The Writing On Jason Kendall's Wall

He couldn't have chosen a more appropriate descriptor. Will McDonald of Royals Review hit the nail on the head with his post on Jason Kendall yesterday, calling the amount of playing time the catcher is receiving "absurd." But really, all Kendall is doing is living up (or down) to the expectations that many had entering into this season.

It's frustrating to see a smaller market team like the Royals throw needless money at players that every single media outlet in the country cries foul over. When even the average fan can scream, "What are you doing?"... well, that's a good sign that someone in the front office needs some accountability. And if you don't think everyone realized Jason Kendall would pull out a current line of .269/.328/.324, you're totally mistaken.

Check out the following examples of the pre-season hype for Dayton's Moore's ridiculous signing:

Joe Posnanski tweeted the following after the Kendall signing:
Miguel Olivo [last year's starting catcher] hit more HRs last year than Jason Kendall hit last year + 2008 + 2007 + 2006 + 2005 + 2004 + 2003 +2002.

The Bleacher Report's Adam Bernacchio from December:
Kendall has no value whatsoever. He can’t help a team win and all the Royals continue to do is sign these below-average players to contracts and keep spinning their wheels.

From Fangraphs' Matt Klaasen in December:
The Royals managed to acquire a guy who is barely better than a AAA journeyman, will be 36 in 2010, will likely be replacement level or below in 2011 if he isn’t already, and are paying him six million dollars over two years. This would be a bad contract no matter what the team’s situation.

Beyond the Boxscore's Tommy Randel, also in December:
At this point you have to just assume that the joke is on us. I keep thinking that one day after announcing a terrible move that Dayton Moore is going to move aside and Ashton Kutcher is gonna jump out and say "PUNK'D." Moore's latest prank was giving Jason Kendall a two-year deal that could pay him over $6 million dollars.

Baseball Trade Rumors' Steve Adams wrote the following before Kendall signed for $1 million more:
The Royals don't have the dollars to match Kendall's 2009 salary, but it's hard to imagine anyone giving him $5MM anyway. The Royals could offer Barajas a similar salary, and as Dutton points out, both players could be attracted to Kansas City because of an increased opportunity for playing time.

If this tells us anything, it's that Dayton Moore could care less about majority opinion on matters he believes in. Unfortunately, sometimes sticking to your guns gets you nowhere fast.