’07
Dolpins 1 11 +10*
Rams- 2 3 -1
‘06
Raiders 2 4 +2
Detroit 3 7 +4
‘05
Texans 2 6 +4
Saints 3 10+7*
‘04
49ers 2 4 +2
‘03
----
‘02
Bengals 2 8 +6
Lions 3 5 +2
‘01
Bills 3 8 +5
Panthers 1 7 +6
Lions 2 3 +1
‘00
Browns 3 7 +4
Chargers 1 5 +4
Cardinals 3 7 +4
‘99
Browns 2 3 +1
Saints 3 10+7*
‘98
Colts 3 13+10*
Bengals 3 4 +1
Eagles 3 5 +2
‘97
Colts 3 3 –
‘96
Jets 1 9 +8
Falcons 3 7 +4
‘95
Jets 3 1 -2
‘94
Bengals 3 7 +4
Oilers 2 7 +5
Redskins 3 6 +3
‘93
Bengals 3 3 –
‘92
Patriots 2 5 +3
Seahawks 2 6 +4
Teams that won at least 5 more games-
07-08 Dolphins +10 (11)
05-06 Saints +7 (10)
02-03 Bengals +6 (8)
01-02 Bills +5 (8)
01-02 Panthers +6 (7)
99-00 Saints +7 (10)
98-99 Colts +10 (13)
96-97 Jets +8 (9)
94-95 Oilers +5 (7)
9 of the 30 have won at least 5 more games the following season…
4 of the 30 have gotten to 10+ wins and reached the playoffs.
07-08 Dolphins- New Quarterback—Chad Pennington, New Coach- Jeff Ireleand replacing Cam Cameron, Bill Parcells
05-06 Saints- New Quarterback—Drew Brees replacing Aaron Brooks, New Coach- Sean Peyton replacing Jim Haslett
02-03 Bengals- Dick LeBeau and Joe Kitna... Marvin Lewis and Jon Kitna
01-02 Bills- Gregg Williams and Alex Van Pelt…. Gregg Williams and Drew Bledsoe
01-02 Panthers- George Seifert and Chris Weinke… John Fox and Rodney Peete
99-00 Saints- Mike Ditka and Billy Joe Tolbert and Holliver…Jim Haslett and Jeff Blake
98-99 Colts- Jim Mora and Peyton Manning… Jim Mora and Peyton Manning
96-97 Jets- Rich Kotite and Frank Reich… Bill Parcells and Neil O’Donnell
94-95 Oilers- Jack Pardee and Billy Joe Tolliver…Jeff Fisher and Chris Chandler
Friday, July 10, 2009
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Monday, July 06, 2009
Video of the Day - July 6th
Spoof on guns... felt appropriate given the subject of the day...
Plus, a remix of one of the greatest online videos ever...
Plus, a remix of one of the greatest online videos ever...
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Videos of the Day - July 1
Ron Artest giving some personal advice... None of these are safe for work, by the way...
Joe Budden and Brandon Jennings talk... a lot of cursing, a lot of slurs...
Joe Budden and Brandon Jennings talk... a lot of cursing, a lot of slurs...
Monday, June 29, 2009
Video of the Day - June 30th
This is brilliant. Just awesome. AI, Jim Mora, Denny Green and Mike Gundy... doesn't get much better.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Video of the Day - June 24th
This is awesome. I wish swordfighting could make some type of comeback. Wars would have less casualties and this guy would possibly rule the world.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Video of the Day - June 23rd
Gotta love a baseball fight... in the stands.
Check out the kid throwing a haymaker around the 10 second mark, then the little girl crying throughout.
Check out the kid throwing a haymaker around the 10 second mark, then the little girl crying throughout.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Fire Trey Hillman
OK… So here’s the thing about the Royals right now.
On May 8th, at 6:45, with the Royals sitting at 18 and 11, and in first place by three games… and that day, on Facebook at least, I officially jumped on the Royals bandwagon. Meche and Greinke were starting the next two games, KC was playing very well, the division looked as weak as we all anticipated, and it even felt like they were better than their 18 and 11 record.
At that moment, I would argue, the city was more abuzz with Royals passion, enthusiasm, optimism, as any time in the last 20 years.
Every die hard Royal fan in the city was nearly drunk with giddiness. You couldn’t talk to a true blue Royal fan without them telling you how this year was different, and how Greinke was unlike anyone we had ever seen… and how we really could win this division.
Every semi-interested fan was acting as if they were die hards, and following every game, and excited to go out to the K for the next homestand.
Even the city’s professional pessimists, were begrudgingly coming around, and almost shamed into being excited about this team.
Even Me. I always tried to add my caveat that I just didn’t think this team had the horses to win 80 games, much less the division… but I would add that and then talk about how much fun it was to be a Royals fan—for really the first time of my life.
And you guys yelled at me if I talked about anything other than the Royals. Most of you didn’t even want Chiefs talk.
Think about what the city felt during that time. Think about the way the sports radio shows sounded during that time. Think about how long ago that seems.
That was precisely 35 days ago.
It has taken 35 days. 35 days for this season to all of a sudden feel like every other damn season.
35 days for the year that felt like it was finally happening—or at least starting to happen—to feel almost worse than any of the other recent years… because this included the almost cruel tease of real hope, and for a little bit, what felt like justified hope.
35 days for a team with one of the 6 best records in all of baseball, to have one of the 8 worst.
That can’t happen.
And when it does happen, difficult decisions have to be made.
And here’s the critical part. They’re not always fair. And you can never guarantee that the decision you make will be the right one, but you can do your best.
And for the 2009 Royals, that decision has to be firing Trey Hillman.
When the team was 18 and 11, it sure did feel like if someone else had been managing this team, they couldn’t have had a worse record, and they likely would have a better record if anyone else was managing them.
And when they immediately lost 20 of 25 after that, I don’t know if any manager could have done any better, but I know that no matter who was managing they couldn’t have been worse.
And, you know what, when it’s a critical year for your franchise, and you’re trying to get a fan base and a city to buy back in to your team, and your new stadium… well, when things go unspeakably bad, someone must be held accountable.
And I suppose you could blame this on Dayton Moore or the players… but blaming Dayton Moore is too scary for the long term and short term health of this team (and, by extension, it’s fans)… and you can’t fire the players… So the manager’s next on the list.
And if on top of all that… your manager seems just snake bitten. And defensive. And unproven, and what he has proven hasn’t been all that good. Well, then, fair or not, you fire him.
And, you know what, I think it is fair.
The Royals are a business. And it’s critical for the health of this business that this year not be wasted, on the field or off it.
And right now, just 35 days after this business stock was selling at a near all time high… it’s bottom has dropped out.
But you can salvage it. At least off the field you can. You fire Trey Hillman and offer the job to Frank White and the city is interested once again.
You fire Trey Hillman and maybe the clubhouse gets energized, maybe not. But we know it cannot hurt. And I don’t think there is a person out there that is worried that prematurely firing Trey Hillman is going to be what keeps the Royals out of the World Series.
This is not all Trey Hillman’s fault. Certainly.
And Trey Hillman certainly hasn’t been given all the right pieces. And dealing with injuries to two of his franchise players is something no one wants to deal with. and the transition from Japan to MLB is a really difficult one. And sure, you would like to give a guy more than a season and half.
But sports, like life, aren’t always fair. And George Brett said on these airwaves that a bad manager can only cost you about 5 games—I would argue that Trey Hillman has maybe put that theory to the test, but whatever, we’ll go with it. So if it’s true, 5 games total over a full season… then you know what, there’s minimal risk to installing Frank White as manager. But the upside is tremendous.****
I say this without trying to be unfair to Trey Hillman. I don’t think he’s done a good job, but I could be being too hard on him, I understand that. But, whether he’s technically doing a poor enough job to merit his firing is almost irrelevant.
The Royals need to fire Trey Hillman, whether it’s going to be “with” or “without” cause we can debate about, but it’s ultimately an irrelevant point. Sometimes a job just doesn’t work out, and this just isn’t working out for the Royals and Trey Hillman.
(A few other stories to get to today...
-Three stories that I already want to spend at least 2 minutes on…
Donaghy injured in prison—paint roller attack!—and denied treatment?!? (gambling in prison)…..
Urban Meyer saying he has good kids, despite 24 arrests… well, no, you don’t… (now some arrests are bullshit—maybe even this last one, the kid who resisted arrest ‘without violence’)… it’s very easy to fix—very easy. Hard Consequences….
Ryan Leaf is a wanted man… but what’s more interesting is how lucky he really is that the colts knew what they were doing…his great quote…)
On May 8th, at 6:45, with the Royals sitting at 18 and 11, and in first place by three games… and that day, on Facebook at least, I officially jumped on the Royals bandwagon. Meche and Greinke were starting the next two games, KC was playing very well, the division looked as weak as we all anticipated, and it even felt like they were better than their 18 and 11 record.
At that moment, I would argue, the city was more abuzz with Royals passion, enthusiasm, optimism, as any time in the last 20 years.
Every die hard Royal fan in the city was nearly drunk with giddiness. You couldn’t talk to a true blue Royal fan without them telling you how this year was different, and how Greinke was unlike anyone we had ever seen… and how we really could win this division.
Every semi-interested fan was acting as if they were die hards, and following every game, and excited to go out to the K for the next homestand.
Even the city’s professional pessimists, were begrudgingly coming around, and almost shamed into being excited about this team.
Even Me. I always tried to add my caveat that I just didn’t think this team had the horses to win 80 games, much less the division… but I would add that and then talk about how much fun it was to be a Royals fan—for really the first time of my life.
And you guys yelled at me if I talked about anything other than the Royals. Most of you didn’t even want Chiefs talk.
Think about what the city felt during that time. Think about the way the sports radio shows sounded during that time. Think about how long ago that seems.
That was precisely 35 days ago.
It has taken 35 days. 35 days for this season to all of a sudden feel like every other damn season.
35 days for the year that felt like it was finally happening—or at least starting to happen—to feel almost worse than any of the other recent years… because this included the almost cruel tease of real hope, and for a little bit, what felt like justified hope.
35 days for a team with one of the 6 best records in all of baseball, to have one of the 8 worst.
That can’t happen.
And when it does happen, difficult decisions have to be made.
And here’s the critical part. They’re not always fair. And you can never guarantee that the decision you make will be the right one, but you can do your best.
And for the 2009 Royals, that decision has to be firing Trey Hillman.
When the team was 18 and 11, it sure did feel like if someone else had been managing this team, they couldn’t have had a worse record, and they likely would have a better record if anyone else was managing them.
And when they immediately lost 20 of 25 after that, I don’t know if any manager could have done any better, but I know that no matter who was managing they couldn’t have been worse.
And, you know what, when it’s a critical year for your franchise, and you’re trying to get a fan base and a city to buy back in to your team, and your new stadium… well, when things go unspeakably bad, someone must be held accountable.
And I suppose you could blame this on Dayton Moore or the players… but blaming Dayton Moore is too scary for the long term and short term health of this team (and, by extension, it’s fans)… and you can’t fire the players… So the manager’s next on the list.
And if on top of all that… your manager seems just snake bitten. And defensive. And unproven, and what he has proven hasn’t been all that good. Well, then, fair or not, you fire him.
And, you know what, I think it is fair.
The Royals are a business. And it’s critical for the health of this business that this year not be wasted, on the field or off it.
And right now, just 35 days after this business stock was selling at a near all time high… it’s bottom has dropped out.
But you can salvage it. At least off the field you can. You fire Trey Hillman and offer the job to Frank White and the city is interested once again.
You fire Trey Hillman and maybe the clubhouse gets energized, maybe not. But we know it cannot hurt. And I don’t think there is a person out there that is worried that prematurely firing Trey Hillman is going to be what keeps the Royals out of the World Series.
This is not all Trey Hillman’s fault. Certainly.
And Trey Hillman certainly hasn’t been given all the right pieces. And dealing with injuries to two of his franchise players is something no one wants to deal with. and the transition from Japan to MLB is a really difficult one. And sure, you would like to give a guy more than a season and half.
But sports, like life, aren’t always fair. And George Brett said on these airwaves that a bad manager can only cost you about 5 games—I would argue that Trey Hillman has maybe put that theory to the test, but whatever, we’ll go with it. So if it’s true, 5 games total over a full season… then you know what, there’s minimal risk to installing Frank White as manager. But the upside is tremendous.****
I say this without trying to be unfair to Trey Hillman. I don’t think he’s done a good job, but I could be being too hard on him, I understand that. But, whether he’s technically doing a poor enough job to merit his firing is almost irrelevant.
The Royals need to fire Trey Hillman, whether it’s going to be “with” or “without” cause we can debate about, but it’s ultimately an irrelevant point. Sometimes a job just doesn’t work out, and this just isn’t working out for the Royals and Trey Hillman.
(A few other stories to get to today...
-Three stories that I already want to spend at least 2 minutes on…
Donaghy injured in prison—paint roller attack!—and denied treatment?!? (gambling in prison)…..
Urban Meyer saying he has good kids, despite 24 arrests… well, no, you don’t… (now some arrests are bullshit—maybe even this last one, the kid who resisted arrest ‘without violence’)… it’s very easy to fix—very easy. Hard Consequences….
Ryan Leaf is a wanted man… but what’s more interesting is how lucky he really is that the colts knew what they were doing…his great quote…)
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
random ramblings on k state athletic situation...
so these two guys resigning at k state (Jim Epps, Bob Cavello)... new AD John Currie's gotta be like what the truck man?... bob krause is making secret deals, and now this...
i'll be honest... if i'm a kansas fan, i feel pretty great right now in general, but especially in relation to where the two other local schools were in the past few years, and where they will be in the next few...
i don't expect missouri to have a single year as good as either of it's last two seasons anytime in the near future... and in fact, i wouldn't be surprised if when gary pinkel's all done at missouri, we look at 2007 and 2008 as his--by far--best seasons...
ku meanwhile probably feels that they have a true shot at winning the big 12 north this year--probably offended they aren't the favorites--and i'll be honest... if ku were to win the big 12 north, and have a 3rd straight very respectable year, they could start really tipping the missouri/ku/kstate football recruiting battle in their favor...
and in hoops... kansas isn't threatened by the tigers at all... if anything, ku would like missouri to be a consistent tournament team... MU will never--and i mean never--take a significant national recruit from the Jayhawks, and it's always good for KU if other big 12 teams test them in the year... and even if missouri keeps mike anderson, and does Everything right, there still aren't going to be many seasons like 2009 when the tigers are still standing and the jayhawks aren't in the tournament...
so ku--despite mu coming off, arguably, it's best overall sporting season--feels great in regards to their position with the tigers, and if anything, has been helped by missouri's recent success... and then there's k state...
which for a moment looked like could challenge in hoops--huggins, walker, beasley--nope...
and maybe for a moment looked like would do something in football... now in complete disarray...
......
i'll be honest... if i'm a kansas fan, i feel pretty great right now in general, but especially in relation to where the two other local schools were in the past few years, and where they will be in the next few...
i don't expect missouri to have a single year as good as either of it's last two seasons anytime in the near future... and in fact, i wouldn't be surprised if when gary pinkel's all done at missouri, we look at 2007 and 2008 as his--by far--best seasons...
ku meanwhile probably feels that they have a true shot at winning the big 12 north this year--probably offended they aren't the favorites--and i'll be honest... if ku were to win the big 12 north, and have a 3rd straight very respectable year, they could start really tipping the missouri/ku/kstate football recruiting battle in their favor...
and in hoops... kansas isn't threatened by the tigers at all... if anything, ku would like missouri to be a consistent tournament team... MU will never--and i mean never--take a significant national recruit from the Jayhawks, and it's always good for KU if other big 12 teams test them in the year... and even if missouri keeps mike anderson, and does Everything right, there still aren't going to be many seasons like 2009 when the tigers are still standing and the jayhawks aren't in the tournament...
so ku--despite mu coming off, arguably, it's best overall sporting season--feels great in regards to their position with the tigers, and if anything, has been helped by missouri's recent success... and then there's k state...
which for a moment looked like could challenge in hoops--huggins, walker, beasley--nope...
and maybe for a moment looked like would do something in football... now in complete disarray...
......
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
thoughts for tomorrow's show
sent from my phone, some ramblings to think about before the morning...
* NBA Finals… Brian Busby… 13 seconds into the national anthem we get the beeps… and now instead of being in Nebraska its in Oklahoma…. But hey, where they hell were Katie horner and brian busby yesterday afternoon??? I hear how it’s a damn public safety issue, but not during the soap operas? OK… got it
Royals, Royals, Royals…I turned the game off for 15 minutes, seriously,,, the Royals had just taken a 4 run lead… what the hell, guys?…I guess we will wait until Friday, but it’s getting harder and harder to do… because at this point, it’s probably a foregone conclusion…
Back to the Finals… ????
Van Gundy’s, van gundys, van gundys…. (JVG Stories)… but what is ABC doing?
99 dollar iphone… I think I’m in!!!!
*What was better 10 years ago? Seriously, what sport was better 10 years ago?
Because, honestly, I can’t argue with people when they say things were better 30 or 40 years ago… but how about 10 years ago? Because it would certainly stand to reason, that if they were MUCH better 30 or 40 years ago, they would be a LITTLE better 10 years ago… But, really, what was better 10 years ago?
Football. No way. Football has never been better. Ever. You could argue that no sport in the past 50 years has had a better decade than the NFL. It’s Teflon. It’s the number one sport—with a bullet—and makes more money than any two of the other sports in America.
Basketball. Ummm, no. In 1999 the league was coming off a lockout, and playing one of the worst finals ever—Knicks v Spurs. The league had a few super stars, but they either weren’t ready, or they were in a terrible situation. KG was stuck in Minnesota. AI had no help in Philly. Jason Kidd was wasting away in Phoenix. Kobe wasn’t ready yet. Shaq was Shaq, but he was about to start a dysfunctional relationship with Kobe. Duncan was great, and just starting winning titles, but let’s be honest, Duncan was Duncan.
The league was maybe at it’s all time lowest point in 1999, and it has maybe never been stronger than it is right now.
But what about baseball? You know, it’s funny. In 1999, the Evil Yankees were in the midst of a Dynasty. And we were all still on a steroid high, that wouldn’t be popped for a few more years. To remind you of where we were in baseball at that time, in 1999, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire combined for 128 homeruns, 65 for Big Mac and 63 for Sosa… and we were somehow disappointed.
Where are we now? Yankees haven’t been to a WS in 6 years, and we have gotten WS that included the Rockies, Astros, Tigers, White Sox, that have felt anticlimactic… and steroids now feel like such a bigger part of the game than they ever did then… If you’re a clean superstar, you have to go on the damn cover of Sports Illustrated to make that point.
* Aaron Crow… hmmmmm…. Well, on the bright side, he doesn’t play first or third…
*Jeremy Mayfield doing Meth… or….
* NBA Finals… Brian Busby… 13 seconds into the national anthem we get the beeps… and now instead of being in Nebraska its in Oklahoma…. But hey, where they hell were Katie horner and brian busby yesterday afternoon??? I hear how it’s a damn public safety issue, but not during the soap operas? OK… got it
Royals, Royals, Royals…I turned the game off for 15 minutes, seriously,,, the Royals had just taken a 4 run lead… what the hell, guys?…I guess we will wait until Friday, but it’s getting harder and harder to do… because at this point, it’s probably a foregone conclusion…
Back to the Finals… ????
Van Gundy’s, van gundys, van gundys…. (JVG Stories)… but what is ABC doing?
99 dollar iphone… I think I’m in!!!!
*What was better 10 years ago? Seriously, what sport was better 10 years ago?
Because, honestly, I can’t argue with people when they say things were better 30 or 40 years ago… but how about 10 years ago? Because it would certainly stand to reason, that if they were MUCH better 30 or 40 years ago, they would be a LITTLE better 10 years ago… But, really, what was better 10 years ago?
Football. No way. Football has never been better. Ever. You could argue that no sport in the past 50 years has had a better decade than the NFL. It’s Teflon. It’s the number one sport—with a bullet—and makes more money than any two of the other sports in America.
Basketball. Ummm, no. In 1999 the league was coming off a lockout, and playing one of the worst finals ever—Knicks v Spurs. The league had a few super stars, but they either weren’t ready, or they were in a terrible situation. KG was stuck in Minnesota. AI had no help in Philly. Jason Kidd was wasting away in Phoenix. Kobe wasn’t ready yet. Shaq was Shaq, but he was about to start a dysfunctional relationship with Kobe. Duncan was great, and just starting winning titles, but let’s be honest, Duncan was Duncan.
The league was maybe at it’s all time lowest point in 1999, and it has maybe never been stronger than it is right now.
But what about baseball? You know, it’s funny. In 1999, the Evil Yankees were in the midst of a Dynasty. And we were all still on a steroid high, that wouldn’t be popped for a few more years. To remind you of where we were in baseball at that time, in 1999, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire combined for 128 homeruns, 65 for Big Mac and 63 for Sosa… and we were somehow disappointed.
Where are we now? Yankees haven’t been to a WS in 6 years, and we have gotten WS that included the Rockies, Astros, Tigers, White Sox, that have felt anticlimactic… and steroids now feel like such a bigger part of the game than they ever did then… If you’re a clean superstar, you have to go on the damn cover of Sports Illustrated to make that point.
* Aaron Crow… hmmmmm…. Well, on the bright side, he doesn’t play first or third…
*Jeremy Mayfield doing Meth… or….
Monday, June 08, 2009
welcome, everybody
To all the new listeners/readers thanks to some links from my friend at thismayconcernyou, and some friends in the local hip hop community, welcome.
I use this site basically as tool for my radio show, and i will send myself (usually rambling) emails, that I will post up here. All my show audio is available in the players on the page, and the interview most of you are looking for is the first one up there.
I use this site basically as tool for my radio show, and i will send myself (usually rambling) emails, that I will post up here. All my show audio is available in the players on the page, and the interview most of you are looking for is the first one up there.
A closer look at the moves of Dayton Moore
random ramblings on the royals sent from my cellphone
so hochevar's up now, and horam has been designated for assignment--(explain what that means)... and yes, it's very nice that luke looked good, and he--amazingly--was the stopper that our guy zack wasn't this weekend...
but that made me think about something, and and you know what, maybe i screwed something up early in the year... maybe when i was complainging about sir sidney ponson, and mocking him for being more over weight than he truly is, and lamenting that it was ponson taking hochevar's spot on the roster...maybe i should have been looking at Ho-Ram.
maybe i shouldn't have so blindly accepted the royals need for a lefty starter, even if the lefty starter was terrible... and maybe i shouldnt have so clearly disregarded the fact that kc gave ramirez away when they were paying him next to nothing, just to give him 1 point 8 million dollars guaranteed this year...
and that made me think about something...
Really it made me think about a lot of things…
First of all, that we all should have known, and maybe some of us did, that right when Luke didn’t start the season with the big club that they weren’t serious about winning right now. They were spinning this yarn—really upping even their best expectations for when Dayton Moore would have this team even close to rebuilt, by at least a year or two on account of the new stadium—and the great start helped them sell that further.
But the fact that Hochevar didn’t start the season with the major league club should have told us an enormous amount….
Then it made me think about the pitching staff in general, and rotation and the bullpen…
And how this year’s bullpen doesn’t at all resemble last year’s bull pen in—in players or results.
Leo Nunez traded for Mike Jacbos… adding about 3 million in extra salary. Jacobs now permanently occupies the DH position.
I ask you this, would you rather have Leo Nunez in your bullpen and Jose Guillen as your DH, with Mark Teahen as your right fielder… or what we have now? No Leo Nunez, Jose Guillen playing right, and 230 hitting Mike Jacobs as your DH? Don’t forget, Jacobs costs 3 million dollars more than Nunez.
And then I started thinking about Ramon Ramirez…. And Coco Crisp. Would I rather have Ramon Ramirez in my bullpen, leave David DeJesus in center and leading off—fresh of the best season of his career—and an extra 5 and a half million dollars in your pocket… or what we have now, a 230 hitting leadoff Coco Crisp, moved DeJesus and coincidence or not having the worst year of his career, and no Ramon Ramirez.
And then I started thinking about the people replacing Ramon Ramirez and Leo Nunez…. Ostensibly, Farnsworth has replaced Ramirez at 10 times the price about an extra 4 million in payroll… And KC opted to keep the expensive and much older Ron Mahay, while dealing Leo Nunez… once again at about 10 times the price about an extra 4 million dollars
So, if we may, let’s look what this roster—realistically could look at if those moves hadn’t been made, and what type of pay roll flexibility it would give KC… even given a payroll maximum of where they are right now, 70 million bucks.
and this is a theme we are going to address all week long... dayton moore's belief in his ability to construct a bullpen...
kyle farnsworth
horacio ramirez
ramon ramirez 440,000~coco crisp 6,000,000 NET OF 5.4 MILLION
leo nunez 410,000~mike jacobs 3,300,000 NET OF 2.9 MILLION
yy replaced with replacement player NET OF 2.5 MILLION
farnsowrth 4. 2MILLION replaced with ramon ramirez NET OF 3.8 MILLION
horacio ramirez 1.8 MILLION replaced with luke hochevar alread on roster NET OF 1.8 MILLION
5.4
2.9
2.5
3.8
1.8
16 4
25 MAN ROSTER
1B- BILLY BUTLER
2B- ALBERTO CALLASPO
SS- ???
3B- ALEX GORDON
RF- MARK TEAHEN
CF- ???
LF- DAVID DEJESUS
DH- JOSE GUILLEN
C- JOHN BUCK
C- MIGUEL OLIVO
UTI- WILLIE BLOOMQUIST
UTI-KILA KA’AIHUIE
SP- GREINKE
SP- MECHE
SP- DAVIES
SP- HOCHEVAR
SP- BANNISTER
RP- SORIA
RP- CRUZ
RP- RAMON RAMIREZ
RP- NUNEZ
RP- WAECHTER
RP- PONSON
RP- JOHN BALE
RP- ROBINSON TEJEDA
So you are taking these guys off the roster (and payroll)-
Kyle Farnsworth- 4.25 M
Ron Mahay- 4.00 M
Horacio Ramirez- 1.80 M
Coco Crisp- 6.00 M
Mike Jacobs- 3.25 M
Total Savings- 19.3 M
so hochevar's up now, and horam has been designated for assignment--(explain what that means)... and yes, it's very nice that luke looked good, and he--amazingly--was the stopper that our guy zack wasn't this weekend...
but that made me think about something, and and you know what, maybe i screwed something up early in the year... maybe when i was complainging about sir sidney ponson, and mocking him for being more over weight than he truly is, and lamenting that it was ponson taking hochevar's spot on the roster...maybe i should have been looking at Ho-Ram.
maybe i shouldn't have so blindly accepted the royals need for a lefty starter, even if the lefty starter was terrible... and maybe i shouldnt have so clearly disregarded the fact that kc gave ramirez away when they were paying him next to nothing, just to give him 1 point 8 million dollars guaranteed this year...
and that made me think about something...
Really it made me think about a lot of things…
First of all, that we all should have known, and maybe some of us did, that right when Luke didn’t start the season with the big club that they weren’t serious about winning right now. They were spinning this yarn—really upping even their best expectations for when Dayton Moore would have this team even close to rebuilt, by at least a year or two on account of the new stadium—and the great start helped them sell that further.
But the fact that Hochevar didn’t start the season with the major league club should have told us an enormous amount….
Then it made me think about the pitching staff in general, and rotation and the bullpen…
And how this year’s bullpen doesn’t at all resemble last year’s bull pen in—in players or results.
Leo Nunez traded for Mike Jacbos… adding about 3 million in extra salary. Jacobs now permanently occupies the DH position.
I ask you this, would you rather have Leo Nunez in your bullpen and Jose Guillen as your DH, with Mark Teahen as your right fielder… or what we have now? No Leo Nunez, Jose Guillen playing right, and 230 hitting Mike Jacobs as your DH? Don’t forget, Jacobs costs 3 million dollars more than Nunez.
And then I started thinking about Ramon Ramirez…. And Coco Crisp. Would I rather have Ramon Ramirez in my bullpen, leave David DeJesus in center and leading off—fresh of the best season of his career—and an extra 5 and a half million dollars in your pocket… or what we have now, a 230 hitting leadoff Coco Crisp, moved DeJesus and coincidence or not having the worst year of his career, and no Ramon Ramirez.
And then I started thinking about the people replacing Ramon Ramirez and Leo Nunez…. Ostensibly, Farnsworth has replaced Ramirez at 10 times the price about an extra 4 million in payroll… And KC opted to keep the expensive and much older Ron Mahay, while dealing Leo Nunez… once again at about 10 times the price about an extra 4 million dollars
So, if we may, let’s look what this roster—realistically could look at if those moves hadn’t been made, and what type of pay roll flexibility it would give KC… even given a payroll maximum of where they are right now, 70 million bucks.
and this is a theme we are going to address all week long... dayton moore's belief in his ability to construct a bullpen...
kyle farnsworth
horacio ramirez
ramon ramirez 440,000~coco crisp 6,000,000 NET OF 5.4 MILLION
leo nunez 410,000~mike jacobs 3,300,000 NET OF 2.9 MILLION
yy replaced with replacement player NET OF 2.5 MILLION
farnsowrth 4. 2MILLION replaced with ramon ramirez NET OF 3.8 MILLION
horacio ramirez 1.8 MILLION replaced with luke hochevar alread on roster NET OF 1.8 MILLION
5.4
2.9
2.5
3.8
1.8
16 4
25 MAN ROSTER
1B- BILLY BUTLER
2B- ALBERTO CALLASPO
SS- ???
3B- ALEX GORDON
RF- MARK TEAHEN
CF- ???
LF- DAVID DEJESUS
DH- JOSE GUILLEN
C- JOHN BUCK
C- MIGUEL OLIVO
UTI- WILLIE BLOOMQUIST
UTI-KILA KA’AIHUIE
SP- GREINKE
SP- MECHE
SP- DAVIES
SP- HOCHEVAR
SP- BANNISTER
RP- SORIA
RP- CRUZ
RP- RAMON RAMIREZ
RP- NUNEZ
RP- WAECHTER
RP- PONSON
RP- JOHN BALE
RP- ROBINSON TEJEDA
So you are taking these guys off the roster (and payroll)-
Kyle Farnsworth- 4.25 M
Ron Mahay- 4.00 M
Horacio Ramirez- 1.80 M
Coco Crisp- 6.00 M
Mike Jacobs- 3.25 M
Total Savings- 19.3 M
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Show Stuff for 05-28-09
The Royals are becoming a very frustrating team to watch… and frustrating is a not so distant cousin of infuriating… and infuriating teams tend to be alienating teams, and that’s a road that us Royals fans don’t want to go down again, as we have been down it far too many times…
But this is a downright frustrating team right now… Even in the wins there are moments—like Billy Butler on the basepaths on Tuesday night—that worry you… and in seemingly all of the losses, one of the three issues that really devastate this team—terrible defense, or the inability to put together any type of consistent offensive production, or a bullpen that can’t hold onto a lead or more accurately keep a game close…
Yes, Kyle Davies allowing the leadoff runner on every single inning and his lack of control beginning in the 5th inning were the major reasons the Royals lost yesterday… but Mark Teahen’s brutal error in the 6th cost this team any chance of making it interesting late… and that was just another example of defense crippling this team… and it feels like when the Royals lose, if it’s not the defense, it’s the absolute anemic offense or it’s the bullpen faltering late… occasionally the starting pitching stinks, but more often than not the starting pitching has been good enough to win, and one of those three things has crippled the team…
And we know that I believe this team is headed in the right direction—2010, et cetera et cetera—but I’m starting to worry about this team for this year (Gordon, Crisp, Soria…)… and now I’m wondering this precise question---
Aside from Zack Greinke, is this team any better, any one bit better—as PRESENTLY CONSTITUTED—than last year’s team? Real Question. Because record wise, the answer would be no.
2009 Royals through 47 games- 23-24
2008 Royals through 47 games- 21-26 (midst of 12 game losing streak, 8games left)
Royals- 23-14 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-9 when scoring fewer than 2 .621
Red Sox- 27-18 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-1 when scoring fewer than 2 .600
Rangers- 27-15 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-3 when scoring fewer than 2 .642
Tigers- 24-14 when scoring 2+ runs… 1-5 when scoring fewer than 2 .631
Yankees- 26-18 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-2 when scoring fewer than 2 .590
Blue Jays-27-15 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-7 when scoring fewer than 2 .642
Angels- 22-19 when scoring 2+runs… 1-3 when scoring fewer than 2 .536
Rays- 23-21 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-4 when scoring fewer than 2 .523
Orioles- 20-22 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-4 when scoring fewer than2 .476
Mariners- 19-15 when scoring 2+ runs…2-11 when scoring fewer than 2 .558
A’s- 18-18 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-7 when scoring fewer than 2 .500
Twins- 23-16 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-8 when scoring fewer than 2 .589
White Sox-21-12 when scoring 2+ runs…0-12 when scoring fewer than 2 .637
Indians- 19-19 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-9 when scoring fewer than 2 .500
But this is a downright frustrating team right now… Even in the wins there are moments—like Billy Butler on the basepaths on Tuesday night—that worry you… and in seemingly all of the losses, one of the three issues that really devastate this team—terrible defense, or the inability to put together any type of consistent offensive production, or a bullpen that can’t hold onto a lead or more accurately keep a game close…
Yes, Kyle Davies allowing the leadoff runner on every single inning and his lack of control beginning in the 5th inning were the major reasons the Royals lost yesterday… but Mark Teahen’s brutal error in the 6th cost this team any chance of making it interesting late… and that was just another example of defense crippling this team… and it feels like when the Royals lose, if it’s not the defense, it’s the absolute anemic offense or it’s the bullpen faltering late… occasionally the starting pitching stinks, but more often than not the starting pitching has been good enough to win, and one of those three things has crippled the team…
And we know that I believe this team is headed in the right direction—2010, et cetera et cetera—but I’m starting to worry about this team for this year (Gordon, Crisp, Soria…)… and now I’m wondering this precise question---
Aside from Zack Greinke, is this team any better, any one bit better—as PRESENTLY CONSTITUTED—than last year’s team? Real Question. Because record wise, the answer would be no.
2009 Royals through 47 games- 23-24
2008 Royals through 47 games- 21-26 (midst of 12 game losing streak, 8games left)
Royals- 23-14 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-9 when scoring fewer than 2 .621
Red Sox- 27-18 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-1 when scoring fewer than 2 .600
Rangers- 27-15 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-3 when scoring fewer than 2 .642
Tigers- 24-14 when scoring 2+ runs… 1-5 when scoring fewer than 2 .631
Yankees- 26-18 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-2 when scoring fewer than 2 .590
Blue Jays-27-15 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-7 when scoring fewer than 2 .642
Angels- 22-19 when scoring 2+runs… 1-3 when scoring fewer than 2 .536
Rays- 23-21 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-4 when scoring fewer than 2 .523
Orioles- 20-22 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-4 when scoring fewer than2 .476
Mariners- 19-15 when scoring 2+ runs…2-11 when scoring fewer than 2 .558
A’s- 18-18 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-7 when scoring fewer than 2 .500
Twins- 23-16 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-8 when scoring fewer than 2 .589
White Sox-21-12 when scoring 2+ runs…0-12 when scoring fewer than 2 .637
Indians- 19-19 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-9 when scoring fewer than 2 .500
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
A Must Read in the NYTimes
As you already know if you've heard me talk about Michael Lewis' newest book Panic, I'm really interested in the financial meltdown.
Here's a tremendous article from a New York Times finance reporter about his pending foreclosure. Very long, but you've got to check it out.
Here's a tremendous article from a New York Times finance reporter about his pending foreclosure. Very long, but you've got to check it out.
Friday, May 15, 2009
My lineup...
Against Righties
1- Crisp CF
2- Callaspo 2B
3- Guillen RF
4- Jacobs DH
5- Butler 1B
6- Teahen 3B
7- Olivo/Buck C
8- DeJesus LF
9- Hernandez SS
*Bloomquist on bench and can play 5 positions.
Against lefties
1- Crisp CF
2- Callaspo 2B
3- Guillen DH
4- Olivo C
5- Butler 1B
6- Teahen 3B
7- Bloomquist LF
8- Maier RF
9- Hernandez SS
*Jacobs can pinch hit, and DeJesus can play any of the outfield positions off the bench.
Jacobs cant play against lefties…
DeJesus cant play against lefties..
Willie Bloomquist can’t play against righties…
Olivo catches Greinke, plays against all lefties, and some righties…
Luis Hernandez plays short until TPJ gets healthy, or until Aviles starts absolutely mashing in Triple A…
Rotation following this off day, and from now on Zack pitches every 5th day, without exception-
1- Greinke
2- Meche
3- Davies
4- Hochevar
5- Bannister
1- Crisp CF
2- Callaspo 2B
3- Guillen RF
4- Jacobs DH
5- Butler 1B
6- Teahen 3B
7- Olivo/Buck C
8- DeJesus LF
9- Hernandez SS
*Bloomquist on bench and can play 5 positions.
Against lefties
1- Crisp CF
2- Callaspo 2B
3- Guillen DH
4- Olivo C
5- Butler 1B
6- Teahen 3B
7- Bloomquist LF
8- Maier RF
9- Hernandez SS
*Jacobs can pinch hit, and DeJesus can play any of the outfield positions off the bench.
Jacobs cant play against lefties…
DeJesus cant play against lefties..
Willie Bloomquist can’t play against righties…
Olivo catches Greinke, plays against all lefties, and some righties…
Luis Hernandez plays short until TPJ gets healthy, or until Aviles starts absolutely mashing in Triple A…
Rotation following this off day, and from now on Zack pitches every 5th day, without exception-
1- Greinke
2- Meche
3- Davies
4- Hochevar
5- Bannister
Jared Allen's Hat and....
Just awesome.
Here's the Pro Football Talk article talking about the hat, and Mike Vick, pretty interesting.
And here's how Joakim Noah is spending his offseason. Damnit, I should've practiced harder. That's not a bad life. Link is kinda NSFW.
Here's the Pro Football Talk article talking about the hat, and Mike Vick, pretty interesting.
And here's how Joakim Noah is spending his offseason. Damnit, I should've practiced harder. That's not a bad life. Link is kinda NSFW.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Longest Losing Streaks by Divisional Winners
Here's an original stat, I just compiled.
Over the past 5 seasons, here are all the divisional winners, and their longest losing streaks of that season.
Royals losing streak stands at 6.
DIVISION WINNERS
‘08
Rays -7
White Sox -7
Angels -4
Phillies -6
Cubs -6
Dodgers -8*
‘07
Red Sox -4
Indians -4
Angels -6
Phillies -4
Cubs -6
Diamondbacks -5
‘06
Yankees -4
Twins -5
A’s -7
Mets -4
Cardinals -8*
Padres -5
‘05
Yankees -6
White Sox -7
Angels -5
Braves -4
Cardinals -3
Padres -8
‘04
Yankees -4
Twins -5
Angels -5
Braves -3
Cardinals -4
Dodgers -8
Losing Streaks-0- 0
1- 0
2- 0
3- 2
4- 9
5- 6
6- 5
7- 4
8- 4
Average Longest Losing Streak-
5.4
Divisonal Champions with losing streaks of at least 6-
13 of 30. 43%
Divisional Champions with losing streaks longer than 6-
8 of 30. 27%
Divisional Champions with losing streaks longer than 7-
4 of 30. 13%
Divisional Champions with losing streaks longer than 8-
0 of 30.
Over the past 5 seasons, here are all the divisional winners, and their longest losing streaks of that season.
Royals losing streak stands at 6.
DIVISION WINNERS
‘08
Rays -7
White Sox -7
Angels -4
Phillies -6
Cubs -6
Dodgers -8*
‘07
Red Sox -4
Indians -4
Angels -6
Phillies -4
Cubs -6
Diamondbacks -5
‘06
Yankees -4
Twins -5
A’s -7
Mets -4
Cardinals -8*
Padres -5
‘05
Yankees -6
White Sox -7
Angels -5
Braves -4
Cardinals -3
Padres -8
‘04
Yankees -4
Twins -5
Angels -5
Braves -3
Cardinals -4
Dodgers -8
Losing Streaks-0- 0
1- 0
2- 0
3- 2
4- 9
5- 6
6- 5
7- 4
8- 4
Average Longest Losing Streak-
5.4
Divisonal Champions with losing streaks of at least 6-
13 of 30. 43%
Divisional Champions with losing streaks longer than 6-
8 of 30. 27%
Divisional Champions with losing streaks longer than 7-
4 of 30. 13%
Divisional Champions with losing streaks longer than 8-
0 of 30.
How about this headline...
Here's the link.
Here's the headline:
Report: Positive test not for steroids
Classic. The story says this guy was allowed to drive a freaking racecar the day after failing a drug test, and ESPN thinks we are concerned about whether or not a driver was on steroids.
Here's the headline:
Report: Positive test not for steroids
Classic. The story says this guy was allowed to drive a freaking racecar the day after failing a drug test, and ESPN thinks we are concerned about whether or not a driver was on steroids.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
New Audio
I have a new audio player, it's posted on the right. I will post all new show audio, starting today, in that player.
It will all be through my Podomatic Page, that can be found right here.
It will all be through my Podomatic Page, that can be found right here.
Monday, May 04, 2009
Thoughts after watching Zack Greinke go 6-0...
Here are some things I know about the game last night...
-I know... that was the best atmosphere at a Royals game that I've been at in my adult life.
And I know that people were going to the concession stand when the Royals were hitting, not when Zack was pitching.
-I know... that I've never been happier to be able to watch that game in the stands, as a fan, and as a Kansas Citian...
And I know about 20,000 people that agree with me.
-I know... that the announced attendance was impressive for a Monday night, at over 20,000.
But more importantly I know that the end of game attendance had to be nearly identical to the previous number... because nobody, and I mean nobody, was leaving this game... even though it was clear after about the 6th inning that this game was over.
-I know... that Zack Greinke is pitching as well as is humanly possible.
And I know that the previous statement wasn't an exageration.
-I know... that you don't have to know what VORP is, or who Bill James is, or even be a baseball fan to appreciate what Zach Greinke is doing...
But I also know that if you are a baseball nerd, this is even more impressive.
-I know... that I have been one of biggest, if not loudest, pessimistis about this team... and I know that my reservations at the beginning of the season remain to a large degree...
But more importantly I know that that doesn't matter to me right now, because I am so damn punch drunk about Zack Greinke.
-I know... that the Royals are 15-11 and in first place in the division...
And I know the overriding sentiment is not that they are overachieving, but that they really could be two or three games better...
-I know... that at the beginning of the season, basically everyone just asked for "meaningful baseball" in August and deeper... and now we're asking for so much more...
But that just makes me think of the best line from Zach Greinke's favorite movie... "hope is a good thing."
(For Shawshank fans, here's some more good clips...
The Trailer.
Morgan Freeman at his parole hearing.
The message of hope in the movie. )
-I know... that was the best atmosphere at a Royals game that I've been at in my adult life.
And I know that people were going to the concession stand when the Royals were hitting, not when Zack was pitching.
-I know... that I've never been happier to be able to watch that game in the stands, as a fan, and as a Kansas Citian...
And I know about 20,000 people that agree with me.
-I know... that the announced attendance was impressive for a Monday night, at over 20,000.
But more importantly I know that the end of game attendance had to be nearly identical to the previous number... because nobody, and I mean nobody, was leaving this game... even though it was clear after about the 6th inning that this game was over.
-I know... that Zack Greinke is pitching as well as is humanly possible.
And I know that the previous statement wasn't an exageration.
-I know... that you don't have to know what VORP is, or who Bill James is, or even be a baseball fan to appreciate what Zach Greinke is doing...
But I also know that if you are a baseball nerd, this is even more impressive.
-I know... that I have been one of biggest, if not loudest, pessimistis about this team... and I know that my reservations at the beginning of the season remain to a large degree...
But more importantly I know that that doesn't matter to me right now, because I am so damn punch drunk about Zack Greinke.
-I know... that the Royals are 15-11 and in first place in the division...
And I know the overriding sentiment is not that they are overachieving, but that they really could be two or three games better...
-I know... that at the beginning of the season, basically everyone just asked for "meaningful baseball" in August and deeper... and now we're asking for so much more...
But that just makes me think of the best line from Zach Greinke's favorite movie... "hope is a good thing."
(For Shawshank fans, here's some more good clips...
The Trailer.
Morgan Freeman at his parole hearing.
The message of hope in the movie. )
Monday, April 27, 2009
Tyson Jackson on WhatsWright Tuesday Morning
That basically says it right there.
I just finished speaking with the Chiefs number one draft pick, and the number three pick overall, the defensive end out of LSU, Tyson Jackson. I will share that conversation with you tomorrow morning, at 9:35.
I just finished speaking with the Chiefs number one draft pick, and the number three pick overall, the defensive end out of LSU, Tyson Jackson. I will share that conversation with you tomorrow morning, at 9:35.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Thoughts the Monday after the draft... and the full Chiefs Depth Chart
First of all, gut reaction to Chiefs draft...
*Rightly or wrongly, this draft will be graded almost exclusively on how Tyson Jackson does, and possibly how Aaron Curry does as well.
*Clearly, Pioli and company feel much more comfortable about this team's overall offensive depth than does the general public. <--Especially in regards to the offensive line and the wide receivers.
*AS I TOLD YOU 3 MONTHS AGO (cowboys note at the draft about DJ letting it slip), this team is moving to a 3-4... clearly Pioli and company believed that the defensive line had to be completely redone, and they did that with the first two picks of the draft (don't worry about Sims, et all.)
*Scott Pioli does not care where a player is rated, not at all. Colin Brown probably was going to go undrafted, the same can be said about Quenten Lawrence, and when he took Donald Washington DJ Moore from Vanderbilt was still available... not necessarily a good or bad thing, just an observation.
-Chiefs depth chart
WR- Bowe, Engram, Bradley, Devard Darling, Jeff Webb, Terrence Copper,
RB- LJ, Kolby, Charles, Javaris Williams, Jackie Battle, Dantrelle Savage
TE- Brad Cottam, Tony Curtis, Sean Ryan, Jed Collins, Jake O'Connel
QB- Matt Cassell, Tyler Thigpen, Brodie Croyle, Ingle Martin
LT- Branden Albert
RT- Damion McIntosh, Herb Taylor, Barry Richardson, Colin Brown
LG- Brian Waters
RG- Mike Goff, Edwin Harrison, Tavares Washington,
C - Rudy Niswanger
DE- Tyson Jackson, Alfonso Boone, TJ Jackson
NT- Tank Tyler, Alex Magee, Ron Edwards,
DE- Glenn Dorsey, Alex Magee, Derek Lokey
OLB- Mike Vrabel, Wallace Gilberry, Andy Studebaker, Darrell Robertson
MLB- Derrick Johnson, Demorrio Williams, Weston Dacus
MLB- Zach Thomas, Corey Mays, Monty Beisel
OLB- Tamba Hali, Turk McBride, Brian Johnston
CB- Bradon Flowers, Travis Daniels, Maurice Leggett
CB- Brandon Carr, Donald Washington, Ricardo Colclough
SS- Bernard Pollard, Dajuan Morgan
FS- Jarrad Page, Jon McGraw
And as an added bonus, here's what the Royals have done (as far as runs scored) against starting pitchers this season...
*Runs against starters-
2, 2, 0, 1, 0, 3, 4, 4, 2, 6, 2, 5, 1, 2, 2, 5, 1, 1
*Rightly or wrongly, this draft will be graded almost exclusively on how Tyson Jackson does, and possibly how Aaron Curry does as well.
*Clearly, Pioli and company feel much more comfortable about this team's overall offensive depth than does the general public. <--Especially in regards to the offensive line and the wide receivers.
*AS I TOLD YOU 3 MONTHS AGO (cowboys note at the draft about DJ letting it slip), this team is moving to a 3-4... clearly Pioli and company believed that the defensive line had to be completely redone, and they did that with the first two picks of the draft (don't worry about Sims, et all.)
*Scott Pioli does not care where a player is rated, not at all. Colin Brown probably was going to go undrafted, the same can be said about Quenten Lawrence, and when he took Donald Washington DJ Moore from Vanderbilt was still available... not necessarily a good or bad thing, just an observation.
-Chiefs depth chart
WR- Bowe, Engram, Bradley, Devard Darling, Jeff Webb, Terrence Copper,
RB- LJ, Kolby, Charles, Javaris Williams, Jackie Battle, Dantrelle Savage
TE- Brad Cottam, Tony Curtis, Sean Ryan, Jed Collins, Jake O'Connel
QB- Matt Cassell, Tyler Thigpen, Brodie Croyle, Ingle Martin
LT- Branden Albert
RT- Damion McIntosh, Herb Taylor, Barry Richardson, Colin Brown
LG- Brian Waters
RG- Mike Goff, Edwin Harrison, Tavares Washington,
C - Rudy Niswanger
DE- Tyson Jackson, Alfonso Boone, TJ Jackson
NT- Tank Tyler, Alex Magee, Ron Edwards,
DE- Glenn Dorsey, Alex Magee, Derek Lokey
OLB- Mike Vrabel, Wallace Gilberry, Andy Studebaker, Darrell Robertson
MLB- Derrick Johnson, Demorrio Williams, Weston Dacus
MLB- Zach Thomas, Corey Mays, Monty Beisel
OLB- Tamba Hali, Turk McBride, Brian Johnston
CB- Bradon Flowers, Travis Daniels, Maurice Leggett
CB- Brandon Carr, Donald Washington, Ricardo Colclough
SS- Bernard Pollard, Dajuan Morgan
FS- Jarrad Page, Jon McGraw
And as an added bonus, here's what the Royals have done (as far as runs scored) against starting pitchers this season...
*Runs against starters-
2, 2, 0, 1, 0, 3, 4, 4, 2, 6, 2, 5, 1, 2, 2, 5, 1, 1
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Position by Position Draft Rankings- CB, ILB, OLB
CORNERBACKS
1- Vontae Davis. Illinois. Had by far the best combine of any of the corner prospects. Fastest cornerback in the top of the draft. Had a truly outstanding collegiate career- 3yrs, Starts 35 of 36 games, 206 tackles, 13.5 tackles for a loss, 7 interceptions, 22 pass break ups. His tackles for loss number are stellar for a cornerback. Slowly overtook Malcolm Jenkins as the season went on, and certainly after the combine, as the top corner prospect in this draft. Jenkins could still be drafted higher, but it would be a mistake. Will certainly be a productive player, and has a chance to play in a Pro Bowl. Will not fall out of top twenty, and could be top corner taken overall.
2- Malcolm Jenkins. Oho St. Played four years, beginning as a true freshman, at Oho St. By the beginning of his junior year was widely considered one of the top cornerbacks in the nation. Hasn’t missed a game since his freshman season. Speed is holding him back more than anything. Could project possibly as a better safety than corner, but whoever takes him will certainly be drafting him to be a shutdown corner. Could struggle against true speed wide receivers, should be more competitive the more contact he can create. Certainly will be a top twenty pick and one of the top two taken, potential to go top ten overall.
3- Alphonso Smith. Wake Forest. Was at Wake Forest for five years, and started every game of his red shirt freshman year. By far the most experienced of the elite cornerback prospects in this draft. Very fast, but not very tall or bulky. Could go at the end of the first round or beginning of the second.
Right outside Top 3- Darius Butler. Connecticut
Sleeper- Coye Fancies. San Jose St.
INSIDE LINEBACKER
1- James Laurinaitis. Ohio St. Started day one his true freshman season. Won the Bronko Nagurski Award his sophomore season. Didn’t miss a single game due to injury in his four year career. Is considered a hard worker and a great team leader. Doesn’t have ideal size, but that is only real knock on him. Inside linebacker isn’t particularly deep this year, but the top two guys have potential to be excellent pros. Should go from 18-32.
2- Rey Mauluga. Southern California. Played since his true freshman season. Considered the leader of a USC linebacking corps that will have all three guys go in the first round. Durability is a concern, as he missed a game or two in multiple college seasons thanks to injuries. Has a few character question marks. Sometimes seems to be on his own rather than playing within a scheme. Somewhat difficult to judge because both of his teammates were such elite players. Should go from 12-25.
3- Jason Phillips. Texas Christian. The drop off between the top two guys in this class and Phillips is a major one. Phillips is a likely third or fourth round draft pick, possibly later. He redshirted his freshman season and was a four year starter after that. Very hard worker and excellent leader. Considered equally good against the run and the pass.
Right outside the top 3- Jasper Brinkley. South Carolina. Darry Beckwith. LSU
Potential Sleeper- Dannell Ellerbe. Georgia
OUTSDIE LINEBACKER
1- Aaron Curry. Wake Forest. The consensus number one defensive player in the draft. Will absolutely go top five, likely will go at number three to the Chiefs. Redshirted his freshman year and then was a starter for four seasons and was very productive. Won the Butkus award his senior season as the nation’s top linebacker. Is considered to have excellent character and leadership and an overall great person. Is arguably the top overall player in the draft.
2- Brian Cushing. Southern California. Arguably the best linebacker on a team that will have all three of its linebackers go in the first round. Played since his true freshman season, with the only thing ever really keeping him out of the lineup being injury. Considered a very tough, hard worker. Has excellent instincts. Could go as high as 12th, likely won’t fall out of top 23.
3- Clay Matthews. Southern California. Originally was a walk on at USC. Was not on anyone’s radar until his superb senior season. Never missed a game due to injury despite breaking a thumb in 2007. Has great character and his uncle and his father both had long NFL careers. A very solid all around player, that gets the most out of his ability. Likely a mid to late first round pick..
Right outside the top 3- Paul Kruger. Utah. Clint Sintim. Virginia
Potential Sleeper- Kaluka Maiava. Southern Cal.
1- Vontae Davis. Illinois. Had by far the best combine of any of the corner prospects. Fastest cornerback in the top of the draft. Had a truly outstanding collegiate career- 3yrs, Starts 35 of 36 games, 206 tackles, 13.5 tackles for a loss, 7 interceptions, 22 pass break ups. His tackles for loss number are stellar for a cornerback. Slowly overtook Malcolm Jenkins as the season went on, and certainly after the combine, as the top corner prospect in this draft. Jenkins could still be drafted higher, but it would be a mistake. Will certainly be a productive player, and has a chance to play in a Pro Bowl. Will not fall out of top twenty, and could be top corner taken overall.
2- Malcolm Jenkins. Oho St. Played four years, beginning as a true freshman, at Oho St. By the beginning of his junior year was widely considered one of the top cornerbacks in the nation. Hasn’t missed a game since his freshman season. Speed is holding him back more than anything. Could project possibly as a better safety than corner, but whoever takes him will certainly be drafting him to be a shutdown corner. Could struggle against true speed wide receivers, should be more competitive the more contact he can create. Certainly will be a top twenty pick and one of the top two taken, potential to go top ten overall.
3- Alphonso Smith. Wake Forest. Was at Wake Forest for five years, and started every game of his red shirt freshman year. By far the most experienced of the elite cornerback prospects in this draft. Very fast, but not very tall or bulky. Could go at the end of the first round or beginning of the second.
Right outside Top 3- Darius Butler. Connecticut
Sleeper- Coye Fancies. San Jose St.
INSIDE LINEBACKER
1- James Laurinaitis. Ohio St. Started day one his true freshman season. Won the Bronko Nagurski Award his sophomore season. Didn’t miss a single game due to injury in his four year career. Is considered a hard worker and a great team leader. Doesn’t have ideal size, but that is only real knock on him. Inside linebacker isn’t particularly deep this year, but the top two guys have potential to be excellent pros. Should go from 18-32.
2- Rey Mauluga. Southern California. Played since his true freshman season. Considered the leader of a USC linebacking corps that will have all three guys go in the first round. Durability is a concern, as he missed a game or two in multiple college seasons thanks to injuries. Has a few character question marks. Sometimes seems to be on his own rather than playing within a scheme. Somewhat difficult to judge because both of his teammates were such elite players. Should go from 12-25.
3- Jason Phillips. Texas Christian. The drop off between the top two guys in this class and Phillips is a major one. Phillips is a likely third or fourth round draft pick, possibly later. He redshirted his freshman season and was a four year starter after that. Very hard worker and excellent leader. Considered equally good against the run and the pass.
Right outside the top 3- Jasper Brinkley. South Carolina. Darry Beckwith. LSU
Potential Sleeper- Dannell Ellerbe. Georgia
OUTSDIE LINEBACKER
1- Aaron Curry. Wake Forest. The consensus number one defensive player in the draft. Will absolutely go top five, likely will go at number three to the Chiefs. Redshirted his freshman year and then was a starter for four seasons and was very productive. Won the Butkus award his senior season as the nation’s top linebacker. Is considered to have excellent character and leadership and an overall great person. Is arguably the top overall player in the draft.
2- Brian Cushing. Southern California. Arguably the best linebacker on a team that will have all three of its linebackers go in the first round. Played since his true freshman season, with the only thing ever really keeping him out of the lineup being injury. Considered a very tough, hard worker. Has excellent instincts. Could go as high as 12th, likely won’t fall out of top 23.
3- Clay Matthews. Southern California. Originally was a walk on at USC. Was not on anyone’s radar until his superb senior season. Never missed a game due to injury despite breaking a thumb in 2007. Has great character and his uncle and his father both had long NFL careers. A very solid all around player, that gets the most out of his ability. Likely a mid to late first round pick..
Right outside the top 3- Paul Kruger. Utah. Clint Sintim. Virginia
Potential Sleeper- Kaluka Maiava. Southern Cal.
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