We were in 3rd place.

We were? I remember us being way out in front? Probably wishful thinking as time goes by...

Four back when the season ended, but still 13 games above .500. Ok then.

They went on a big win streak before the strike.

Plus we were on fire, had Cone and Appier dealing, a great defense with Bob Hamelin destroying the ball on offense. We would've been tough to beat.

Although like I said, people forget that in 95 they were actually competitive. Hamelin went in the tank but Gaetti had a monster year. The Indians were unstoppable that year and ran away the division but we were in 2nd and in the wild card spot in early September. Fell apart at the end though.

That pitching staff was made for October. Appier, Cone, Gubs, and Flash Gordon. Throw in Monty to close and Hipolito Pichardo as the other reliever we had the arms to do some damage. Offense was pretty shitty if I remember other than Hammer.

We were the AL version of the Cubs.......but not really.

**** NED
Don't like Soria, huh? Well, how about I put him in with a 1-run lead and 2 on base? How would you like that?


Ned needs to get the **** out.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...de2346b3b2.jpg


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Tonight was another example of how overrated Hosmer is. 1st and 3rd no out in the 7th, and he gets so spazzed out he pulls a pitch like a pussy to the 2B who guns out Dyson, killing the inning. And failed in the 9th too to cap off the 0-5 abortion.


He couldn't hold Belt or Freeman's jock. Anyone paying big $ to this clown deserves their fate.

I don't have a lot of angst in letting him walk. He doesn't have near enough power or consistency at the plate to warrant the sort of contract he will most likely demand. My issue is with whom we replace him with. There isn't a single player in our system that is remotely ready to even challenge his spot. We take out a solid piece and replace him with what?

Move Moustakas to first base.

If we are going that route, I'd leave Moose at 3B and move Cutty to 1B, or maybe even Dozier. I dunno.

The real problem is that between Moustakas, Cuthbert and Dozier, one of them is going to have to be expendable. The likely solution is the one that costs the most.

FYP

I'd move Dozier to the outfield.

Dozier reminds me of Pete Incavalia.

Really? I don't see it. Inky was built like a fireplug, kind of chunky. Like 5-11, 230.

Dozier is built like Dolph Lundgren - that's why the call him Drago. 6-4, 225, carved from granite.


Except that the most expensive one is the best hitter and best defender by a wide margin.

Cuthbert's performance has really fallen off the past few months. Probably worn down/hitting the rookie wall.

It would be a real risk to 2017 contention hopes to trade Moustakas and assume Cuthbert can provide the same plus offensive production Moustakas offers, in Year 2.

I could see them moving Dozier or Cuthbert, but can't see a Moustakas trade. They need him back in the lineup.



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Moose is also a more firey guy that they need. He is sort of the yin to Salvys yang.

That's right. He's one of DM's favorites if you look how quickly he was brought up and how patient they were with him, and all his intangibles/makeup. He's a total DM player so he has no chance of being moved. Also applies to Hosmer.


Not sure where that leaves Cuthbert. He did trail off but it's his first MLB season really so he just hit a wall. He still had a very good age-adjusted year at the plate. I think they may move him to the OF if they don't like Doziers bat the same way.


At any rate our entire team returns for the most part and it's one that's had a lot of success already. We'll be a playoff contender next year and worry about 2018 later.

Great points.

Would love to see them get Dozier some winter ball reps in the OF and possibly prep him for RF work next year.

That they've used (or not used) him the way they have does make me wonder if the team considers him trade bait. The last time they inexplicably didn't use a player with great MiLB success who could help the pro team was with Wil Myers... When they considered him trade bait and were reducing his exposure to cover some of his flaws.

Part of that was gaming service time, too... But I am confident, based on things I've heard, they were trying to keep Myers' flaws somewhat under wrap.


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Dozier is also older than Cuthbert as well.

Saw yesterday's game just now.

Ned sounds drunken when he justifies himself and Soria.

Since we're talking about next year, they just released the 2017 schedule today. Looks like we're on the road opening week, and finish at home against Arizona, which will feel weird. The Cardinals series aren't until August, usually it seems like they schedule that early. It'd be fun to play them in the middle of a playoff race. We play the Giants for the first time since the World Series too... 2 in KC, 2 in SF.

http://www.kmbc.com/blob/view/-/4166...-RelayMediaAMP







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Maybe Ned will "retire" in the offseason... maybe we'll have a competent manager in the last year of this window....

His contract is only through 2016 at his request. It is a good possibility. Not sure how I feel about that, I mean, #yosted and all, but I'd hate for it to affect the overall team chemistry as we make one more run next year

This reminds me so much of the Cardinal fans who hate La Russa.

For all you masochists:

The 12 games Joakim Soria has blown this year

You know you've turned the corner as a franchise when fans want to get rid of the team's all-time winning manager who just won it all.

Pretty good, PB.

Losing early AGAIN to the Oakland shitbags. FFS, this is an ugly end to the season....

And we will probably sweep the Tigers and Indians to end the season.

This sucks...

S


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No one cares anymore.

At last, Bundy is right......4 years later.

Yordano should be forced to pitch all 9. **** his pitch count.

Can we trade Manaea for Yordano mid game and just have them switch uniforms?

I can't believe we're gonna lose at least 3 of 4 to the last place A's.

Ned,
Feel free to pitch Soria tonight, ****face.

Nonsense. You know Soria needs a day off in between appearances to stay effective.

LOL at Healy chirping at Hos about Ventura. Petulant child needs to pull his panties up --- you might periodically get hit in this game. Just because Ventura did it doesn't mean there was anything to it. Dude has 4 walks and 2 wild pitches tonight, he clearly had no ability to harness his pitches.

Funny to see all the old criticisms rise up now that Ned doesn't have the best bullpen of the decade to manage on auto-pilot.

Well crap, this is depressing, Oakland, again ?

WTF?

This lineup is rancid

Jesus.. no fight right now in the Royals.

Yeah, I think the players finally realize they are done.

Wow, what a depressing choke job.

Just let this season slip through the cheeks of your clenched assholes, 2017 is upon us.

Thru nearly 26 innings of play

A's 29
R's 07

Wow, I NEVER would have guessed this.

Sad

Billy Butler signs with the Yankees.

Those pinstripes will have a slimming effect

I remember when Hud said Salvy would look great in pinstripes :facepalm:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Source confirms: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Yankees?src=hash">#Yankees</a> sign Billy Butler. Will use him against lefties; they face seven in next 11 games. First reported: <a href="https://twitter.com/JonHeyman">@Jonheyman</a>.</p>&mdash; Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/776245033670500352">September 15, 2016</a></blockquote>
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It's gonna be like when Dave Kingman played 8 games for the Yankees late in the 77 season and hit 4 HRs.

Billay has some talent, he just needs to do p90x every day of the offseason.

He said "Imagine what it would be like if he wore the pinstripes here." in reference to the press coverage he would get if he was in NY.

He never said he would look good in pinstripes.

Ok. I didn't quote word for word but that is basically what he said and how everyone took it.

http://www.greghallkc.com/index.php/...ee-pinstripes/

So is Ned back next season....non troll, just curious what you guys think?

Only morons took it that way, that includes Bob Fescoe. It was also true what he said.

What would your reaction be in 2012 if you would've heard Billy would be a Yankee in 2016? I'd have guessed Belly was hitting 40 dingers every year.

Ned isn't gone until Ned wants to be gone.


My $0.02.

Why wouldnt he be?

Everyone took it that way including LeFevere and Rex never backed off it or offered the explanation you are.

I could see him retiring honestly.....

Possibly swept by the As.


:facepalm:

This - unless he feels that this core group of players is prepared to make one last run. That, and Dayton dummy proof's his bullpen again:D

Lefebvre was noticeably pissed

Have to agree. Well, he could be forced out down the road, but hes bought himself some time. Championships always tend to do that.

Fans may be getting impatient, but I guarantee management/ownership doesnt see it that way.

The way they are closing out the year is disappointing though.

So let's talk about what we want to see the rest of the way. I'll go first:

1. Play Dozier, Mondesi and Merrifield regularly. That includes getting Mondesi some starts at SS. Play Dozier some in RF and 3B. Play Merrifield all over, not just to rest other players but also to see if he keeps hitting as he has since his recall, to solidify his role as the UT guy next year.

2. Give Cuthbert some PT at 1B, and maybe 2B too, to gauge his versatility for 2017.

3. Play Salvy just 2-3 times a week.

4. Skip Duffy's last start or two, and give it/them to Vargas. That would likely keep Duffy's innings under 180 and would be about a 30 percent increase over his 2015 IP (it seems most teams generally like to keep that increase from 20 to 30 percent).

:clap::clap::clap::clap:

He can stay in the clubhouse as a chemistry consultant. Let somebody smart make the decisions.

See, this would be nice. But I doubt Ned does any of this.

Finishing with a winning record is important

Not saying that it was the intention to begin with, but to me it seems like once the Yankees and Tigers series happened, coupled with the news that Cain wouldn't be back, did they just decide to give Soria all the rope he asked for & more?

They have been feeding him the ball in spite of saying that they wanted to space out his appearances.

Running him out there to see if he's got any ability to bounce back or not - which it's painfully obvious that he can't be relied upon for even working a scoreless side, let alone pull off a clean inning.

There's no justification for him back next year absent from Infante 2.0. Even then, he is way more costly in directly hurting the team than Omar was. At minimum, Soria has been responsible for 14 games this year.

No

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">4 dugout box tickets to TONIGHTS Royals game and a parking pass inside. Sunfresh parking lot by electric car charge. <a href="https://t.co/2R2OAHAIZA">pic.twitter.com/2R2OAHAIZA</a></p>&mdash; Danny Parkins (@DannyParkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/DannyParkins/status/776557065758052352">September 15, 2016</a></blockquote>
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With this guy's mustache and windup, I'm pretty sure Billy Beane pulled this pitcher out of 1915. I guess that's the new Moneyball, fire up Kevin Costner's VW van and start finding undervalued players from the last century.

Anyone remember game 1 of this year vs the Mets? Royals were leading 4 to 0, 8th inning comes around and Soria comes out. Bases loaded with 1 out, Soria gives up 3 runs and almost blows the game.

Man, what a sign of things to come. To think that I forgot he almost blew the game vs the Mets in the very first game of the season, and would have if the Royals were only up 2 to 0.

**** you, Soria.

MOAR baseball rape by the A's!!!

Why are we playing Billy Burns in RF? **** that midget. Get Dozier out there and let him play.