Mashup: KC’s payroll, Alomar vs. Larkin, Joyce, Pettitte

Let’s take a quick look at a few of the on goings around baseball today. Here are some links …

• Thanks to the tireless efforts of Cot’s Contracts, it would appear as though the Kansas City Royals have very little payroll committed beyond the 2011 season. In fact, the team has a mere $3.23 Million in guaranteed dollars on the books for 2012 before you factor in about 11 arbitration eligible players. Royals fans have to hope that the young prospects arrive and are able to produce, otherwise this organization is setup to have a run similar to that which the Pittsburgh Pirates have suffered through since the early 1990s.
• FanGraphs’ Dave Cameron points out that the careers of Roberto Alomar and Barry Larkin were largely similar. Sure, Alomar has a few more pieces of hardware in his trophy case but we can’t really fault Larkin for that considering the only reason why he didn’t win more Gold Gloves was the presence of Ozzie Smith in the National League. Cameron’s biggest argument is if Alomar received enough votes for election, why didn’t Larkin? It will all likely be a moot point this time next year but it’s still a valid argument.
• ESPN’s Amy K. Nelson sat down with Jim Joyce, the umpire responsible for the missed call that cost Armando Galarraga a perfect game this past June. It’s a must read as they talk about how Joyce has handled the entire situation since. I will say this, the man deserves to be remembered as much for how professionally he handled the situation as he does for the missed call.
• According to the NY Post, Andy Pettitte still hasn’t made up his mind whether he plans to pitch in 2011 or if he will indeed retire. The Yankees have been more than patient with Andy, as they should be, but I think general common sense at this point is starting to indicate that the lefty is going to call it a career.
• Barry Stanton, the ESPN editor who submitted one of the more questionable Hall of Fame ballots, continues to get reamed for his choices and his inability to fully explain them. Apparently he has claimed that the vote for B.J. Surhoff was to keep a promise he had made to the player years earlier, which I suppose I can buy. However, that still doesn’t justify the fact that he doesn’t seem to have taken his ballot seriously which is the real shame of the situation.
• Finally, the guys over at River Avenue Blues took a brief look at how history may have been different through the late 1990s had the Yankees been able to sign Alomar after the 1996 season.