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?

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

I agree that he looks frustrated but who replaces Moustakas at 3b if he goes down to Omaha? Elliot Johnson? Irving Falu? I doubt Tejada is going to get everyday playing time.

I would promote Giavotella and live with his defense at 3B. It's probably not great, but Escobar has enough range to cover more to his left, especially if Johnson is playing 2B.

Of course, there's no guarantee Gio hits better than Moustakas has to this point, considering Johnny's recent track record.

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

That gets me too. 27 years of futility, and these young dipshits are going "Geez, show some patience!"

I was at game seven of the 1985 series. I know what it's like to win it all. It's the best.

Might as well start following Moses around in the desert.....

I'm 28. So I was alive =)

And the Royals have never really given me any reason to be passionate. I've followed them, the Cubs and the Sox. I'm a baseball fan more than a Royals fan. When I lived in KC until I was 12 we'd go to 15 games a year and my objective was getting autographs from the opposition.

It's nice that they actually have a competitive team for once but I have no issue admitting I lose no sleep over the Royals. It's fun to cheer for Kansas City because I'm such a passionate Chiefs fan but I'm just a baseball fan in general.

I appreciate good baseball.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

That gets me too. 27 years of futility, and these young dipshits are going "Geez, show some patience!"

I was at game seven of the 1985 series. I know what it's like to win it all. It's the best.

Might as well start following Moses around in the desert.....

I'm not saying "Be Patient" long-term anymore (2013 has been the contention point, based on the way Moore was building it, all along). I said at the time of the Myers trade that it reduced any leash to almost nil, and they needed to make the playoffs this year or next.

I'm saying that two weeks into a season is not the time to decide a young player needs to be sent down. That in no sport is small sample size more prone to lying than baseball.

There's a difference between saying "Chill, we're not even 1/8 of the way into the season" and "chill, we'll win eventually. Maybe in three more years."

Re: Irving Falu. I don't get the appeal (Not just here, but among Royals fans in general). He's a decent UTIL player and would be a nice option off the bench. Especially if they do the smart thing and send Getz down. But he shouldn't be a starter or considered as a starter. Johnson at least offers elite D at 2B. Falu really can't offer that.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

That gets me too. 27 years of futility, and these young dipshits are going "Geez, show some patience!"

I was at game seven of the 1985 series. I know what it's like to win it all. It's the best.

Might as well start following Moses around in the desert.....

Dayton did improve the rotation in spades this year. For that he deserves credit. It's made us a .500 team.


But his complete inability to show a pair of balls and tell Hosmer, Moose, Frenchy, Getz, and now Yost + hitting coaches that either (1) it changes now or (2) they're gone.....is beyond me. Apparently Dayton isn't embarrassed by this in the least.

[Hootie]

And I respect the actual Royals fans like Duncan, al, George, Pete (lol), etc etc etc

But at least I can admit I've never had passion for a team that never gave me a reason to do so.

My two favorite players as a kid were Griffey and the big hurt...

When the Kingdome fell apart and Seattle had to play home games at Kaufmann my dad bought series tickets so I could get #24s autograph but the asshole didn't sign.

The unit was signing...I was 9...he started walking away when I was next in line so being the dipshit I am I rolled my baseball down the dugout and it hit him in the head...he turned around in anger, saw that I was a little kid, and signed 1 more...

That's about the best memory I had from the K. Or the time when I was even younger and I was yelling at George Brett to throw me a ball...he was playing 1st...just being an annoying little **** when they were warming up. So they tell balls in...and Brett lobs the ball at the track...I'm thinking it's just going in the dugout...but he actually was bouncing it up to me and sure enough it hit me right in the face

I miss being a kid.

[gblowfish]

I think the send downs would be done for shock value alone.

Think about it.

When they get back from Houston, they send Moose and Getz to Omaha, and DFA Frenchy. That would have to get Hosmer's attention. Have to. Even if Moose just goes down for a couple weeks. They could DFA Getz too, but we've been lucky that so far Dyson has been the only injury casualty. Got to keep that in mind for the long haul.

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

Dayton did improve the rotation in spades this year. For that he deserves credit. It's made us a .500 team.


But his complete inability to show a pair of balls and tell Hosmer, Moose, Frenchy, Getz, and now Yost + hitting coaches that either (1) it changes now or (2) they're gone.....is beyond me. Apparently Dayton isn't embarrassed by this in the least.

Who the **** is he going to replace them with?

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

I think the send downs would be done for shock value alone.

Think about it.

When they get back from Houston, they send Moose and Getz to Omaha, and DFA Frenchy. That would have to get Hosmer's attention. Have to. Even if Moose just goes down for a couple weeks. They could DFA Getz too, but we've been lucky that so far Dyson has been the only injury casualty. Got to keep that in mind for the long haul.

I've said all along you need to make the Cold Corner understand playign MLB isn't a right. It's a privilege. One that can (and should) be revoked at any time without warning. Just like Cleveland did with Chisenhall.


Unfortunately we have a GM who doesn't believe in accountability either from his players or himself. That's why he gives players long leashes, and why he gives himself an even longer one ("It can take 10 years"). If the GM is never to blame, the players begin to think they're blameless too.

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by unnecessary drama

Who the **** is he going to replace them with?

At this point, it really doesn't matter that much. Anybody would be better than what we've gotten out of Frenchy, Moose and Getz over the last two weeks.

Sometimes a boot in the ass is needed instead of a pat on the back. Ned has been making excuses for these guys for the last three weeks. We went from 17-10 to 20-20. That's not a good trend.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by unnecessary drama

Who the **** is he going to replace them with?

Quit repeating this tiresome nonsense. It doesn't matter who he replaces them with. They can't be any worse. It's not mathematically possible. Maybe the 1B slot gets a bit worse but the other 3 are below replacement level. Do you know what that means?

[Hootie]

Replace Moose with ... ?

Are strength isn't depth.

If you want to put Gordon at 3rd maybe we can find a good hitting OF sitting on his ass somewhere

[Prison Bitch]

Google is your friend:
http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats...pbp&pid=520548

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

Quit repeating this tiresome nonsense. It doesn't matter who he replaces them with. They can't be any worse. It's not mathematically possible. Maybe the 1B slot gets a bit worse but the other 3 are below replacement level. Do you know what that means?

I would just like to hear a name. Say we replace him with a .650 OPS guy...how is that going to get us to where we need to get?

We went all in on Moose and Hosmer...right now, it has been an epic fail. Everyone knew our season hinged on those two guys being .800 OPS guys...

[CaliforniaChief]

How about Scott Rolen as a stop-gap option?

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by unnecessary drama

Replace Moose with ... ?

Are strength isn't depth.

If you want to put Gordon at 3rd maybe we can find a good hitting OF sitting on his ass somewhere

Not Irving Falu!

Gio and I guess Seratelli (who has been hot recently and is hitting well-above .300) would be the best bets.

Seratelli actually reminds me a little of Daniel Nava, who plays for the Red Sox. Older guy who has spent a lot of time in the minors, switch hitter with SOME pop. Seratelli also can play 3B, 2B and corner OF if I remember correctly. I don't think he's as good as Nava, but he offers something.

I don't think there's an option present that would provide more than what Hosmer offers at this point, unless you're willing to play Butler every day at 1B and rotate guys through the DH (would be a nice way to keep Cain's bat in the lineup when you're trying to rest him, I guess).

I don't think they'll DFA Francoeur, but I could see them demoting Getz (Who has 1 option left if I remember correctly) and Moose and calling up Gio and Seratelli.