Kansas, the Yankees, and Keppinger

A few thoughts tonight on a variety of subjects.

1. Kansas Suckhawks

As I right this blog, the Suckhawks are leading Memphis in the national championship game 22-15. If things continue like this, the will unfortunately be winning the National Championship. As a Mizzou fan, I was raised to hate Kansas and they are just flat out obnoxious in general. My bracket was crap this year, Mizzou didn't make the tournament, and now Kansas is going to win it. Suck. Only brightside is that the sports "geniuses" will stop talking about how the Big 12 isn't a real basketball conference since we haven't won a championship since 1988.

2. The Yankees. That is who the boys in blue face tomorrow for the home opener. Before the season started, if you had told me that the Royals would start the season with a 4-2 roadtrip vs. the Tigers and Twins, I would have laughed in your face. I would have hoped for 2-4, dreamed for 3-3. To be where we are now is incredible.

That being said, my perspective has changed significanlty in the span of a week. As the Yankees roll into town, I actually like our chances of winning the series. Our staff is leading the league in ERA, and we have Bannister, Greinke, and Bale lined up. That makes me hopeful. If the good guys win 2 of 3 in this series, look out - we may be for real.

3. Jeff Keppinger. Who, you may ask, is Jeff Keppinger? Jeff Keppinger is the starting SS for the Cincinnati Reds, and for you diehards, a one-time Royal. For a brief period (6 months), Jeff Keppinger was a Royal. Dayton Moore acquired him in July of 2006 for Ruban Gotay. Then, in early 2007, we traded him for a pitcher named Russ Haltiwanger. Why the history lesson, you may ask? Because I think it tells us something significant about our GM.

You see, Jeff Keppinger is currently the best hitting SS in the majors. He's hitting .423 with 2 HRs and 3 doubles. Last year, in 67 games for the Reds, he hit .332 with a 2/1 BB/K ratio. Russ Haltiwanger, on the other hand, is at single A Wilmington for us, where he had a middling ERA last year. When I first looked at this, I thought, "Wow, we were robbed here. I certainly would rather have Keppinger starting at SS right now over TPJ, and this pitcher is a bust."

Instead though, let's look at what it tells us about our GM. In this same 6 month period, the Graffanino for De La Rosa trade was made, along with the MacDougal for Lumsden/Cortes trades were made. Both, I think we would all say, were good moves for the depth of young pitching in the organization. The Keppinger trade made some sense at the time. Keppinger had done nothing extraordinary, and Haltinger was another young arm. Most importantly, it brought in depth in the prospect staff. Now, so far this trade has turned out bad for the Royals, but the strategy under which it was made, has not.

You see, this trade shows Moore's strategy in a nutshell. Young arms are top priority, then we will worry about everything else. Due to this philosophy, we have a solid starting rotation for the first time in years, and plenty of prospects in the minors. I think it is what will lead us into contention over the next few years.

So while Keppinger maybe got away - remember the strategy. I think this Moore guy just might know what he is doing.