INTERLUDE: Congratulations, MLB.com, on the success of your live chat with a Major League general manager. Twenty-three of your interns asked a question of Dayton Moore, with some of them getting to ask multiple times! Thirty-two questions in all. I bet this wasn't in their job description, but which of your legion of snappy, energetic young folk wouldn't have killed to be a part of this, hmm?
Most topical question:dharsh11: How will the economy effect the Royals and the moves you might make during this offseason?
Moore: We all recognize the downturn in our economy, but our focus is putting the best team we can on the field, and we are fortunate to have ownership that is willing to improve our Major League payroll 20-25 percent from last year.
Most random:
bdk5735: As a U.S. Navy veteran, and with all the military bases in the Royals footprint, why don't they have a camouflage uniform for special occasions such as the Fourth of July?
Moore: The Glass family is very mindful and supportive of the commitment that our men and women in uniform make for our country. Each season we have special ticket offers and a Military Appreciation Day celebration. We will continue to honor those serving our country in 2009 as well.
Longest answer:
holidaymvp: What is going to be the greatest strength of the 2009 Royals lineup?
Moore: I anticipate we will have much better balance offensively, with speed and on-base [potential] at the top of the lineup and power on the left and the right sides in the middle of the lineup. I also look forward to continued improvement from our young starting pitching. We were very pleased with the way Gil [Meche] and Zack [Greinke] threw the ball and improved. We were very encouraged by the way Kyle Davies and Luke Hochevar pitched and the way Brian Bannister finished and, of course, the dominance of Joakim Soria saving 43 of 45 games.
Shortest:
cpittier: What are your priorities as you enter the Winter Meetings?
Moore: With trading Leo Nunez and Ramon Ramirez, our obvious need is right-handed relief pitchers.
The man, we imagine, never blinked.
If we had to choose one hands-to-the-hair, jaws-to-the-ground, I-can't-believe-my-eyes-or-ears answer in terms of the enlightenment and shock it brought us -- and it's hard to pick just one, really -- it would have to be this:
dharsh11: Do you watch other sports, and if you do, how close do you follow them? Who is your favorite non-baseball team?
Moore: I enjoy watching other sports and I pull for all of our local teams. I love the energy and excitement that those teams bring to our community.
I read the whole chat, and it was the most dull and meaningless thing I've seen in forever. I had hopes that since DM's mind is so highly regarded, a live chat with him would be enlightening in some way. Instead, he said ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
ReplyDeleteSigh.
You, my new friend, have provided an invaluable service. Now THAT is the way to read a bland interview with predictable questions lobbed up like volleyballs for a press-release-spouting GM. Thanks for sparing me the pain of reading the whole thing. My eyes might have bled.
ReplyDeleteAny chance we can get a live chat with DM when he's hammered sometime? That's the way to do it, live chat people. Get him when he's slumped over his computer with a dirty bottle of Mad Dog after a night at the bars. You know he does it. Come on. It's baseball.
Support our local teams... Give this man a drink!
Wow.
ReplyDeleteI almost completely forgot about this site. You had that whole out-of-country thing, and it stopped being a daily must-read, and whatever.
In any case, looks like I have a lot of catching up to do, as you are still, after reading the front page's articles just now, easily my favorite Royals writer.
Keep up the amazing work. Love this site. Love it.