It wasn't the mellow Mary Jane that Ponson was partaking in, though. Nope, he tested positive for phentermine, a stimulant. Like Soto, he'll avoid punishment from Major League Baseball and face a two-year ban from international play.
So far, The Dugout has established three relatively static "straight man" characters on the Royals: pitchers Zack Greinke, Brian Bannister, and Joakim Soria. This season, of course, they're joined by perennial Dugout man-children Kyle Farnsworth and Sidney Ponson. So we can say that the Royals have a Full House, Aces full of Jokers, and shovel this terrible poker-centric joke on top of the massive pile of poker-centric jokes that the Royals have had to suffer over the years.
It's not a terribly glorious week for two-start pitchers in week six (Monday, May 11th - Sunday May 17th) of the fantasy baseball season. With the light day of action on Monday there are only 34 total this week, and most of this week's pitchers are risky picks.
You won't need to set you lineups until 7:05 PM ET on Monday as the only four games are night starts
Must Start Johan Santana, Mets - Monday vs ATL (D. Lowe) and Saturday at SF (R. Johnson) Matt Cain , Giants - Tuesday vs WAS (J. Zimmermann) and Sunday vs NYM (M. Pelfrey) Jered Weaver , Angels - Tuesday vs BOS (J. Masterson) and Sunday at TEX (S. Feldman) Roy Halladay, Blue Jays - Tuesday vs NYY (A. Burnett) and Sunday vs CWS (G. Floyd)
As we head into the third week of the fantasy baseball season we have 34 starting pitchers throwing twice. When setting your lineups, remember that tomorrow is Patriot's Day in Boston, so first pitch is at 11:05 AM Eastern Time.
Must Start Roy Halladay, Blue Jays - Tuesday vs TEX (B. McCarthy) and Sunday at CWS (J. Contreras) Derek Lowe, Braves - Monday at WAS (J. Zimmermann)and Saturday at CIN (B. Arroyo) C.C. Sabathia, Yankees - Tuesday vs OAK (B. Anderson) and Sunday at BOS (J. Beckett) Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers - Tuesday at HOU (R. Ortiz) and Sunday at COL (J. Marquis)
One of the trendy picks this season has been the Kansas City Royals. It seems that for the last few years there have been people who were saying that the Royals were finally ready for primetime, but then inevitably June would come around and it was pretty obvious that Kansas City was going to have to wait another year. The reason for this has been that while the Royals have developed some nice young talent in their organization they've never had the pitching that's needed to be competitive for an entire season.
It looks like that may have changed in 2009. Anybody who watched the Royals take two out of three against the White Sox this week saw why people think this year's squad has a legitimate shot at winning a wide open AL Central division. Through three games Royals pitching made a White Sox offense that's always near the top of the AL in offense look foolish, and there's no reason to think it won't continue.
Maybe it's time to go back to the four-man rotation.
No, that isn't really practical. But with Opening Day encroaching, teams are sorting out their pitching staffs. And since most teams went into spring training not sure who would make up the back-end of the rotation, we're starting to get word now on who will fill those roles.
There have been plenty of people, players and fans alike, who have expressed their displeasure with the World Baseball Classic this spring. Some people saw it as a distraction that only put their team's players at risk to injury, while some of the players in the WBC just thought it was a bit too boring for their taste. I'm guessing one player with no complaints about it is Sidney Ponson.
Ponson made two solid starts against the Dominican Republic while playing for the Netherlands and landed a minor-league deal with the Kansas City Royals. Now, after only a few weeks with the team and the recent demotion of Luke Hochevar, it looks as though Ponson has earned a job in the Royals rotation.
PHOENIX -- Luke Hochevar might eventually find the big league stardom that is expected of a player drafted No. 1 overall, but it's not going to be now.
The Royals sent Hochevar to Triple-A Omaha Tuesday morning, leaving the starting rotation picture clearer, but still unsettled. It's going to be Zack Greinke, Gil Meche, Kyle Davies in the first three spots, with Sidney Ponson, Horacio Ramirez and Brian Bannister still in the mix for the others. Word around camp is that Bannister is going to be the odd man out (which seems like a pretty steep drop for a guy who not too long ago was pretty good).
Heading into Spring Training, the most unknown fantasy baseball values come in the form of positional battles. Let's face it, the entire "sport" of fantasy baseball is unknown, because no one has a crystal ball. Still, predicting output from an individual player is much more difficult when you don't know what his role will be.
With that in mind, we're going to take a look at some of the pitchers who have recently either sewn up a spot in the starting rotation or are nearing that job. We won't be including those who were guaranteed a spot heading into camp.
As longtime readers of The Dugout are aware, the Royals are one of our pet franchises. We tend to ignore teams like the Astros, mostly because we're too busy writing story arcs about an obscure Royals utility infielder possessing superhuman abilities, or the Royals' owner assuming the role of a contemporary Satan, or the Royals' manager living out of a grocery cart.
Thursday we passed along the news that Geovany Soto had tested positive for marijuana during the World Baseball Classic this past spring. Just one day later, another positive result from the WBC round of testing has been revealed. Sidney Ponson, the embattled 32-year-old righty who pitched for the Netherlands, also tested positive for a banned substance. 
So far, The Dugout has established three relatively static "straight man" characters on the 
As we head into the third week of the fantasy baseball season we have 34 starting pitchers throwing twice. When setting your lineups, remember that tomorrow is Patriot's Day in Boston, so first pitch is at 11:05 AM Eastern Time.
One of the trendy picks this season has been the Kansas City Royals. It seems that for the last few years there have been people who were saying that the Royals were finally ready for primetime, but then inevitably June would come around and it was pretty obvious that Kansas City was going to have to wait another year. The reason for this has been that while the Royals have developed some nice young talent in their organization they've never had the pitching that's needed to be competitive for an entire season.
Maybe it's time to go back to the four-man rotation.
There have been plenty of people, players and fans alike, who have expressed their displeasure with the World Baseball Classic this spring. Some people saw it as a distraction that only put their team's players at risk to injury, while some of the players in the WBC just thought it 
PHOENIX -- 
Heading into Spring Training, the most unknown fantasy baseball values come in the form of positional battles. Let's face it, the entire "sport" of fantasy baseball is unknown, because no one has a crystal ball. Still, predicting output from an individual player is much more difficult when you don't know what his role will be. 
As longtime readers of The Dugout are aware, the 
