The Royals Must Re-Acquire James Shields

Danville, Kentucky -- Folks, few experiences are as magical as reuniting with a childhood friend. In 1999, the stars aligned for a chance meeting between myself and my childhood best friend, Rhett. Rhett and I go way back. As kids, we'd play stickball out in an old alley on weekends. As teenagers, we rose through the Danville baseball system together, eventually playing together in High School. Rhett was reliable both on and off the field. Rhett was the best 3rd baseman a pitcher like myself could ask for. I could rack up Ks by reaching back for 89 miles-per-hour in a pinch, but more often than not I trusted Rhett and my other teammates to convert batted balls into outs. Rhett dutifully manned the hot corner behind me for years, including during my no-hitter. When I encountered Rhett at an old Danville watering hole one day in the Winter of '99, I was dumbstruck. We talked for hours over watery beer and pretzel crumbs, about our life ventures that worked and the many more that didn't. Our lives had come full circle.

The World Series Champion Kansas City Royals™ have a chance to bring their story full circle by making a man from their past part of their future. Unfortunately for the good-natured, barbecue-loving people of the greater Kansas City area, the boys in blue have stumbled out of the gates in their journey to re-retake the crown. As of writing this, they are second to last in the American League in runs scored, only 3 runs ahead of the lowly Twins. The Royals starting pitching staff eats innings like I eat kale, hummus, and other liberal foods: not at all. The Royals starting pitchers have pitched the 3rd fewest innings in entire MLB, beating only the Twins and my pathetic Cincinnati Reds. They trail both the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox in the standings. Something needs to be done. Fortunately, there is a move the Royals can make to instantly fix these problems and boost their chances of appearing in their 3rd straight World Series.

Why the Royals Need Big Game James

The Royals need a man to anchor their rotation. They need a man to go deep into games to give the bullpen a rest and prevent the three-headed monster from blowing out their arms mid-season, Greg Holland-style. The Royals need James Shields. James taught the Royals how to win on their way to a World Series appearance in 2014. Now he can take them to winning post-graduate school. Big Game James has pitched more than 200 innings every year since 2007. In 2015, the only Royal pitcher to hit the 200 inning mark was Edinson Volquez. In the past, the Royals have had reliable innings eaters like Jeremy Guthrie, who pitched 200+ innings in 2013 and 2014. No such relief appears to be on the horizon in 2016. With playoff hero Chris Young and intriguing bounceback candidate Kris Medlen on the disabled list, the Royals need stability in their rotation. The Royals don't need the ace-level Shields of 2011-2014; the young Yordano Ventura and Ian Kennedy will eventually round into form to form a potent #1 and #2. Big James, a 10+ game winner every year since 2007, will be a stabilizing presence in both the clubhouse and on the diamond. 

Fortunately for the Royals, the San Diego Padres have a man who could fix Kansas City's run-scoring woes as well. Dayton Moore should inquire about proven slugger Matt Kemp, whose 29 RBIs so far in 2016 would lead the team were he to join the Royals (Salvador Perez has 21, while Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain have plated 20 runs each). The Royals need a man who can drive in leadoff hitter Alcides Escobar and clear the bases with extra base hits. Kemp, who has already hit 10 home runs this year, could provide power hitting from a corner outfield position, which the Royals have lacked so far in 2016. Moreover, Kemp would offer insurance at the Designated Hitter position in case Cuban bomber Kendrys Morales continues to struggle. Importantly for the Royals, trading for Matt Kemp would solve their DH dilemma for years to come, as he is signed through 2019. I personally think the Royals should make a move for Billy Butler, but landing Big Game James and perennial MVP candidate Matt Kemp in one deal is more enticing than the Aussie Chicken Tacos at Outback Steakhouse.

Everyone knows to get something, you have to give something. It's true of divorce settlements and also true of baseball. What could the Royals offer baseball genius A.J. Preller and the San Diego Padres for James Shields and Matt Kemp? Unfortunately, the Royals don't have Wil Myers to offer this time around, although the Royals might inquire if Mr. Myers could be thrown into the deal as well. The Royals could start negotiations by offering Raul Mondesi; the Padres will need young power-hitting bats as they rebuild for the future, and Raul has shown he is determined to chug as much cold medicine as it takes to reach his dinger-blasting potential. 

CONCLUSION 

My own reunion with Rhett was not as magical as a potential Royals-Shields reunion would be. In 1972, Rhett left me awed by his ability to nimbly dance around the hot corner, converting hard-hit ground balls into outs. In 1999, he left me outraged and burning with jealousy when I discovered him dancing with my wife, singing romantic Barry Manilow songs together during a Karaoke night at Applebee's. I found myself crying into a plate of quesadillas and onions rings that night. But this sense of failure and inadequacy doesn't have to be the fate of the 2016 Kansas City Royals. If they pull the trigger to land Big Game James and Matt Kemp, the only rings they're likely to encounter will be of the championship variety. 

Shields & Kemp: the 2016 Royals saviors

Cuban Baseball Crisis: Why the Tampa Bay Rays Should Not Play the Cuban National Team

Danville, Kentucky -- For half a century, our world was divided. A Cold War was waged between countries who believed in man's inalienable right to free enterprise and the pursuit of happiness, and countries who espoused a cruel and failed ideology responsible for Stalinism and Pol Pot. For 13 days in October of 1962, the Soviet Union moved nuclear missiles into Cuba and our world stood at the precipice of nuclear war. President John F. Kennedy had the steadfast resolve and moral courage to stare evil in the eye that day, and evil blinked. Months later, our great nation lost its President; the white knight of our country, who for one brief, shining, moment showed us the promise of the New Frontier. Because Mr. Kennedy had the courage to stand up to Communism, he was taken by an assassin's bullet; the victim of a grand conspiracy perpetrated by a disaffected worm with known Cuban ties, elements of his own government, and a shadowy network of Castro sympathizers.

When Ronald Reagan single-handedly brought the Iron Curtain down, intellectuals myopically heralded "The End of History" and the Triumph of Liberal-Democratic Capitalism. The Soviet threat was vanquished, and communism discredited, they said. The only work left to be done was to spread globalization to every corner of our world, so that the virtues of free markets and international trade could be enjoyed by all, they said.

Folks, they lied. The Cold War never ended. Less than 400 miles from Giancarlo Stanton's moon-shot launching pad in Miami lies Cuba, backwater country and one of the last defenders of the cruel and failed ideology of Communism. Since the days of Eisenhower, the Castro regime has repressed the democratic yearnings of its people, denying them basic civil rights and the freedom of speech and free expression. The natural impulse of all free men to purchase and exchange goods in a free-market system has been denied. Good Americans have been imprisoned and abused by this regime. Cuba is a place so awful that people risk their lives trying to escape it, like Brayan Pena or Marco Rubio's parents.

In spite of these atrocities, Obama and the MLB have sought to bring Cuba within the fold of globalization by slowly integrating Cuban baseball organizations into the MLB. The first step? An exhibition game held in Havana, between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban National Team this March 22nd. Mr. Obama and his Castro-sympathizing comrades Jay-Z and Beyonce may have forgotten about Castro's crimes, but I haven't. Obama should be ashamed that he is validating and legitimating the regime's abuses by pledging that he will attend this game. The Castro regime does not need the Obama seal of approval. If you stand for nothing, Obama, what'll you fall for?

The MLB would tell you its motives are benevolent, but we all know this is just a pretext to spread Draft Kings advertising to a new market of consumers. If we capitulate to the Cubans, I fear a domino effect. Where does it end: sending some unfortunate MLB team to play against the brutal Kim regime in North Korea? There's a reason our country launched the Tet Offensive instead of inviting the Viet Cong to a friendly baseball exhibition. If there's a need to send MLB teams to other communist hell-holes, I vote for the St. Louis Cardinals. Better yet, let the Cardinals play an exhibition game in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

A Solution?

Folks, the geopolitics isn't even the worst part of this exhibition game. The MLB chose the wrong team to represent America. If the goal of this exhibition is to show the Cubans America's best ballplayers, why not send over a winning team? The World Champion Kansas City Royals™ or maybe the democratically-elected American League All-Stars would suffice. I love Chris Archer and Drew Smyly as much as the next guy, but the Rays' sabermetrically designed lineup just doesn't have the star-power you'd want for a showcase like this. Fortunately, the solution is right under our noses.

If I were willing to put aside my moral objections to playing baseball in Havana (which I'm not), I wouldn't send the Rays. I'd make an all Cuban team. Let the best and brightest Cuban exiles in the MLB play ambassador to their former homeland. For starters I'd invite: José Abreu, Yoenis Céspedes, José Fernández, José Iglesias, MVP-snub and "Cuban Breakfast" Kendrys Morales, Yasiel Puig, and Jorge Soler. Brayan Pena, the nicest guy in the game, should be catcher and player-manager of this team. This would be the true way to generate goodwill and bridge the cultural divide between the US and Cuba.

The Rays are like the Trump-haters Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan: not the right men for the job. And Cuba is a country of no jobs, other than brutally suppressing liberty at the point of a gun. Do the right thing, Mr. Obama. Don't appease a country that tortures and abuses its own people. America spent decades fighting the Castros, and sacrificed untold blood and treasure attempting to stem the tide of Communism. The Cubans already killed Kennedy; don't let them kill the MLB's moral compass too.