Undoubtedly. He's also never been a 162-games type. So PT was there (30 games worth, at least).

Not that I'm aware of. He apparently did not enjoy his time in Toronto, when they were trying to use him as a super-util guy. Not sure that really qualifies as a history.

Baseball and Soccer are both boring and especially the Royals bring no excitement as far as position players go. There is no one at the plate that I would hold off even taking a shit.

Yep, plus maybe we don't have to watch Valencia bat against an RHP with the bases loaded, although he did get a decent rip.
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If I wanted to see a 1-0 game, I'd go to Sporting Park

Gio called up and starting at 2nd

Oh jeez.

Valencia shouldn't be playing 2B, ever. Shouldn't be hitting ever either, unless it's against a LH starter.

Maybe the cubs would be willing to deal Boni for Mouse?

No way. When will this. Experiment end. Probably means Infante is going on the DL.

This punches a hole in the idea of on-base being the end all in scoring runs. It isn't. We were on base 10x last night and didn't score. You will always need guys who can drive the ball, even if they strike out a bit. you can't run out a lineup of punch & judy slapdick hitters and think that's going to result in runs - just because they make contact.

You can't score without being on base... There is no way around it. Even hitting a home run, it counts as being on base.

You have to be on base to score runs, period.

That's like saying just because the car broke down and didn't get you to your destination that cars should be discarded because it didn't work. There are a lot that goes into scoring... but in the end, the vehicle sets the stage to get you from point A to point B.

A lot of KC not scoring last night had to do with lack of hitting the ball with authority. Hell the hardest hit ball all night ended in an out (with the bases loaded). But a lot of it had to do with the pitching KC was going against, as well. That was a good pitching matchup on a cold night.

KC isn't a good hitting team, but they aren't this bad either... Butler and gordon are basically doing nothing... and those are pretty much our only thumpers outside of Hosmer... those two aren't producing.... same as last year.

The point is you can't score runs by slapping singles or grounding the ball up the middle. We're proving that. 7 games without a single HR in the big leagues is a complete joke. And by the way, watching the games: how many were even close? How many have even gone to the warning track? From memory the only ball that even got to the wall was Escobar's Monday.



In other news, Brandon Belt (SF) hit his 5th last night. He and Trumbo have 5.

“He’s pressing a little bit but not nearly as much as he was at any time last year. He’s going to be okay.”
Ned Yost, on Moose’s 0-15 start, 610 AM

GH: Yost made this comment about the Royals’ third baseman over the weekend. It sounded so familiar to me that I checked the archives from last May and came up with what Yost said about Moose when he was in a 2-41 tailspin. Read on.

“Last year, when he struggled. I mean (Moose) was a mess. There were times when you’d have to sit him for a ‘mental day.’ This year, he’s been in a great frame of mind. … He’s going to be fine.”
Ned Yost, on the same slumping Moustakas, May 2013, Kansas City Star

GH: Okay, so by my count that is three seasons in a row where we can document that Moose has struggled with slumps and his mental state. Hey, we all understand that baseball is a hard game to play and it’s a grind and the Royals faced three of the best pitchers on the planet (who happen to be in their division) and blah, blah, blah… I would like Yost to try a different tactic to motivate the moody Moose. “Hey moose – hit the damn ball or you’re going to find out how many great restaurants there are in Omaha.”



“Obviously, Mike Moustakas is still struggling although good for him to at least have the RBI walk today. I know that doesn’t mean anything is solved but at least he can go back and say he made a contribution. He also had some defensive plays – he also had the error…”
Joel Goldberg, Royals pre- and postgame host, trying to put a positive spin on Moose’s 0-15 start after Saturday’s win over the Chisox, Fox Sports KC

GH: It’s not just Yost who is walking and talking on eggshells when it comes to Moose’s slump. Goldberg tried everything he could to turn that bases-loaded walk into a Player of the Game award.

Moose is a mental midget. Calling a spade a spade. He will never contribute to this team. Send his ass to Omaha. See how he responds. Don't coddle his ass.

Salvy is in a slump, apparently. He went 1-3 with a walk today... his OBP dropped 10 points. :p

I think keeping Moose up for 9 straight against the Twins/Astros should tell us all we need to know. If he can't snap out of it against shitty teams, I think some time in Omaha would be warranted.

Royals say thanks for getting us a comp pick. It was a win-win deal.

Ervin's arm is going to explode by July.

lol @ ESPN... "A stealth NL Cy Young candidate"

or as the Royals would have you believe.

Vargas says "I got this Dawg"

Good for Santana. He was one of my favorite players last year, and I wish him nothing but the best.

This.

Fyp.

We didn't pick up Yordano in Santana's absence - we picked up Vargas.

Moose is quietly morphing into the new Brandon Wood.

All the same.

Quietly?

Not really, but okay.:thumb:

Well the point of my post wasn't really directed at who replaced Ervin but one that I think will have a beastin' year. As I think Vargas will most likely have similar production to Ervin this year. But I'm pulling for Ace to surpass both.

I wish Santana the best. It really is win-win in a classic sense.

We got a good year from him, a comp-pick, and replaced him with what seems to be a pretty good SP on a 4 year deal.

Ervin gets to play for a contender, ATL got him on a 1 year deal, and he can earn a long-term contract.

or Dallas McPherson

You know what's sad about Brandon Wood?

He wishes he had as much success in MLB as Moustakas. Pretty low standard to hold to...

I thought that guy was gonna be a mega-star.

:shake:

Moose and Hoz are getting dangerously close to the McPherson/Kotchman level of busts. Hoz better get his ass in gear and stop grounding singles, he pulled that same crap last season until June. Without 20hr power e is another Kotchman. Or Loney

Please chill.

Hoz is 24 already. When Kotchman was 24 he hit .296-11-68 (840 OPS) with 53/43 walks/K. And 37 doubles. It's not that crazy to make the comparison.

If Hosmer consistently hits around 15-20 HR with 35 doubles, he will have more power than Kotchman ever registered year-to-year.

Still, Kotchman is a pretty realistic FLOOR (or worst-case scenario) for Eric Hosmer. Which I wouldn't necessarily call a bust (Bust is a guy who never makes an impact/is not even an MLB regular), because it's a solid MLB starter that will play 10+ years in the league.

Hosmer also hit more HR last season than Kotchman ever did in his career (in fact, Hosmer's disastrous 2012 season still saw him hit as many HR as Kotchman ever did in a season) and has had much more early succcess (both his rookie and 2013 seasons would have been the best years of Kotchman's career).

Lot of things more worth worrying about than Hosmer, I think. Early power is not really indicative of anything other than early power, to be honest (see Justin Upton last year or even Hosmer two years ago, when he hit 5 HR in April but finished with his career low in bombs, or Chris Shelton, etc) and there's no guarantee it will stay if observed or not come if not observed.

Hoz took off last summer so I have faith he'll do it again, he's too good not to. He's a bit more like a poor man's Wil Clark who averaged .296-23-96 vs Hoz at 277-18-77 per 162 games. Hoz should start being a consistent 20s HR guy and he looks like a carbon copy defensively. He will need to get his walks up, 52 per 162 so far vs Clark at 77 per. Once he does he'll be a 3-4 WAR guy I think.

I think .300/.360/.500 is the end target for Hosmer. Ideally, that's what you'd be getting.

HR and RBI will take care of themselves if he's putting up that type of triple slash.

The key is getting Butler on track. He's critical obviously.

I see a lot of DM bashing on my facebook feed. I don't know why, he's gotten us to respectability instead of those 62-100 disasters under Baird. 7 quality starts out of 8 games so far is pretty amazing. I remember about 15 years of horrible pitching and those days are way gone. It seems DM understands pitching very well, and it's just too expensive to acquire power in this market so I think he's probably doing the best with what he has. Plus Butler & Moose are really letting him down in that dept

After watching Billy continue to hit into double plays, it's almost frustrating enough to consider having him bat lead off. At least that way it would only be one out when he grounds out to the shortstop in the first inning. (Yes, this is sarcasm.)

Moore isn't perfect, but he's done a lot of good things since becoming the GM.

He has brought talent into the farm system in diverse ways. He has signed key players to extensions. He has at least broken even in his trades (barring outcome of Myers/Shields) and he has made a lot of shrewd pickups.

He's been patient in initial development with guys when they were bad and could afford it.

Ultimately, if Hosmer/Butler/Gordon/Perez/Moustakas don't produce (at least 3 of those guys), it doesn't much matter how many other good moves Moore makes. They've done everything they can to support those guys and allow them to develop. Up to them now.

Hardest things and most expensive things to acquire are power and top of rotation starting pitching.

It's almost agonizing watching billy hit right now... the guy is hitting more weak ground balls than a little league infield coach at practice.

Dude is in a mega-funk.

And an ill-timed one, too.

If he was doing this in the middle of June, probably wouldn't get much notice. At the start of the season, everything is magnified.

I saw some things yesterday that MIGHT indicate he's focusing on driving the ball up the middle, gap-to-gap. That's typically when he's at his best.

Hopefully that was part of a conscious effort and a sign that he's close to getting his timing back.

Oh, and it would also help if he'd straighten out a few of those balls back to the screen, too. He's had a lot of good swings that he hasn't quite squared up. Those are potential gappers/bombs. Need to put them in play.

I just bought tickets to the game tomorrow night! Can't wait to see our Boys in Blue live. I'll be wearing this shirt:

http://www.kcconfidential.com/wp-con...ue-october.bmp

Interesting that only the Giants have fewer walks than our pitching staff and that only the Phillies have fewer strikeouts as a staff. We're really pitching to our defense right now.

Does he even work out in the offseason? Does he work out at all?

He's a one tool player on a good day, and right now he's an extreme liability. A DH that can't hit, and not only that he can't hit, he's causing extra outs due to his inability to get the ball into the grass.

Spot on. Agree on every point. He made the Shields deal thinking (or hoping) that Butler & Moose would replicate their 49HR season in 2012 if not surpass it, and that Gordon would hit 20+. If that doesn't happen we are simply SOL and very few here or, frankly, around MLB would've forseen the power outage. At least to the extent it's happening.

Certainly, this is a make-or-break year for Billy. There was plenty of smoke this winter about us shopping him, and even in years prior to that. We carry a very low $1M buyout on him next year and DM already showed he's willing to eat salary to let someone go when he released Boni. He doesn't really fit the DM mold of high athleticism & rah-rah type gamers.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6049428


His option escalates to 12.5m for next season. Barring him going on a tear and getting to 25hr or something like that, there's no way he's comig back. Some guys just age poorly and he might be one.

He's always just been a fat guy with a decent eye for the ball and couldn't hit home runs. I don't see him as having a good work ethic, he clearly has an eating problem. He walks a lot (for being in a Royals uniform, which isn't saying much), but not that much. He's exceeded 70 walks one time, which was last season

He's like Pablo Sandoval on a fat year, except it's every year, and he's still less athletic. He's short, fat, slow, weak and can occasionally put the bat on the ball. Should have gotten rid of him and kept Bonifacio, who's clearly a more valuable overall player, even as a backup. The only justification for having a lazy fat guy on your roster is if he hit the ball out of the park.

Look at young Billy

http://i.imgur.com/YLmmg9w.jpg
You could even call him trim looking

He's only gotten fatter and slower every year, and now he can't hit the ball out of the infield to save his life, which was the only thing that made him worth putting in the lineup.

Yea, im starting to think that too, hes on a path of diminishing returns.


I honestly hope he turns it around, for the teams sake......

He looks slimmer this year than last, to me.

From this:
http://www.impactprospects.com/images/butler2.jpg

To this:
http://www.bradwestmar.com/wp-conten...013-758-PM.jpg

I didn't realize that you were sexting with Billy. Does he have a fat dick, too?

Love that shirt. Where did you get it?

It was a limited time thing near the end of last year at teespring.com, so I'm not sure you can get it anymore.

Seems no. Nothing on ebay either. :(

With Avi Garcia tearing his labrum and out for the year

@scotgregor: #WhiteSox acquire OF Gorkys Hernandez in minor-league trade with Royals. He'll report to Triple-A Charlotte


Any insight into who this is? Thanks guys

Speed and defense guy that can't hit well enough to make a roster. He's been on 6 teams at 26 because people are waiting on the bat to come around.

I just thought you guys might want to know. Jim Johnson (THE Jim Johnson) lost his closer job for the A's. Because he sucks.

Right.

The supportive approach hasn't done shit. It's time to tell him to perform or GTFO.

He's been getting blown up hard every outing so far!

ROFL

Billy Butler
 

It sucks bad as a Royals fan, but Butler sucks. You don't pay a DH 8 million with this payroll. He is fat and unathletic. He fleeced this team. I'm the biggest homer there is but he sucks. Why do you think he was so quick to sign long term with this team? The only and I mean only star on this team is Salvador Perez.

He has the components to be a hall of famer. Dude also loves the game. After bullpen session opening day, he threw my son the ball. He still has a smile on his face a week later.

Billy and Salvy should be switched on the lineup. Salvy is the best hitter on the team not named Aoki and is much more deserving to be the cleanup hitter than Butler.

Moose needs to be sent down. Send a message. It's time to compete. If I perform at my job the way he has, I'm looking for a new job. I don't get it. Mental midget. Shit or get off the pot.

Just curious...what is your job?

Ya know, when I think about it- it's not actually farfetched that the Royals could have over half the spots at GG represented by a KC player.

Sure, maybe they won't all win it because of reluctance to name so many from 1 team - especially if you have a spot where there's a tossup. But, as far as play on the field - it already looks like they have 5 guys at least playing at a GG level.

Funny thing is, I thought Hosmer would have almost no chance at winning last year given the entrenched and established competition.

You can have Adam Dunn

Not sure if anyone can help, but I'm trying to buy a Sal Perez jersey for a friend's birthday present and he really wants one of the alternate Royal blue jerseys with the "Royals" script on the front.
Like so:
http://www.jerseysaddict.com/images/...rsey%20(5).jpg

Problem is, they changed those jerseys this year (now they look like a BP or ST jersey. Yuck.) and I can't find the old ones on the site anywhere. Anyone got any bright ideas? Would they have any at the team store in the stadium?

Thanks in advance.

Check Ali express.

Or ebay

$23 - pretty cheap, and that was just a 10 second Google search

http://m.aliexpress.com/item/1690771...bilesitedetail

http://i01.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/1...pg_250x250.jpg

Uhhhh....the Royals have played 8 games. They're 5% through the season. Who do you propose can come up from the farm and do better than Moose?

This sums up your post.

lol $100 for a shirt. A replica of a shirt that baseball players only wear to hit in a batting cage.

Agreed.

That's just the problem. People calling for Moose to be "sent to Omaha" have forgotten that there is NO ONE to take his place every day. Danny Valencia is a nice sub, but he isn't a good enough 3rd baseman to play every day.

We have what we have until we trade for someone at that position. Again, there is NO ONE available in the Minor Leagues ready for that spot. Chelsor Cuthbert is AT LEAST a season away, if not more. Jimmy Paredes in Omaha? There's a reason he's not on the 40-Man Roster. Same age as Moose, and has done less with his opportunities in the ML's with HOU than Moose has done in KC. We're ****ed for a while.