As I listened to Dayton Moore’s interview with Soren Petro of 810 WHB last week I found many things hard to stomach. For one thing Petro’s questioning was so timid that it started a #ToughQuestionsForDayton hashtag on twitter that sarcastically made fun of him. If we can’t askMoorethe hard questions at this point, when will we? Second, I hated hearingMooremove the goal line once again by suggesting that 2014 will be the year the Kansas City Royals start competing for the playoffs. I thinkDaytonthinks as long as he keeps saying we’re at least two years away there will never be any consequences. Unfortunately, as long as he continues to line David Glass’s pockets, he’s probably right.

As angry as that made me, nothing irked me as much as when the conversation turned to Wil Myers, and of course Jeff Francoeur. It became pretty clear at that point the Frenchy is going to be the starting right fielder for the Royals on Opening Day 2013 and there’s probably not anything Wil Myers can do about that. We should have long known that Myers has no control over his own destiny. After all, he’s hit 33 home runs in 106 games between AA and AAA this season andMoorestill acts as if he has much to prove. He’s not just shown power, but patience as well, walking more times already this season (51) than Frenchy’s career high for one season (42). Now, everyone already knows thatDaytonloves Frenchy, but my question today is, why?

Don’t get me wrong, I like Frenchy too. He’s such a nice guy, he has a cannon for an arm, and he’s apparently a great leader in the clubhouse. All wonderful qualities, but can that really be the reason? IsDaytonthis attached to someone he drafted a little over ten years ago? Did he fall for his tools and remains too blinded by that love to see the facts? If so I’d like to lay them out for him:

-         Frenchy has had two seasons in his eight year career in which he played more than 70 games and had an OPS+ of 100 or better. For a right fielder, that is disgusting.

-         This great leader has made two postseason appearances ( .171 average/268 slugging %) and his arrival inAtlantacoincided almost exactly with the demise of the Braves dynasty.

-         His incredible arm has been far outweighed this season by the fact that he’s developed Jose Guillen range in right field.

-         He is currently having his worst season as a pro, his incredible -2.8 WAR may not even do justice to how terrible he’s been.

-         If the Royals are really two years away from beginning to compete in the worst division in baseball, they have no reason to let Jeff Francoeur stand in the way of their best offensive prospect.

I’m just beating a dead horse now, and we’re stuck with this dead horse for at least another year. Don’t worry though Royals fans, he won’t stand in the way of winning. We are now, and will always be, two years away from competing.

Coco Crisp was brought to the Royals to improve the outfield defensively, be a lead-off hitter and create runs. He did none of the above.

Crisp came to KC for Ramon Ramirez from Boston. While not a bad trade, I was quick to address Crisp’s health issues and I was concerned whether he’d make it a whole season. Crisp’s stay in KC was not one filled with highlights. In his first season here he batted a career low .228 and followed that with a season ending injury on June 23^rd.

Crisp signed with Oakland on December 20^th, 2009. As a surprise to everyone, Crisp started the 2010 season on the DL with a fractured left pinkie finger. Since this injury, Crisp has been healthy and has a much improved batting average of .279, which is 50 points higher than his KC Royals batting average.

Crisp arrived in camp for the 2011 Oakland As healthy but he found a little bit of trouble. According to TMZ, Crisp was arrested on suspicion of a DUI on March 2, 2011 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Crisp publicly apologized via his Twitter account, @Coco_Crisp:

Sorry to everyone! my family, friends, MLB and my fans. I know I let a lot of ppl down and again I am sorry. I'll talk more 2morrow, Gnite.

March 2, 2011 11:23 pm via Twitter for iPadReplyRetweetFavorite

@Coco_Crisp

Covelli Crisp

He then followed that with a second message 13 hours later:

Philippians 4:11-13... Thank you all for your support and heart felt thoughts, moving forward from here and promise it won't happen again!

March 3, 2011 12:19 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@Coco_Crisp

Covelli Crisp

While he is not a player I would want on the Royals with what is here and in the pipeline, Crisp is a very nice guy. He’s very open to the public. He responds to fans on Twitter, posting pictures, talking about root canals and doing push-ups in order to help turn doubles to homers. He made an honest apology in the San Francisco Chronicle, “I can say how I feel about the whole situation and I guess, obviously embarrassed is one of the main feelings. And sorry. … That’s genuine.” Crisp said, “A lot of people look up to me, and the decision was not the right decision.” He added he wants to apologize to all the fans, “The ones that come to razz…and ones who come to cheer me. “ He also apologized to the As and MLB as a whole, guaranteeing this will never happen again.

While DUIs are easily preventable and stupid, you have to applaud Crisp’s sincere remorse for making the mistake and can only hope he continues on straight and narrow in the future. Crisp seems like the kind of guy who learns from his mistakes and will only be judged by his play on the field, rather than his mistakes off the field.

According to a message and picture posted on his Twitter account, Crisp will play his 3^rd spring game on, March 3, batting leadoff. He is expected to open the season as the As lead off man.

Troy “KCRoyalman” Olsen can be heard on 810 Radio Wednesdays and Fridays from 9-11pm as part of 3 guys in a garage. Follow him at twitter.com/kcroyalman and facebook.com/kcroyalman.