I was wondering why so many people hate Yuniesky Betancourt?  I know he is a below-average defender, but it seems like people want to murder this guy on the Royals' message boards.

He was dubbed by someone as the "worst player in the majors" or something like that by someone before he came to the Royals. That stuck with people I think. I honestly thought he was a pleasant surprise last year. He was our homerun king for Gods sake :

Today, an unnamed GM said obtaining Yuni nullifies the addition of Greinke. ;D

Yea, he was even semi-useful in deeper, fantasy leagues.

Is he lazy?  Does he take plays off?

I think there might have been some character issues before coming to the Royals.  I am just going off memory here.  I am not sure about that.

Offensively his knock is plate discipline, which got better over the course of last season.  He absolutely refused to take a walk.

Defensively ... far too many times routine plays became not so routine.

Still though, I don't think he is the "worst player in baseball".

It will be interesting to see what you guys think of Grienke.  If you are looking for him to become a leader of the team, a face of the franchise, etc. .... that's not him.  He is out "there".  Marches to the beat of his own drum.  Weird. 

I'll put it this way ... you now have a weakness at SS.

I'll put it this way ... you now have a weakness at SS.

No doubt there.  We went from a plus-plus SS to a minus defender.

I'm excited at Greinke pitching in the NL.  I heard he swings a decent bat too. 

One thing that really ticked me off is an article I read tonight.  It turns out Greinke shelved his slider last year to protect his arm, as it sounds like he is looking to cash-in when he hits the open market; he basically gave up on his team.  >

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ti-greinkefallout122010

He did give up on his team, but if it's any consolation, his team gave up many years ago. One of the wealthiest owners and the lowest payroll, it's too bad for KC fans. I used to like KC in the days of Brett and Mcrae, not anymore.

The Royals have fans??

I never would've guessed.

A former Royals fan,

Tom

The Royals have fans??

I never would've guessed.

A former Royals fan,

Tom

I would imagine that any fans they may have had last month have probably deserted them after signing Jeff Francoeur and Melky Cabrera.

;D ;D ;D

Francoeur has potential, I suppose, but Cabrera is a waste of bench space.

The Royals , Indians , and Pirates don't have enough fans to fill a mid sized stadium.

I think those teams do have enough fans, but not enough fans willing to pay money only to see that money end up in a pocket and not as part of some contracts to get decent players.