In news that must be totally crushing to Royals fans - Royals owner David Glass is working out a contract extension for General Manager Dayton Moore.    KC Star - No deal yet on contract exension for Moore  Because Moore's done so much to show he deserves an extension.

As much as we've complained in the past about Mariners ownership and executives, this does offer pretty sharp relief on a key difference between the Mariners and the Royals executvie and ownership groups.  Lincoln and Armstrong eventually realized they had been heading in the wrong direction, and executed a sharp correction.  David Glass????  Well what can you possibly say to anyone living east of Grass Creek and west of Springfield.  I'm sure that Joe Posanki is finding that Sports Illustrated gig even more appealing right now.

I confess to having mixed feelings about this.  On an empathic level, I am aware of - and even grieve a bit for - the suffering Kansas City fans. Our Bavasi nightmare is over - Royals fans are still in the middle of their terror with the worst parts apparently still to come. Long term Royals fans also have an agony Mariners fans never experienced during our years of similar ineptitude, because there was a time when the Royals were one of the best organizations in baseball.  In Seattle, well ... all we ever knew was futility. 

How much have Royals fans been beaten down, you ask?  Well, after the Betancourt trade there were Royals fans who, in all seriousness, defended the trade because Betancourt was an improvement on Tony Peña, Jr.  "See", they said, "this is just another example of how Moore is continually taking steps to make the team better". Meanwhile they totally ignored how the Royals simply swapped out the worst shortstop in baseball for the next worst shortstop in baseball, meaning that after the trade the Royals were still the team with the worst shortstop in baseball. Really.  Some Royals fans actually said that.  That's how far Royals fans have to reach to find good things to say about the Royals organization, sometimes.

The other side of my feelings is a feeling of gratitude to Glass for doing such a wonderful thing for smart teams such as the current incarnation of the Mariners.  Trades in baseball are facilitated when Team A values something that Team B doesn't value, and vice versa.  And I know that as long as Moore believes that the Mariners are currently  undervaluing character, grit, and veteran leadership, and greatly overvaluing skills such as on-base percentage and defense, well ... there's fertile trade opportunities there.  The Mariners challenge will be to fend off teams such as Boston and Tampa when dealing with the Royals for the few valuable pieces that might be available.