So on the first day of free agency an opening volley was lobbed by the Florida Marlins, when they sent 1b Mike Jacobs to the Royals for Leo Nunez.  The Marlins already had a better first baseman in Gaby Hernandez waiting in the wings, and Nunez will make a strong pitching staff even stronger. The Marlins will make a real run next year, though they may still be two more years away from knocking out the Phillies and the Mets with clear decisiveness. Every time the Marlins come to town, particularly this past year, I would hear Mets fans say how much they wish they still had Jacobs, who was traded to acquire Carlos Delgado. The truth is those fans don’t see enough of Jacobs to really know that… they just like his price tag, and the idea of ‘raising our own ‘ to the fill the roster.  Bradford Doolittle writes a great piece about Jacobs weaknesses, and what those weaknesses will mean to the Royals. Though Kansas City is begining to shape themselves into something resembling a major league club again, they are far enough away that saving the quality middle relief help they have now isn’t really worth it.  Jacobs has some power. But the interesting thing about the Doolittle article, at least the part that speaks to me, is that the GM Dayton Moore has created a philosophy for the Royals to build around and his first trade this off-season doesn’t fit at all with that philosophy.  I had the good fortune to speak with Michael Lombardi a few days ago.  Lombardi, a football guy, worked in the Raiders organization and the Browns organization during the Belichick years.  Lombardi’s — and he isn’t alone in this– mantra of sorts is that you must create a plan for developing a team, and then all decisions are made based on that plan.  There is no ‘just for now’ or ‘in the meantime’ decisions.  Though Moore may have been fishing with Nunez as bait for a while, I find it hard to believe that a trade done the first day after the World Series that doesn’t stick to the plan is the right deal.  The Mets might have even given a minor league first baseman — Mike Carp for Nunez, and Carp despite his offensive slide last season could easily slide into first base for the Royals.  No Moore went for the ‘in the meantime’ approach, one that may keep the Royals  working ‘in the meantime’ for quite a while.