Holy Frijoles!

Pena quits! I feel a bit cheated. The only thing I had to look forward to this season was Pena's humiliating public dismissal, but I suppose this will have to do.

Anyway, what happened to our sunny, eternal optimist? Hey, if you're feeling blue, just jump in the shower in your uniform! Beg Jose Lima to whip up some his patented zany antics! Play pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey!

"I can't take it anymore."

Indeed.

I never think a manager or head coach just "quits". More than likely he was feeling the pressure to leave anyway, so his move was likely just a pre-emptive strike. I can't believe that Baird wasn't considering Pena's dismissal with the way the Royals are playing. The Royals had low expectations, but they were still underperforming.

I don't there's much reason to rehash Pena's troubled reign in Kansas City. He was a terrible in-game micromanager, placed way too much importance on gritty-yet-highly-unproductive players like Desi Relaford, etc. In the end, though, the Royals of 2002 to 2005 simply weren't very talented or experienced, and despite the 2003 miracle fluke, Pena managed teams that were destined for 100-loss seasons no matter his or any other manager's interventions. Pena simply made it worse with his nauseating sunniness and had aggravating in-game skills.

So what's next? Hell, I don't know. I don't follow the baseball manager free agent market very closely, and I have no clear idea of what constitutes a good manager. I just know that Tony Pena is not one of them. Pena kinda screwed the Royals by quitting in May, forcing the Royals to undertake a manager search mid-season. The "big" names are Larry Dierker, Bob Brenley, Tom Kelly, Jim Leyland, etc. but I can't imagine why any name manager would want to manage in such a baseball backwater if they feel they have better options on the horizon. I'd prefer that the Royals hire someone who has actual major league managerial experience, but the Royals will probably not do so. Frank White is the obvious internal candidate, and I'm confident that he'll at least make it into the final pool. Can Frank be our Ron Gardenhire?

For other opinions on the final journey of Tony Pena, take a gander at Kevin on his blog and Bill over at Royals Court.

UPDATE: Oh, yes, I forgot: I'd like the Royals to hire Bobby Valentine. He's a solid, highly professional baseball manager.