Wednesday, July 25, 2007

He Moves In Mysterious Ways

Great Mysteries of the Universe:

* Is time travel possible?
* Why are yawns contagious?
* How many licks to the center of a Tootsie Roll pop?
* Why don't young Hollywood starlets get someone to drive their booze- and narcotic-addled selves around?
* Why does Royals starting pitcher Scott Elarton continue to get payed to play Major League baseball?

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I find this last mystery particularly relevant given the Royals' 9-4 loss to the Yankees last night, a contest in which the aforementiond Mr. Elarton pitched. I had debated as to whether I should attend Tuesday's Elarton/Chien-Ming Wang pitching matchup or Wednesday's Gil Meche/Mike Mussina matchup. The past history of Elarton's previous starts told me I should wait until Wednesday, but the siren's song of receiving a Powder Blue #5 George Brett Pine Tar-stained T-shirt was a tempation I was forced to give in to.

I should have trusted my instincts.

I knew Elarton had been lousy all year (meaning the handful of starts he's been able to make when not camped out on the Disabled List). Little did I know just how awful he's been until I looked up the stats this morning. Here are a few nuggets to chew on:

* He's pitched 37 innings this season--and given up 44 runs.
* His monthly ERAs look like this: May 7.65/June 11.15/July 37.80 for a Grand Total of 10.46.
* He's given up at least 3 runs in every start and he's never pitched 6 innings in a start.
* He's given up 12 homeruns, with at least one in each start before last night when he didn't need a homerun to give up 7 runs.
* He only has one more strike out than homeruns surrendered: 13.

In case you hadn't figured it out, this is mind-numbingly terrible. The only saving grace is that he missed all of April, part of May and most of July.

But what I find most galling ISN'T that Elarton himself is a miserable pitcher. He seems to be a nice, hard-working fellow who really cares about his performance on the field. He just doesn't have the ability he used to have before a cascade of injuries reduced his effectiveness to Nick Blakeley-level.

No, what's most galling is that Dayton Moore and Buddy Bell keep running this guy out there, knowing full well what results should be expected. It isn't hard to find a pitcher who can give up less than a run per inning, it really isn't. And you can find them on the cheap.

The only reason I can see for the stubborn insistence by management to allow opponents to carpet bomb the Royals while he's on the mound is that they want to showcase him for a potential trade. The only problem is that by showcasing this set of skills, they're just insuring that NO ONE will want to take him off our hands.

The time has come to release Elarton. I realize millions of dollars have been spent paying his contract and rehabbing his multiple maladies, but the Royals need to face it: It's a sunk cost. You aren't getting that money back and by continuing to play him you're making the cost less bearable.

This is a mystery that shouldn't be so difficult to solve.



***UPDATE***
7/26
My prayers have been answered: http://www.kansascity.com/385/story/205082.html

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