Trey Hillman got the axe yesterday as manager of the Kansas City Royals. I'll admit, I was a little shocked by the timing of this one. Sure the Royals had lost seven games in a row and fallen to a dismal 11-23 record, but I just didn't expect the firing to be made now. They say managers are hired to be fired, but with that said let's look back at how the Royals ended up in the mess they're in and if there's any hope to get out of it.
Hillman's overall record with the Royals was 152-207 in 2+ seasons. This isn't good by any stretch. The Royals were 75-87 in 2008, Hillman's first year as manager. It was good enough for the Royals to finish in 4th place in the AL Central. The first time the team had finished outside of the cellar since 2003.
There was some genuine hope that the team had finally turned a corner and the dismal stench of the mid-2000's would be a thing of the past. These hopes were further brightened by an 18-11 start to the 2009 season. This would be the last piece of good news during the Hillman era. The Royals absolutely collapsed during the next 3 months. Only another good stretch in September allowed the Royals to avoid 100 losses for the fifth time in eight years. The Royals finished 65-97, going 47-86 after the great start to the season.
That brings us to 2010. An 11-23 start was the final straw. The Roylas are 59-109 since the 18-11 start to the 2009 season. This is a completely unacceptable level of performance from a major league baseball team. But is this a major league baseball team? The level of talent on the diamond would probably indicate no.
Which begs me to ask the question, was Trey Hillman given everything he needed to succeed as KC Royals manager? My answer is no. The blame for this falls partly on GM Dayton Moore, but I'm pointing the blame at owner David Glass. The Glass family has been the one constant during this entire miserable stretch of supposed Major League Baseball. Many fans have felt Mr. Glass is cheap, not willing to spend money to acquire and retain good talent. It's hard to argue, but I can see both sides.
During his initial years of Royals ownership, Mr. Glass seemed to be on a one man crusade to change the game of baseball. He felt that smaller market teams could not compete with larger market teams for the top players. With salaries rocketing out of control like the ones given to Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez in the winter of 2000 you could see where he was coming from. So he didn't pay these salaries. In fact he hardly paid for anything. Feeling he would be a hypocrite if he paid these salaries while denouncing them at the same time.
Unfortunately this sent the Royals straight into the toilet. A team that in 2000 had a lot of promising young talent was soon devoid of it at all levels. Johnny Damon, Jermaine Dye and Carlos Beltran were among those traded away when they became too expensive for Mr. Glass' tastes. What the Royals got in return for these talents makes my sick. From washed up big league talent like Roberto Hernandez and Neifi Perez, to players we were sold as being building blocks for the future like Angel Berroa and Mark Teahen. To say these didn't work out is and understatement. None of the building blocks for the future are currently in the organization.
Compounding matters was the rot going on in the Royals minor league system. Years of bad drafts caught up with the franchise. The Royals got into a habit of drafting players they could afford rather than the best available. This philosophy led to the talent well being dry when it came time to replace the likes of Dye and Beltran. Which led to losses in unprecedented numbers. After 3+ horrible seasons, former GM Allard Baird was finally let go and replaced with Dayton Moore. Moore pledged to rebuild the minor league system. He also said losing at the big league level would not be acceptable.
Moore convinced Mr. Glass to start spending money at the big league level while he rebuilt the minor league system. While it can be said that Mr. Glass is spending more money, it can't be said it has been spent wisely. Because of the mess created, no top level free agents were willing to sign unless the Royals wildly overpaid for them. And even then the players added could hardly be considered top notch. Big free agent contracts were given to Gil Meche, Jose Guillen and Kyle Farnsworth. All except for Fanrnsworth at least started promising. Meche and Guillen have since gone bust. Meche's arm has seemingly given out on him and Guillen is showing his age. There is no trade value in either player because, bum bum bum, they make too much money for what they produce.
So with this being the situation Trey Hillman was faced with it almost seems like a miracle he was able to keep the team near .500 until the other shoe dropped. Honestly, I don't see things being much different for new Manager Ned Yost. Moore this morning said rebuilding the minor league system would take 8-10 years. Starting from 2006, that means were looking at a target of 2014-2016 before that is accomplished. In 4-6 more years does anyone think Zack Greinke, Billy Butler or Joakim Soria will still be around? It's unlikely that the Glass family will be able to spend enough money to bring in enough players to be competitive before then. So there goes another generation of building blocks, and another generation of Royals fans.
So what's a Royals fan to do? Stop going to games. I'd never advocate that stance. Having Major League Baseball is a privilege. Abusing that privilege could lead to it going away. At the same time I don't blame fans for not wanting to pay to support an inferior product. The only thing to do is wait and see what the course of action from the Glass family and Dayton Moore is this offseason. Barring divine intervention, 2010 is already lost. The Glass family NEEDS to do something BIG this offseason. And I mean BIG. Whether it be a blockbuster trade or breaking the bank for a legitimate, game changing free agent. They need to do something to send a jolt through a waning and apathetic fanbase. Sign a Cliff Lee. Trade for Albert Pujols. Do something BIG! They need to drop the mindset of what we can't do and see what they can do. Otherwise, more dark days are on the horizon. And a similar blog will be written by me when Ned Yost is fired. But what will have really changed?
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