Post by royalsgm on Jun 5, 2007 19:12:23 GMT -5
Stuck in No Man’s Land
By: Jose Schmoe
Kansas City, MO--- Quality start v.s. Los Angeles Angels? Check. Five quality starts in a row? Check. Anybody wanting him badly? No Check.
Dan Haren had Angels hitters fooled on June 3rd when he went 8+ shutout innings with just 4 hits allowed.
Stuck in the middle of a cellar dwelling Royals team, in the midst of a rebuilding project, Dan Haren has continued to show success as a starter. After a rocky road in April where Haren struggled to pitch and struggled to get run support, Haren returned in May to show more of what the league expects from the young 26 year old. Or at least what his few die hard supporters expect. With a 5-5 record and a 3.92 ERA, Dan Haren was by far the best starter on the Royals staff. The only one remotely close was 29 year old journey man Runelvys Hernandez who had a 4.56 ERA, and after that it gets brutally worse, to the tune of 3 starters with ERAs over 7.
“What we have enjoyed about the company of Dan Haren is that he goes to work everyday to win. Not many players of his caliber could handle this type of situation and show some type of success. His performances are tributes to his work ethic and his will to win,” said Manager Buddy Bell.
Dan Haren has been rumored to be going many different directions, only for those rumors to disintegrate. “We would love to keep him, and if we didn’t have holes to fill offensively, we would. However, we feel as though we would like to get value for him. We’ve talked to teams about him, and they all like him, but they don’t like him enough for whatever reason, to give full value for him,” Said General manager Mike Damman. There has not been a harder situation for a pitcher to work with then the situation of the Kansas City Royals this season. The Royals are currently tied for 28th in the league in runs scored, and have seen many different faces inside the clubhouse.
Billy Butler is making noise in Omaha with his .391 average and has gained status as the #1 prospect in the game.
The worst part for the Royals players, is that it doesn’t look to get any better with stability. In the next couple months the Royals expect to callup players like Billy Butler, Gavin Floyd, and potentially Homer bailey. Of course any players they get that are mlb ready in trades will likely come too. It’s the life of a Kansas City Royals player in the midst of seeing a team that has the potential in many scout’s views to be dominant inside the American League Central.
“My one concern with the organization is that they don’t lack the offensive star power, that I think is necessary to compete with the big boys. Their pitching has the potential to be very good, however, they lack the offense,” Said one anonymous Baseball official.
In the last few weeks, Dan Haren has been rumored to be in blockbuster offers and potential deals for players of teams from across the country. “It’s been tough on my family, however, we’ve figured out how to get through it,” said Haren, “I would just like to come home sometime and tell my wife if we are actually staying here, or if we are going somewhere and for that place to be the right place that we are going.” Laughs.
So as Dan Haren continues to show success, it ironically makes his value go down to teams wanting him.