2010 Kansas City Royals Repository thread

[SPchief]

All Royals All The Time!

After consultation with others who peruse the game threads we decided to create this as a repository for all things Royals. Minor league news, AL (ahem) Central (thanks Vonne) news and anything Royals can be found here.

alnorth, me and atleast 5 others will continue the game threads as usual. But 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.

If a big story breaks, you can still start a thread about it. There is merely an all inclusive thread that will make a easy for us all to keep up with all things Royals.


Welcome! "Grab a Brew... don't cost nuthin"...[spills beer on feet]

[Demonpenz]

you can't even wish for the team to crash and burn so they will clean house, because the royals don't care they get their money from people wanting to go to a "ball game" with their family, and drunk young people, and high schoolers, and good lord the people that just go look at the girls in tank tops.

[petegz28]

I don't think this is a bad signing. Though after you sign Anderson and Podsednick while you still have DeJesus, Maier and Guillen on the roster really leaves one to was Moore, WTF ARE YOU DOING, DUMBASS???

[DaWolf]

2. Rick Ankiel as Wilbert Harrison … ‘Ammering Ank is going to Kansas City on a one-year deal worth $3.25 million, with a mutual option of $6 million for 2011. I suppose this is an OK gamble for the Royals, who have a tendency to reach for players who simply don’t add wins. According to WARP, Ankiel was good for about 2.5 wins for the Cardinals in 2008, but declined rapidly in 2009 when he performed at a replacement level. In ‘08, Ankiel held his own against lefty pitchers and slammed RHP for a batting line of .270 / .344 / .504. But in 2009 his line against RHP dropped to .230 / .291 / .417. Ankiel became a jumpy hitter at the plate, often swinging at pitches out of the strike zone (34 percent of the time, according to fangraphs.) His swing-and-miss rate of 29 percent was among the 15 worst in MLB in ‘09. And while it’s true that most hitters are more effective when they are ahead in the count, Ankiel’s desperation seemed especially acute when he got behind in the count in ‘09. When ahead in the count, Ankiel batted .315 against fastballs last season compared to .172 against fastballs when behind in the count. That’s what’s troubling for him; RHP were not shy about pounding him with fastballs and he couldn’t do much about it. Not that Ankiel did much with curveballs (.167 vs. RHP) or sliders (.176 vs. RHP) either.

One thought is that injuries and pain played a role in Ankiel’s struggles, and if healthy he’ll be able to fine-tune his swing. I’m not so sure about that. If anything Ankiel looks like a classic example of the power hitter who comes up, makes a big splash, then fades as the pitchers find the holes in his swing.

Consider this:

- First 557 ABs (as an OF) in his career: 35 HR, 107 RBI, .278 / .342 / .530

- Next 400 ABs of his career: 12 HR, 41 RBIs, .223 / .276 / .375 and 107 Ks.

In centerfield, Ankiel should give the Royals decent or better defense, and there’s always The Arm and fear of The Arm. In 2009 and 2008 he ranked near the top of the centerfield leaderboard in preventing runners from advancing an extra base.

link

[DaWolf]

On Rick Ankiel and Dayton Moore
Posted by Joshua Fisher
Rick Ankiel's an odd duck, and not in the Long Island sort of way. While it wouldn't surprise me if he eventually latched on with the famed Atlantic League outfit, Ankiel can thank Scott Boras for finding him an even zanier huckleberry: Dayton Moore. Coming off a 0.1 WAR age-29 season, Ankiel will earn $3.25 million to play center field for the Kansas City Royals next season. And in a brilliant negotiating ploy, Moore secured a mutual $6 million option for the 2011 season. Setting aside the obvious silliness of a mutual option--every single free agent contract signed could be termed a "mutual option," right?--Ankiel's just another punchline in the legendary stand-up routine that is Dayton Moore's tenure.

I can't beat up Moore with Rany Jazayerli's unflappable passion or Joe Posnanski's surgical precision, but I can tell you that signing this particular mediocre defensive center fielder coming off a .285 OBP season doesn't even make a top ten list of Moore blunders. The fact is that it could be worse. Rick Ankiel, for his considerable warts, does have his attractive traits. As a 28-year old with fewer than 300 career plate appearances, Ankiel posted a .264/.337/.506 line. To put that in perspective, the 2009 Royals whiffed, tapped, and popped their way to .259/.318/.405. Though what many will latch on to this morning is his dismal, injury-riddled 2009, Ankiel seems a decent gamble for a team with absolutely nothing to lose.

Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple. As the Lawrence (Kansas) Journal-World's Jesse Newell notes on a message board, Ankiel's signing wreaks havoc on roster flexibility. David DeJesus and Ankiel will surely flank newly-acquired Scott Podsednik in the outfield, and Royals brass is already pumping up Chris Getz at second. He's the next David Eckstein, you see. This leaves Jose Guillen and Alberto Callaspo battling for the DH spot. Their 2009 wOBA's were .304 and .352 respectively. Callaspo's seven years younger. Easy, right? But Guillen will make $12 million in 2010--thanks, Dayton!--and Callaspo a fraction of that. So, to recap, the much better player is now extraordinarily devalued trade bait.

I think the real question at this point has to be "Why do we even care?" Why do fans care what Moore does at this point? A tiger doesn't change its stripes. Moore's never going to be any good, and neither will be the Royals under his leadership. And why does the baseball community care? Dayton Moore is baseball's Lindsay Lohan. A young star incapable of handling a bigger role whose drastic errors are so routine as to be barely newsworthy. At some point, his entire general managership becomes an episode of 24--explosions everywhere, but, you know what, that's the show.

Rick Ankiel is a classic Dayton Moore signing, and not in the way you might think. While his .285 OBP fits right in with this dismal squad, he's well worth a few million bucks. 2008 Rick Ankiel was worth two or three times what the Royals will pay him in 2010. Even a bargain, though, can be quintessentially Moore. A good signing makes the Royals worse, thanks to the laughably-constructed roster. Only Dayton Moore.

[Sure-Oz]

Erik Bedard-S- Mariners Jan. 23 - 9:24 am et
Orioles GM Andy MacPhail believes Erik Bedard is not close to a decision on where to pitch in 2010.
"[Bedard] sort of told us from the get-go that this wouldn't be an early decision, that this was something that probably would move closer to the reporting date in spring training," said MacPhail. The 30 year old was 5-3 with a 2.82 ERA in 15 games for the Mariners this past year while battling injuries. The Orioles and Royals are thought to be the top contenders for his services.
Source: MASN
Related: Orioles

[Wilson8]

Dayton has a dream of having a good lefty for a starting pitcher. A healthy Bedard keeps that dream alive for Moore.

[Blindside58]

Damn! I wish somebody would have wrote that the MLB network is showing a Royals/Blue Jays playoff game from 85. Pretty cool , Sundberg just hit a homer. Just told my 8 year old that I was 10 when this game happened and she freaked.

[HemiEd]

The 7-24-83 Pine tar game is on ESPN Classic right now.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

The 7-24-83 Pine tar game is on ESPN Classic right now.

Did anyone else watch this yesterday? That was a lot of fun, things have really changed.

I enjoyed the commentators (Yankee) talking about whether they thought Lou Pinella would ever become a manager.

[Sure-Oz]

Dayton Moore of the #Royals says LF Podsednik CF Ankiel and RF Dejesus. Dejesus is a tremendous LF but RF will not be a fit. TBC 18 minutes ago from web
from greg schaums twitter

Dayton is so awesome, DDJ is RF is a joke when he is an above avg LF'er

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by Sure-Oz

Dayton Moore of the #Royals says LF Podsednik CF Ankiel and RF Dejesus. Dejesus is a tremendous LF but RF will not be a fit. TBC 18 minutes ago from web
from greg schaums twitter

Dayton is so awesome, DDJ is RF is a joke when he is an above avg LF'er

Moore has looked at the possibilities in the outfield and selected the absolute worst possible scenario.

Congrats, Dayton!

[Sure-Oz]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

Moore has looked at the possibilities in the outfield and selected the absolute worst possible scenario.

Congrats, Dayton!

I really don't understand him...he continues to be the elmer fudd of GM's

[Fish]

Originally Posted by DaWolf

On Rick Ankiel and Dayton Moore
Dayton Moore is baseball's Lindsay Lohan. A young star incapable of handling a bigger role whose drastic errors are so routine as to be barely newsworthy. At some point, his entire general managership becomes an episode of 24--explosions everywhere, but, you know what, that's the show.

I thought this deserved repeating....

[Sure-Oz]

Bob Fescoe hates the signing, which might be more reason to like it, plus apparently ankiel has a lisp?

[DeezNutz]

Check out Rany's recent update. As usual, very informative.

And, because it pisses me off and is something that will undoubtedly come up this season as some try to find something good in the Kendall signing:

"Think Kendall is better at calling a game? We’ve been through this before. As Keith Woolner – you know, the guy the Indians hired to be their Manager of Baseball Research and Analysis – proved 10 years ago, “if there is a true game-calling ability, it lies below the threshold of detection.” There’s no evidence that any catcher – let alone Jason Kendall – has the ability to get a better performance from his pitchers than another."

From Rany, a few updates ago. Just to remind everyone that DM is brilliant.