The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2
 

Howdy, folks... It's been quite a while since we've heard from George McGovern and the boys in blue hasn't it? According to my calendar, it's been exactly one month since I was exiled from my PS3 to the Vita and I must say, I'm looking forward not having to determine balls and strikes on a 4.5x2.5 inch screen.

Before we get back to McGovern's crazy antics and the ball games, I might as refresh you're memory on what all has transpired this season.



Fresh off of our Wild Card berth and a loss at the hands of the rival Detroit Tigers, we entered the offseason with a purpose and signed James Shields to a 4 year deal and Jon Lester to a crazy 6 year deal as well as the firing of Ned Yost and his replacement with Joe Maddon... Fastforward to Spring Training and things seemed to be looking up, Hosmer and Moose were tearing the cover off the ball and Domonic Brown was looking like the second coming of Bo Jackson...

Unfortunately though, things began to fall apart right from the get go, losing streaks, Hosmer and Moose not producing and eventually ending up in the minors, Bullpen issues, Rotation issues... It was the whole 9 yards, everything that could've gone wrong did go wrong.

Off the field, a group simply known as "The Trust" was working diligently to displace George McGovern from his Presidential role and even went as far as a botched kidnapping attempt of Jeremy Guthrie that resulted in Ned Yost waking up on a pacific island.


Things are starting to get extremely hairy as we make our way to the trade deadline. The Royals fall from baseball's most promising team to a team 3 games above .500 is almost, almost 2012 Boston Red soxish.

At this point in the season, we're no where close to being finished. We've still got quite a few questions to answer like:

With a brand new PS3 that so slim, it makes the old one look like a toaster, we're ready to rock and roll here in the second half.

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2
 

An elderly man sat at the head of the table, on each side of the table sat 5 men... They were a distinguished bunch... people that could easily be identified by the everyday American...

The man at the head of the table sat reading the day's newspaper and the other's sat quietly and waited until he was finished.

The room was filled with an assortment of laughs.

All of a sudden, the phone sitting on the middle of their table began to ring... The men all looked at each other and then looked at their leader. He stood up to answer the phone.

Then, the line went dead... McGovern had hung up.

There was obviously some panic among the wary faces of "Bobby's" Fellow comrades...

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2
 

TRADE DEADLINE 2014

So with the PS3 back in action, it's down to business. This is my favorite time of the regular season... It's almost like Christmas in July. I've always liked making a splash or two at the deadline but I've noticed that it quickly gets out of hand if you stay here too long so it's best to get this done quickly.

Couldn't have said it better myself George. We're 9.5 outta the division and we're 5 games back in the Wild Card and there are so many questions to answer. This is one of those times where you can't stay pat if you want to be a legit contender. We might have to make a move just to make one to show the league that we're in...

Here's the thing though, we don't have to go all in this season, we're still young enough that we will be competing in future years. However, we won the Wild Card last year and anything less than a playoff berth is a step backwards.

This year's trade market has to have been one of the best I've seen. A lot of teams that thought they were going to be contending aren't and are selling off their talent in groves. We've got a log jammed farm system so everything is ripe for the pickins'.

We're also at a cross roads... Billy Butler is going to be a free agent at the end of this season. Alex Gordon will be a free agent next season. We're essentially facing the same dilemma that the Cardinals did with Albert Pujols. We could resign Butler who's asking price is going to be 13M + or we could invest that money into Alex Gordon and others. Billy Butler is big here but he's replaceable... designated hitters come a dime a dozen. Outfielders like Alex Gordon though, they just don't grow on trees.

So theoretically, we could trade Billy Butler and some others for another impact player that's more controllable and is at a premium position.



On top of that, we'd also like to part with Bonifacio and Cashner, each making 2 million. Cashner is probably worth that 2 million but Bonifacio... no freakin way. If we can trade them and free up that money then we could put it towards a player we get in a trade.

We'd ideally like to add a pitcher to go with Shields and Lester to give us something of a Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz of our own because of our inability to get any production from our 3-5 starters, of which we have seen 7 different pitchers start in that roll according to my notes.

Maybe we go after David Price since Tampa's out of it by a long shot or... Maybe we go after reigning Cy Young Tommy Milone since he's having a down to earth year. I don't really know at this point but we're willing to go big or go home this deadline with 1 move.

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2
 

Nice to see you back Royals! An interesting start. It'd be so sick to have a rotation of Price, Shields and Lester.

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2
 

I like Price and Milone in theory, but if you are dumping salary (Butler), you can kiss that idea goodbye.

However, you could probably use Cashner to get Milone.

If you want Country Breakfast to be the main course in your deal, you'd want to look at some high rolling [AL] teams who are competing, but maybe have a need at DH and an intriguing pitcher (or 3) on the outside of the 5-man rotation looking in. Ahem...Baltimore Orioles...ahem.

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2
 

Yeah that would give me a clear edge against Detroit but trying to find the money to pay for Price is another thing. I've got to trade Billy Butler if I want to make that happen. I'm not sure if trading a .300 hitter with 30+ homeruns for David Price is really an upgrade though.

I like the idea. Oakland could capitalize on Milone's value and get Cashner back.

As for trading Butler, I like that as well. But wait, what team am I supposed to look at again? :wink:

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2
 

THE BILLY BUTLER DEBACLE pt. 1

Alright... My bad folks for leavin' you hanging like that... I should've known better. If you've ever played any of the "Uncharted" games then you'll understand why I was away for so long. That's probably the second best game on PS3 (aside from the Show)...

But enough of my treasure hunting escapades, let's head on out to BP and listen in on a conversation between Billy Butler and George Brett.




Butler stormed off the field and down the dugout stairs towards the clubhouse. George was angry... no... he was p*****. Billy Butler was the original Royal, a legit MVP threat and now he had officially worn out his welcome with the Royals.

George Brett stood at the back of the cage and watched Chris Denorfia get his hacks in. However, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. An elderly gentleman wearing a white suit sat in the seats behind the Royals dugout. When George looked back no more than 30 seconds later, he was gone...

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2
 

THE BILLY BUTLER DEBACLE pt. 2

George McGovern sat in the Manager's office with Joe Maddon, Dayton Moore and Andrew Friedman. They were all going over what to do at this year's deadline. Detroit was nearly untouchable at this point... The Wild Card was however, within reach





McGovern sat in his chair. This was the biggest move of his Presidential career... he was going to alter the course of this franchise for potentially years... This crossroads will easily define the franchise for the next 5 years.