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?

[SnakeXJones]

I guess im only one like that Shields for Myers trade everybody going apeshit over someone hasn't proved themselves

[Dr. Johnny Fever]

nut?

I'm OK with the trade too btw.

[Fansy the Famous Bard]

Originally Posted by SnakeXJones

I guess im only one like that Shields for Myers trade everybody going apeshit over someone hasn't proved themselves

[Cephalic Trauma]

Why not kelly johnson over Chris getz, assuming the money is close to the same? More power, less suck, same money.

[MeatRock]

It's a better trade if we can sign Shields to an extension. Then i could be ok with it, of course Shields has to perform like he did with the Rays or better.

[Prison Bitch]

I wouldn't extend Shields unless he looks phenomenal. WAde Davis will determine how successful the trade ends up IMO

[Cephalic Trauma]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

I wouldn't extend Shields unless he looks phenomenal. WAde Davis will determine how successful the trade ends up IMO

Then, in your scenario, we won't be extending him.

[BlackHelicopters]

GMDM got fleeced.

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by theelusiveeightrop

GMDM got fleeced.

Listen I get that lots of people hate that trade. My stepdad has sworn the team off, after sticking with them since day one, 1969.

Anyone trading for frontline starting pitching has to give up a LOT in return. It's just the reality. Nothing is worth as much as quality starting pitching.

Whether we have Myers in right or Francouer, we're not doing shit without quality starting pitching. Nothing else really matters (okay, I exaggerate. But only by a little. Starting pitching is to MLB like QB is to NFL).
Just ask San Fransisco.

[Shogun]

Originally Posted by Cephalic Trauma

Why not kelly johnson over Chris getz, assuming the money is close to the same? More power, less suck, same money.

Because Chris Getz will always hit FOR MORE POWER

NO ONE GETZ SHOULD HAVE ALL THAT POWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWER

[Ceej]

Originally Posted by Shogun

Because Chris Getz will always hit FOR MORE POWER

NO ONE GETZ SHOULD HAVE ALL THAT POWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWER

I bet if Chris Getz he would actually be Terry Crews.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dTvtFp_iPKc

[Strongside]

If we are winning we'll see how many people even remember that we traded Wil Myers.

[MeatRock]

Originally Posted by theelusiveeightrop

GMDM got fleeced.

Yea, i think that's bullshit. I don't think Odo is top of the rotation quality first of all. Second, yea we gave up Myers, which sucks, but you got to give to get.

Shields is a top of the rotation starter and i think Davis has more upside than Odo. We didn't get fleeced, although i do understand the frustration in giving up a potential run producing RFer, when we trot out Frenchy every game.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by Strongside

If we are winning we'll see how many people even remember that we traded Wil Myers.

Never forget.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Wilson8]

Rany's latest has an amusing section on Scott Pioli...

I’m fairly certain that I have not despised anyone in Kansas City sports history the way I despised Scott Pioli at the end. You can be an insufferable tyrant and fans will still respect you, if you win. You can be an incompetent fool and fans will still like you, if you’re a nice guy. But Lord have mercy, you can not be both. Pioli terrorized players and employees alike, while drafting Tyson Jackson with the #3 overall pick and sticking with Matt Cassel as his quarterback to the bitter end.

And I’ve never been happier to see one of my teams crap the bed than to see the Chiefs go 2-14 in 2012. I’m not an NFL expert, so I don’t have a strong opinion one way or the other on whether the Andy Reid-John Dorsey combination will work. As a fan, I’m happy to give them the benefit of the doubt. Even if I did the same thing with Pioli four years ago.

There are certainly similarities between Pioli and Moore. Both were widely considered to be the most promising GM candidate in their sport when they were brought to Kansas City in the span of little more than two years, and given a mandate by ownership to do whatever it took to build a winner. For the first time in my lifetime, there was a sense that both the Chiefs and the Royals were pointed in the right direction.

Not so much. On the field, Moore has had even less success than Pioli, who managed to squeak the Chiefs into the playoffs one year thanks to a weak AFC West. But the difference is this: when Pioli axed, he left the Chiefs in as poor a condition as he inherited them, if not more so. They still don’t have a quarterback. Virtually every one of their most talented players today was already in the organization when he was hired. Four years after Pioli was hired to build an organization from scratch, his successors have to do the same thing.

If nothing else, in nearly seven years on the job Dayton Moore has completed one of the most time-consuming tasks in sports: he’s turned one of the weakest farm systems in baseball into one of its perennially strongest. The Royals had essentially no footprint in Latin America whatsoever when he was hired; they have one of the most fertile Latin American pipelines in the game today. Even if Moore’s gamble backfires, and he gets fired sometime in 2013, he will have left the organization in substantially better shape than he found it. The mere fact that a .500 season would put his job on the hot seat is testament to that.

(It’s also worth pointing out that unlike Pioli, I’ve heard only good things about Moore as a person. It’s probably not a coincidence that while the Chiefs were a revolving door of personnel for the last four years, very few members of the Royals’ player development staff have left the organization since Moore was hired. And Trey Hillman never showed up for work looking like a hobo.)

You can read the rest of Rany's post at - http://www.ranyontheroyals.com/