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.

[KChiefs1]

Soren Petro approves this trade.

[bobinkc]

One thing that this does not solve is the fact that Yost is almost as dumb as Romeo...but I guess that is a problem for another day.

[alnorth]

Bob Dutton ‏@Royals_Report
We'll see if they're right, but #Royals think Odorizzi tops out as a three -- nothing wrong with that, but they think Ventura, Zimmer...

Bob Dutton ‏@Royals_Report
...and possibly Lamb will be ahead of Odorizzi by 2015 and maybe by 2014. Again, we'll see. But file that away..

So, many of us like Odorizzi, but the Royals do not? OK, fine. Its not like we were trading him for one of those 3 guys, and he doesn't look worse than Davis to me. If we call that portion a wash and just flat-out ignore the other 2 players as inconsequential, we still gave up 6.5+ years of Myers for 2 years of Shields. Even if Shields were willing to extend, he'd then be 33 in 2015 with a huge amount of mileage on that arm, so it might not be a good idea to extend anyway.

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by alnorth

What he's talking about is the enormous WAR swing when you replace Frenchy with Myers. Even if Shields is worth 3 WAR, he's not going to counter going from almost -2 to almost +2 or higher.

If I were assigned the task of arguing the other side, I might point out that Frenchy was very unlucky in 2012 (and very lucky in 2011), so his true value might be slightly above replacement. So, maybe the Royals do net out 1 win overall in 2013.

The counter to that, is we might not be 1 or 2 wins away. We had a lot of ground to make up on the Tigers when the winter started.

I'm still not thrilled about the trade, but I have a feeling that Shields is more than one-two wins better than whatever sad sack he's replacing in the rotation.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

I hope you responded by telling her that you are far more sick after tonight's events and that she better make you something to feel better.

She didn't get it. Not so sports-oriented, my wife.

Has anyone looked at the Facebook page? I'm sure it's full of idiot fans loving the hell out of this.

[Jerm]

Well Moore has officially entered Pioli territory...

Jesus Christ...its like a game of one up the opposing dumbass.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by Chiefspants

I'm still not thrilled about the trade, but I have a feeling that Shields is one-two wins better than whatever sad sack he's replacing in the rotation.

So? Frenchy had a (-2.7) WAR last year as the worst regular in MLB. Replacing him with Myers, and giving Myers a replacement value of 0, already beats adding Shields.



AND WE TOOK ON $14M BUCKS IN THIS ATROCITY.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Has anyone looked at the Facebook page? I'm sure it's full of idiot fans loving the hell out of this.

Yeah, about as much as Petro probably will tomorrow. We're definitely in the numerical minority on this one.

[Ceej]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

She didn't get it. Not so sports-oriented, my wife.

Has anyone looked at the Facebook page? I'm sure it's full of idiot fans loving the hell out of this.

Window licker central.

AVOID.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

So? Frenchy had a (-2.7) WAR last year as the worst regular in MLB. Replacing him with Myers, and giving Myers a replacement value of 0, already beats adding Shields.



AND WE TOOK ON $14M BUCKS IN THIS ATROCITY.

Well, Frenchy also had a +2.7 WAR in 2011. His true value might be about zero or slightly above. That doesn't make the trade a good move since we may not be 1 or 2 games away, but the team may have modestly improved in 2013 from this trade.

[duncan_idaho]

Thoughts on the offense:

Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas better improve. I expect Gordon and Butler to do about what they do. I expect Escobar to take a step back, but still be a .280 hitter who OPSes around .700-.750, plays great D, Perez to be a great defensive catcher and hit .280-.300/20/75-80 RBI/.800-.850 OPS.

If Hosmer rebounds and Moustakas makes a full season look like the first half of 2012, then the offense is just fine, and trading Myers truly was moving a surplus for a deficit.

Still doesn't make the value of the deal look better to me, though.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by alnorth

but the team may have modestly improved in 2013 from this trade.

We just gave up the top hitting prospect in MLB.....our top pitching prospect (by far)....and added $14M in payroll.....just to be "modestly improved"?

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by alnorth

Yeah, about as much as Petro probably will tomorrow. We're definitely in the numerical minority on this one.

That's OK. I know I know more about baseball than the casual fan (and I know you do, too, and so does just about everyone who posts in this thread).

[ChiefsCountry]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

We just gave up the top hitting prospect in MLB.....our top pitching prospect (by far)....and added $14M in payroll.....just to be "modestly improved"?

Ordo was not the top pitching prospect.

[alnorth]

A few national writers are beginning to push back against Twitter.

If Royals deal is bad, why were the Tigers hoping they wouldn't make it?

No surprise, the Twitter world hates what the Royals just did.

So do the Tigers.

Different reasons, obviously. Twitter loves prospects and loves the Rays. Twitter thinks Wil Myers will be a star.

The Tigers look at James Shields and think that the Royals just became a real threat in the American League Central.

Twitter thinks the Royals "gave up a lot." The Tigers know that two teams that "gave up a lot" just met in the World Series.

As one Tigers person after another whispered during last week's winter meetings, "I just hope they don't get Shields."

They just did, and that's why when I texted one Tigers official with news of Sunday night's big trade, his response consisted of one word that I can't repeat here.

Rest assured, it wasn't "Great!"

etc etc, not much stats in the rest of the article.