unsigned free agents make a huge difference. And I'm not talking about first round picks. The key is finding mid-round picks that can contribute quickly at bargain rates.

More so than baseball (players take too long to develop) and basketball (only 2 rounds), football finances are driven by the draft. If you suck, you either get really good at signing cheap free agents or you really hurt against the cap.

Herm better be a really good coach or else it will be a long year. (yeah, yeah JD, i know his track record with the Jets.)