Dear Buddy Bell:

I grow tired of watching Royals games. You are the cause. The team's ineptitude is magnified by your ineptitude. I agree with all the points of my previous poster; especially the starters and catchers argument.

First of all, the starters have a 3-4 ERA, pretty fantastic for this team. The bullpen has a 6+ ERA. The Royals have a 4-2 lead going into the 7th. Perez has a pitch count of 79 and you pull him. Not surprisingly, the bullpen does what Perez could have done, which was given up the leadoff double. But instead of using up the starter's reps, you used a massive amount of our bullpen to get 2 outs, and then Soria, our closer had to come in and save your ass.

Here's the thing, yes, maybe pitch count for some guys is important (Prior and his magical year when he was awesome, but Dusty used him for counts of 100-140 per start, and look at him now), but there is also something to be said that Perez is practically free, won't be with this team next year, and isn't a very good player anymore. Why waste bullpen time on a guy we might as well use up? Even if we lost, we would have blamed Perez, not you Buddy.

Brandx's position on the catcher's speak for itself. Buck is younger, Buck is actually hitting this year, and though it probably won't last, he's already matched some career totals...

I do (semi) oppose the stance of Sweeney and Grudz. Both have been injured, one has a history of injuries so sitting them to get the most out of them seems like a decent idea. That being said, Sweens looks like shit and you may as well put him out there b/c he's hitting the ball when he starts as much as he's hitting the ball on the bench. Grudz you can make an argument for b/c we have Estey at 2B who needs reps. But, on any given day, I'd rather have a professional like Grudz in the lineup than the German super-sub (any one think he's the next Desi Relaford; i.e., a one-year wonder? I do).

Now the real issue with Buddy; and yes, I haven't liked Bell for the past season or so, but Brandx did manage to convince me to give him a shot with better players, which he has this season. And granted, we shouldn't have a winning record, but we also shouldn't be 7-14. I think Bell's new Micromanaging for Baseball strategy is horsesquabble. In the past few games, I have seen him micromanage the bullpen more this year than he ever did last year. What the heck is up with all these L-L matchups, pulling starters with low pitch counts pitching well, and WHAT IS UP WITH THE CONTINUED USE OF JO-MUTHA Fing-EL PERALTA'S PLAYING TIME?

Peralta is a crutch of Bell's that is made of rotting wood. It's about to break and possibly kill Buddy. And I think Peralta is a useful reliever, but my god, if I was Peralta I'd be pissed. He should see 50-60IP per year, he's almost got that in April. His effectiveness is severely limited b/c he's an average player playing against superb hitting. He can get great hitters out, but the more he's seen, the less he'll be successful.

Also, Neal Musser, great addition to the pen, what the hell are you doing putting him out there in 3-2 situations? As a rookie, what happened to exposure to the bigs in games that you are a) being blown out or b) blowing out the opposition? You want a guy to fail, then manage the rooks like you do Buddy.

And why are you suddenly doing this L-L bullshit? You put Riske in, leave him in for an inning. You know why Gobble can't get consistent? B/c you keep putting him in L-L matchups for .1 inning. Gobs was a starter, he has proven that lefties hit him pretty well. Quit following logic and follow some trends. He's better when he pitches an inning or two an appearance. He may give up a walk or hit, but usually manages to get out of it with little to no damage.

Buddy, you don't have the bullpen to continue pitching guys for .1, .2 per inning. Leave guys out there to succeed or not. Granted, you want the best possible matchup going into the inning, but with this team, and the lack of bullpen talent (until Dotel comes back, why are people so excited about Bale?), just let guys go out there and throw; and let's be honest, Soria has starter stuff and awesome talent, and probably will be a starter anyway (endurance). You want to win a game or two... put Soria out there in the 8th. Obviously, this wouldn't work all year, he'll wear down, get hurt, whatever. Luckily, he only has to do it for another 3-4 weeks and should be able to deal with the wear and tear until then -OR- when you have a 2 to 3 run lead against a weaker team, bring in Ducky or Riske or Braun (who needs the experience anyway) to give Soria the night off.