Realism, Part I: Shortstop

Similar to kcroyals.com, I feel like examining each position and making my own comments, whether right or wrong because it is fun and I have a blog.

There can be good info in the Royals blog, but let's see it for what it is, a marketing tool where optimism reigns, not reality.

So, let's take a look at our worst position over the past few years AND make comments about his contract!

I'd actually like to start there, I think Allard may have learned a valuable lesson, though he may keep repeating it. I know I do. "It" has many names and probably can be bought on Ebay; "it" is most aptly named, "Jumping the Gun." This is defined as lacking patience to confirm an idea, a theory, a practice, etc. For instance, one time I paid for the GRE b/c I thought I had to take it, but I paid before I HAD figured out if I did or not. I knew I was "jumping the gun" (let's make this the new, "thrown under the bus," but did it anyway. Had I had patience for 24 hours more, I wouldn't have lost $100 (b/c I didn't have to take it and the GRE only refunds part of your money). I think this example shows that I am knowledgeable about "jumping the gun."

Angel had a career year in 2003 (for him, not for most shortstops) when he hit .287 w/ 17HRs and 73 RBIs. He still had arbitration time left, enough to see in 2004 if he could repeat his line, but Baird saw one season of him and signed him long-term, handcuffing future generations (Dayton Moore) with a bad player at a key position.

I'm not sure if many see baseball as I do. I know many people think that if a person can do what he does for the whole year, that's a large sample size. I disagree. I think a large sample size of what a player can do occurs over a multitude of years. And as I write this, I may see some error in my thoughts... we'll get to that. I think one has to weigh minor league numbers, and give a player their window to prove they can repeat in the Majors. I bet Baird thought Angel would be pretty good, he seems to have hit for average, but only hit 34 HRs in 5 minor league seasons. Whatever Baird was thinking, I guess he hoped to get an average hitting SS. Angel just lacks power. In short, I would have liked to see Berroa repeat in 04 and having the year he had, reexamine him (or sign him to a small, contract) for 05 and seen if 04 was an aberration. It appears to this blogger that his past 2 years are more likely Angel and 03 was the aberration.

All in all, I think the past 3 years in which he's probably hit around .250, .260 is the SS we have until his contract runs out in 2008. This is unfortunate because he not only produces nothing on the basepaths, but his defense is suspect. In 2006, Angel was second to last in fielding % (.969) and committed 18 errors. Surprisingly, Derek Jeter committed 15 (but he's overhyped as a defender anyway). 18 errors is actually quite the improvement over his last few years in which he committed 24 (2003), 28 (2004), and 25 (2005).

In short, as long as Angel continues to be a Major Leaguer (without the help of steroids), he will be a liability for this team and any OPTIMISTIC BS other "blogs" feed you is just that.

BS!