Since June 1:

Hosmer - .226/.278/.316
Butler - .289/.344/.395
Gordon - .229/.331/.440

Bout time Perez gets some love.

Last page, but it's worth mentioning again for sure. Congrats to the 3 of them. Escobar and Wade were both deserving and its a shame that at least one of them didn't go. Right now, Esky is far, far better than Jeter.

Cespedes was the third OF instead of Adam Jones until somehow the Orioles fans stuff the ballots over the last 48 hours of voting.

The entire fan voting thing is just dumb. How did Perez and Gordon even get in anyway with the voting system? Wasn't Gordon not even in the top 15 in votes for AL outfielders?

Player's picks, I believe.

Sam Mellinger ‏@mellinger 1m
Yadi Molina, age 24: .275/.340/.368, 85 OPS+, 2 yrs from 1st All-Star game. Sal Perez, age 24: .285/.332/.443, 112 OPS+, 2nd All-Star game.

<3 Salvy. I think I need to buy his jersey.

Didn't get a chance to respond to this before I left for the weekend at the lake but wanted to finish the discussion since good points were being made.

It's not about Jeremy Guthrie (though I do have issues with the way they figure their WAR for pitchers, which is incredibly dependent on FIP and strikeouts... Wade Davis was nearly 2 WAR starting pitcher according to Fangraphs, and his WAR stayed flat even after being moved to the bullpen last year). It's about their formula in general. I just tend to find Baseball Reference to be a little more reliable and less likely to make me go "Wait, that makes no sense."

Fangraphs only has Marlon Byrd - who has the 10th-most HR in MLB and is 26th in MLB in slugging - as being 7 runs above average offensively on the season. That's incredibly low for a player with those profiles. His baserunning is not THAT bad.


There's a difference between a proven everyday day hitter going through a long slump and a part-time guy like Dyson. Dyson has never proven he can hold up a high level of production when given more PT (in fact, he has shown that more PT=lower offensive numbers).

If Dyson could play everyday, with a day off against lefties, and put up .300/.350/.350, I'd take that all day long. That's basically what I was hoping for from Nori Aoki. Just haven't seen him prove he can be that type of guy yet. With a guy that would likely rip off 50 bags in that situation, I can live with a .350 SLG. Because I look at SB as a way to adjust SLG - basically, I add those stolen bases - and subtract caught stealings- to the total bases used to derive the slugging percentage... Don't know if anyone else uses that statistical measure, but I think of it as Total Base Percentage, and I think it's a way to compare the extra offensive value a speed guy offers with his ability to swipe bags. .300 BA with a .350 SLG would normally be looked at as an empty .300, but if you have the speed to turn 30 of the singles you're using to get to that average in 2Bs (or 2Bs into 3Bs, etc), that's just as good for run creation as hitting a 2B in the first place.

There's really no argument in support of Butler at this time. His juice is gone, his ability to get on base is gone, and he's hurting the team. He's been better offensively than Hosmer, but that's not saying much (and Hosmer at least is a run-preventer at 1B.

Side note (file this for the "you can't judge a High A prospect just by his stats" case):

Baseball Prospectus released its midseason Top 50 today. I disagree with some of the rankings (for instance, leaving Byron Buxton atop the list despite his lack of PT this year, and despite Kris Bryan'ts unbelievable offensive display at AA and AAA - he's slugging nearly .800 at AAA), but they have both Mondesi and Almonte in their top 30.

Reports on Almonte's progress with his breaking pitch are particularly pleasing. It seems he's progressing towards a plus breaking ball to pair with a plus fastball and plus-plus changeup.

So it's good for prospect hounds like me. It's also good for the Royals trade prospects. If those guys are showing out that well in live looks, their trade value is just as high as it was entering the season.

The Royals have trade chips, should they choose to use them. Not David Price level trade chips (If the Rays won't move him for a package built around Addison Russell, I don't know what they'll move him for... Addison Russell, Jarrod Parker and Dan Straily would have seemed to be pretty good value for him). But more than enough to go get a player that can help them offensively.

The Rays turned down that deal, but yet Al Bundy falls hook line and sinker for a rumor they'd do it for Joey Votto. Who's:

1). Hitting .255 with 6 homers
2). On the disabled list
3). Owed a whopping $229 million over the next TEN years

As bad as Moose has been, he has a virtually identical OPS to Hosmer.

Hosmer: .648
Moose: .644

Going forward, I'm not sure that I have any more hope that Hosmer will develop into an average player than Moose. In fact, Moose plays a tougher position, and is better at it.

Forget about these guys being stars. I don't even think it's likely that they can be MLB-average at their positions.

MLB average for 1b around .850, around .800 for 3b.

Moustakas returned from the minors on June 1. Since that time, he is:

.250/.308/.469 (6 HR, 18 RBI). Paired with his defense, that's a very playable major league player, and an above-average guy overall. Dayton Moore said before the season his expectation for Moustakas was for him to hit between .250/.260 with good power and above-average defense. He's succeeding - so far - since his return at meeting those expectations. Project Moustakas out over 550 ABs, and you'd be pretty happy with the results you get - 34 HR and 100 RBI.

Of course, this is Moustakas, so we need to see that sample size grow before we can believe he can sustain it. But he has not been a problem since returning (in fact, he's actually been a plus and would be a very, very effective No. 6 or No. 7 hitter if he can sustain it).

Since June 1, Hosmer is .226/.278/.316. It's just awful, and there's not enough lipstick in Orange County to make it look any different. No power, no OBP. Nothing.

Pair that with Yost and Dayton Moore coddling him more than the worst over-protective mom AND insisting on batting him in the first 3 spots in the lineup, and you've got a production bomb.

I know that I'm hardly alone in thinking this, but I always appreciate your takes on the Royals and baseball in general. I think I've become a much more knowledgeable fan from reading your posts. :thumb:

Hosmer had a good series against the Twins. No power but he was getting on base.