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

Versus most Royals fans that are happy to be losers as long as there is hope that 9 players will make it through the system and rescue them from their misery.

I don't think that's most Royals fans.

I'm a minor league baseball follower because it's always fascinated me. It's a middle ground, as Deez has pointed out multiple times.

If you're a team that can't afford to buy talent on the FA market and signing your own players to enormous deals, you have to balance a good farm system with solid GM work and making good choices about which guys you keep on the MLB roster and which ones you're willing to cut ties with due to cost.

I'm not a cling to all prospects guy (in fact, I spent a good portion of the 2012 thread arguing that KC SHOULD trade then for Matt Garza) by any means. But when someone undervalues prospects and is suggesting shipping them out for garbage, like Petro was doing, I think it's clear they are missing part of the picture.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by alnorth

People like to think of the Yankees as selling out their farm every year, thats not completely accurate. They keep their highest, most elite, can't miss prospects. Myers is the type of player that even the Yankees would have hesitated on and demanded top dollar for.

Yup. Would have to get a similar return to what they got for Montero (young, long-term controlled, SP with Cy Young stuff - minus the ticking time bomb shoulder).

[SPATCH]

Besides Kendrick and Weeks, what are some other options that we might have at 2B?

[alnorth]

Reply I saw from Crasnick on ESPN.com re: will the Royals do anything today.

I'm getting the sense the Royals are in more status quo mode right now. Their recent run of winning took Ervin Santana off the table. As for adding, Dayton Moore made his big ''win now'' move with James Shields last offseason.

[Messier]

Originally Posted by alnorth

Reply I saw from Crasnick on ESPN.com re: will the Royals do anything today.

It shouldn't have.

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

I don't think that's most Royals fans.

I'm a minor league baseball follower because it's always fascinated me. It's a middle ground, as Deez has pointed out multiple times.

If you're a team that can't afford to buy talent on the FA market and signing your own players to enormous deals, you have to balance a good farm system with solid GM work and making good choices about which guys you keep on the MLB roster and which ones you're willing to cut ties with due to cost.

I'm not a cling to all prospects guy (in fact, I spent a good portion of the 2012 thread arguing that KC SHOULD trade then for Matt Garza) by any means. But when someone undervalues prospects and is suggesting shipping them out for garbage, like Petro was doing, I think it's clear they are missing part of the picture.

So he was wrong, I don't care. The overall point of his message is to do something to make the major league team better and stop wasting time expecting a tidal wave of guys to make it through the system.

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by the_spatula

Besides Kendrick and Weeks, what are some other options that we might have at 2B?

Doing nothing and finishing at or around .500.

[ChiefsCountry]

Originally Posted by the_spatula

Besides Kendrick and Weeks, what are some other options that we might have at 2B?

Aybar

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

So he was wrong, I don't care. The overall point of his message is to do something to make the major league team better and stop wasting time expecting a tidal wave of guys to make it through the system.

That point gets lost with his blind idiocy on elite tier-1 A+ prospects when he believed Myers was worth Jurrjens.

As much as we complained about Shields and Davis, this board would have gone absolutely ape-bleep on that trade.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

Doing nothing and finishing at or around .500.

If this current team is destined for "at or around .500", then we shouldn't trade for anyone, because a halfway-decent 2B is not going to get us another 7-8 wins in 2 months.

You only make a big trade today if you are afraid of finishing with 86-87 wins and falling just 1 or 2 games short, because thats all he'll be able to do for us over Getz.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by alnorth

If this current team is destined for "at or around .500", then we shouldn't trade for anyone, because a halfway-decent 2B is not going to get us another 7-8 wins in 2 months.

You only make a big trade today if you are afraid of finishing with 86-87 wins and falling just 1 or 2 games short, because thats all he'll be able to do for us over Getz.

You trade for someone today with '14 in mind.

Doing nothing would be a failure, in my view.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

Aybar

Can you even imagine trading Duffy or Ventura for a 0.7 WAR SS who is set to make 9M the next THREE years and who turns 30 this winter? I mean could we get any dumber than that?

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by alnorth

That point gets lost with his blind idiocy on elite tier-1 A+ prospects when he believed Myers was worth Jurrjens.

As much as we complained about Shields and Davis, this board would have gone absolutely ape-bleep on that trade.

The Jurrgens trade proposal was when Myers was in A ball. Single A. If we are going to protect guys that low in the system with an untradeable status then they will never compete.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

You trade for someone today with '14 in mind.

Doing nothing would be a failure, in my view.

We should worry about 2014 in the winter. Prices are higher on deadline day than in the winter. We probably shouldn't pay for 2 months of a guy, to the extent that we try at all to win in 2013, we need at least a year and 2 months, but if we really think this team as-is will finish .500 as suggested above, then we shouldn't trade for anyone today.

[siberian khatru]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

You trade for someone today with '14 in mind.

Doing nothing would be a failure, in my view.

I concur.

When we traded 6 years of Myers for 2 years of Shields, it was all-in on a short window. Don't agree with that, but since it is what it is, then effing go for it.

Instead, what I'm seeing so far (and the day is young), is DM raising expectations to excuse not trading Santana ("We're in it to win as many games as possible!") and then lowering expectations to excuse not adding players to help compete ("Oven's not on, crickets chirping, so hard to make trades these days," etc.).

He wants it both ways. **** that shit.