Sayonara*

The Royals fired Trey Hillman today. Not surprising that he was fired, the timing, however, was unexpected. Leads one to believe that this wasn't Dayton Moore's choice, but ownership's. Moore would seem to be out of scapegoats now. This is his baby and his next hire is HUGE for his future. HUGE.

I'm sure Trey Hillman is a good man. He was not a good baseball manager. He may one day be successful in the majors, but I doubt it, and I doubt he gets another chance. He was inconsistent in his "strategy." Daffy in his lineup and player choices. Stuck in the 1960s in his style of play. Spineless in the face of his veterans. Fond of throwing individual players under the bus, especially young ones. Purposely ignorant of advanced statistics. Maker of idiotic substitutions. He refused to play the promising younger players he had on his bench. And he gave every player an annoying nickname.

Trey Hillman did nothing as manager of the Royals to make his firing a surprise. This is a symbolic gesture to ownership and to the fans. In reality, this solves very little. But it gives me hope that ownership is forcing Dayton's hand: put up or shut up.