The Firing of Trey Hillman

Finally, this is a topic that I love, although I had mixed feelings at first and I know about all the statistics and soothsayers around the league that get bankrolled to follow the league say that the manager means very little to a team's success. That being said I agree that they don't have the impact of other sports, but deciding key subs, when to steal and when to bring out the pen are important aspects. Hillman has done some bonehead things in his brief career here in KC. He's held all the players after the game and screamed at them at home plate in front of everyone in the stands for sloppy defensive play and poor baserunning. That was in the beginning...where has it gotten him? Zero by Smashing Pumpkins. Not knowing how to setup a lineup. Zilch. Connecting with the fans? You're joking. Being a media darling? Ha, I think Ben Stein could give a better interview...actually I'd like to see him manage against Ben Stein and see if he can win Ben Stein's money. The front office has ruined (In a Stewie Griffin voice)just about 3/4 of all our talent. I could get my name-out on, but bottom line Hillman, although terrible, is not fully to blame. I love Dayton Moore. He is a bit of an enigma that really plays favorites (Osuna...really?) But youu get the feeling that he would do anything possible to improve the Royals, and he has done a descent job of improving scouting etc and whataburgering up the minor leagues. Starting off he made bold moves and acquired some impressive talent, all to throw it away on the Coco Crisp and Mike Jacobs trade. Jacobs OPS was awful and the fact that youu had him blocking Hawaiian Punch and Ryan Shealy and you gave away our primo setup man is inexcusable. I feel like these will be the moves that he is defined by...well, that and giving Jose Guillotine Guillen Sweeney money to wine, be hurt, and not play the field. Why not take the Kila Punch out for a test drive, we've had moderate success with our minor league players of the year (Aviles much) and although we are a poor team, why not see what we got with Kila and some others. If I was Trey Hillman (Thank God I'm not) I would pull the old Hot Tub Time Machine and Scooby-Do work in this fashion:

I, Trey, am aware this will be my defining season and need to be bold and preach fundamentals. I know going into the season that my bullpen is full of bums. Not the cool British way to say butt, but dudes striving for mediocrity. We always overanalyze September (Ryan Shealy was the next Steve Balboni and Robinson Tejeda was the next David Cone) and setup off those finishes. Everyone knows that September means Bo Diddley, don't need the guy who is most deserving of the Royals Hall of Fame to come out of retirement to play that commercial. Bo Jackson could very well be the most talented Royal to ever play at the K. Arguably top five. I'm just sayin....back to my declaration of Hillmapendence....I play along with the Farnsworth experiment and stand firm on the fact that if Anki-worthless wants to play in KC he's gonna have to earn CF, not sign a contract that says he's gonna play it. You have a near gold-glove LF in DDJ and Don't Tell Scotty is an above average to average CF with great speed. Have Guillen and Ank dog pound over RF and let Kila DH and B-But play first. Putting Gordo in a position to fail didn't help at all, just like the Teahen trade...you're telling me we couldnt have found some sort of unproven live arm from a AA farm system for T-bag? Getting backups for a utility made sense then as I like what Chris wants ChrisGetz (Chris Getz) brings in the form of range, but he is a contact hitter that isn't going to do much for your lineup, just like Ankiel and his canyonesque hole in the swing, didn't take AL pitchers too long to Franky Figs it out huh? I've said this since spring training (me, not Hillman), I like Blake Wood. Does anyone remember when MacDougal came out to loud music and his cap would almost fall off when he would throw in 2003? How about A-Burgos in 2004? Just throw constant heat with little control so hitters are fearful of their lives and save games that way. Joe Nelson, Dotel (established prior to stint with Royals), Nunez even, they had brief successful stints as closers. Having the best closer in the game (arguably) with the worst pen does very little for you. You may lose your job anyways, but why not try Soria out as a starter in spring training? He's thrown a perfect game and used to start, hell, there is even bonus clauses in his contract that cover him starting. Then youu have Cy Greinke, Ill Meche, Soria, Banni, and Boats N Hoch in your rotation. Davies is not a MLB starter, but could be a steady, yet forgettable middle to long reliever. Sad to see we traded Dotel for him, but he has had his good days. Try it out. See what happens. Try Gordo in LF in SPRING TRAINING...I get it, Alberto "Professor Chaos" Callaspo has a solid bat and it needs to be in the lineup. He was cornea surgery waiting to happen while watching him struggle mightily at 2B at times last year. Okay, put him in the hot corner...why did youu get Nate Fields again? Yup...doesn't make sense. Start Farns in Spring Training games and talk the big talk about how he's found his stroke and tempt someone to take a chance on him for some sort of return that doesn't involve us paying his obsurd salary (another great cision Dayton). So I Hillmanize and my lineup is this:
1)Scotty doesn't Know-cf
2)Aviles-2b
3)DDJ aka Sandlot-lf
4)B-But aka Earl-1b
5)Callaspo aka Professor Chaos-3b
6)Guillen or Ankiel-rf
7)Kila Hawaiian Punch Kaa'ihue-dh
8)Kendall aka Rocksteady-c
9)Betancourt-ss

1-Greinke
2-Ill Meche
3-Mexicutioner
4-Boats N Hoch
5-Bebop aka Bannister

CL-Blake Wood...give him a cool name like the lumberjack, or skillsaw(sawin' lumber since 2007), the Viking and he could run in with a Viking Helmet or the scondcoming of Vaughn from Major League...truth is fans love it and it can be difficult for hitters to hit guys they haven't seen yet in the beginning...he can ride the hotstreak like MacDougal in 2003

He proved me right for a bit in his inaugural starts, but has fallen off a tad since...I still have faith

I wouldn't ride Kendall so hard, just appreciate the professional at bats he puts out there daily and the decrease in wild pitches thanks to his blocking ability

I wouldn't have been so quick to get Gordo up in the majors and I would have held pitch counts to 110ish rather than the hundo area...gotta ride the horses and not call for cavalry

Cruz is a bum. He made the roster on the 2008 rep alone of the good ERA in the NL...we wasted a sandwich pick on him...and alotta dough...baseball is an intriguing sport and so easy to monday morning qb...but it is endless to talk about....oh, and the April 24th game against the Twins I wouldn't have taken Boats N Hoch out for Hughes to pitch to Morneau. Big Mistake. Still, I love the agressiveness in base stealing Ii saw so far this year and Ii hope Ned Yost can keep it up. He seems like a more likeable guy that has at least managed in the MLB before and played. Hillman had done neither...he was pretty much destined to fail. So glad I never bought that Nippon Ham Fighters jersey.