Here we go again. With Tuesday's horrendous 9-4 drubbing by the Indians the Royals are again lost in a losing streak.This time they have dropped 10-of-12 and have disimproved their overall record to 55-70 - the same exact total as this time last season. So I guess all those millions we used to lure clubhouse favorite Jose Guillen to town has really gone to use. Not only has "Sweet Jose" made friends in the clubhouse and with Royals fans, but he has also "put the team on (his) back" the way he guaranteed he would do earlier in the season.
It's obviously been a great move considering how much better this team is and all. Look, I commend the Royals for at least making moves to get better, but at some point we've got to cut loose of the extra baggage (Gload, German, Smith, Pena Jr. etc) and put real major league talent on the field. Yeah, those are all good guys and all, but they don't help you win games. PERIOD.
Also, I'm not blaming Jose Guillen for all of this either. Instead, the point here is that he shouldn't have been expected to be the "leader" of this team. Guillen is no leader. He cries and whines more than any of the young guys "Butler, Gordon, etc." It's not like his comments are challenging teammates to get better. He's crying and whining about how bad people are to him. If that's what he thinks Dayton Moore and Trey Hillman expected of him when he signed, the guy is more looney than I previously thought.
He's a good player when he wants to be. Right now, he is hitting .251 and talking a lot. Point made.
Mark Teahen is nothing more than a fourth outfielder (which wouldn't be a bad option by the way). He would be solid in that role. At this point, he is in no way a guy deserving of a starting corner outfield position in the Major Leagues. I love Mark by the way. The dude shows up, keeps his mouth shut and plays the game the right way. He's been jerked around by the organization and has yet to get caught crying and whining about it. Right now, he's just not up to par with other starters around the league.
Changes need to happen and soon. Another big bat - a player with real "leadership" if you will - needs to be added to take the pressure off Josey.
I'm looking forward to this offseason.
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I could live with Guillen's surly nature and even embrace it if he was producing at the plate or even contributing on the field. Hell, he's stalled at 16 HRs and looks like he just wants to get each at-bat over with. How many threats has he deflated by listlessly tapping into a double play lately? That hot but very brief streak in July was not worth the $36 million by any stretch. Why he's still batting clean-up is a mystery. I'd rather see Butler in that spot.
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