Ump Bump's season preview begins with a misstatement -- 83 wins is not the "absolute minimum number of wins" necessary for a team to have a "winning" season -- but it rights itself soon after and turns in an honest assessment of our hometown team. We're not going to agree on the prudence of the Jose Guillen signing -- Paul Moro, bylined, admits he'll give the benefit of the doubt to the Royals' front office, considering how well Gil Meche* performed last year -- and we'll take issue with the claim that Miguel Olivo is "one of the worst offensive players in baseball" (no, the worst offensive player in baseball is the man Olivo's replacing, Jason LaRue), but the rest we'll let slide, even this backhanded compliment:One thing I can credit them for is not making rash decisions and trading away their young core. This is also a team whose farm system is quite bare at the moment, mostly due to the fact they’ve promoted many of their top prospects already, so at least they didn’t go out and sign any Type-A free agents and lose draft picks.
But for now, this franchise needs to concentrate on developing their young hitters. They have the makings of a half-decent rotation as well, especially if Hochevar ever figures it out. 2008 will not be their year, and this is a team that despite some questionable moves, still hasn’t lost their hopes for the future.
Not a bad preview at all. Unlike some people -- we'll get to those in time -- Moro at least bothered to look up the Royals lineup and find some nice things to say about Alex Gordon, Billy Butler, etc. Always nice to know outsiders think as much of your key assets as you do.
*Speaking of Gilgameche: he and the incomparable Hideo Nomo blanked the Giants today in a 3-1 win.
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