I can't believe I am saying this, but Hoch was valuable to this team last year . He succeeded where he was asked to succeed. Even though our bullpen is deep, I feel this is a major loss.

Only because we are paying him $5 mil to do nothing. I have no doubt he will be replaceable.

does not matter if he makes $5m or $500k. it is still a loss.

Can only hope you are right on your replacement theory.

He's in a position that we will be able to replace his production internally. The loss of production from a monetary standpoint definitely matters when you are the Royals.

Hoch posted a sub-2 ERA and had 82 K in 70 IP. Those are great numbers. While he is overpaid... I'd say it's unlikely someone else steps up and pitches quite that well. Hope I'm wrong.

To be fair, there's no guarantee Hoch himself would repeat those numbers either.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Dayton Moore on his latest talks with Ervin Santana: “I don’t think it’s anything that we’re going to be able to work with.&quot; Status quo.</p>&mdash; Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) <a href="https://twitter.com/McCulloughStar/statuses/442022820348829696">March 7, 2014</a></blockquote>
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A far more salient point, IMO.

Hope you are wrong ,too.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>One reason Brad Penny was released: He injured his non-throwing hand punching a wall on Thursday, source says.</p>&mdash; Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) <a href="https://twitter.com/McCulloughStar/statuses/442028361892655105">March 7, 2014</a></blockquote>
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LMAO At least he hit one thing he aimed for.

You can't expect a guy with a track record in 800+ innings of a 5+ ERA ball to repeat his anomaly season. the guy's WHIP was cut in half last season from the norm... that's great, he had a great year... but to expect that to all of a sudden be his norm is mindbogglingly insane.

Walls are big and easy to hit.

Why not? It was different last year because he wasn't starting, he wasn't trying to pace himself. He was able to go sling it. Now maybe he wouldn't post a sub-2 ERA, but he could've still been effective.

he could've been effective... not arguing that... But the royals are in no shortage of quality relievers.

The point you're avoiding is that he's replaceable at a fraction of the cost. (I was vehemently against him being on the roster last year.. imo he is all that is wrong with Dayton Moore)

What really sucks from a discussion standpoint is that we'll probably never know reagarding Hoch in the future... He'll come back from TJ Surgery but we won't be able to tell if last season was or wasn't a fluke definitively. :(

You are assuming that if the Royals didn't spend $5 mil on Hochevar that they would have spent it somewhere else.