“(Dan Glass) has officially owned this team for a decade now. I think we’re on 12 years that he has officially owned this ball club. This team has not won. And now we stand at the crossroads of a labor negotiations to which David Glass was once considered a problem (for owners) because he stood up for the small-market teams. … Now everybody’s getting rich and it’s not about winning or the small-market teams would be standing up and crying foul. And they’re not. They’re quietly sitting and lining their pockets with millions of dollars. And that’s sad.”Soren Petro, 810 AM
GH: It has been interesting to listen to the different tone regarding the Royals from the two local all-sports talk radio stations in Kansas City. Petro and his 810 crew have continued to be quite harsh and in my opinion more realistic in their approach to analyzing and covering the Royals. 610 Sports sent Bob Fescoe to Arizona to cover the first week of the Royals’ camp and he got a case of true blue religion while in the Valley of the Sun. Read on.
“The Glass bashing is done. The Glass bashing is old. He is the owner of this team. He was not doing the right things at the beginning but he’s doing the right things now. They are the caretakers of this franchise.”
Bob Fescoe, who has declared he will no longer publicly bash the Royals owner as he has in the past, 610 AM
GH: I don’t think it would be a stretch to label Fescoe as Glass’ biggest critic last season. Audio drops from his rant last year when he went off on Glass one morning is still replayed off by Nick Wright. He’s also the guy who is best known for having is Royals credentials removed due to his hard-line questioning of Dan Glass in June of 2006. So why the change of heart? Did the Royals get to Fescoe and ask him to play more of a supportive role since 610 is the Royals’ flagship station? Or did Fescoe have a sudden change of heart after the Greinke trade? Only Fescoe knows the answers. But he has made as sudden and profound 180-degree move as I have ever witnessed. Read on.
Bob Fescoe, who has declared he will no longer publicly bash the Royals owner as he has in the past, 610 AM
GH: I don’t think it would be a stretch to label Fescoe as Glass’ biggest critic last season. Audio drops from his rant last year when he went off on Glass one morning is still replayed off by Nick Wright. He’s also the guy who is best known for having is Royals credentials removed due to his hard-line questioning of Dan Glass in June of 2006. So why the change of heart? Did the Royals get to Fescoe and ask him to play more of a supportive role since 610 is the Royals’ flagship station? Or did Fescoe have a sudden change of heart after the Greinke trade? Only Fescoe knows the answers. But he has made as sudden and profound 180-degree move as I have ever witnessed. Read on.
“You guys have the lowest payroll in baseball. I think that’s a great thing!”
Bob Fescoe, in an interview with Dayton Moore, 610 AM
Bob Fescoe, in an interview with Dayton Moore, 610 AM
“It seems like every position in this organization has talent and has talent behind it, too.”
Bob Fescoe, 610 AM
GH: A low payroll this season is fine as long as the Royals are willing to pay to retain their homegrown talent four and five years from now. Except for Mike Sweeney and Billy Butler, they have shown no appetite for this menu. I hope Fescoe and the scouts are right about how deep the Royals’ system is on position player talent. But unproven talent is simply that – unproven.
Bob Fescoe, 610 AM
GH: A low payroll this season is fine as long as the Royals are willing to pay to retain their homegrown talent four and five years from now. Except for Mike Sweeney and Billy Butler, they have shown no appetite for this menu. I hope Fescoe and the scouts are right about how deep the Royals’ system is on position player talent. But unproven talent is simply that – unproven.
“Rebuilding is a fraud. It’s a marketing tool.”
Soren Petro, on the Royals’ asking for patience while their farm system continues to marinate their future stars, 810 AM
Soren Petro, on the Royals’ asking for patience while their farm system continues to marinate their future stars, 810 AM
“There’s no reason we can’t compete to win the Central.”
Dayton Moore, when asked by Fescoe his expectations for this season’s Royals, 610 AM
GH: Moore is refusing to count the Royals out of the 2011 division race. Moore also knows it is February and he has a lot of tickets to sell.
Dayton Moore, when asked by Fescoe his expectations for this season’s Royals, 610 AM
GH: Moore is refusing to count the Royals out of the 2011 division race. Moore also knows it is February and he has a lot of tickets to sell.
“I think the Royals are trying to sell a little bit of hope when they need somebody to become a star – a superstar. I think even the thought that they are going to be significantly better in 2012 is farfetched to me. I don’t see the hope that by the time the All-Star game is in Kansas City next year we’re going to see significant progress.”
Danny Clinkscale, 810 AM
GH: I don’t understand the need to wait two or three months to bring up the young players who are supposed to make the Royals once again competitive. If Hosmer, Moustakas, Myers, Montgomery, Crow, Duffy and these guys are the franchise’s future, let’s see if they can play in Kansas City rather than Omaha. Baseball continues to pretend the sport is too difficult for 22-year-old men in their physical prime.
Danny Clinkscale, 810 AM
GH: I don’t understand the need to wait two or three months to bring up the young players who are supposed to make the Royals once again competitive. If Hosmer, Moustakas, Myers, Montgomery, Crow, Duffy and these guys are the franchise’s future, let’s see if they can play in Kansas City rather than Omaha. Baseball continues to pretend the sport is too difficult for 22-year-old men in their physical prime.
“I don’t want to go down this thing just getting a little better or playing .500 baseball. I expect us to win. Because there is nothing guaranteed in 2012.”
Dayton Moore, 610 AM
GH: Then the Royals’ fans and media should expect wins as well. Patience is best reserved for bakers – not sports fans.
Dayton Moore, 610 AM
GH: Then the Royals’ fans and media should expect wins as well. Patience is best reserved for bakers – not sports fans.
“I don’t read. I don’t do it. I don’t listen to somebody’s opinion. What somebody says really doesn’t concern me. It’s a waste of time reading anything positive and it’s a waste of time reading anything negative because it doesn’t mean anything.”
Ned Yost, in an interview with Danny Clinkscale, 810 AM
GH: Does Ned just look at the pretty pictures on his new iPad?
Ned Yost, in an interview with Danny Clinkscale, 810 AM
GH: Does Ned just look at the pretty pictures on his new iPad?
“There’s no upside on anyone on that pitching staff when they break camp.”
Soren Petro, 810 AM
Soren Petro, 810 AM
“No, not really. To tell you the truth.”
Bob McClure, Royals pitching coach, when asked by Bob Fescoe if any pitchers in the Royals’ starting rotation have stood out, 610 AM
GH: Hope Ned didn’t read that.
Bob McClure, Royals pitching coach, when asked by Bob Fescoe if any pitchers in the Royals’ starting rotation have stood out, 610 AM
GH: Hope Ned didn’t read that.
“He looks stinkin’ good, man! Holy cow! He’s got quick hands and he’s a big donkey, too! He’s like 6’4, 225 with a pretty swing.”
Kevin Seitzer, when asked by Bob Fescoe his assessment of the Royals’ young first baseman, Eric Hosmer, 610 AM
GH: No one in the Royals’ organization spouts positive vibes like Seitzer. If you want to feel good about this club, just keep reading.
Kevin Seitzer, when asked by Bob Fescoe his assessment of the Royals’ young first baseman, Eric Hosmer, 610 AM
GH: No one in the Royals’ organization spouts positive vibes like Seitzer. If you want to feel good about this club, just keep reading.
“(Jeff) Francoeur, he’s got some power that is just going to blow some people away!”
Kevin Seitzer, on the recently required former Braves/Mets right fielder, 610 AM
Kevin Seitzer, on the recently required former Braves/Mets right fielder, 610 AM
“He might be. We’ve got Kila and Billy at first base right now.”
Kevin Seitzer, when asked by Fescoe if Hosmer is ready for the big leagues, 610 AM
GH: If baseball ever adds another first base position, the Royals are in great shape. As it is, this team has an abundance of slow-footed hard-handed potential DHs.
Kevin Seitzer, when asked by Fescoe if Hosmer is ready for the big leagues, 610 AM
GH: If baseball ever adds another first base position, the Royals are in great shape. As it is, this team has an abundance of slow-footed hard-handed potential DHs.
“(Billy Butler) is at 234, which is about 12 pounds less than when he left us in October. He’s never going to be a chiseled-type player. He’s always going to have some maintenance to his body.”
Dayton Moore, in an interview with Bob Fescoe, 610 AM
GH: Sounds like Billy has a lot in common with most of the OTC readers…and writer.
Dayton Moore, in an interview with Bob Fescoe, 610 AM
GH: Sounds like Billy has a lot in common with most of the OTC readers…and writer.
“I’ve got (Alex) Gordon convinced that he can be content with just 10 home runs. If I can keep him convinced with just 10 home runs, he just might hit 30.”
Kevin Seitzer, 610 AM
GH: If A-God gets 30 jacks this season, I’m jumping into the right-field fountain and taking Twitter’s @FakeNedYost with me.
Kevin Seitzer, 610 AM
GH: If A-God gets 30 jacks this season, I’m jumping into the right-field fountain and taking Twitter’s @FakeNedYost with me.
“There’s just no way we’re going to see dramatic improvement (from Alex Gordon) at this point in his career. It just doesn’t happen that way.”
Kevin Kietzman, 810 AM
GH: Gordon is going into his fifth full season with a career .244 batting average and 45 total homers with 161 career RBI. Those are bust numbers for the second-overall pick in the draft. Those are bust numbers for any position player who isn’t Ozzie Smith or a pitcher. Amazing that the Royals still believe in A-God. Somehow, I hope they are right and the numbers are wrong.
Kevin Kietzman, 810 AM
GH: Gordon is going into his fifth full season with a career .244 batting average and 45 total homers with 161 career RBI. Those are bust numbers for the second-overall pick in the draft. Those are bust numbers for any position player who isn’t Ozzie Smith or a pitcher. Amazing that the Royals still believe in A-God. Somehow, I hope they are right and the numbers are wrong.
“I think it’s going to happen.”
Bob Fescoe, on the Royals signing Albert Pujols, 610 AM
GH: There is optimism for your team and there is also blatant cheerleading for your team. Then there is Fescoe.
Bob Fescoe, on the Royals signing Albert Pujols, 610 AM
GH: There is optimism for your team and there is also blatant cheerleading for your team. Then there is Fescoe.
GregHall24@yahoo.com and Twitter / greghall24
810 v 610
You have to give credit to 810 when they had the Royals on their station. They did not hold back in their criticism. If the Royals deserved to be bashed for their ineptness whether it be in the front office or the field, the 810 on-air staff let them have it and I’ll always respect them for it. Even today 810’s pre and post game Royals shows are miles ahead of 610’s. Why the other owners don’t publicly call David Glass to the carpet is beyond me. Worst owner in sports, even worse than the Brown’s with the Bengals. And once again another season will go by without me giving a penny to the bastard Glass family.
Glass bashing IS getting old
The Glass bashing is so pre 2006. Ever since Glass hired GMDM to take over the team he has actually been a pretty good owner. Its true that his meddlng and cheap skate ways hurt the team tremendously and put us in the hole that we were in when Moore took over. But since 2006 Glass has put the money up in the most important areas for a small market team. The Royals added another minor leage farm club, they spent record amounts (MLB records, not just Royals records) on the draft, they have beefed up all their scouting especially their internatioal scouting, and the Royals have started to become a player in the hispanic talent pool.
You can bitch all you want about the major league team results, trust me I have complained plenty, but Glass has actually been doing the right things to improve the Royals for the long haul. He’s taken the Twins and Rays model and ran with it.
David Glass
According to Forbes, last year, the Royals spent a higher percentage of their revenue on player payroll than the Yankees did. And their operating profit ranked 25th out of 30 teams. I believe the Royals have been at or near the top the past few years in signing bonuses for draft choices. As I understand it, David Glass’ purchase agreement commits him to donating to charity any realized capital gains when he sells the team. This is not the profile of a guy who is in it for the money.
When Glass bought the team, there were only two other bidders. Lamar Hunt put in a lowball bid of just over half what the Royals’ were asking, The other bidder, Miles Prentice, had a higher bid than Glass but Major League Baseball didn’t believe he could deliver the money. Especially when he announced that if he got the team he would have to slash the payroll in half to make ends meet. Bottom line, there was no one in the nation willing to commit as much money to the Royals as Glass.
Yes, he has made numerous mistakes such as restricting Allard Baird’s scouting and signing of Latin players. But since he hired Dayton Moore, it appears that he is spending about as much money as the franchise can afford and allowing a well regarded baseball man to do his job. We are currently paying for the errors made in the first half of this decade, There are no guarantees for the future, but I think we have an owner who has committed himself to the proper plan for a small market franchise and is investing aggressively in that plan.
GLASS IN IT FOR THE MONEY
thats the god these guys pray to. they love money.
And when the sale comes up….and he has to give the capitalized gains to charity…
you’ll see barrels of out of pocket expenses come out worth millions that will
mean 0 goes to charity.
He knows it….his accountant knows it…moore knows it.
despite all this i will be at 25-30 royals games this year…i love baseball…
good …..bad….or horrible…nothing like baseball in the summer…
lose 110 games…i don’t care…i’m a homer…i love the royals….
Royals OTC’s and the WNBA
Royals OTC columns are like the WNBA…they are really hard to care about and best if readily dismissed.
Not the fault of the author – the blame goes to the subject matter.
Really?
@John Doe
Your post perpetuates one myth about David Glass: That he has to donate any profits to charity if he ever sells the Royals. That was initially the way it was reported, but it’s been pretty much debunked at this point. Soren Petro even regularly discusses that myth on his show.
First, it makes no sense. If Glass can never get more than he paid for the team, why would he sell it and why would he spend any money on it? Might as well just keep it and have the payroll down around $15MM and keep making money from licensing and hardcore baseball fans.
More importantly, though, Petro has actually “reported” on conversations that he’s had with David Glass and Petro said that Glass confirmed for him that the possibility of donating profits to charity wasn’t an issue. When the sale was being negotiated it was an issue because the Royals didn’t want to sell to some owner who would then sell the team to an outside ownership group, so they said that anyone who bought the team and sold with within ten years had to donate any profits from the sale. (At least I think it was ten years. Whatever the time period was has lapsed, in any case.) Petro has discussed telling Glass that he doesn’t think it makes sense that Glass wouldn’t have the ability to turn a profit and Glass has told him that it was a rule for his early ownership of the team, but right now Glass is free to dispose of the team as he wishes and he can keep any profit he gets from the sale.
As for the Glass-bashing in general, I agree with the assessment that he was the only guy who was willing to pay close to what the Royals wanted, but still, he got it for a song. What was it, $80MM? Now it’s worth, at a bare minimum, three times that (and a lot more according to some estimates). While payroll has gone up, one could argue that it still hasn’t kept pace with the rest of baseball and there has been precious little in the way of results since Glass took over. It’s easy to say that Glass “just” got here or that he only recently hired Dayton Moore and it takes awhile to get the ship turned in the correct direction and those things are true, but I’ve been a Royals fan a lot longer than David Glass and I am pretty sick of hearing ownership preach patience. It does look like things are promising for the future but I”m going to wait to really commit to this team because I’m sick of them kicking me in the nuts every year.
I may not be from Missouri, but I go there every day and the Royals are gonna have to show me.
Gavin
You may be right about the charity provision in the original purchase agreement with the Royals. However, CBS Sportsline, among others, was reporting what I posted as recently as last May. Until your post I had not ever seen or heard anything to the contrary.
Also, from memory, the purchase price was $95 million. Miles Prentice bid $120 million, but was deemed to not have the net worth to finance the operation. The value of a property is what it can get on the open market. You can say the team should have sold for more or was worth more, but if nobody is willing to pay more, that’s just an empty claim. So I don’t see where he bought it for a song, as you say. He bid more than anyone in the country capable of matching his bid was willing to pay. Yes, the team is worth more today. But until we can see documentation greater than “I heard it on a talk show”, I’ll believe the reports from places like CBS, CNN, etc.
@John Doe
Was this the link you were relying on? http://d2moo.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/18516000/21976091 Because that is not CBS Sportsline reporting anything. It was a blog that was hosted by CBS. Not only is CBS Sportsline not reporting it, they even issue a disclaimer that says that anything blogged in that space is NOT their opinion or their reporting. And the blog is by someone named D2MOO. D2MOO even keeps its gender private, so I’m not sure there is a whole lot more credibility in this blog than there is in Soren Petro saying that he has personally conversed with Glass about this issue and that it’s NOT an issue.
As for the purchase price, you’re right. IT was $95MM. As for whether that’s “a song” is, of course, relative. It’s certainly not a check I can write, but he certainly could and his investment his still more than tripled without any significant uptick in payroll. He just keeps putting the money in his pocket.
I did a fairly exhaustive search on the whole “charity” issue and what I think is interesting is that I couldn’t find a “reputable” news site (newspaper, ESPN, CBS, Yahoo, what have you) that reported it either way. I know I’ve heard Petro comment on the issue before but besides a few blogs that don’t actually have any sources to check, I can’t see where anyone says that the charitable donation *IS* real, but I’m having just as much difficulty finding a site that says it is *NOT* real. In any case, if you can provide a link “from places like CBS, CNN, etc.” I would love to see it, I really would. Not just because I don’t think that’s the case (although I don’t), but because I am really genuinely and truly curious.
What is this “A-God” stuff?
Does somebody really call him that or is this another one of Greg’s things?
I tend to agree with Harley … I enjoy any time spent at the ball park no matter the product on the field. But I’m also a Cardinals fan so maybe that helps the summers pass a little easier.
When Fescoe gets out of bed in the morning he vows to say something even more stupid than the day before. It’s getting to be very, very difficult.
Thanks, Cliffy…
I meant to ask about the A-God stuff too. I’ve never heard that before and would probably have to slap someone in the mouth if they uttered it in my presence. Greg, you made that up on your own, didn’t you?
A-God genesis
GH: When Gordon debuted with the Royals on opening day in 2007, my brother Tim brought down a charter bus from Omaha full of guys from our old South Omaha neighborhood — all huge baseball fans. Since Gordon was a Nebraska kid and a Lincoln native, I had royal blue t-shirts printed up for everybody with Gordon’s likeness and A-God in big bold print. I guess you could say I jinxed the poor guy. I’ve still got a couple of those shirts just in case…
Bring the kids up early?
Haven’t we learned from our mistakes? Baseball isn’t like the NFL where you can just bring kids in as 20, 21 and 22-year olds. Prime example, Alex Gordon. He spent 3/4 of a season at AA and then he was brought to the big club.
You can’t do that.
These kids need polishing in the minors. The Royals have invested more money in their farm system than any team in baseball in the past five years. To rush these kids to the big leagues would be disastrous and a waste of millions of dollars. Sure, one or two might make it, but these kids need time.
The wait will be worth it. Every expert has all but promised that the Royals will be better. How much better remains to be seen though.
It also isn’t just the Hosmers and Moustakases of our minor leagues. It’s Johnny Giavotella (hit .329 last year in NWA), Louis Coleman (who might be the next big thing out of our bullpen), Jeff Bianchi (Mark Grudzielanek, anyone?), Salvador Perez (comps to Sandy Alomar, Jr.), Chris Dwyer, Danny Duffy, Mike Montgomery, John Lamb and Wil Myers.
There are guys BEHIND Moustakas and Hosmer. It isn’t like 2006 when all we had were Butler, Gordon and Hochevar. It’s going to be different. Might as well get on the bandwagon now.
Bad
This team is going to be BAD this year. No pitching, average defense and a line up that could hit for a decent average, but has no pop and nobody that other teams are scared of. This team is not close. Not even close to close. Go look at other MLB rosters…not Boston or New York or Philly, but look at the other teams in the AL Central. The Sox, Twins and Tigers are light years ahead of KC. And imagine if Cleveland wasn’t as bad as the Royals at holding on to their stars (CC, Cliff Lee…even back to Manny Ramirez). It’s nice that baseball dorks think our minor league system is good, but that and 75 cents will buy you the Star today. KC has to have the worst track record of developing talent in all of baseball. If this team is competing for the AL Central by 2013 at the latest, Dayton Moore has to go. Sorry, but ‘wait until next year’, is what loser’s say…ask the Cubs.
Oh for Christ’s sake Hall!
“GH: When Gordon debuted with the Royals on opening day in 2007, my brother Tim brought down a charter bus from Omaha full of guys from our old South Omaha neighborhood — all huge baseball fans. Since Gordon was a Nebraska kid and a Lincoln native, I had royal blue t-shirts printed up for everybody with Gordon’s likeness and A-God in big bold print. I guess you could say I jinxed the poor guy. I’ve still got a couple of those shirts just in case…”
And you wonder why Nebraskans are painted as myopic, cornfed, cheesedicks. That’s about the gayest thing a bunch of grown men could ever do…..except maybe wear red & white striped overalls and cowboy boots to a football game…while donning a big plastic corncob on your head. (giant phallus) Sweet fancy Moses, you people from Nebraska are just freakish cornball hicks.
Doing time in the minors
I never did understand it but it is just plain true. You cannot rush guys to the majors. They have to hone things in the minors. It is not basketball or football… Baseball takes extreme patience… Great habits need to be developed.