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?

[Great Expectations]

Is it time to move Mondesi up to NW Ark? Or should he be left in Wilmington due to his young age?

[AussieChiefsFan]

Originally Posted by Infidel Goat

20 of our 25 games this month are against teams over .500. If we can be close to .500 at the end of the month things lighten up for August (18 of 30 games against sub. 500 teams).

Lots of games against Cleveland, Detroit and Seattle (for whatever reason) in September. I hope the fact that we are playing two series with the Mariners in September means Cleveland and Detroit have two series against Oakland and Texas.

Sounds decent for the long haul.

[Cephalic Trauma]

Originally Posted by AndChiefs

I've never heard of it before but I seem to remember reading it somewhere earlier in the thread.

Nice, thanks.

[SPATCH]

Originally Posted by AndChiefs

I've never heard of it before but I seem to remember reading it somewhere earlier in the thread.

The logic I heard was that they wanted him to start throwing ALL of his pitches again. They felt he had strayed away from a few of them, iirc

[P-90Rex]

So if three weeks pass and Gio is hitting adequately and the Royals are still in the hunt, and assuming they are buyers at the deadline...what is the move they make? I would assume they need a right handed power bat for RF. Who will be available?

Bullpen needs help, but could be solved by Herrera's return, Duffy (whether Duffy himself or Davis moving there to make room for Duffy in the rotation), or other callups. Essentially, I don't see them going outside the system to solve bullpen issues.

[Great Expectations]

Originally Posted by P-90Rex

So if three weeks pass and Gio is hitting adequately and the Royals are still in the hunt, and assuming they are buyers at the deadline...what is the move they make? I would assume they need a right handed power bat for RF. Who will be available?

Bullpen needs help, but could be solved by Herrera's return, Duffy (whether Duffy himself or Davis moving there to make room for Duffy in the rotation), or other callups. Essentially, I don't see them going outside the system to solve bullpen issues.

Any chance they upgrade 3B for the second half and let Moose figure it out in Omaha?

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Great Expectations

Is it time to move Mondesi up to NW Ark? Or should he be left in Wilmington due to his young age?

He's not in Wilmington yet. He's at Lexington, the A ball affiliate.

I don't think we'll see him even in Wilmington this year, as he turns 18 later this month. That would be an extremely aggressive promotion for him, especially since he's just now starting to find his stride at Lexington.

Young guys like that, you have to be conservative with promotions. Unless he really goes insane at Lexington (something like hitting .350 for a month), I'd guess he stays there.

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by Great Expectations

Any chance they upgrade 3B for the second half and let Moose figure it out in Omaha?

None. And why would they? He has actually been somewhat productive recently. Last 28 days at .296/.342/.736. Obviously we would like to see some more pop, but he has not been a black hole in the lineup that will lose you games. He isn't hitting for enough power yet to win them games, but it is progress.

Hosmer was fiddling around .270 for quite a while this season just hitting some singles with the occasional double. He has finally turned on the power. Hopefully Moustakas can do the same thing now that he appears much more comfortable at the plate.

[siberian khatru]

Originally Posted by P-90Rex

So if three weeks pass and Gio is hitting adequately and the Royals are still in the hunt, and assuming they are buyers at the deadline...what is the move they make? I would assume they need a right handed power bat for RF. Who will be available?

Bullpen needs help, but could be solved by Herrera's return, Duffy (whether Duffy himself or Davis moving there to make room for Duffy in the rotation), or other callups. Essentially, I don't see them going outside the system to solve bullpen issues.

They also have Louis Coleman pitching very well at Omaha, and he's had success in the bigs in the past. And Everett Teaford could help in the bully, too. I agree, I think there's plenty of in-house options there.

[CaliforniaChief]

So if Rios doesn't want to come here (or at least he thought about us when putting us on his no-trade list), that takes a big RH power option from the outfield off our list (which I think is the big need.)

Kyle Blanks is probably unrealistic (I tried.)

Josh Willingham is a decent option, but he's hurt.

I've always been a fan of Michael Cuddyer, but Colorado's probably not moving him now.

Alfonso Soriano? Yuck.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by siberian khatru

They also have Louis Coleman pitching very well at Omaha, and he's had success in the bigs in the past. And Everett Teaford could help in the bully, too. I agree, I think there's plenty of in-house options there.

Coleman should already be here and you can demote Hererra, Crow, whoever you want to get it done. Coleman should have 1 role and that's to dominate RH which he's always done. Crow did it for 1 year but can't anymore becuase he can't throw Strike 1 ever.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/splits.../louis-coleman


If I were another MLB team I'd have already tried to pry away Gio and Coleman and made them starters.

[Cephalic Trauma]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaChief

So if Rios doesn't want to come here (or at least he thought about us when putting us on his no-trade list), that takes a big RH power option from the outfield off our list (which I think is the big need.)

Kyle Blanks is probably unrealistic (I tried.)

Josh Willingham is a decent option, but he's hurt.

I've always been a fan of Michael Cuddyer, but Colorado's probably not moving him now.

Alfonso Soriano? Yuck.

Nate Shierholtz is cheap and controlled for this year and next. Slugging .521. Is it worth taking a chance on him?

[CaliforniaChief]

In terms of moves that we can make, I'm a little concerned about Tim Collins and would think about Buddy Baumann or Donnie Joseph to face the lefties.

I think Coleman is worth a look, but would love to see Herrera get fixed too.

[CaliforniaChief]

Originally Posted by Cephalic Trauma

Nate Shierholtz is cheap and controlled for this year and next. Slugging .521. Is it worth taking a chance on him?

I wouldn't mind him, honestly....just looking for some right-handed pop. But yeah, he'd be an upgrade over where we are now.

[P-90Rex]

Completely agree Tegu and Siberian.

Up until the Gio promotion the biggest holes have been 2B and RF. I'm not sold on Gio but I'll give him his shot. But assuming he is the answer, our biggest need is a bat in RF.

I like Lough, and Dyson has his moments. But I don't think either are more than #4 outfielders in the big leagues. They are great weapons off the bench, and good depth for injuries, but not every day guys. We need an impact bat in RF.

Not sold on Cain right now either, but the guy has had some big time clutch hits this year. He is streaky, and that only highlights the value of Lough and Dyson more as viable backups. I think a lot of Cain's struggles are still bc of his lack of experience. His ceiling is much higher than the other two.