From the March 25 edition of the Kansas City Star:
“I told Getzie this morning,” Yost said, “that when he showed up to camp, I saw no way for him to make our club. But he came in as a totally different offensive player."
“And quite frankly, I thought Yuni would be serviceable at second base, but I didn’t think he’d be near as good as he’s been. We had two guys who, actually, showed up who were better options defensively.”
Chris Getz is going to be the starting 2nd basemen for the start of the 2012 season. A player with a slugging % lower than his OBP is going to start at 2nd base because he is marginally a better fielder than Johnny Giavotella. Just let that soak in for a minute or two. 28 year old Chris 'Fucking' Getz is going to start over 24 year old Johnny 'Royals minor league player of the year' Giavotella because he played marginally better defense in a few spring training games.
I watch a lot of baseball. I know that pitching and defense are vitally important to a successful and winning season. I also know that crappy hitters make pitchers and fielders look much better than they really are. It seems the Royals have once again bought into their own bull-shit. For the last 20 years a succession of managers has publicly preached the importance of fundamentals, defense, and pitching (FDP). FDP comprise the talking points for teams that stink. Yet, FDP continues to be an almost inevitable spring training conversation; almost as inevitable as remarking that player X is in "the best shape of his career". It is a nice way of saying that player X did not take physical fitness seriously without saying it explicitly. Both are signs of laziness on the part of the reporter and subterfuge on the part of the team.
The Royals, now that they have some legitimate everyday players, seem to believe they stunk for the last 20 years because they failed at fundamentals. If only they had been better at bunting and situational hitting they would have won the pennant. For fuck sake, they failed because they did not make the acquisition of quality players a top priority. They failed because they only spent $57,000 on Latin American talent over a ten year period. They failed because they traded David Cone, TWICE. They failed because instead of taking the best players in trades they went fishing for specific positions (that's you Mark Teahan) They failed because they fielded teams with minor league players. Players like Chris Getz and Humberto Quintero and Yuniesky Betancourt.
Now I fear they are going to fail in 2012 because they believe it is still 1970 and home runs and power somehow don't matter. The organization has been spinning the same bullshit for so long they have begun to believe it themselves. They have a manager that believes a marginal upgrade in defense can override a glaring deficiency with a bat. The Royals strengths in 2012 were supposed to be a deep bullpen and a strong offense. Why would they not attempt to play to their strengths? Why not play Giavotella and try to field the best offense you possibly can? Will the starting pitching staff have a better chance of producing results if a .300 hitter with power gets an opportunity to bat 5 times per game or with Chris Getz playing marginally better defense at 2nd base? Chris Getz, Yuniesky Betancourt, and Humberto Quintero are three of the worst hitters in the major leagues and now they might be occupying the same lineup in 2012. If defense is so important why is Mitch Maier ahead of Jarrod Dyson? Maier is by no means a slug in the outfield, but he doesn't have Dyson's range.
Just fucking kill me now. If any of those three guys ever bats in the top 6 of the batting order I am going to lose my fucking mind. If Yost has a player lay down a bunt before the 8th inning I am going to lose my fucking mind. You only get 27 outs, why give one away? Why give the worst hitters the opportunity for an extra at-bat by placing them at the top of the lineup? I know why, because the Royals think we are all stupid. They think their fans are idiots. They don't like to be second guessed by a bunch of 'amateurs'. I know why they think this. It's because we have continued to watch this fucking disgrace of a baseball team over the last 20 years. We must all be masochists if we continue to watch this team.
It's amazing how better players are more 'fundamentally' sound. There is nothing fundamental about hitting a curve ball or making a great play on a screaming line-drive. Robinson Cano sure makes the 3-run homer look fundamental. Boy, that Phillies defense sure looks good behind Roy Halladay.
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