Minor tweak
If you happen to have witnessed the ongoing battle with the polish spammer(s) the last couple of days, it looks like I have prevailed. If you see anything wonky about the comments/registration, drop us a line. And if you didn’t see any of it, that’s good.
Game 59, Royals at Mariners
RHP Mike Wood v RHP Gil Meche. 7:05, FSN. What a nice night for a game (at least until it gets horribly cold, anyway).
Standard defensive alignment and Beltre’s sticking to that #2 slot in the order.
So today’s fun note: I often mentally play a game when I compare lineups, which is “would I swap players?” For the Royals, there’s almost no one.
DeJesus for Reed – no
Graffanino for Lopez – no
Mienkiewicz for Sexson – I’ve never been a big fan of Sexson’s contract’s huge back end, but straight up? Nah.
Sanders for Ichiro! – no
Stairs for Everett – yes, but I’ve always had a soft spot for the Wonder Hamster, and my personal aversion to Everett’s well known.
Costa for Ibanez – no
Teahen for Beltre – it would get us out of Beltre’s contract, and yet no
Berroa for Betancourt – no
Buck for Johjima – no
And a lot of those are laughable comparisons. Okay, so then I thought about the Tacoma Rainiers… and I *still* wouldn’t trade most of the Rainiers for their KC equivalent player. That’s sad.
Good News, Bad News
We’re two months into the season, so let’s look at how things have gone. We’ll call this Good News/Bad News, though we realize we might struggle to find equal amounts of Good News.
Good News!
Ichiro! is hitting .339.
Bad News!
The next highest average on the team belongs to Jose Lopez. He’s hitting .280.
Good News!
Speaking of Lopez, he leads the team in home runs, SLG%, and RBI’s.
Bad News!
Jose Lopez also leads the major leagues in sacrifice bunts.
Good News!
Roberto Petagine’s first 3 plate appearances of the year resulted in a home run, a double, and a walk, all as a pinch-hitter. That’s a nifty 1.000/1.000/3.000 line.
Bad News!
His last 24 plate appearances have resulted in 2 singles, 2 walks, and 20 outs. That’s a not-as-nifty .095/.174/.095 line.
Good News!
Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson both went yard twice this weekend.
Bad News!
Their combined 12 home runs on the season is one less than Ty Wigginton has by himself.
Good News!
J.J. Putz has been as good a reliever as you’ll find in baseball.
Bad News!
Eddie Guardado has not.
Good News!
Rafael Soriano looks to be fully healthy and is throwing as well as ever.
Bad News!
Gil Meche looks to be fully healthy and is throwing as poorly as ever.
Good News!
Jamie Moyer has taken crafty veteran status to a whole other level.
Bad News!
King Felix has taken inexperienced 20-year-old status to a whole other level.
Good News!
The M’s have the fifth pick in the draft tomorrow
Bad News!
They’ll probably have a top 5 pick next year, too.