Royals show yet again that for Pirates fans, it could be worse

Whenever I begin to feel down about being a Pirates fan, I remind myself that we're not the Royals, and every time I read about them, either incidentally (because something came up on my Twitter feed) or on purpose (because I'm looking for some schadenfreude), I remember how being a Pirates fan used to be. It definitely isn't a picnic now, but we've come a long way, baby. Marveling at the Royals' silliness is one of the few perks of being a Bucs fan. Let's enjoy it.

Take this Royals Q+A with Bob Dutton in the Kansas City Star. If you're a Pirates fan, it'll bring back memories of 2004 like a Matchbox Twenty / Avril Lavigne tour would.

First, some news: right-hander Luis Mendoza is already making a push for consideration for a spot in the Royals’ rotation. He carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning Wednesday night in pitching Mexico to a 10-0 victory over Puerto Rico in the Caribbean World Series. ...

Until now, manager Ned Yost ticketed Mendoza for duty as a long reliever. Will that change? Stay tuned.

Luis Mendoza is a 29-year-old journeyman in his fourth organization. Last year he started 25 games for the Royals. Could the Royals consider putting him in their rotation again? Stay tuned!

Are the Royals truly optimistic about Francoeur or just unwilling to take a bath on all those "Frenchy Quarter" t-shirts?

My guess, and that’s all it is, is he gets maybe 40 games or so to show some bounce back. If that doesn’t happen, I think they’ll do…something. Just what they’ll do is hard to say at this point.

The most likely in-house solution would be to switch Lorenzo Cain from center to right and put Jarrod Dyson in center. Maybe David Lough gets an extended look. Or perhaps free-agent acquisitions Endy Chavez or Xavier Nady have shown they deserve a look.

Francoeur was 1.2 games below replacement level last year. Say what you will about the Pirates, but at least when there's a veteran who's anywhere near that bad (and the Pirates actually haven't had anyone that bad since Aki Iwamura, not even Rod Barajas), the Bucs don't bring him back for another year. And I love that Xavier Nady, who has been below replacement level in four straight seasons, is listed as a potential replacement. What could 34-year-old Xavier Nady possibly do at this point to show he "deserves a look"? You might say that this is simply a writer who isn't evaluating baseball players properly, but it's the Royals -- you really never know.

@gihnow: Can we stop referring to Tejada as "former MVP?" While true, misleads fans 2 believe he’s a viable present-day solution.

You’re free to do so, but….he is a former MVP.

Ah yes, Miguel Tejada, who will likely occupy a bench spot despite not playing in the majors last year and posting a .621 OPS in Triple A. Enjoy your "former MVP," Royals fans.