*****Official 2024 Royals Season Repository Thread*****

[ChiefsCountry]

Year Two of the Matt Quatraro tenure. Time to take a step up this year. Active in free agency and trades this offseason. A new look pitching rotation and bullpen. Will the young players take the leap up offensively? Bobby Witt extension? New stadium? Will Vinny recover from injury? Salvy taking aim at the Royals record book? Will Cole Ragans turn into the best Royals starting pitcher since Greinke 1.0?

Free Agents/Trades Acquisitions
Seth Lugo, SP
Michael Wacha, SP
Kyle Wright, SP
Hunter Renfroe, OF/DH
Will Smith, RP
Chris Stratton, RP
Nick Anderson, RP
Adam Frazier, 2B
Garrett Hampson, INF/OF
Matt Sauer, RP

[smithandrew051]

Originally Posted by dlphg9

Erceg is the best reliever this team has had since HDH.

Wasn’t Staumont pretty good for a couple years?

He had some filthy stuff when he was on.

[TLO]

Here we go Royals here we go!

[WhawhaWhat]

Royals should be all over this.

The #Dodgers have DFA’d UTIL Amed Rosario, per a team announcement

LAD acquired Rosario from TB two weeks ago. pic.twitter.com/5nc64pakfX

— MLB Deadline News (@MLBDeadlineNews) August 12, 2024

[cabletech94]

But we have hampson AND Frazier.

Gaaaaaag.

If it helps our offense……

**** the twins.

[TLO]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

Royals should be all over this.

The #Dodgers have DFA’d UTIL Amed Rosario, per a team announcement

LAD acquired Rosario from TB two weeks ago. pic.twitter.com/5nc64pakfX

— MLB Deadline News (@MLBDeadlineNews) August 12, 2024

Why was he DFA'd? Is there more to this story?

If not he seems like a great leadoff guy.

[GeorgeZimZam]

Originally Posted by TLO

Why was he DFA'd? Is there more to this story?

If not he seems like a great leadoff guy.

Remember earlier this summer, when the Royals visited Chavez Ravine? Betts just yesterday was activated from the IL, for the injury suffered on that hit-by-pitch. Dodgers opted to keep the likes of Kiké Hernandez rather than Amed Rosario, upon reinstating Betts.

[ChiefsFanatic]

Hey guys, high AF question here.

I don't know how augmented reality glasses work, but I was just watching a video of a go pro posted by a high school umpire, and he was letting the catcher and batter know why it was a ball each time, like he would say just outside, too low, etc.

And the video was really high quality. But, my THC infused brain wonders why umpires can't wear augmented reality glasses that puts up guide lines, or even a representation of the strike zone that TV viewers see. This would help with accuracy, I would think.

Can anyone explain how this is either dumb, or a good idea, and why, or how augmented reality works?

[DJJasonp]

Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic

Hey guys, high AF question here.

I don't know how augmented reality glasses work, but I was just watching a video of a go pro posted by a high school umpire, and he was letting the catcher and batter know why it was a ball each time, like he would say just outside, too low, etc.

And the video was really high quality. But, my THC infused brain wonders why umpires can't wear augmented reality glasses that puts up guide lines, or even a representation of the strike zone that TV viewers see. This would help with accuracy, I would think.

Can anyone explain how this is either dumb, or a good idea, and why, or how augmented reality works?

Any head-movement by the ump would skew the strike-zone.

[ChiefsFanatic]

Originally Posted by DJJasonp

Any head-movement by the ump would skew the strike-zone.

Ok. That makes sense. Thank you.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by TLO

Why was he DFA'd? Is there more to this story?

If not he seems like a great leadoff guy.

a .310 career OBP with 3,600 PAs suggests pretty strongly to the contrary.

He's the same overly aggressive hitter he's always been and he doesn't bring any real power to the party. He's a guy who depends entirely on BABIP for his OBP and right now his BABIP is really elevated. It definitely shouldn't be based on his batted ball profile - he's just been getting lucky.

He's due for regression. If you had him playing 2b and batting 8th or 9th, you might not be in terrible shape, but he's just not a very good player. He's almost certainly better than Frazier and he might be better than Hampson (though I think he's actually extremely similar). He's definitely not better than Massey.

Ultimately you could probably do worse as a bench player but with an $8 million deal, you're looking at taking on about $2 million for the remainder of the season. I wouldn't say he's worth claiming at that figure.

If you're starting him and batting him leadoff, you have some pretty major lineup problems.

[Pablo]

Is this team destined for a slide back to .500?

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by Pablo

Is this team destined for a slide back to .500?

We play the Angels on the 19th!

[Why Not?]

Originally Posted by Pablo

Is this team destined for a slide back to .500?

Probably depends on the next two series. If they can go 4-2 vs the Reds and Angels, they may have enough cushion to survive the 6-14 or so they will probably go over the next 20 games post Angels (Phillies, @Guardians, @Astros, Guardians, Twins, @Yankees....shit 6-14 might be a stretch). If not, it will be tough to finish over .500

[TambaBerry]

Frustrating we can't beat good teams. Man this Minnesota series was must win too.

[duncan_idaho]

I think this team has enough to slip into that third wild card spot and definitely stay in contention for it for most if not all the season.

That's worthwhile and fun. Especially with Witt being a must-watch player.

I do worry about the number of innings highs that guys are setting in the starting rotation. When you're very dependent on SP success and 3/5 of your rotation is headed for innings highs (with Lugo already reaching it), I think that is problematic.

I wouldn't mind seeing them go to a 6-man rotation down the stretch, with Marsh coming back up. It would be nice to get another power arm in the rotation mix to break up the Lugo-Wacha-Lorenzen grouping. Between Wacha and Lorenzen probably is the best.

That would let Ragans and Lugo get a little more rest/recovery as they hit their new career max innings every time out.

Overall, I think they're still positioned well for next season. They desperately need a LH bat that can lengthen the lineup, someone like Cody Bellinger. That's what I would be looking to do in lieu of bringing Renfroe back.

If Caglianone can push for a late season call-up, that would potentially give you a middle-order of:
2-Witt (SS)
3- Bellinger (RF)
4 - Perez (C)
5 - Pasquantino (DH/1B)
6 - Caglianone (DH/1B)

Which would be pretty exciting from a power perspective.

A legit leadoff hitter who can play 2B is probably also worthwhile. That's a tougher thing to find than you'd think, though. Probably better off hoping for a Garcia rebound.