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?

[tk13]

If Moose and Hosmer could hit, it'd be like 4-5 days. But right now, they aren't.

[Demonpenz]

There was a fan that ran on the field tonight and they banned him from the ballpark. That sounds like a reward to me.

[Demonpenz]

Finding out you are going to watch a baseball game is like getting a cookie. Then finding out that it is the #royals you are watching is like that cookie now has raisins.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Demonpenz

There was a fan that ran on the field tonight and they banned him from the ballpark. That sounds like a reward to me.

Someone else mentioned this earlier, but how do they ban someone from the ballpark? They don't check ID if you walk up and buy a ticket.

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Someone else mentioned this earlier, but how do they ban someone from the ballpark? They don't check ID if you walk up and buy a ticket.

No, but I'm guessing they may check your ID once you enter the field of play and they've escorted you into security.

[SPATCH]

Originally Posted by ChiTown

No, but I'm guessing they may check your ID once you enter the field of play and they've escorted you into security.

But, if you decided to go again, it is not as if your name gets run through some database when purchasing a ticket at the ticket booth.

[SPATCH]

So when do we start talking about a banner?

[tomahawk kid]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

The irony of Yost firing Seitzer because he wants Moose/Hos/Perez/Gordon hitting 30 hrs this year is fantastic. Dayton's the ultimate problem but Yost is looking like a buffoon. He publicly said those guys were going to hit all these home runs before the season and publicly said Hoch could be a 15 game winner. There's a fine line between trying to build confidence and being completely off the mark as far as expectations go. They both need to go if this failure continues throughout the season.

I also love the fact that Seitzer has been on the local radio effectively calling Ned a liar (in terms of why he fired Seitzer).

I listened to Ned's pre-game interview on the radio yesterday. Dude just comes off as a redneck - and a redneck that's in way over his head.

The whole notion of sending Herrera down because he's "lost confidence" but then not sending down Moose because he "hasn't lost confidence" is just buffooney. Especially so after Moose admitted publically he isn't watching tape (like Billy and Gordon) to improve his swing or maximize his ABs.

To me, that smacks of the parent that wants to be the kids friend instead of being their parent / teacher. The kid isn't hitting - sending him down to Omaha -or at the very least -mandating he gets his ass in the film room for study - is Yost's job / responsibility, regardless of if Moose doens't like it or gets mad.

[AussieChiefsFan]

Winning these next three games is our last chance to be over .500 at all this season, IMO. After having to play vs the cards and rangers, I don't think we'll be able to recover. Although its not like we've put up any kind of a fight against the bottom teams on the league anyway.

[Fansy the Famous Bard]

what the **** happened to this team?

[Prison Bitch]

I was going to post an analysis of this team but then realized, "What's the point"?

[Demonpenz]

Originally Posted by Zeke

what the **** happened to this team?

changing the way a franchise has gone for 20 years is a titanic effort. It can't be done, but you can't have complete dumb****s signing Frenchy, Mike Jacobs, and drafting like shit.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Zeke

what the **** happened to this team?

It reached a breaking point when Ned Yost's poor decision making and leadership exacerbated problems caused by Dayton Moore's lack of understanding in how to build a complete big-league roster.

This was as close as Dayton has come, but as soon as Dyson got hurt, things started going to shit.

The stuff with Moustakas of late is incredibly concerning. Makes it pretty clear that Yost - despite his great rep for developing young players - is dropping the ball when it comes to Moustakas. And Hosmer.

The lack of accountability being applied to these guys is apparent now (Ned kind of slit his own throat on that one). Letting guys continue habits that are not working and not forcing change is not a good way to go about things.

At this point, not sending Moose down is just asinine. They were patient with him. Gave him time to break out of his slump and prove he was OK. He hasn't taken advantage at this level, and I don't care what Yost says... that is not a confident hitter and ballplayer.

[siberian khatru]

Today's fun stat: The Royals are slugging .385 as a team, which is next to last in the AL.

The AL average is .415. THE NL AVERAGE IS .390.

Yes, we are slugging below the NL average. Teams with pitchers who bat in their lineups are outslugging us.

[siberian khatru]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

The lack of accountability being applied to these guys is apparent now (Ned kind of slit his own throat on that one). Letting guys continue habits that are not working and not forcing change is not a good way to go about things.

Moose don't need to watch no film.