RIP Allard Baird

The Royals finally fired Allard Baird today.

Baird talked a good game for a few years, and I think he made tremendous strides as a GM with the Royals, but this was a move that had to be made. The Royals need a complete overhaul of their management structure. Let's hope Dayton Moore is up to the task.

I will say this, though: Moore's request for complete control over baseball operations makes me think that there is a lot less blame on Baird's shoulders for this mess.

My guess is that in the inner circles of Major League Baseball, everybody knows that his hands have been tied and a lot of moves couldn't be made. I wouldn't be surprised to see Baird get picked up quickly by another team (probably Atlanta now) and put in a high-ranking Assistant GM position.

His knack for finding above average fringe players will be very useful.

What Would You Have Done?

Anthony Giacalone at Baseball Think Factory gives a pretty good rundown of the Royals offseason moves and how they really did have a decent plan going into this season.

It's easy to knock the Royals these days, but there have been some moves that have worked out this season.

Sweep!!!

KC 10, Cle 8

Sure, we gave up runs late to let Cleveland back into it, but the pitchers K'd nine in nine innings and Guiel hit another homer to put the good guys in front for good.

Burgos has done a good job of not getting fazed by trouble and the fans get to eat some more free donuts.

Today is a good day.

So, You Can't Hack it as a Royals Fan

What a pu$$y.

This guy.

Two or three hundred loss seasons and he's selling his "fandom" for a few hundred dollars. I hate to tell it to the people who put up the cash for this transaction, but that "loyalty" ain't worth the eBay server space it was loaded on.

I hate to break it to all the naysayers out there, but every owner wants to make money. Every General Manager is trying to put a winning team on the field. Every player thinks that they should be getting paid more than the other guys.

And, every fan has a right to bitch and moan as long and loudly as they want to about the failings of all of these people.

But, no one has the right to call themselves a loyal fan if they are willing to give it all away for a few hundred dollars.

Rooting for the Royals takes balls. If you can't take the pain, then we don't want your sissy-ass hanging around here anyway. Everybody knows going into the season that an incredible amount of things must go right for us to have a chance at even breaking 500.

The true fan accepts that the following things will happen:

Mike Sweeney's back will go out on him. The pitching staff will be disabled, ineffective and oftentimes both. The young hitters will be overmatched. The veterans will be past their prime because anyone really worth a damn can make a lot more money on one of the coasts.

For Christ's sake, Paul Byrd took LESS MONEY to play for a team that wasn't the Royals, did you really think that this was the year things would be different?

Look, I hate watching this team lose games in ways previously unimaginable (Future headline: "Royals Pitchers Walk Nine Straight Batters, Lose Five-Run Lead, Game"), but I'm sticking around.

I'm watching the minor leagues. I'm wearing my powder blue Bo Jackson jersey. I'm going to drive through three hours of rush hour traffic to watch my boys play the Angels in June.

I'm a Royals fan because it's about the past thirty-seven years, not just the past ten.

To steal a line from J Rob: Go Royals! 143-19! You're the best!