well, 106 losses is very, very bad. If you want to predict that the royals will be bad, then perhaps you could instead aim for about 97 losses, that is still really bad!

Heh. Splitting hairs at that point? (and I'm hoping that my triple-reverse mojo will kick in at some point)

Crasnick on Moose & Hosmer:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring...rry&id=6206865

"Nobody wants to be a clog on the bases.''

Somebody needs to introduce Hosmer to Billy Butler.

Still, the future is looking good.....

Wake me up in 2012. No reason to care for at least another year. More shiny objects at Kauffman Stadium please.

That's just wrong and completely ignores everything I said.

A closer isn't quite as critical as an everyday player in the regular season. However, as I've noted, they're crucial in the playoffs. The Cardinals won a WS in 2006 because of Adam Wainwright. In 9 games he saved 4 of them, struck out 15 batters, walked 2 and gave up 0 ER. He was easily the most important player in that playoff run. After watching the Cardinals underachieve in the post-season for 5 years with Izzy, Veres and others as closer and not knowing why, it suddenly became clear how critical that hammer at the end of the game was. The 2006 team was the worst Cardinal playoff team of the entire decade, yet it's the only one that had a legitimately elite closer and it's the only one to finish the job.

Ask your average Yankees fan who the most important player during their 'dynasty' years was. Better than 1/2 will give you Rivera. A closer is one of the 5 most important players on a ballclub during the playoffs (with only your #1 SP and cleanup hitter being more important).

If you're looking to play .500 baseball, sure maybe dealing Soria for a high upside prospect is a good idea. But if you ever want to actually win anything when you get there, Soria is a guy you need.

The strangest thing about all this was nobody actually undervalued closers until Bill James said they were interchangeable and set about 'proving it' via WAR, etc... Then all of the sudden he gets a chance to put the theories into practice with the BoSox and he immediately changes his mind and tells anyone who would listen how wrong he was. The man that created the idea that closers aren't important will now tell you otherwise yet the people that bought into it early haven't changed their mindset.

I'm just not blown away by Moustakas. I've become somewhat spoiled by Pujols, but I've also become very particular about prospects because of him. I look at K/bb ratio really closely w/ minor leaguers and young players because it speaks to so many different things they do as a hitter. Moose's is only okay and that is indicative of his plate discipline, plate coverage, swing plane, the quickness of his wrists and even his overall approach.

It's also something that tends to translate pretty faithfully to the majors and remain pretty static over a career. There are outliers, but not a shitload of them.

The good news is that his lower rate is not because of high Ks, but low BBs. That's something that he can fix a lot easier in that it tends to show that his plate coverage, etc... is pretty good, he's just a very aggressive hitter.

But look at it this way - even if he is (as I believe) the third best hitter in your system - what's that say about the other 2? he's unquestionably a major league player, it's just a matter of how good a major league player he'll be.

I really agree with you here. I think the "closers are interchangeable" thing has been extremely overblown.

Are mid-level and lower closers interchangeable? Yeah, they are. But when you have a truly elite guy like Soria, Rivera, Nathan, (Or Wainwright during the 2006 season), those guys are not as easily replaceable.

Having a reliable bullpen is going to be critical over the next few years. With so many young pitchers coming up, the Royals will have to be careful with building them up to a full MLB season workload. And it's good for the confidence of the team (and obviously the W/L line) if the bullpen is reliable.

I think the Royals are building towards having a dynamite, game-over bullpen with Soria, Jeffress, Tim Collins and company. And that will be a real asset in the next few years.

You should definately keep posting in this thread. You always have something informative and thought provoking to say.

The best way I've heard it described is, with a guy like Soria, you are essentially shortening the game by an inning.

The Royals just picked up Robert Fish from waivers. The Yankees stole him from the Angels in the recent rule V draft. Today the Yankees decided to release him, and we decided to grab him instead of let him go back to the Angels. Robert Fish is now the 2nd rule V pick on our roster, and just like Adcock he must be on the active roster for the entire season (or work out a deal with the Angels) if we want to keep him.

Robert Fish, LH RP

2006 (rookie ball): 14IP, 3.21 ERA, 10.3 K/9, 1.33 K/BB, 0HR/9, 1.786 WHIP
2007 (rookie/advanced A): 74.2IP, 3.38 ERA, 9.8 K/9, 2.31 K/BB, 0.6 HR/9, 1.339 WHIP
2008 (demoted to A ball): 143IP, 4.85 ERA, 8.7 K/9, 2.03 K/BB, 0.8 HR/9, 1.441 WHIP
2009 (Adv.A): 75.2IP, 6.07 ERA, 7.5 K/9, 2.10 K/BB, 1.4 HR/9, 1.652 WHIP

switched from starter to relief pitcher

2010 (AA): 58.1IP, 6.79 ERA, 11.3 K/9, 2.81 K/BB, 1.4 HR/9, 1.749 WHIP

Not sure how likely this is to work. He obviously gets lots of strikeouts in the low minors and doesn't walk people, but he gives up a bunch of hits and home runs.

Good lord what a messy era

So he's a left-handed Farnsworth? I don't really care about this particular player, but the move does speak volumes about the overall suck of the current staff.

Just think of what it will look like in 2013! [/Royals PR staff]