Its Time for the Royals to Sit Omar Infante

The Royals offense as a whole has gone through the likes of Hosmer, Moustakas, Gordon and Morales, with others such as Escobar providing periodic contribution as well. These are the guys that for the most part have had to play well each night to ensure that some runs will move across the plate. If they all 4 struggle, the team usually follows suit.

What it has NOT seen, however, is even the slightest bit of contribution from Omar Infante. And its time for it to stop.

Omar entered the season not being in the top physical shape of his life. He has bone spurs in his right elbow and was undergoing procedures to help mitigate the pain before ever stepping foot on the field. He opted to not undergo surgery so that he would be able to play out this season for the Royals. This, it seems, is a decision that is destined to plague both us and him as the season wears on.

Entering the game on June 4th, Omar has a paltry .222/.232/.315 line that would make the most timid of pitchers blush should they be forced to don that on the back of their Donnruss card. In the hopes of turning it around, he has managed to accumulate a whopping 2 hits in his last 10 games, often flailing at the plate as though Ray Charles himself was swinging for the fences in Royals Blue.

He has been bad this year. He wasn't very good last year. His arm is hurt and will not get better. His play is getting worse.

Put all of those together, and what you have is a guy who needs to sit down. Maybe go ahead and get that surgery with the hopes that next season he can somehow salvage the 4 year $30 million deal that is currently giving Dayton Moore night sweats. At least the last guy who make a mockery of second base only made a shade over $1 million in his highest paid year. Ohh….and Chris Getz also had a higher career OPS than what Omar has had as a Royal so far. (Getz Career OPS – .616, Omar as a Royal – .612 — Don't think about that too long….you wont be able to read the rest of this through the tears…maybe I should have waited until the end for that)

To make it easy for the Royals, they have a guy sporting a pedigree to take over this kind of job. Christian Colon was a top 5 pick in the 2010 draft. He was a slow mover through the organization, but did eventually show some promise once he reached the higher levels, finishing with a near .800 OPS during his 2014 campaign in Omaha and NW Arkansas. He isn't stellar with the glove, but considering he was originally drafted as a short stop, seems to have the make up to handle the second place position just fine. During limited action over the last 2 seasons, he has posted a line of .306/.359/.398 for the Royals good for an OPS+ of 92.

Does it look like Christian Colon is a future All-Star being blocked? No. Does it look like Christian Colon would be a substantial upgrade on a team with playoff aspirations? Absolutely.

Look, lets face it, a veteran player like Omar Infante isn't going to willingly sit on the bench. Likewise the Royals front office isn't going to take too kindly to one of the highest paid players riding pine behind a guy who isn't expected to be a long term solution.

But you know what? Its time to put aside what the organization WANTS and do what the organization NEEDS. Omar Infante has been defended, for the most part, because of his track record. He now has going on a year and a half of declining contribution. And darn it, this time he even has an excuse with the medical problems he is having. But bone spurs aren't going away.

If his issues are not medically related, then he has fallen victim to father time in an astoundingly quick fashion. Before last season, the only time in his career he had below a 73 OPS+ was in 2005 when he was 23 years old. And even then, his .621 OPS would be considered a blessing compared to the .547 he has now.

Ned Yost has a long history of protecting his players in front of the media. He often acts tough and then will suddenly do something like when Moose was sent down to Omaha in June of 2014. There was seemingly no warning before that happened, and quite the opposite. Ned defended him until the minute it happened it seemed. This may be the same situation, and for that, I applaud Ned for taking the heat off of his players, and at least publicly showing his support. Tearing them down would help no one.

But the time is now. Moose was allowed to flounder because there was no such thing as a third baseman tree. At the time, that wasn't as ridiculous of a statement as it seemed, but this time there is a capable replacement. Not a star….capable replacement. And lets face it, since May the 10th, Colon has played in a grand total of 3 games so it isn't as though he is some irreplaceable utility infielder.

Its time to see what Christian Colon can do. Every game counts, and for a team that has a true expectation for postseason play, it is imperative that they play the best players.

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