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Friday, November 27, 2009

Thoma: Around the division: Royals

The Hulett unloader. Off the garbage scow and onto the fast track.

They have a management team that says one thing and does another. They talk about improving the on-base percentage, and everybody they bring in swings wildly at everything.

The latest case in point is Tug Hulett, an infielder who’ll turn 27 in February, a .194 hitter in 75 major league plate appearances. The Royals cut him loose this month; the Boston Red Sox picked him up.

Why did the Red Sox claim him? Because Hulett has a .394 lifetime on-base percentage in the minors.

At 27, Hulett isn’t going to become a star. Two other organizations have disposed of him. There’s got to be a reason for that.

But if a front office says it wants to improve its OBP, and it’s carrying infielders along the lines of Willie Bloomquist (.308 OBP) and Luis Hernandez (.284) and Yuniesky Betancourt (.274), you’d think .394 would get their attention.

It didn’t. It doesn’t. And as long as Dayton Moore (general manager) and Trey Hillman (manager) continue to operate this way, there’s no need to take the Royals seriously.

Repoz Posted: November 27, 2009 at 07:49 AM | 7 comment(s)
Related News: General, Sabermetrics, Boston, Kansas City

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1. Sweatpants

Posted: November 27, 2009 at 10:25 AM (#3397593)

This seems like a case in which you can read into something and get whatever you want out of it. Bloomquist had an OBP of .377 in 2008; there were reasons to think that his performance was a fluke, but you could certainly call acquiring Bloomquist an attempt, albeit a misguided one, at improving the on-base percentage.

2. Ryan Jones Posted: November 27, 2009 at 10:29 AM (#3397599)

The latest case in point is Tug Hulett, an infielder who’ll turn 27 in February, a .194 hitter in 75 major league plate appearances. The Royals cut him loose this month; the Boston Red Sox picked him up.

Does anyone know what the Red Sox actually intend to do with him? Are they actually looking at him as a bench player, or is it much more likely that they're just grabbing him as nothing more than AAA filler?

3. Shooty Did Not Kill McGurk

Posted: November 27, 2009 at 10:40 AM (#3397608)

As much as I snark on Dayton Moore, I don't think what they do or don't do with Tug Hulett means a damn thing.

4. Evil Twin Posted: November 27, 2009 at 11:08 AM (#3397620)

Yeah, in the end, Tug Hulett is hardly worth the time spent castigating the Royals. Not when there's so much other low hanging fruit.

5. GotowarMissAgnes Posted: November 27, 2009 at 11:27 AM (#3397631)

You know, when a guy in a job interview tells me that one of his strengths is "attention to detail" and his fly is hanging wide open, I'm thinking, "Not so much."

A team reveals its true character as much in the little things as in the big things.

6. 1k5v3L, Useless

Posted: November 28, 2009 at 10:48 AM (#3398050)

Nobody took the Royals seriously even when they still had Hulett

7. fuzzyredtop Posted: December 03, 2009 at 03:57 PM (#3402579)

Hardly anything to disagree with here.

- what they do or don't with Hulett means nothing;
- there's plenty worse things they have done, and are doing (the "low hanging fruit");
- that said, it does say a lot about the guys running the show; and
- the Royals won't be taken seriously,k with or without Hulett, until they give people a reason to do so.

The only thing I'd disagree with is the notion that Bloomquist's good OBP in 2008 was some kind of a sign. It was 175 random at bats that were way out of line with his career numbers - and that came with a dip in his already lousy slg%. It's not often that a guy can put up a .377 OBP and still come up with a sub .700 OPS.

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Friday, November 27, 2009

Thoma: Around the division: Royals

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