Kansas City Royals

Kansas City baseball is currently in a rebuilding era, and has been for some time now.

One thing that is different now than in the past is talent in the farm system. This young talent, combined with off season acquisitions, will present interesting personnel scenarios for the Royals in 2010.

Scouting and team management will play a huge role in player development this season - to the chagrin of many fans - as they will have to decide which talent is most deserving of playing time and which requires more maturity or should be dealt.

When he was signed in the 2008-2009 offseason, Juan Cruz was of the few Dayton Moore acquisitions met with widespread approval. Having waited to sign Cruz until the market shook itself out, Moore found himself nabbing Juan Cruz for a mere $6 million over two years with a club option that would bring that total to $9.5 million if exercised.

The Royals will not compete in 2010.

The talking-heads and sports writing powers-that-be will have you believe this is already a foregone conclusion. Does this statement derive from abundant research and insightful analysis, or lazy regurgitation?

First of all, it is hardly a prediction when looking at the past 20 years of Royals baseball; failure is near certain for this franchise year after year.

You may have noticed that it has been almost a month since my last post here. Suffice it to say, this author is one pretty unhappy Royals fan. My last post (regarding the Jason Kendall signing ) felt to me that it was coming from somewhere near my wit's end.

Well, such a hope was short-sighted. Today, the assumption that many of us made last night was realized as a Scott Podsednik signing is about to be finalized. One year? Two years? Who gives a f***?

Owner : David Glass

Team : Kansas City Royals

Education : BA, General Business, Missouri State (Springfield, MO)

The 2009 Kansas City Royals baseball season got underway with much fanfare, due in large part to completed renovations to Kauffman Stadium that made it suitable for well, royalty.

The stadium’s concourses and concessions were brought up to today’s standards, and there were so many new amenities that any Royals fan would have a hard time taking advantage of them in a single homestand.

As far as Royals fans go, I am one of the more optimistic.

I retained my family's season tickets while away at college so I wouldn't lose my childhood vantage point when the team finally returned to the postseason.

I attend upwards of 40 games a season since I moved back to the nation's bread basket in 2004.

I was so confident in General Manager Dayton Moore's abilities that I placed a bet with a buddy that Mike Jacobs would hit 30+ HR, and, given the spacious Kauffman Stadium outfield, Coco Crisp would have an OPS north of .790 with 30+ SB.*

Continuing my statistical adventures that began when I looked at the 10 best relievers of 2009 (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/312131-heres-a-thought-statistically-...), here are my 10 WORST relievers of the past year (with at least 50 IP), as stated by True ERA.

Let's take a look.

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