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?

[BigCatDaddy]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

51. Christian Colon, ss, Royals
52. Jose Iglesias, ss, Red Sox
53. Nick Franklin, ss/2b, Mariners
54. Jason Kipnis, 2b, Indians
55. Zack Wheeler, rhp, Giants
56. Brody Colvin, rhp, Phillies
57. Jean Segura, 2b, Angels
58. Simon Castro, rhp, Padres
59. Wilmer Flores, ss, Mets
60. Miguel Sano, 3b/ss, Twins

2006 Luke Hochevar
2007 Moustakas, Mike
2008 Hosmer, Eric
2008 Montgomery, Mike
2009 Crow, Aaron
2010 Colon, Christian
2011 Starling, Bubba


Baird:
00-Mike Stodolka
01-Colt Griffin
02-Greinke
03- Chris Lubanski
04-Mitch Meier
05-Butler
06-Gordon

Things could change, but right now Baird kicked his ass in the draft and I think the ones Baird missed on were "signability picks" and that's a problem DM was never hampered with.

[ChiefsCountry]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

Its a shame that really isn't your worthless ass in that gif.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

Things could change, but right now Baird kicked his ass in the draft and I think the ones Baird missed on were "signability picks" and that's a problem DM was never hampered with.

Absolutely. As of today our 4 best regulars are all from Baird and our entire 5-man rotation is mercenaries from other teams. Not ONE home grown starter in the rotation.


For a man about to begin year 8 of his term as GM, this guy has been a complete waste of our time. Sal Perez, a 1HR catcher, is his prize pupil?

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Well, you all know how the song goes. "Five of these are not like the oooothers".

Prospects fail all the time. Best rate I've seen is that 25 percent become what they're supposed to/can be, 50 percent fail, and 25 percent are solid but less than what they're supposed to be.

Of that list, I'd say 6 are what they're supposed to be (Harper, Trout, Miller, Machado, Sale and Matt Moore). I'd say 5 are solid but less (Hellickson, Chapman, Pineda, Freeman, Teheran). And the rest fall somewhere in the bust/could be bust category (Montero, Brown, Hosmer, Moustakas, Ackley, Lamb, Montgomery) or are still in the minors and TBD, with no MLB service time (Myers, Taillon).

Hosmer and Moustakas still have time to write their name onto any of those lists.

I think Lamb, Ackley and Pineda are probably the only ones who are locked into their current category.

[Three7s]

Originally Posted by Zeke

I still call him Moose.

His name has changed to Mickey Mouse for me. Maybe I might call him Moose again if he actually.......hits the ball where no fielders are?

[ChiefsCountry]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Well, you all know how the song goes. "Five of these are not like the oooothers".

Two of those five turned into James Shields.

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

This is exactly what I posted the other day - where the hell is this vaunted "greatest farm system of all time"? Seriously where is it? We had 3 top-10 guys as young hitters. None of them are contributing. (You can say Myers is as trade bait but if he were still here, he'd be down in Omaha anyway)



Here's the top-20. Look at the Royals. Look at practically everyone else. And tell me we're not the problem. I dare you to. You can't say the authors screwed this up because the other names aren't pathetic losers:

2011 TOP 100 PROSPECTS
1. Bryce Harper, of, Nationals
2. Mike Trout, of, Angels
3. Jesus Montero, c, Yankees
4. Domonic Brown, of, Phillies
5. Julio Teheran, rhp, Braves
6. Jeremy Hellickson, rhp, Rays
7. Aroldis Chapman, lhp, Reds
8. Eric Hosmer, 1b, Royals
9. Mike Moustakas, 3b, Royals
10. Wil Myers, of/c, Royals
11. Jameson Taillon, rhp, Pirates
12. Dustin Ackley, 2b, Mariners
13. Shelby Miller, rhp, Cardinals
14. Manny Machado, ss, Orioles
15. Matt Moore, lhp, Rays
16. Michael Pineda, rhp, Mariners
17. Freddie Freeman, 1b, Braves
18. John Lamb, lhp, Royals
19. Mike Montgomery, lhp, Royals
20. Chris Sale, lhp, White Sox

JFC

That's hilarious.

Can we trade 8, 9 and 10 for 13, 14 and 15? K THANKS

[BigCatDaddy]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

Two of those five turned into James Shields.

Two of those five and two other guys turned into 2 years of James Shields and Wade ****ing Davis.

[Hootie]

can I have 6 years of Shelby Miller, Matt Moore and Manny Machado instead?

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

Two of those five and two other guys turned into 2 years of James Shields and Wade ****ing Davis.

This.

Shields will want out of here so bad when his time is up. He'll probably get 10 losses this year just on lack of run support.

When he goes FA, he'll cost three times what the Royals will be willing to pay. That's why Tampa Bay dealt him off. They play small ball better than we do.

[Hootie]

Oakland is pretty damn good. I wonder if they can get over the hump this year and actually win a playoff series...

but that team is built well

Billy Beane is pretty good.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by unnecessary drama

can I have 6 years of Shelby Miller, Matt Moore and Manny Machado instead?

What's really frustrating is that the Royals are one Alex Gordon walkoff HR in a meaningless September game away from getting Manny Machado instead of Colon and they were interested in Miller but convinced he was going to aTm (thus the Crow pick).

[Fansy the Famous Bard]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

What's really frustrating is that the Royals are one Alex Gordon walkoff HR in a meaningless September game away from getting Manny Machado instead of Colon and they were interested in Miller but convinced he was going to aTm (thus the Crow pick).

You're assuming the Royals Farm system wouldn't ruin those players.

I’m not looking to ‘choke and poke’ up there with two strikes. I’m looking for a ball to drive still. You always hear ‘choke and poke’ with two strikes, but as a middle of the order guy, one of the guys that drives in runs, you’re not really looking to just slap the ball around, just put it in play…If I have a runner on base with two strikes, I’m looking to drive the ball, even with two strikes. I’m looking to put the ball in play hard somewhere to drive the run in.

This is hte type of shit our farm teaches.

[C3HIEF3S]

Anyone hear the Ned Yost interview on 610? I missed it.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by Zeke

You're assuming the Royals Farm system wouldn't ruin those players.

I’m not looking to ‘choke and poke’ up there with two strikes. I’m looking for a ball to drive still. You always hear ‘choke and poke’ with two strikes, but as a middle of the order guy, one of the guys that drives in runs, you’re not really looking to just slap the ball around, just put it in play…If I have a runner on base with two strikes, I’m looking to drive the ball, even with two strikes. I’m looking to put the ball in play hard somewhere to drive the run in.

This is hte type of shit our farm teaches.

Wow, I must watch entirely different games from you then if you believe this. First, I agree with Myers 110%: when you're a power hitter you crush the ball. Period. You don't see ARod or Pujols or Dunn choking up on the bat and trying to soft-serve a little pillowbiter bloop into left-center like Hosmer does.


That's how gay dudes hit. Sorry, but strikeouts are fine. Being a pussy at the plate isn't, not for a power position. Strikeouts don't mean much if you're able to drive the ball hard in your other ABs. What good is a singles-hitting, contact, no-power 1B in the AL? Again: why is Hosmer=Ross Gload?