Wedged

Anyone else wishing the Royals could find a way to get rid of Trey Hillman and hire recently-fired Indians manager Eric Wedge?

Maybe we wouldn't even have to fire Hillman. Maybe just "promote" him. Make him, I don't know, Royals Director of Faith-Based Programs or something like that. Or he could be the head of our Japanese scouting department and bring us more gems like Yasuhiko Yabuta.

Or, maybe we could trade Hillman to the Indians for Wedge. They're lookin' for a new manager!

We might even have a selling point. It's gonna come right down to the wire this year to see which of the two teams finishes in last place. And, besides, Wedge couldn't make his team win with a center fielder named Sizemore and a DH named Hafner in his lineup. Hillman is giving Kansas City basically the same record with a center fielder named Maier (who?) and a DH named Jacobs (why?).

So come on, Indians! Just send ol' Eric down here. We'll take him off your hands!

The September bump

Before yesterday, the Royals had won their previous five games in a row, and it's absolutely the worst thing that could happen to them.

I wrote last month that the best-case scenario for the Royals would be if they'd win every fifth game to give Zack Greinke a chance at the Cy Young Award and lose all the rest of the games. Since I wrote that, they've pretty much done the opposite, winning a lot but losing for Greinke, or at least winning but not getting the win for Greinke.

This is a disaster. The Royals are blowing their chance at a decent draft pick (or, at least, the one decent draft pick that's gonna matter next year).

But hey, at least we have Dayton Moore signed to a long-term extension and Trey Hillman coming back next year and Jose Guillen with one year left on his deal...

--Matt Kelsey

A brilliant woman's perspective on the Hillman situation

After I wrote this post about how I believed Trey Hillman was being delinquent in his duties by missing six regular season games and part of Spring Training to be at the bedside of his dying father-in-law, I bounced my arguments off my wife Jamie, who also happens to be the smartest person I know.

I laid out my arguments in a clear and concise manner. When I was done, she gave me a stern look.

"If my father had died," she said, "I would be a wreck. I'd need you there with me."

Of course, she's right.

While I still believe Trey Hillman was delinquent for missing part of Spring Training and some early-season games, I can't fault the man for cutting out now, when the season is a shambles anyway, to go to the funeral. Not for his father-in-law, but for his wife.

As usual, my wonderful wife was the one who set me straight. We'll be celebrating our sixth anniversary later this month. It's been the six happiest years of my life.

-- Matt Kelsey

It needs to be said

I don't mean to be heartless, but I need to say something that I'm betting a whole lot of Kansas City Royals fans are thinking right now.

According to the Royals Web site, manager Trey Hillman is going to be gone from the bench the next three games to attend his father-in-law's funeral.

Earlier in the season, Hillman missed three games to be at his father-in-law's bedside and, if memory serves me right, he missed a sizable chunk of Spring Training because of his father-in-law's sickness.

So that means Hillman will have missed six games this season as well as part of Spring Training.

I understand the need to tend to sick relatives, and the need to grieve the loss of loved ones. But... I'm sorry, this guy is the manager of a Major League Baseball team. He can't miss six games and part of Spring Training in a single season. That's just ridiculous.

I can't begin to speculate on the relationship between Hillman and his father-in-law. It must be pretty damn strong. I won't say he should miss less time because it's his father-in-law and not his actual biological father. But I do know a player would never get six days off to tend to a dying relative. Never, not even a star player.

There's something weird going on here. General Manager Dayton Moore, who just got the job security of a four-year contract extension, must be have a real soft spot for Trey Hillman. When the skipper left in Spring Training to be by his father-in-law's bedside, Dayton Moore went with him.

Trey Hillman is a religious man, and I don't blame him for saying family comes first. It just seems like a double standard is being applied.

-- Matt Kelsey