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?

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by Al Bundy

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/0...medium=twitter

With the Royals will likely open the season with a club-record $79MM payroll, Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star doesn't anticipate any contract extensions for the team's young talent especially Eric Hosmer, a Scott Boras client.
The Royals will keep their eye on the outfield trade market, tweets CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler.

Yea, if these guys do happen to perform, I am very nervous about the one's under control of asshat Boras. God that guy is a real jerkoff.

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

We are the reigning clubhouse champions, so we have that going for us.

*Frenchy signs a picture of his teeth for local charity*

[lewdog]

Win or lose, I am just hoping Perez hits 35 bombs.

/see sig.

[penguinz]

Originally Posted by lewdog

Win or lose, I am just hoping Perez hits 35 bombs.

/see sig.

Won't come close.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by penguinz

Won't come close.

Nope, he is a 20-25 guy. But if he does, poop will be eaten!

[alnorth]

Royals are winning again today, 3-0 in the 6th. Gordon homered, Moustakas hit 2 doubles.

edit: up 7-0 now. starters are out, scrubs in.

[cabletech94]

Originally Posted by alnorth

Royals are winning again today, 3-0 in the 6th. Gordon homered, Moustakas hit 2 doubles.

edit: up 7-0 now. starters are out, scrubs in.

goddamnit hurry up season and get here!!!
see you late in the week boys, gonna go make my bets in vegas now!!!

[Al Bundy]

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/da...e-gm-was-right

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The farther you get from the Royals, the easier it is to think Dayton Moore was wrong.

The price was too high. The timing wasn't right. You hear it all about the Royals' huge winter trade with the Rays.

You hear it plenty of places. You don't hear it here.

You don't hear it from the scouts who are watching the Royals this spring, the ones who are starting to believe not just that the Royals are ready to compete, but that they could be ready to be this year's version of the A's.

"Much, much, much improved," one scout said.

"Why is everyone complaining about the trade?" another asked. "I don't get it."

Not everyone is complaining about the trade, the one that cost the Royals big-time prospect Wil Myers but gained them James Shields, Wade Davis and maybe a chance to redefine their franchise. In fact, in one very important precinct, you won't find anyone who is complaining about it.

"We lost some prospects," Alex Gordon said, sitting in a Royals clubhouse where the general manager (Moore) and his trade enjoy universal approval. "But it seemed like we had been building prospects forever. You can't make everyone happy, but I can tell you, in this clubhouse it made us happy."



More on Kansas City Royals

It's a clubhouse that has been transformed, even though there really weren't that many changes. It's a clubhouse where the Royals, who lost 90 games last year and have had just two winning seasons (and no playoff appearances) in the last 27 years, are speaking words that have rarely been spoken around here.

"I want to win championships," closer Greg Holland said. "Win a World Series. I'm sure a lot of people want to just see us get to the playoffs. Sure, that would be a big step, but we want to win a World Series.

"I think it's silly to say we just want to be competitive. You get paid to win. We 'competed' last year. Being competitive is not the mindset. It's about winning."

And that's exactly what Dayton Moore had in mind.

He believed the Royals had reached the point where the time was right for a bold move. He believed that the organization had enough prospects to sacrifice some, even some of the best ones. He believed that the people he had in place will continue to find other big prospects to replace them.

More than that, he believed in 2013, which is why when the Royals set out to find pitching, they were determined to get it without hurting their current big-league roster. Trading Billy Butler would have brought back pitching, but Moore and his staff decided they would rather trade Myers (higher ceiling, but still unproven) than Butler (established big-league, middle-of-the-order hitter).

It was a show of faith in this group. It was a show of faith in 2013. It was hugely appreciated in the Royals clubhouse, where the players know that they're the ones responsible for proving Dayton Moore right.

"I want to win now," Butler said. "Dayton's a great GM. I want to do everything to see him succeed."

Whether or not Moore and his plan succeed depends on whether Shields pitches like the No. 1 starter the Royals firmly believe he is. They're so sure he will that after Shields' one-inning spring debut last week against the Padres, some Royals people were saying, "He had the look of a No. 1."

It was one inning, one spring training inning. But remember, these people are anxious to see this plan work.

Whether the plan succeeds depends on whether Davis proves to be a capable major-league starting pitcher. The Royals are convinced he will.

But the other part of the plan has nothing to do with the guys who arrived from the Rays in the big trade. The other part of the plan has to do with the guys who were already here.

Because if Gordon and Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez and Alcides Escobar and Lorenzo Cain aren't what the Royals think they are, then it doesn't really matter how much Shields and Davis and Ervin Santana and Jeremy Guthrie help the rotation.

The thing is, it's those young position players who have the rival scouts in Surprise starting to believe in the Royals.

"They're going to be improved because the kids are better," one scout said. "You can see it -- in their at-bats, in the way they do things. They have a bunch of hungry kids.

"Hosmer looks better. Moustakas is going to be a star."

If the scouts are right, then Moore was right. If the scouts are right, then this really was the time for the Royals to make their big move.

Farther away from Surprise, others are skeptical. They say that the Tigers are going to dominate this division, anyway. They wonder if the Royals were ready to win.

"Every question I could be asked, I've asked multiple times in different ways myself, to a variety of people inside and outside the organization," Moore said. "It's very difficult to trade young players. But I have not second-guessed anything about that deal."

Moore understands that turning an organization from loser to winner takes more than simply upping the talent level. Shields was attractive as much for who he is as for what he can accomplish on the mound. Adding someone like Shields was important for more than just the 200-plus quality innings he can be expected to pitch.

And Moore realized that it's crucial for the Royals to start winning soon, before young players like Hosmer and Moustakas and Gordon go through year after year of losing.

"There's a sense of urgency for us to right the course and create the culture," he said. "If we don't start winning games, we can't expect Hosmer, Moustakas and other guys to become All-Star players."

So yes, the time was now. For Moore, the time had to be now.

"I'm 100 percent convinced of it," he said. 'And I can't be talked out of it."

There's one very important place where no one will ever attempt to talk him out of it. There's one very important group that believes very strongly that Moore's timing was right.

Fortunately for Moore, it's the group with the biggest opportunity to prove him right.

Now they just have to do it.

[tk13]

Royals win. Move to 9-0-1. Wade Davis finished with 3 scoreless innings, 3 K.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by tk13

Royals win. Move to 9-0-1. Wade Davis finished with 3 scoreless innings, 3 K.

Fans need to remember this when we have our first double-digit losing streak of the season and realize that the team is essentially playing .500 ball.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

[ChiefMojo]

Just have to hope we get to the point we just have one of those 10 game losing type streaks instead of having three or four of them like we do most years. Who knows what the Royals wouldn't ended up if we didn't start the season off like a single A team.

[Al Bundy]

I get the feeling James Shields won't allow a 10 gamer.

[ChiefMojo]

If this starting rotation keeps up the good play, I agree we may not even see one of those 10 game losing streaks. Big difference from having Luke as your #1 and Shields as your #1.

[mr. tegu]

I bought a really good deal on tickets today at the Overland Park home and garden show. Royals had a booth there. For $45 we get two tickets to two separate games of our choosing up to field box seats. Also got five coupons for by one get one free on tickets to five more games, field box or better. If we want better seats we just pay the difference. Also came with a $20 food and drink voucher. I asked why the good deal to try and find a catch and he just said they were excited about the team and wanted to let as many people come to the games as possible.

[PunkinDrublic]

I don't like to read to much into spring training but this year really does feel different. From all accounts Shields is not only a great pitcher but a great leader in the clubhouse. I think the Royals have a punchers chance of winning the division.