so if you count Shields 4.1 2013 WAR

Shields will end up with about a 5 WAR over 2 years...

it only cost us Myers and Odorizzi, though! Great move Dayton. We may get two above .500 seasons out of it!!

Kansas City Royalsssss baseballllll!!! BE A PART OF IT ALL!

I actually agree... I thought all along losing Odorizzi might be what pushes the trade over the top. It's one thing to trade one position for another... then throw in another player that plays the same position you just traded for.

That said... I do believe there's been an intangible effect of having Shields on the staff. The pitching staff two years ago was beyond terrible. Bruce Chen was our opening day starter. Shields helped give the team direction. I think it's been a positive for both Ventura and Duffy to have a legit top of the rotation starter to learn from.

I wonder sometimes if it would help all of our "elite" hitting prospects to have a veteran to hold them accountable and learn from. This group of hitters has never had that.

Odorizzi ****ing worked the Cardinals in his last start. They had no answer for his split.

That ****ing trade...

Have to get very creative in order to even come close to "winning it" now.

Valencia played 3 games while Moose was in AAA. Two of those three were against left handers. He went 1-13. With RISP? Since everybody loves the slash, Moose has a .236/.310/.431 Valencia has a .182/.263/.212

This team needs runs, right? That's what the consensus is around here? Well, there you go. Not saying we improved at all. But to say you'd rather have a guy on the 25 man roster that plays one position once every 4 or 5 days is absurd.

Shields has served as the Chris Carpenter role to the Wainwright (Duffy and Ace). If he helped right the ship with Duffy or Ventura into potential aces it would be worth it.

I'm mad at that trade again. Surprised Montgomery didn't turn out good tol

The Shields trade was made with the interest of saving Moore's job for a few years. That's the thing that blows about sports: the GMs almost always put saving their jobs ahead of the best long-term interests of the team. Coaches do the same.

I get that argument, and front office people definitely do that... but Moore did kind of stick his neck out. If the Royals do not make the playoffs this year, there's going to be a ton of pressure to fire Moore.

If this team had a losing record, but Odorizzi and Myers were showing flashes, some people would be saying that they're finally "this" close, like the Royals always are, give him one more year.

The Cardinals lineup isn't exactly tearing it up this year.

I have no doubts that Shields is a great, great, fantastic clubhouse guy. I don't even have anything against him. I love his competitiveness even if he's been league average, at best this year.

However...we have the best ****ing defense I've ever seen. They literally make every one of our pitchers have numbers that are better than they should be.

I can't ****ing imagine what Shields, Vargas, and Guthrie's numbers would look like without our defense out there.

I play DFS on FanDuel and read advanced pitching stats every day and our defense is hilarious...

Look at our team defense compared to everyone else:

http://rotogrinders.com/articles/Adv...ri_7_25-341649

Uhh, the Rays have the least amount of errors in the MLB and the third best fielding percentage in the AL. The Royals? 7th best in the AL for errors and fielding percentage.

Odorizzi was a throw in from the Greinke trade. That was just extra ammo used to get Shields.

I don't know if the average fan is sophisticated or patient enough to buy that line of thinking, especially with a team that has struggled as much as the Royals. They look at the here and now.

If the Royals win 86 games this year, then he can point to an upward trajectory and secure some extra years despite hurting their long-term viability.

That Shields trade is gonna look awesome when we finish runner-up to the final wild card spot this year!