2012 Kansas City Royals Repository Thread

[alnorth]

2012 Slogan: Our Time

A better, more accurate 2012 Slogan: It is Finally Next Year
(from Great Expectations)

An alternative slogan if you don't like that one: Someone has to win this crappy division
(from alnorth)

With the beginning of a new year, it is time for the 2012 version of the Royals Repository Thread. We've got Hosmer, we've got a 2011-dominating Gordon, we've got Moose, we've got hopefully a killer bullpen, we've got a stereotypical slow slugging DH, we've got easily one of the best defensive shortstops in the AL, we've got a promising catcher in Salvador Perez. Hell, we've got offense and promising prospects galore.

We do not have starting pitching.

Oh yeah, we've also got this:



Get ready for, (as of January 2012 anyway), one of the most confusing puzzles of a baseball season in recent Royals history. Will they suck? Maybe, I don't know. Will we be given a year of 0.500 baseball? Possibly, I don't know. Will they win the division and go to the playoffs for the first time in 27 years? For the first time in a long time, it could happen, I don't know. 92 losses, 92 wins, or anything in between would not surprise a lot of us.

Everything goes here except Gameday threads and really big news. If a giant story breaks, the Royals achieve some awesome milestone, or we sign/lose a highly significant player/coach/mascot/whatever, then it might also deserve its own thread. This being Chiefs Planet, please do not clutter the board with new threads about trivial Royals news or you will only annoy those who come here for just Chiefs football. If you aren't sure and its not a Gameday thread, it goes here.

What sort of stuff often goes here? SPchief explained it well, so I'll just copy that:

If you locate something of interest.. ANYTHING.. deals on apparel, best ways in/out of the stadium, giveaways, great stories from this season or from seasons gone by, rumors, trades, anything.... feel free to post it here.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by doomy3

Oh wow, that's a pretty big blow to them.

Yes, it absolutely is, my jaw dropped when I saw that. This would be worse than losing Butler for us.

Some baseball writer tweeted out that Miguel Cabrera's going to see a lot more IBB's now, and I have to agree. Why pitch to Cabrera?

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by alnorth

Yes, it absolutely is, my jaw dropped when I saw that. This would be worse than losing Butler for us.

Some baseball writer tweeted out that Miguel Cabrera's going to see a lot more IBB's now, and I have to agree. Why pitch to Cabrera?

Interesting. Between this, and some likely regression from Alex Avila and Justin Verlander, the Tigers are probably going to take a small step back.

I think with Verlander, based on his workload, is probably going to take a small step back next season. With Avila, there were some wacky things going on with his BABIP and HR/Flyball rates.

[alnorth]

Maier, Getz, Paulino, Sanchez, and Hoch have all signed one year deals.

Gordon is the only arbitration-eligible player we have left. (perhaps a longer deal in the works?)

Today is the deadline to exchange arbitration figures, with arbitration hearings in the first few weeks of February.

[alnorth]

Another writer made a good point, the Tigers lineup is now going to be very right-handed.

Guess which AL Central team has a ton of lefty starters?

It might be good to get another Right-handed starting pitcher.

[Dr. Johnny Fever]

Full story following alnorths post

Royals agree with quartet; Gordon unsigned

Sanchez, Maier among four inking one-year deals for 2012
By Dick Kaegel / MLB.com | 01/17/12 5:12 PM EST
KANSAS CITY -- The Royals made it a clean sweep of the three pitchers eligible for salary arbitration, reaching agreements on Tuesday with right-handers Luke Hochevar and Felipe Paulino and left-hander Jonathan Sanchez.

According to Major League sources, Sanchez got the biggest of the one-year contracts at $5.6 million, with a chance for $200,000 additional in performance bonuses. Obtained in a trade for center fielder Melky Cabrera, Sanchez made $4.8 million last year for the San Francisco Giants.

Hochevar's deal was for $3.51 million, up from the $1.76 million he earned last year. Paulino got $1.9 million after receiving $790,000 in 2011.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Royals also reached an agreement with outfielder Mitch Maier for $865,000, up from $459,000 last season.

That left only outfielder Alex Gordon unsigned of the seven arbitration-eligible Royals because catcher Brayan Pena and infielder Chris Getz reached deals on Monday. There has been speculation that Gordon and the Royals have been discussing a multi-year contract.

"We have him under control for the next two years and you'd certainly love to have all your players under long-term contracts," general manager Dayton Moore said. "It's something that's certainly a goal and something that you strive for. It's a matter of coming to a conclusion and an agreement where everybody is satisfied. It's as simple as that."

The agreements were completed before the noon CT deadline for clubs and players to exchange their salary figures for arbitration purposes.

Hochevar and Sanchez are expected to be key elements of the Royals' rotation next season, and Paulino is given a good chance of being among the five starters as well.

A strong finish -- he was 6-3 with a 3.52 ERA in his last 12 starts -- enabled Hochevar to have an 11-11 record and lower his ERA to 4.68. Since making him the nation's top choice in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft, the Royals have been waiting for Hochevar to become a dominating leader of the rotation. Last season, he was able to establish career highs not only in wins but starts (31), innings (198) and strikeouts (128).

"Starting from the All-Star break on, that was where I want to be," Hochevar said from Knoxville, Tenn. "Obviously, I want it to get even better than that, but I just think everything came together there at the end and started clicking for me. It makes it a lot funner when you're pitching deep in games and ultimately winning ballgames."

Hochevar, 28, pitched at least seven innings in 14 of his starts and at one point in April he retired 31 straight batters. He made his first Opening Day start last year and lost to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who also provide the competition for Opening Day this year, on April 6 at Angel Stadium.

He declared that he's feeling better in his workouts this offseason than ever before.

"I think maybe one thing that has helped my body feel a little better is the last couple of years I've incorporated swimming into my workouts," he said. "I think that's helped me quite a bit, rather than the pounding of running and jarring your body. And I think it's been good for my arm as well."

Sanchez, 29, missed the last month and a half of 2011 with an ankle sprain and his final record for the Giants was 4-7 with a 4.26 ERA in 19 starts. The Royals were more interested in his 2010 performance, when he was 13-9 with a 3.07 ERA and 205 strikeouts as he helped the Giants win the World Series.

"All of our assessments this winter have been very positive concerning his health and his consistency of work has been very good," Moore said. "Our medical people have had a chance to visit with him in person and are satisfied that his offseason program has been very good and consistent, so we expect him to be ready Day 1."

While Sanchez has piled up 736 strikeouts in 708 innings in his career, the Royals want him to cut down on his tendency toward high walk totals, amounting to 376 in six years.

Paulino, 28, was pitching in relief when the Royals obtained him for cash from the Colorado Rockies last May 26. Moved back into a starting role, he was 4-6 with a 4.11 ERA in 21 games for the Royals.

Included in his victories was an 11-strikeout, no-walk outing against the Seattle Mariners. During the offseason, he made a tour of Taiwan with the MLB All-Stars.

"He's got a lot of power to his approach, a high strikeout guy and a strong, durable pitcher. We like the way he competed," Moore said.

Maier was a reliable fourth outfielder for the Royals in 2011 but had difficulty getting playing time because regulars Gordon, Cabrera and Jeff Francoeur were having outstanding seasons. He was in just 45 games, batting .232 with three triples and four doubles among his 22 hits.

Although Cabrera was traded to the Giants for Sanchez, Maier appears headed for a backup role again with Lorenzo Cain penciled in as the new center fielder. Maier, though, is expected to compete for the job along with Jarrod Dyson.

Maier is in his 10th year with the Royals' organization, the longest tenure of anyone on the Major League roster, and first joined the Kansas City club on Sept. 20, 2006, when he was called up from Double-A Wichita. In five years in the Majors, he has a .253 average in 327 games.

A highlight of last season was his turn as a pitcher on July 26 in a 13-9 loss at Boston. He pitched a scoreless inning, working around a one-out double by David Ortiz and was the only Royals pitcher not charged with a run in the game.

Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

High-quality SS prospect out of ASU in this coming draft. If he's there, he would be worth the selection in case Escobar regresses.

I'm much more worried about Gio than Escobar. Escobar's our SS for a decade.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

I'm much more worried about Gio than Escobar. Escobar's our SS for a decade.

Escobar showed a hell of a lot last year. No question. However, I am still a bit concerned about his '10 season.

Agree that Gio is far from a known quantity at this point.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

Escobar showed a hell of a lot last year. No question. However, I am still a bit concerned about his '10 season.

Agree that Gio is far from a known quantity at this point.

The ASU shortstop - Devin Merrerro - was Hosmer's high school teammate. I honestly don't care where the Royals go at 5 as long as it is the best player available.

Upcoming draft will be interesting. Might have a first - a HS RHP going No. 1 overall (Lucas Giolito). Mark Appel out of Stanford is the top college arm, but I don't think he's the top guy in the draft (more like a RH version of Mark Hultzen). Lance McCullers is another HS arm to watch...

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

Escobar showed a hell of a lot last year. No question. However, I am still a bit concerned about his '10 season.

why? he's a young player that's getting better. No reason to think that '10 is any indicator of anything.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

why? he's a young player that's getting better. No reason to think that '10 is any indicator of anything.

Because it showed the potential for a really low floor for both his bat and glove. Doesn't mean it's damning, just noteworthy.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

The ASU shortstop - Devin Merrerro - was Hosmer's high school teammate. I honestly don't care where the Royals go at 5 as long as it is the best player available.

Upcoming draft will be interesting. Might have a first - a HS RHP going No. 1 overall (Lucas Giolito). Mark Appel out of Stanford is the top college arm, but I don't think he's the top guy in the draft (more like a RH version of Mark Hultzen). Lance McCullers is another HS arm to watch...

I've pretty much been convinced that I'd almost always go best available position player near the top of the draft, but I concede that I might be misguided in this belief.

[58kcfan89]

Originally Posted by alnorth

Another writer made a good point, the Tigers lineup is now going to be very right-handed.

Guess which AL Central team has a ton of lefty starters?

It might be good to get another Right-handed starting pitcher.

Is there a list of who's out there? Anyone worth signing or anyone we've been linked to?

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by 58kcfan89

Is there a list of who's out there? Anyone worth signing or anyone we've been linked to?

Jackson or Oswalt. Do it.

[alnorth]

Arbitration numbers have been released. If they do not reach an agreement on a long-term deal, then the Royals will argue for $4.15MM for 2012, and Gordon will argue for $5.45MM.

Most teams avoid arbitration a few days before the hearing by (assuming no long-term deal) eventually agreeing in the middle for the 1-year deal. However, a few teams see the figure-exchange deadline as a real deadline, as in: "if we don't reach a 1-year deal by that date and if we also don't work out a long-term deal by the hearing, we're going to the hearing". Dayton Moore (just like the Braves) is one of the few GM's who has that policy, which is why we reached an agreement with everyone else yesterday.

In the next few weeks, we are either going to sign Gordon to a long-term deal, or we are going to arbitration. This also happened with Butler, we exchanged figures with him, but then agreed to a long-term deal before arbitration.

[alnorth]

At this point, if the Royals stand pat and do not sign another free agent or trade for anyone else, the opening day payroll will be somewhere around $57-58MM. Last year that would put us at about 24th. (last year we were at $36.1MM, which was far and away the cheapest)