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?

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Regarding Starling:

Painful to look at the guys taken in the next ten picks after him:
Archie Bradley (tearing it up, though Bundy got all the attention from that draft)
Francisco Lindor (Mondesi, just 2 years olders)
Javier Baez (exploded last summer. SS with big-time bat)
Jose Fernandez (Cuban emigre is already in the majors)

The Royals were linked pretty heavily to Bradley before the draft.

Yeah, Baez and Fernandez look especially painful. I think Fernandez is going to become an 'every start watch' for me this year. It's uncommon to find a guy with that kind of easy velocity that can sustain it for 90 pitches, command it and pair it with a knee-buckling breaking ball. Felix Hernandez seems like a lazy comp, but I'll be damned if I can't avoid making it.

That said, Starling still has Mike Trout level tools. It's hard to really bang on the Royals for taking him; he's a generational athlete that is going to take more work than most thought to pull it together.

You do hate to see scouting reports bombing his pitch recognition, though. That takes a looooooong time to click and is the area that's least likely to come together. Apart from "often finds himself tits deep in mounds of cocaine arranged haphazardly on random exotic dancers", there's not a much more cringe inducing line to read for a young player.

[Discuss Thrower]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

It's all about his hit tool.

His defense in CF has actually been BETTER than expected. He's MLB-caliber currently and has multiple Gold Glove potential out there.

His speed is real, too, and his power is there. He even has flashed good plate discipline

He just struggles to make contact consistently. They did some work with his swing, but apparently he has either reverted or the changes have not had the desired effect.

It's funny... every critique and risk there was with Starling was present with Mike Trout as well (weak comp, hadn't played a ton of games, multi-sport guy).

So what happens if his bat never comes around but his fielding skill stays where it is or improves?

[Bowser]

Who was that pitcher we took with a 100mph fastball out of high school? Colt something. Never even SNIFFED the majors, iirc.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Bowser

No falming here. Kansas City with its sprawl is built for a light rail system. Unfortunately, the powers that be that actually "run" the city don't know their asses from holes in the ground, and have shown they have no idea on how to get it donw, even though the ****ing populace voted to green light the project.

I still don't understand why they don't build the area up around the stadiums. There are plenty of woodland areas that can be made into destination places. Bad zoning, I'm guessing?

I think you've got your facts backwards. Sprawl is the enemy of light rail. And there will NEVER be shit around the stadiums. NEVER EVER EVER. Nor should there be. It's in a terrible location...pretty much like everything else in Kansas City.

Airport 30 miles north of town? Check

Casinos on the river north of the city? Check

Stadiums on the east side of the city? Check

Theme parks next to the caves? Check

Kemper Arena in the west bottoms? Check



The Sprint Center/P&L is the first thing the city has done right since...well...ever.

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

So what happens if his bat never comes around but his fielding skill stays where it is or improves?

We have our next Jarrod Dyson, just with a better glove?

[WoodDraw]

Originally Posted by Bowser

Who was that pitcher we took with a 100mph fastball out of high school? Colt something. Never even SNIFFED the majors, iirc.

Colt Griffin. Same draft.

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

I think you've got your facts backwards. Sprawl is the enemy of light rail. And there will NEVER be shit around the stadiums. NEVER EVER EVER. Nor should there be. It's in a terrible location...pretty much like everything else in Kansas City.

Airport 30 miles north of town? Check

Casinos on the river north of the city? Check

Stadiums on the east side of the city? Check

Theme parks next to the caves? Check

Kemper Arena in the west bottoms? Check



The Sprint Center/P&L is the first thing the city has done right since...well...ever.

The problem is that everyone around the metro proper has adjusted their lives to being able to drive to whereever they want whenever they want. The sprawl knocks down on traffic here (I've never been stuck in traffic at 2 am like I have been in Chicago).

I guess I just disagree on what light rail could do for the town. I live up by Worlds of Fun, and would happily get on the EL if it took me to Sprint, the airport, or the Stadiums.

[WoodDraw]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

I think you've got your facts backwards. Sprawl is the enemy of light rail. And there will NEVER be shit around the stadiums. NEVER EVER EVER. Nor should there be. It's in a terrible location...pretty much like everything else in Kansas City.

Airport 30 miles north of town? Check

Casinos on the river north of the city? Check

Stadiums on the east side of the city? Check

Theme parks next to the caves? Check

Kemper Arena in the west bottoms? Check



The Sprint Center/P&L is the first thing the city has done right since...well...ever.

Pretty much this. Unfortunately KC did a lot of its building when times were a bit whacko, so we have a real ****ed up city. Lately things have self corrected a bit...but it's all a mess

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

I think you've got your facts backwards. Sprawl is the enemy of light rail. And there will NEVER be shit around the stadiums. NEVER EVER EVER. Nor should there be. It's in a terrible location...pretty much like everything else in Kansas City.

There is no reason that I know of that the area can't be just like The Legends. Could be the exact same thing really.

[WoodDraw]

Originally Posted by Bowser

The problem is that everyone around the metro proper has adjusted their lives to being able to drive to whereever they want whenever they want. The sprawl knocks down on traffic here (I've never been stuck in traffic at 2 am like I have been in Chicago).

I guess I just disagree on what light rail could do for the town. I live up by Worlds of Fun, and would happily get on the EL if it took me to Sprint, the airport, or the Stadiums.

In order for mass transit to work, you need high populations of people. There is a reason why they happen in big cities, and not say, the middle of South Dakota.

[Strongside]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

I think you've got your facts backwards. Sprawl is the enemy of light rail. And there will NEVER be shit around the stadiums. NEVER EVER EVER. Nor should there be. It's in a terrible location...pretty much like everything else in Kansas City.

Airport 30 miles north of town? Check

Casinos on the river north of the city? Check

Stadiums on the east side of the city? Check

Theme parks next to the caves? Check

Kemper Arena in the west bottoms? Check


The Sprint Center/P&L is the first thing the city has done right since...well...ever.

Try living in Phoenix, bro. I just moved to the River Market in KC after being in PHX for a couple years and it's LIGHT YEARS better. Phoenix is the mothership of sprawl. You've got a downtown basketball and baseball stadium, and a central airport. Other than that, you're driving 30 miles in either direction to get ANYWHERE. University of Phoenix Stadium and Jobing.com Arena are all the way the **** out in Glendale, which is basically East LA. If you live in Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert or even Tempe, good luck making it out there without blowing your brains out during the commute. They have a light rail. If you'd like to get from Mesa to the airport, it's super convenient, so long as you've got an hour to spare and don't mind a homeless dude pissing himself in the seat next to you while asking you for change so that he can hop off at Mill Avenue and buy crack from the peddlers on ASU's campus. I once hopped on the light rail in Mesa to go to a Suns game and by the time we made it to the stadium we were 30 minutes late for tipoff and the shuttle was so overcrowded that it looked like a Japanese subway.

Kansas City? It's cake. Sure, the airport's location blows. That's common knowledge. But I much prefer our stadium locations to places like Phoenix. And if those ****ers can have a lightrail that runs damn near from New Mexico to California, surely we can have one. Our downtown is blowing up right now, so yeah...a downtown stadium would be cool. I don't know that it'd be more convenient though.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

There is no reason that I know of that the area can't be just like The Legends. Could be the exact same thing really.

Are you gonna tear out half of that beautiful parking lot? Theres no room for something that size currently.

[-King-]

From experience... arguing over stadium location with Saul Good is pretty much an exercise in futility lol.

Exhibit A: http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=261302

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by -King-

From experience... arguing over stadium location with Saul Good is pretty much an exercise in futility lol.

Exhibit A: http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=261302

Yep.

Hey, since we've got an off day, let's talk about something important.
Anybody notice Chen launching snot rockets on the mound last night? That's really colorful in high def!

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Are you gonna tear out half of that beautiful parking lot? Theres no room for something that size currently.

I am just going by the sentiment of some that there is a lot of woodland space out there. I have never really looked with the intent to develop the area so I am not sure.