How the Royals crush young talent...

[GoRoyals]

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/columnists/joe_posnanski/12561553.htm

This is an interesting article on the current woes of Royals pitcher Zack Greinke and helps explain to outsiders at least one aspect of why the Royals are having such a god-awful season.

[Gooch]

Interesting article.
I'm not a Royals fan, but I think hiring George Brett as GM or director of player personnel would be a good step. The Royals were a first-class organization from the late 1970s through the early 1990s (I think they based their "culture" on the Dodgers). But now they seem lost and hopeless.

[GoRoyals]

Brett would get a lot of attention...

... and he's revered in Kansas City. It would be a good fit. He'd get a longer pass from the media and the fans than most GM's. Bill James (of the famous Baseball Abstract and the book Moneyball) is a Royals fan and it might be interesting to see how his theories pan out on the worst team in baseball. Maybe the Royals can lure him away from the Red Sox, but I don't think that David Glass (the owner) would put up any kind of money for him.

[Gooch]

As I recall, the core of the great 1980s clubs the Royals had consisted of home-grown talent (Brett, Frank White, Saberhagen, Quiz, etc.). But these days as a small-market team, KC will have a tough time holding onto great young players. I don't know what the solution is.

[Steve Jeltz]

As I recall, the core of the great 1980s clubs the Royals had consisted of home-grown talent (Brett, Frank White, Saberhagen, Quiz, etc.). But these days as a small-market team, KC will have a tough time holding onto great young players. I don't know what the solution is.

The solution is an ownership with deep pockets, a commitment to winning and hiring the right personnel to make the baseball decisons. Someboby such as the late Ewing Kauffman. You can win anywhere, regardless of market size, with the above mentioned ingredients.

[Ytown Tribe fan]

The solution can be found in Minnesota and Oakland and Cleveland, all teams with small payrolls and small income-bases.

Your GM has got to go. Period.

I made my home in the KC-South area for about a dozen years, starting in the early '80s, and it goes without saying that the Royals were fun to watch for a good part of that time.

Everyone in the front office deserves DIS-credit for what has happened to that team, including George Brett, who was my favorite baseball player ever.

[Marlins]

If the Royals can get their young talent to start performing then they will be dangerous.

[JamieMc]

George Brett wouldn't leave the life he has now (basic retirement and not doing much of anything) to lead the hectic life of a GM.

Secondly, people always say that Ewing Kauffman would be putting out the big bucks today. There was an article about a year ago in the KC Star that quoted a bunch of people who knew Mr. K and they all said he would not spend money like is being spent today.

[Steve Jeltz]

Kauffman did shell out the bucks for the farm system and a top notch front office, major reasons why the Royals were considered one of the top teams in baseball in the 70's and 80's. Once Kauffman passed away, the Royals went into a swift decline with the estate cutting costs and then David Glass working on the cheap.

The fact remains that Glass must sell and a new GM is desperately needed. This regime is not commited to winning and this regime would prefer to live on the limited revenue sharing in baseball. Until some new owner steps in or the Royals somehow catch lightning in a bottle, 90 plus losses a season will be the norm for K.C. And that is a shame because I remember when K.C. was once among the elite in baseball.

[JamieMc]

But he did not shell out the type of money that it takes to win today. Before he died the Royals had one of the highest saleries in baseball at something like $32 million.

[plask_stirlac]

But he did not shell out the type of money that it takes to win today. Before he died the Royals had one of the highest saleries in baseball at something like $32 million.

Isn't that higher than the Royals' payroll today, after years of salary raises and inflation?

[KingJ]

But he did not shell out the type of money that it takes to win today. Before he died the Royals had one of the highest saleries in baseball at something like $32 million.

The Royals 'roll when Kaufmann died in 1993 was $40.1 mil, or 8th in MLB and 5th in the AL:

1. Blue Jays - $51.9 mil
2. Braves - $47.2
3. Yankees - $46.5
4. Red Sox - $46.1
5. White Sox - $42.1
6. Reds - $41.6
7. Mets - $40.8
8. Royals - $40.1
9. Rangers - $39.9
10. Tigers - $39.0

Ah...such different times those were! Right now, I believe the Royals payroll is 30th in MLBand 13th in the AL. Only ahead of the two Florida teams.

[KCGHOST]

As long as we have a Bag of Hammers filling the GM role we have no hope. The farm system is still weak and he blunders every big decision he is given.

[Blackout]

The Royals 'roll when Kaufmann died in 1993 was $40.1 mil, or 8th in MLB and 5th in the AL:

1. Blue Jays - $51.9 mil
2. Braves - $47.2
3. Yankees - $46.5
4. Red Sox - $46.1
5. White Sox - $42.1
6. Reds - $41.6
7. Mets - $40.8
8. Royals - $40.1
9. Rangers - $39.9
10. Tigers - $39.0

Ah...such different times those were! Right now, I believe the Royals payroll is 30th in MLBand 13th in the AL. Only ahead of the two Florida teams.

wow, Arod makes 51.9 million every 2 years

[plask_stirlac]

They're getting greinke ready to have some prime years on the coast? Or maybe in Toronto.