Wow, Minny at 70.5 seems like stealing money. I'd take the over on that all day long. The others make sense, although again I think we are a bit high

It's 82.5 ...... just bought a ticket in Vegas 3 days ago.

Roster deadline is tomorrow night at midnight, but it seems like all the drama is now gone. Louis Coleman will probably be on the DL, allowing the Royals to keep Ciriaco for at least a couple weeks. Bueno is probably #12 in the bullpen, and we're going to try to sneak Peguero through waivers.

yeah, I've read a couple stories about MLB's shiny new replay center in New York. Looks impressive.

I pray they just bite the bullet and move to using the K zone next. THE number one thing that's ****ed-up, day-in and day-out, are the balls and strike calls at the plate.

And the ONLY thing the current group of blind-ass umps might argue is where the "midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants" and the "line at the hollow beneath the kneecap" are. And I'm sure some official needing his easy paycheck to keep coming-in will say no computer can do that!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>One thing about Twitter: it cannot, WILL NOT, miss an opportunity to make a &quot;2 hole&quot; joke.</p>&mdash; Sam Mellinger (@mellinger) <a href="https://twitter.com/mellinger/statuses/449607582810796032">March 28, 2014</a></blockquote>
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so does anyone have tix to the home opener that can't go?
be glad to take them off your hands!!! ;)

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Omar Infante remained in Arizona today, Dayton Moore says. That&#39;s not too encouraging for his chances for Opening Day.</p>&mdash; Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) <a href="https://twitter.com/McCulloughStar/statuses/449603881027125248">March 28, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Cory Wade and PJ Walters will also be in Omaha. Jon Rauch has been released.</p>&mdash; Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) <a href="https://twitter.com/McCulloughStar/statuses/449587010542370816">March 28, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>A few minor-league assignments: Lamb in Omaha, Adam in NWA, Almonte/Manaea in Wilmington.</p>&mdash; Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) <a href="https://twitter.com/McCulloughStar/statuses/449580366571921408">March 28, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Manaea should make it to AA by the end of the year. If all goes well, he could be on a fast track to Omaha by next year. The scouts really, really liked Manaea this spring.

Would be nice if Almonte made AA as well.

Have a feeling Infante going to the DL will happen sooner or later and Colon gets a lot of time at 2B this year, possibly SS if Escobar's shoulder is still bothering him.

If manaea, zimmer, duffy and yordano all turn out, we will have a great window of cheap pitching that may let us lock up a couple real bats.

That would be really sweet.

If Duffy continues to struggle to get through innings, it might damage the hope of him becoming a viable starter. Can’t have a rotation guy that gets pulled after 4 every game. Replacement for Holland???

We can't even begin to think about that until he fails. The value of a starter, even a #3 or #4, is a lot higher than a closer.

Zimmer will stay in Arizona for about 8 more weeks, before heading off to AA or AAA. If all goes well, he could be available for the September call-ups.

Not that it means anything, but still a positive sign. Look who made the MLB All Spring Team

Moose..

MLB and MLBPA announced an interesting change to the drug testing program. A first-time use will be 80 games. 2nd time will be 162 games, playoffs, and forfeit the entire year's contract (closing the A-Rod loophole). They are also more than doubling the number of urine tests and random blood tests.

If a player can prove to an arbitration panel that use of an illegal substance was not intentional, then the arbitrators may choose to reduce the penalty.

Any player who is suspended for PED use, whether its intentional or not, will be forced to go through 6 random urine tests and 3 random blood tests every year for the rest of his MLB career.

Also, clubs will provide supplements year round to all players guaranteed to not test as a false positive.

Counting down the days Til someone tampers with or claims their stuff was tampered with it / not my fault.

Apparently Infante asked to stay in Arizona to work out in warmer weather. For now, he still plans on making it to Detroit on Monday.

All this baseball talk is making me want to fire up the show for the new season.

Monday can't get here soon enough!

So what exactly does he do down here for months besides working out? I'm not aware of any games going on of any level in April here?

Looking forward to seeing "Ace" Ventura pitch.

Was assigned to Lexington Legends, Class A full season.

He's 17, so that is a VERY aggressive assignment. He also, like Billy Butler, likely has no defensive position. They must think pretty highly of him.

Recovering from an injury. The Royals are being ultra-cautious with it, he just now starting throwing bullpen sessions. They won't send him to a minor league team until he's ready to throw at least 75 pitches.

Don't they do simulated games, or simulated spring training (or something like that) all year long? IIRC, Grienke was sent down there after he went AWOL and wanted to quit baseball.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Yost&#39;s reasoning on batting Escobar 2nd: He doesn&#39;t want to mess with rest of the order. &quot;I’ve got my guys lined up, where I want them.&quot;</p>&mdash; Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) <a href="https://twitter.com/McCulloughStar/statuses/449664522216026112">March 28, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>If you excuse me, I&#39;m going to duck now.</p>&mdash; Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) <a href="https://twitter.com/McCulloughStar/statuses/449664559520161792">March 28, 2014</a></blockquote>
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:facepalm:

This better not be the case when Infante is in the lineup.

Yeah...but more importantly, all our minor league teams are still down there until their particular seasons start at the end of next week (or later in some cases). He has plenty of work he can get in.

I don't get this. If you can't teach a 17 year old how to be an average 1st baseman there is something wrong. (unless he's a midget)

And this is why Yost is going to eventually be fired. To his credit, he's learned several lessons from his failures. Lineup construction - which is admittedly overrated - and in-game tactics will continue to dog him. He simply has no "feel" for those types of things. Escobar should never bat anywhere other than last until or unless he proves he can take a walk OR hit above .300 consistently.

1st base doesn't really count as a defensive position. If a guy is 17 and the thought is that he's either a LF or a 1B, they really don't have a true defensive position.

Duenez has a small chance of sticking in LF, but most think he's 1B only.

Not sure you understood. Infante isn't in Milwaukee, so Yost decided to replace him with Escobar.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>That last RT is just a spectacular display of wrong. Too many jokes to choose just one, but Yost really wants to bat MLB&#39;s worst hitter 2nd.</p>&mdash; Sam Mellinger (@mellinger) <a href="https://twitter.com/mellinger/statuses/449666235689472000">March 28, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>If you or someone you know loves Ned Yost, talk some sense into him. I know the Royals watch this account. Someone help him.</p>&mdash; Sam Mellinger (@mellinger) <a href="https://twitter.com/mellinger/statuses/449666452455321600">March 28, 2014</a></blockquote>
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There is no excuse for having a .240 hitter batting 2nd over a proven, consistent hitter in Infante. Completely stupid.

I think I've written 100 posts pushing back against lineup overreactions. The order for #2-#5 or #3-#6 shouldn't matter, but this is too much.

You put your bad hitters #8 and #9 for one simple reason: you don't want them to bat more often than they have to. Putting your #9 at #2 is stupid unless he's some OBP freak with infield dirt power (which isn't Escobar), and even then its very questionable.

Is a spring training lineup where the projected #2 hitter is injured such a big deal?

He's not batting 2nd instead of Infante.

Infante is in Arizona, and Yost is bumping Escobar up to #2 to replace him.

Obviously what he should do is bat Gordon 2nd when Infante is not playing, but Escobar should be safely at the bottom if Infante is healthy.

I figured that's what it was for, but judging by the tweets, it wasn't made perfectly clear.

If it carries over into the regular season where we have a legitimate shot to contend in a tight race, then yes.

Infante has been #2 all spring, and Yost has said many, many times that he's going Aoki-Infante at the top.

So, if Infante is healthy (knock on wood), then we have nothing to worry about, but batting Escobar 2nd if Infante is not available is so stupid, it warrants a big twitter reaction.

If nothing else, we now have another reason to care a lot about Infante's elbow.

Escobar should never bat higher than 9th

No sense at all to this.

Yeah I know that, but I don't get people who freak out about something like this. The other day Dyson played DH. I just don't see anything wrong with freaky spring training lineups.

Dyson will never, ever DH in a real game, whereas escobar will probably bat in the second spot on opening day.

I'm too lazy to post them all, but AMC (my new moniker for McCullough) just posted a series of tweets on a story about Yost coming back to Milwaukee to drop off a car he had from the last year of his contract. Pretty awesome.

Might be a good time to ask why nobody is talking about DM's role in Escobar batting 2nd, since Escobar isn't a guy who should probably even be on the team in the first place. If DM puts him on the roster, Yost can make these dumb decisions. No?

If Escobar hits as poorly this year as he did last year, you can beat this drum all you want.

But considering the way he plays shortstop and the type of hitting he has shown he is capable of (which is not star level but is also not completely incompetent like he was from May 1 on in 2013), it's premature.

Alcides Escobar absolutely deserves a spot on an MLB roster at this point in time. Even coming off of last season, he's a better SS than many teams are trotting out.

You have some very stupid takes in this thread.

@jazayerli: If Ned Yost doesn't want to mess with his lineup order, fine. Bat Lorenzo Cain 2nd. Instead of, you know, the worst hitter in MLB last year.

I base all my opinions on analytics, which is probably why you understand almost none of it.

Escobar's defense makes him worth watching

from a roster/team construction standpoint, Escobar's defense makes him worth STARTING as long as he posts a .260/.300/.375 line.

huh? He was worth 6 WAR 2011-12, and had just one bad year. Yeah, he's worth starting.

edit: we also have him signed through 2015 and 2 options after that.

edit2: oh, you were responding to PB. Never mind.

I know a lot of people on here and in the news have talked about Escobar bulking up. I'm not sure, but to me he looks HEALTHY. I'm hoping for a big year from him. He didn't look well all of last year.

It was 3.9. And fell to 1.1 last year. But forget the past because as you probably know: it's irrelevant. OLIVER projects him to fall off the cliff and turn into a massive pumpkin. 0.1 WAR combined the next two seasons with horrendous wRC+ numbers.


http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx...10&position=SS

True, but it's very doubtful he'll produce that. He's become almost a carbon copy of Chris Getz in every way.

Just read McCullough's story on this. If Infante goes on the DL, the KC media appears to be ready to revolt.

Except he may have the strongest arm of any shortstop in the league. Getz :doh!:

That's ridiculous. Even for you.

I notice you are pulling the Oliver projection from Fangraphs and ignoring the other systems (which all have him as basically a league average player overall) listed right next to them. So cool (rolls eyes). Also worth noting that Oliver is WAY different in defensive projections than the other systems (way lower).

Escobar is an elite defensive shortstop. Chris Getz was elite at nothing. The Royals have Escobar secured at a very reasonable salary for the forseeable future. RA Mondesi is likely ready for the majors around the time Escobar gets into his team option years (2016 and 2017). And even in those team option years, Escobar is still a bargain EVEN if he is merely a 1 WAR player.

Does anyone not agree with having Aoki-Infante at the top? Seems like a lot better options for the #2 slot there if Aoki is leading off.

I can live with it, even though it isn't what I would do.

Aoki-Hosmer-Butler-Gordon-Perez-Infante-Moustakas-Cain-Escobar
is what I would roll with.

But then again, I'm not a baseball fossil stuck with the idea of the 2 hitter being a scrappy, speedy guy who slaps the ball to RF and is "savvy" and "gritty."

yep, we're trying to win the "never bat Escobar #2" war here, Ned wants a credible hitter at #2? OK fine, whatever, I'll take it.

I'd agree with your lineup but swap Hosmer and Gordon but keep the rest were you have them. None-the-less, Aoki-Infante makes little sense at all still but no where near as bad as Esky at #2. Then again, I'm not Ned "Bunt More" Yost.

How doesn't he fit? I didn't see it

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Lorenzo Cain just did to Carlos Gomez what Carlos Gomez does to other people. Great leaping grab to keep a homer in the park.</p>&mdash; Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) <a href="https://twitter.com/McCulloughStar/statuses/449728226349178882">March 29, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Defense is a beautiful thing

Extreme fly ball pitchers in our rotation.

ROFLWhat a reach!ROFL

Lot of problems with that. A few key ones:

1) Just because the Royals have a lot of flyball pitchers doesn't mean a SS is not still the most important position defensively. Even on a team that features a lot of flyball pitchers, the most groundball action is still going to go into SS territory.

2) Then there's this line at the end: "Unless Escobar can produce at a tolerable rate, batting .250 at a minimum." Alcides Escobar is a .260/.294/.344 hitter in his three years as a Royal. He has exceeded .250 2/3 years. He's a career .258 hitter overall. If your argument is that Escobar doesn't fit because of how bad he is with the bat and how his defense isn't that impactful, don't set an offensive threshold he must meet... that his career numbers exceed.

Just a silly 'article' all around.

If Escobar doesn't hit this year, they will look at bringing in a replacement or alternative or competition. But until that point, people should calm down and see what happens.

Starting SS aren't exactly growing on trees... which is why St. Louis - a team with the resources to acquire any SS it wants via trade and the baseball smarts in the front office to make a good move - signed Jhonny Peralta to a huge deal. Few alternatives available.

If you are right that his bat rebounds to respectability then he is worth keeping. He was a total zero at the plate last year. As bad as Getz no question.

Side note: Sure am glad Twins have up so quickly on Gomez.

Hopefully, Sano and Buxton have "attitude problems" and get shipped off the the NL, too.

You're reaching.

The lobster reach around. PB's favorite move.

The Angels have extended Trout. 6/144.5, full no-trade. Covers 3 free agent years, free agent at age 29. So, he did not necessarily give up a mega contract if he keeps it up till then, and locks up a perfectly respectable AAV despite having 3 arbitration years left.

I think its a win-win, Angels keep him around, Trout gets insurance without really sacrificing much if anything, and Trout could still cash in if he reaches his potential.

Trout could have gotten much more IMO. He sold himself short. Although he will only be 29 by the time this is up, so he will likely get another big contract if he is any good then. I wonder if the contract is heavily incentive laden

If you do the math, I'm not so sure that he gave up a lot.

I think he gets 60MM in arbitration, then what is his AAV in the first 3 years of FA? 30? That would be 150. Even if its 35, then that means he left a grand total of roughly 20MM on the table in the next 6 years.

In exchange for that 20MM, he buys security in case he declines or gets hurt, and a ton of security in case he gets a career-threatening injury, and he still lands in free agency at the young age of 29.

Duncan, alnorth or anyone else- what's the deal with John Lamb? Any hope for him?