Odds And Ends: Johnson, Bloomquist, Smoltz

Neyer is right on. The Royals are one stupid organization.

Sorry KC fans.

I think the O's should give Jim Johnson the opportunity to start, and if it doesn't work out, put him back in the bullpen. He has all the tools to become a good starter

Worth noting that of course that free agent team looks good, even at discounted prices that is probably a 100 mil+ team payroll.

On Olneys idea about circumventing the system I really doubt it would work. The white sox would have lawyers on the phone quite quickly I would guess. Interesting how the contact said catchphrases instead of saying it was expressly illegal. If it is not I would not be surprised to see some team give it a try. I could see Olneys scenario but somethign would have to go to the white sox as well. They would probably take something over nothing.

Once upon a time, I was under the impression that a team couldn't trade after signing him as a free agent until at least June. That would seem to put the kabosh on Olney's proposal. Was that a rule once upon a time or am I imagining things?

Certain truths: water will boil at 100 degree celcius, the sun rises in the east and Rob Neyer will always hate every move teh Royals make.

Honestly, if someone can point out an article he has written in the last 15 years where he has said anything more complimentary than, "that was an okay move" and I'll be shocked.

And he'll always have this vague justification for hating a move. Essentially all of Neyer's arguments regardin the royals can be boiled down to him thinking, they are stupid for making a move or they are stupid for not making the move. They can't win in his eyes.

The fact is since Dayton Moore has came in the Royals have increased their wins by 32%. Sure they had no where to go but up but that isn't something to sneeze at. And they have managed to it all while never making a smart move in Neyer's eyes. Hard to believe what they would have done if they did what Rob thought.

Don't get me wrong Rob is a really really really talented writer and anaylis and should get more national credit than he does. but he is way to bias when it comes to the Royals.

Finally, I don't think you'll hear Dayton Moore and the Glass family about not being able to spend money to compete this year. so his argument at the end of the article is really moat.

I agree with you Michael but Mike Jacobs will win the Royals atleast 5-6 more games over Ross Gload just because of all his power that he brings.

Shealy and Butler haven't done jack squat. Combined they have 38 home runs in their careers. Jacobs had almost that many just last year! And Butler will most likely be the everyday DH, so he'll still get his 500 AB's.

Bloomquist will end up with maybe as many at bats as Esteban German had last year, 216. That's really who Bloomquist is replacing on the roster in my opinion. He has everything German has (versatility and speed), but he's a better defender than German, who was atrocious defensively.

As for Crisp, he's shown that he can be good in the past. He's battled injuries and lack of playing time last year in Boston. Look at his Cleveland numbers though, they aren't that bad.