Kansas City Royals

The Kansas City Royals ownership announced this week that GM Allard Baird had been replaced with Dayton Moore, a former assistant GM with the Atlanta Braves. It’s not entirely a surprise, as Royals owner David Glass, disgusted with his team’s performance, had recently indicated that he would soon be making “significant changes”. We can only assume that bringing in a new GM was just the first of those changes, as it certainly won’t be a cure all on its own. In fact, one has to wonder if it will be any kind of improvement at all.
Not to take anything away from Mr. Moore, who, at 39, brings both youth and years of training under the guidance of Atlanta’s renowned GM John Schuerholz to a desperately struggling Kansas City franchise. Given the Braves track record under Schuerholz there is every reason to believe that his protégé will be able to revitalize the Royals roster. Having learned from the master, Moore certainly knows what makes for a successful franchise. The problem isn’t in Moore’s ability but rather in the franchise itself.

Having grown up in the 70’s and 80’s, I was among the many baseball fans who grew up loving George Brett. Brett came to symbolize the Royals franchise and I remember those teams as being proud, talented and even a bit cocky. The task set before Dayton Moore is returning the Royals to their former luster, and it will be no small feat. First off, the Royals face the specter of revenue sharing, or the lack thereof. In a baseball reality where the NY Yankees sport a budget several times larger than their nearest competitor and more than twice the size of the Royals operating budget, merely keeping your head above water becomes nothing short of a Herculean feat.

Aside from the lack of parity, there is the lack of veteran leadership to contend with. With the departure of Carlos Beltran two years ago, the Royals were left with a total lack of star power, a deficiency they have yet to address. When the most recognizable names on your roster are Sanders, Grudzielanek and Mientkiewicz, with all due respect, you know you’re in trouble. Not that those players have been shirking their duties, all have put up decent numbers thus far but decent numbers from second tier veterans is not what drives a competitive team. Moore will have to find that most elusive of prey, a big name willing to take a big risk by signing with a seriously revamping team.

Of course, Moore could always decide to take the route that helped make the Braves so successful and build from within. However, the Royals farm isn’t exactly offering a bushel of riches at this point either. There may be some talent out there, but it is down the road a bit at best. In fact, the first serious step the new GM might want to take is aggressively addressing the up coming draft in order to help build up that farm system. The key, as for any team interested in becoming competitive, is to think pitching, pitching and more pitching. The Royals may well be able to reap a rich harvest, but not without putting in a lot of hard work first.

As for David Glass, his next move may well be to fire manager Buddy Bell. Bell is a nice enough guy, but his track record leaves a lot to be desired. He seems to have a penchant for choosing teams which are going nowhere fast, and he hasn’t had much luck in helping them turn around. If the Royals are to make any progress, some new leadership in the manager’s office may well be as important as new leadership on the field.

The goal of all this reconstruction is to bring fans back to the ballpark, and with this initial announcement, the Royals may have just given their beleaguered fan base some light at the end of the tunnel. It remains to be seen whether the Royals will be able to avert disaster or whether they’ve just given themselves and their fans a new view of the iceberg ahead. Let’s hope, for their sake, that this is one ship which can find a way to right itself.

Since 2001, Redman has played in the majors with Minnesota, Detroit, Florida, Oakland and Pittsburgh. He also had a couple of brief minor league appearances sprinkled in 2001 at Edmonton and Toledo.
This season Redman, a 32-year-old left-hander, is in the Kansas City camp. The Pirates traded him to the Royals from Pittsburgh for two minor leaguers, Jonah Bayliss and Chad Blackwell on Dec. 7. It is the fifth time he has been traded in five years.
“You have an off-season home,” said Redman, who lives in Tulsa. “We don’t buy homes in every city we play with. I’d have a lot of homes if I did.
“When you move around, it means a team wants you. I’m keeping an open mind. I’d like to stick around whether here or somewhere. I can be a free agent after this year, and I’d like to stick around somewhere for three or four years.”
Redman’s journeys have included playing on a bad Tigers’ team in 2002 and winning a World Series ring the next year with the Florida Marlins. He started Game 2 of the World Series and lost to the New York Yankees. The Marlins traded him to the Athletics after the season. The Pirates obtained him in a trade after the 2004 season.
He plunged back into the depths in 2005, playing for the last-place Pirates. In his first 14 Pirates’ starts, Redman was a respectable 4-4 with a 2.80 ERA. In his final 16 starts, Redman was 1-11 with a 7.20 ERA. The Pirates scored just 3.23 runs in his 30 starts, the second lowest run support in the majors. To cap off a 5-15 season, he suffered a fractured left index finger while bunting on Sept. 12 at St. Louis and missed the remainder of the season.
Redman is joining another team that has been bad in recent years. The Royals have lost 100 or more games in three of the past seasons, including a franchise-record 106 defeats in 2005.
“What I can bring is to take the ball every fifth day for Kansas City, make 30-32 starts and shoot for 200 innings,” Redman said.
The Royals want Redman to pitch deep into games to preserve their bullpen, which was overworked last year. Redman, however, worked just 178 1/3 innings last season and only once in his career has he pitched more than 200 innings. That was 203 innings in 2002 with the Tigers.

Scott Elarton’s first exposure to Kauffman Stadium was short and not sweet. He was the starting pitcher for the Houston Astros and he lasted just five pitches.

“I know exactly what that was. I got thrown out on the first batter of the game,” Elarton recalled.

This was on July 8, 2001, and Royals starter Chad Durbin hit two Astros in the first inning.

“It was obvious he wasn’t trying to hit anybody. He was just wild,” Elarton said. Nevertheless, the plate umpire issued a warning to both dugouts.

“I had no idea that any warnings had been issued or anything,” Elarton continued. “Rey Sanchez was the leadoff hitter and it was like a 2-and-2 count and I didn’t mean to hit him but I hit him in the hip. He tossed his bat, went to first base, it was no big deal. And the next thing I knew was the umpire tossed me.”

Elarton was so miffed, he had to be restrained from the argument by Astros manager Larry Dierker.

The episode was indicative of the type of season it was for Elarton, named the Astros’ Opening Day pitcher after winning 17 games in 2000. By year’s end, he was having arm problems and was traded to the Colorado Rockies.

That’s where he became acquainted with Buddy Bell, then the Rockies’ manager, and Bob McClure, a Minor League pitching coach. They came back into Elarton’s career after he signed with the Royals last Friday.

“I’m definitely looking forward to it. That’s one of the reasons I did end up signing, just because I know Buddy. I played for him in Colorado a little bit, then he was the bench coach with us in Cleveland and I just have a lot of respect for him,” Elarton said.

“And then Bob McClure was at Colorado Springs when I was rehabbing and got sent down there a little while. He was just really good and, for me, not knowing the pitching coach would have been really tough because I rely on him a lot and I have a good relationship with him.”

This winter, Bell added McClure to his staff as pitching coach.

Elarton, 11-9 for the Cleveland Indians last season, gave up 32 home runs — tied for fourth highest in the American League — and pitching at the more spacious Kauffman Stadium should reduce that total.

“He is a fly ball pitcher and I think it’s going to help,” Royals general manager Allard Baird said.

The 6-foot-8 Elarton has made just one Kauffman start since the ill-fated appearance for the Astros. This past April 19, he lasted just 3 2/3 innings and gave up five runs on 10 hits, but ended up with a no-decision.

His 17-7 season in 2000 was his best, but he was happy with his 2005 showing for Cleveland, too.

“I just look at wins and losses. That’s really all that matters. I’m not going to have a Hall of Fame career, so my numbers really aren’t going to matter,” he said.

“I’m a whole different pitcher now than I was in 2000 with Houston. I used to throw harder but I think I’m better, more effective now than I was then because I know how to pitch. I’m not just trying to throw it by people.”

These days, his fastball tops out at about 90 mph. He also throws a curve, changeup and cutter, but considers himself a fastball pitcher.

“On any given day, it’s going to be my curveball or my changeup that’s going to be my No. 2 pitch. It’s kind of whatever is working that day,” he said.

His next appearance at Kauffman Stadium likely will come in the first week of April, when the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox will visit Kansas City.

Elarton is quite sure it’ll last longer than five pitches.

The Royals made their second trade of the week on Wednesday when they sent right-handed relief pitcher Chris Demaria to the Brewers for Minor League right-hander Justin Barnes.

Demaria began 2005 at Class A High Desert, where he went 4-2 with a 2.23 ERA and 19 saves in 48 games, but he reached the Major Leagues by September. After 10 games at Double-A Wichita, he was 1-0 with a 9.00 ERA in eight games with Kansas City.

A reliever and starter in the Milwaukee system with Class A West Virginia, Barnes was 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA and one save in 29 games — including three starts. The 23-year-old began his professional career in 2003 as a third baseman before being converted to a pitcher.

In 44 career appearances in the Minors, Barnes is 13-7 with a 4.03 ERA and has 143 strikeouts in 136 1/3 innings.

The Royals announced Monday night that they traded outfielder Matt Diaz to the Braves for right-handed pitcher Ricardo Rodriguez.

A 24-year-old reliever, Rodriguez will be in the Minor League camp for Spring Training on the Double-A Wichita roster. He began his professional career in 1999 as an infielder in the Atlanta Braves system before being converted to a full-time pitcher following the 2002 season.

Rodriguez spent the 2005 season with high Class A Myrtle Beach, where he posted a 3-9 record and a 5.34 ERA in 33 games, including nine starts. The Venezuela native is 16-16 with a 4.21 ERA in 98 appearances during his Minor League career.

Diaz, who was designated for assignment last week, split much of last season with the Royals and Triple-A Omaha. In 34 games with Kansas City, he batted .271 with one homer and nine RBIs.