2013 Kansas City Royals Repository Thread

[duncan_idaho]

Proposed 2013 Slogan: Tigers: They're what's for dinner
Actual 2013 Slogan: Come to Play
A better, more accurate, or alternative slogan: All in, no panic, we promise.

Dayton Moore has pushed all his chips in and is riding on King/Jack suited, hoping it comes together, he gets some good luck, and he hits the nuts by the river card. There's potential, oh yes, there's potential. There's also risk.

At the midway point, Dayton is left counting on the river card. The flop and turn didn't help him, and he's looking at the Tigers holding a pair of Queens and the Indians holding a pair of 9s. His 2013 plan hasn't failed - yet - but the odds are not in his favor.

Burning questions updates below.

Burning Questions for 2013:

1) Will the improve rotation be improved enough? Does James Shields pitch like a fringe No. 1 away from Tampa Bay? Does Ervin Santana pitch to his highest upside in his walk year? Can Jeremy Guthrie build on his strong performance as a Royal in 2012? Can Wade Davis bring his new mentality- and velocity - back to the rotation?

Midseason check-in: Yes, the rotation is certainly improved enough. Shields has pitched like a fringe No. 1 and Santana is having his best season. Guthrie has horrible peripherals but has continued to perform well at his home park and eat innings on the road. Davis brought neither his kick-ass mentality or improved velocity back to the rotation and is in Luke Hochevar/Hiram Davies territory.

2) When will Luke Hochevar be shown the door?
Midseason check-in: It appears, never, at this point. Hochevar has been solid in non-leverage situations, though pretty much every time he has been used with men on base in an inning, it has been a disaster.

3) Does Hosmer bounce back?
Midseason check-in: It took some time, but Hosmer's performance from June 1 on is probably the most encouraging thing about the 2013 season so far.
4) Can Moustakas hit for a whole season like he did in the first half of 2012?
Midseason check-in: Nope. Moustakas was god-awful, then great for about 3 weeks, then god-awful again. He has been better since he started working with Brett and Grafol but still has a long way to go.
5) Who regresses?
Midseason check-in: Welp, Alicides Escobar is not a surprising name here (though Yost's stubborn insistence on hitting him second is ridiculous). Billy Butler is a surprise. He isn't having a terrible year - still contributing a lot to the offense - but he's not hitting for the average or power he has displayed over the past several years.
6) Who plays 2B?
Midseason check-in: A whole bunch of people, and not that great. Gio is at least getting a shot, though he once again is not doing much with it.
7) Can Jeff Francoeur be at least replacement level, rather than epic horrible level?
Midseason check-in: Hahahahahahahahahahaha
8) Will Dayton Moore survive to see 2014?
Midseason check-in: Outlook uncertain. Probably still around, unless the team completely tanks in the second half and he does something foolish. My guess - he sacrifices Ned Yost this offseason and gets one more shot with a new manager in 2014.
9) Will Danny Duffy come back healthy? And if he does, is he the same, better or worse?
Midseason check-in: Yes. Velocity looks the same, and it looks likely he is the same guy as before.
10) And the big one: Has KC added enough to run down the big-money Detroit Tigers?
Midseason check-in: Doesn't look like it, does it?

[1moreTRich]

Just saw this today and didn't see it any where and didn't pay attention to the game yesterday.

Royals Experiment with Hosmer in Right Field
http://network.yardbarker.com/all_sp...in_rf/13262761

Curious what people's opinion of this is. If Hosmer is viable at RF and we move Billy to 1st, who would you want to DH? Should this even be considered?

[Nightfyre]

Salvy to DH.

[P-90Rex]

Looking at the early schedule, it is not going to be an easy start. White Sox, Phillies, Twins, BlueJays, Braves, Red Sox, Tigers, Indians in April. With the Twins, BlueJays, and Indians being the home series. Luckily, with the staff we have now, I just don't see long losing streaks. But that was the point of the trade wasn't it?

Gonna be important throughout the season to beat the teams we are "supposed" to beat. No more losing to the freaking Twins. People keep saying, "I just want meaningful games in August!" Well, if the Royals manage that, they play 17 games in August against sub .500 teams last season. 19 if you count the last two games (Twins) in July. Then a pretty brutal September, but that's where playoff teams are made.

[TLO]

So glad that opening day is Monday

[tk13]

Originally Posted by 1moreTRich

Just saw this today and didn't see it any where and didn't pay attention to the game yesterday.

Royals Experiment with Hosmer in Right Field
http://network.yardbarker.com/all_sp...in_rf/13262761

Curious what people's opinion of this is. If Hosmer is viable at RF and we move Billy to 1st, who would you want to DH? Should this even be considered?

I think it's mainly because interleague games are spread throughout the year now. I don't think they'll do it when they have the DH.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by 1moreTRich

Just saw this today and didn't see it any where and didn't pay attention to the game yesterday.

Royals Experiment with Hosmer in Right Field
http://network.yardbarker.com/all_sp...in_rf/13262761

Curious what people's opinion of this is. If Hosmer is viable at RF and we move Billy to 1st, who would you want to DH? Should this even be considered?

I think they are mainly doing it to have options for interleague. Our second series is at Philly so we need to know if Hosmer could play right. Would be nice to sit Frenchy instead of one of those two.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

I thought this was pretty cool. Link to photos of all the mascots in MLB:
http://www.kshb.com/gallery/news/new...ue-mlb-mascots

The Yankees almost had a mascot, but a bizarre angry confrontation between Yankee coach Lou Piniella and the Famous San Diego Chicken at a game in Seattle pissed off Steinbrenner so much that he declared to the media that mascots had no place in baseball. He apparently forgot that he approved a new mascot that was going to debut in 2 weeks. The new Yankee mascot was banished to the upper decks, they did nothing to promote him, and they got rid of him after 3 years.

[1moreTRich]

Originally Posted by tk13

I think it's mainly because interleague games are spread throughout the year now. I don't think they'll do it when they have the DH.

Originally Posted by alnorth

I think they are mainly doing it to have options for interleague. Our second series is at Philly so we need to know if Hosmer could play right. Would be nice to sit Frenchy instead of one of those two.

Yeah, that makes sense, thanks for the responses.

[58kcfan89]

If any of you are Game of Thrones fans, you might find this interesting.

http://extramustard.si.com/2013/03/2...1_a5&eref=sihp

Obligatory can't wait til Monday. Going to listen to the first couple innings until I'm off at 4:30 then head home to hopefully catch the rest of the game. Been a fan all my life & have never seen this team truly competitive. It's about damn time that changes.

[Mama Hip Rockets]

Originally Posted by Nightfyre

Salvy to DH.

No.

[WhitiE]

Originally Posted by thurman merman

No.

I agree, but then who?

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by WhitiE

I agree, but then who?

no one. We can't have a DH at NL parks.

[Ceej]

I hope the Royals ease the pain from my beloved Jayhawks.


C'mon you sons of bitches!

[tk13]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/preview13/sto...aseball-season

ESPN has posted playoff predictions from their massive list of analysts and writers. Seems like almost everyone is picking the Nationals over Tigers, or the Tigers over the Nationals, in the World Series.

Two guys do predict the Royals make it as a wild card. Aaron Boone and a writer from ESPN New York, of all places.

[SPchief]

Am I the only one that think that the Blue Jays (edit, i was wrong.) will flop this year?