Ian Kennedy - the gift that keeps giving

It could be worse, we could still have Brandon Maurer. I wonder what that piece of shit is doing these days.

The Royals window is 2021-2025.

What I wouldn’t give to take an aluminum baseball bat to Kennedy’s face

Is Trevor Oaks done as a player?

Almost 20 games under .500. Royals baseball is back!!!

Yeah. It’s almost like MLB’s system is incredibly unbalanced and makes it incredibly difficult for teams in the smallest markets to consistently compete.

Baseballs changes to the system have all helped the big markets, look at the teams that are good, it's going right back to where it use to be save a few examples.

Also that trade with the Padres may be the worst one Moore has made.

Doesn’t seem to hurt Cleveland or Tampa or St Louis. Their market is like 3.0m to our 2.5m. Yet they never take a dip. Weird!

The Rays are the best-run organization in baseball (though the Dodgers May pass them soon, some would argue they already have, which is terrifying considering their resources). That’s the model you’d want to see in KC (though paired with a willingness to go for it when the time is ripe).

The Cardinals are not a small-market team. It’s a top 20 market whose history and reach lets the organization operate like a top 10 market.

Cleveland definitely has taken some dips. There was the 5-year period from 2008-2012 that set up their current run, for example. They also had a run of 4 losing seasons in 5 years from 2002-2006. From 2002-2012, they had 4 90-loss seasons, 2 80+ loss seasons, 3 at .500, and 2 90-win seasons.

That last rough patch was critical to setting up their current run. And what did they do in the offseason leading up to this year? They cut costs because the owner dictates it, which probably closed the window on their last chance to win with the current group of players. That’s definitely something market-affected.

And another dip is likely coming for Cleveland. Bauer has one year of control left and will probably be traded at the trade deadline. Jose Ramirez has fallen off a cliff. Lindor has rebuffed extension discussions. Kluber is hurt and on the downhill slope. Their minor league system isn’t good.

How deep that dip goes is going to depend on what they can get for moving Bauer, Lindor, and possibly Kluber.

That Padres trade is brutal, in hindsight. At the time, the deal was widely applauded. It was an attempt to patch some cracks and make a final run with that group of players.

Considering the “cheap” way the Royals were run for so long, it’s hard for me to stand criticism of attempts to go for it and maximize the contention window.

They’ve done a good job with Strahm, improving him and helping him find a changeup. And Esteury Ruiz, who I called at the time of the trade as the guy they might regret moving most, is a legitimate top 100 prospect with pop and speed.

KC made the deal wore by dumping Ryan Buchter as part of a salary dump before 2018. That was a controllable piece with some value they could have blunted the impact of the trade with.

Duncan do you know if red beard has any autograph signing sessions or charity events or anything like that scheduled in the public? I want to beat his ass to a pulp

Omaha released Michael Ynoa. He looked pretty good in spring training. Any idea what happened to him?

I think the Angels wanted him to go with Brian Goodwin.

3-run Soler bomb!