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]

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

With all of these resources and a supposed wealth of talent in the minors, I might ****ing die if the Royals somehow defy the odds and still suck in a couple of years.

If the Royals are not a winning team in 2013 I will be pissed.

I'm so beaten down and miserable as a fan, so desperate for hope, that I'm not even asking for playoffs (even if a 2nd wild card is added). Damn it, please just win in 2013, I'll suffer through another horrible year if they come through.

If this team has a losing record in 2013, and its a legit losing record not some weird fluke pythag bad luck, then I just might be done as a fan. Thats 2 years from now though, for now I'm just watching the prospects and hoping.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Sandwich picks really suck. Teams aren't penalized at all for signing plan B guys (unlike A guys) and the team that loses the player gets a great pick. Hell, if we'd kept Olivo and Buck we'd have two more "first round" type picks.

Ugh.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by alnorth

If the Royals are not a winning team in 2013 I will be pissed.

I'm so beaten down and miserable as a fan, so desperate for hope, that I'm not even asking for playoffs (even if a 2nd wild card is added). Damn it, please just win in 2013, I'll suffer through another horrible year if they come through.

If this team has a losing record in 2013, and its a legit losing record not some weird fluke pythag bad luck, then I just might be done as a fan. Thats 2 years from now though, for now I'm just watching the prospects and hoping.

I'm in the exact same place.

[KChiefs1]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_yl...arlybird010311

The Royals are squirreling away prospects

By Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports




Editor’s note: Yahoo! Sports will examine the offseason of every MLB team before spring training begins in mid-February. Ours starts with the Kansas City Royals.

2010 record: 67-95
Finish: Fifth place, AL Central
2010 final payroll: $76.8 million
Estimated 2011 opening day payroll: $45 million


Offseason action

Gone are six of the Kansas City Royals’ seven most expensive players from 2010, a welcome purge in some instances – fare thee well, Jose Guillen(notes), Kyle Farnsworth(notes) and Yuniesky Betancourt(notes) – and heart-rending in others. Fans hardened by nearly three decades of perpetual losing grew attached to Zack Greinke(notes) and David DeJesus(notes), only to watch the Royals trade them in cold and calculating fashion.

Such is the dilemma Kansas City faces in extracting itself from the morass of bad baseball: Sacrifice short-term satisfaction in hopes that long-term success will rope back in the aggrieved. And aggrieved they are following the Royals’ trade of Greinke, the AL Cy Young winner in 2009, to the Milwaukee Brewers for shortstop Alcides Escobar(notes), center fielder Lorenzo Cain(notes) and minor league pitchers Jeremy Jeffress(notes) and Jake Odorizzi.

With big bats on the way from the farm system, Escobar and Cain will be asked to do what they do well: catch the ball and provide up-the-middle stability. Jeffress throws 100 mph and could find himself in an eighth-inning role sooner than later. And Odorizzi adds to the plethora of prospects in one of the game’s most stocked farm systems since the Royals won the World Series in 1985, à la Tampa Bay late last decade.

Of course, prospects are dreams, whereas the reality of the 2011 Royals now includes outfielders Jeff Francoeur(notes) and Melky Cabrera(notes) and starter Vin Mazzaro(notes). The latter came over as the main return from Oakland for DeJesus and will join the rotation. The outfielders are low-risk, minimal-upside plays for a team biding its time until the kids arrive.

Some payroll flexibility remains for Kansas City to pluck another veteran bat as well as a fifth starter, though the moves would not be of great impact. The 2011 Royals are a team in transition, one that will look a lot different at the end of the season than the beginning, and money spent at this point is profligate. Better to use the farm system for a minimum-salary plug-in and devote that extra $1 million to the player-development system that has the Royals on the cusp of something special.

Reality check

No, that’s not a joke. The Royals are going to be good. They have a chance to be very good. Particularly for a small-market, low-revenue organization, they are in the best position possible.

The farm system overflows with talent at nearly every position. At Double-A Northwest Arkansas, the Royals will employ four high-ceiling, left-handed starters who, barring injury, will be in a future rotation: John Lamb, Mike Montgomery(notes), Chris Dwyer and Danny Duffy. Same goes for Odorizzi, and there are a handful of others in the organization who could become impact-level major league pitchers.

The position players are nearly as bountiful. Third baseman Mike Moustakas(notes) and first baseman Eric Hosmer should man the corners until the end of the decade – longer if the Royals somehow can convince their agent, Scott Boras, to allow them to sign extensions before they reach free agency. Wil Myers might have a better bat than both, and he’ll soon move from catcher to outfield. Christian Colon should shift over to second and fill out the infield with Escobar.

Most important, Kansas City has absolutely no cash committed to its major league roster after this season. None. Yes, the Royals will exercise Joakim Soria’s(notes) $6 million option in 2012 (as well as the $8 million option in ’13 and $8.75 million in ’14), but that’s it. And it gives general manager Dayton Moore an extreme amount of flexibility in building around the prospects.

He could flip one of the lefties and minor league surplus for an established left fielder. He could pinch pennies next offseason, too, when there is a dearth of pitching talent on the free-agent market, and wait until the potential jackpot in the 2013 offseason to add a big-time, established starter (Cole Hamels(notes), Matt Cain(notes), Jered Weaver(notes), Francisco Liriano(notes), Roy Oswalt(notes), John Danks(notes), Chad Billingsley(notes), Shaun Marcum(notes) and, perhaps, Zack Greinke).

There are going to be growing pains in 2011, and a 100-loss season is eminently possible. Futile though it may be to ask for patience at this point, the Royals do so in good faith. This is a team on the come, and it’s about damn time.

Royals in Haiku

Trust the process? Lord,
Haven’t we heard that too much?
Please give us some wins

[KChiefs1]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...iliate&c_id=kc

New Royals prospects full of potential
Club counting on production from recently acquired quartet

By Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com | 01/06/11


They are, for now, merely names on a page, and we know little about how the four prospects acquired in last month's Zack Greinke trade will fare in Royal blue.

But for what it's worth, Brewers farm director Reid Nichols, who helped oversee the development of Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress and Jake Odorizzi in the Minors, believes the future looks bright for all four players.

"We're happy for them," Nichols said, "because they're going to get the opportunity."

The Brewers used their deep farm system to take advantage of the opportunity to land a proven ace and Cy Young Award winner in Greinke. For the Royals, what was perhaps the most blockbuster deal in club history was all about getting upside back.

With plans to build a young core of talent that can seriously contend in the not-too-distant future, the Royals netted two players at premium positions up the middle and two highly touted arms.

Escobar, of course, is the furthest along of the four, because he now has a full Major League season under his belt. It was, however, a season of mixed results for the 24-year-old Escobar, who has a lot of work ahead of him on the offensive end. He batted just .235 with a .288 on-base percentage in 145 games for the Brew Crew, swiping 10 bases in 14 attempts and striking out (70) about twice as often as he walked (36).

It was, however, merely the first full-time go-round for Escobar, a Venezuelan native whose defensive skills and speed are his top attributes. Nichols, like the Royals, sees the possibility of bigger and better things for Escobar, because of the defense he provides.

"I've said all along that you won't find a much better shortstop than Escobar," Nichols said. "Watching him come up through the Minor Leagues, he'd make so many plays where you'd just say, 'Wow.' He's going to have to find himself at the plate and learn to be more selective, but I think he's making progress."

Escobar will get that chance to progress as the Royals' starting shortstop at the outset of 2011. For Cain, the role is less clear, as the Royals have signed Melky Cabrera to man center.

Cain is 25 but younger in baseball years, because he didn't even begin playing the sport until his sophomore year of high school. The Brewers took him in the 17th round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft out of Tallahassee Community College.

"When we got him, he was very green," Nichols said. "He was almost surprisingly green, to where he didn't really know what was going on. But he really worked hard."

The work included a move from right to center, where the Brewers felt Cain's speed would apply. They were rewarded with above-average defense that is considered Major League ready. At the plate, he has shown the ability to get on base (.402 OBP at Double-A Huntsville and Triple-A Nashville last season) and then use his speed to advance (26 stolen bases in 29 tries, after a knee injury cost him much of 2009).

In his first taste of the big leagues last year, Cain held his own with a .306 average (45-for-147), and he hit his first homer on the season's final day. Cain hasn't shown much power for his size (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) but his athleticism is considered a big plus.

"We saw him as a top-of-the-lineup guy," Nichols said.

Odorizzi might be the most intriguing of all the Royals' additions, because some scouts feel he has the stuff to be a top-of-the-rotation guy, like Greinke.

Alas, it will be quite some time before anybody knows for sure, for Odorizzi is merely 20 years old and spent last year in Class A ball in the Midwest League. He went 7-3 with a 3.43 ERA and 135 strikeouts in 120 2/3 innings.

"He's solid-average across the board," Nichols said. "He's starting to understand and read hitters. His command is approaching solid-average. He's going to be a big league starter."

But not for quite some time. In the meantime, the Royals added an eye-catching arm in Jeffress, and he could find himself in the 2011 bullpen at some point. Jeffress, 23, is eye-catching because of a fastball that can reach 100 mph. It helped him strike out 43 batters in 32 1/3 innings across the Class A and Double-A levels last year.

"In his first professional outing [after getting selected by the Brewers with the 16th overall pick in 2006], he threw four pitches at 103 mph," Nichols recalled. "He was consistently in the high-90s."

But Jeffress' Minor League career, to date, has been sullied by three positive tests for a "drug of abuse," which he admitted to being marijuana. He was suspended twice -- once for 50 games and another time for 100. The Brewers felt he showed more maturity when he returned in 2010, thanks in part to some guidance from legendary closer Trevor Hoffman. He won the Royals over with a strong performance in the Arizona Fall League.

"With a guy like JJ, the challenge was to get him coming to the park every day knowing he'd have to work to stay focused on his job," Nichols said. "I think that helped us getting to a point where he's back on the field. I think he could have helped us [in the big leagues] this year."

Instead, he'll have a chance to help the Royals, who will be counting on this blockbuster deal to net positive big league results.

Anthony Castrovince is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his columns and his blog, CastroTurf, and follow him on Twitter at @Castrovince. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by alnorth

If the Royals are not a winning team in 2013 I will be pissed.

I'm so beaten down and miserable as a fan, so desperate for hope, that I'm not even asking for playoffs (even if a 2nd wild card is added). Damn it, please just win in 2013, I'll suffer through another horrible year if they come through.

If this team has a losing record in 2013, and its a legit losing record not some weird fluke pythag bad luck, then I just might be done as a fan. Thats 2 years from now though, for now I'm just watching the prospects and hoping.

Dude, we could mental twins regarding the Royals. If for some reason they can not get it done by 2013, (winning record and lots of Progress is visual for a team that is going to continue to compete), then I will be done with the Royals. This is coming from a guy that has been to 8 Home Playoff games over the years, including 3 WS games. By done, I'd wish at that point they would just sell the fuggin team so I don't have to ever think about them again. I pray it doesn't get to that point.

[gblowfish]

Hey now, we're doing a fine job supplying the major leagues with talented players.
Just ask Boston, New York and Milwaukee!

[Coach]

Well, at least a good news is that Bannister will not be back in KC. He signed a contract with Yomiuri Giants, a team in Japan.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Coach

Well, at least a good news is that Bannister will not be back in KC. He signed a contract with Yomiuri Giants, a team in Japan.

That makes sense. He's always said that he is the very definition of a 第四 starter.

[Royal Fanatic]

Originally Posted by Coach

Well, at least a good news is that Bannister will not be back in KC. He signed a contract with Yomiuri Giants, a team in Japan.

I was always a fan of Brian Bannister. You can't deny that he is a fan of the game and that he worked as hard as he could to be successful. I don't know of any other major league players who are sabermetricians.

His only problem is that he's just not very good.

[jbwm89]

Originally Posted by ChiTown

Dude, we could mental twins regarding the Royals. If for some reason they can not get it done by 2013, (winning record and lots of Progress is visual for a team that is going to continue to compete), then I will be done with the Royals. This is coming from a guy that has been to 8 Home Playoff games over the years, including 3 WS games. By done, I'd wish at that point they would just sell the fuggin team so I don't have to ever think about them again. I pray it doesn't get to that point.

I agree I will be patient until 2013, after that if we are still terrible I won't know what to do.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by jbwm89

I agree I will be patient until 2013, after that if we are still terrible I won't know what to do.

Pick an NL team and move on. Alternatively, a non-douche AL team could work. Honestly, if fate forces me in another direction, I could see trying to adopt the Twins. I respect that franchise.

[KChiefs1]

This guy compares the Greinke & Garza trades...I found it kinda amusing:

http://www.anothercubsblog.net/chica...za-trades.html

About a week before Christmas the Brewers acquired Zack Greinke, Yuniesky Betancourt and $2 million for Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, Jeremy Jeffress and Jake Odorizzi.

Today the Cubs acquired Matt Garza, Fernando Perez and a player to be named later for Chris Archer, Brandon Guyer, Robinson Chirinos, Hak-Ju Lee and Sam Fuld.

Somewhat similar deals in terms of players moving to and from so let's figure out how we can compare these two deals.

First, Betancourt is a replacement level player. Perez is, at best, a replacement level player. We're going to forget about those two because they essentially cancel one another out. If there's any advantage here it obviously goes to Betancourt who can at least play SS and hit as well as Perez can. Still, these two don't matter. In fact, we know the PTBNL isn't a great player according to a few sources so let's just include that guy in this. He'll make up the difference that Betancourt has on Perez.

Second, Hak-Ju Lee and Jake Odorizzi are both young and a long way from the big leagues. They're also both liked by the scouts so we're going to assume they're equal and cancel each other out too.

Third, Brandon Guyer isn't even 3 months older than Cain so let's start with them. Cain's career OPS in the minors was .781 while Guyer's is .816. Guyer is 6'1, 210 and Cain is 6'2, 200. In the same league at AA, Cain's OPS was about 50 points lower than Guyer's. Cain was a bit younger at the level so it stands to reason some of the difference may have been age. Both play all 3 outfield spots. I can't find any advantage here. These two are, for the most part, the same damn player.

So we've canceled out Betancourt/Perez, Odorizzi/Lee and now Guyer/Cain.

That leaves Jeremy Jefress going to the Royals on the Brewers side of the trade and Chris Archer and Sam Fuld moving to the Rays.

Jeffress turned 23 years old in September while Archer turned 22 in the same month. Jeffress has a career 3.99 ERA to Archer's 3.67. Both pitchers are tough to hit. Jeffress allowed 6.9 hits per 9 and Archer 7.1. Jeffress allowed 0.4 HR/9 while Archer allowed .5. Jeffress walked 5.5 per 9 while Archer has walked 5.2. Jeffress struckout just over 10 per 9 while Archer struck out just over 9 per 9. However, in 3 seasons at AA for Jeffress he posted a 5.43 ERA. He was converted to relief where he pitched in 2010 and will likely remain. He's also been busted for drug use and has failed 3 tests. He was suspended for 50 games and then again for 100 games. it hasn't been PED use, but you have to wonder how much he cares if he's willing to throw it away to smoke some ****ing weed. Archer on the other hand, is younger, a starting pitcher, has shown improved command and has dominated AA whereas Jeffress got lit up.

Chris Archer is the much better pitcher and the much more likely player to succeed at the MLB level. It's not even that close. Talented arm as a reliever vs talented arm as a starter? That simple.

That leaves us with Sam Fuld who has no value whatsoever so just forget about him. His only value is that he's white and plays hard so Cubs fans love the guy.

Below is where we are so far:
Betancourt = Perez and PTBNL
Odorizzi = Lee
Cain slightly better than Guyer
Archer a whole hell of a lot more valuable than Jeffress

That leaves Garza and Greinke. Greinke is owed $27 million over the next two seasons and is then is a free agent. Garza qualified for arbitration last year as a Super Two meaning he gets four years of arbitration. Garza earned $3.35 million last year so we have to estimate how much he'll be paid over the next 3 seasons. We can do that because we know players eligible for the first year get 40% and then 60% and 80%. We'll go ahead and stick to 40% of his free agent value even though he is actually a Super Two. Keep that in mind because it's quite possible we're not estimating high enough. We'll also be generous and say he's a 3 WAR player at Wrigley in 2011, 2.5 in 2012 and 2.0 in 2013. We'll say the free agent value is $5 million and it increases by $0.5 million each season.
That gives us salaries of $6 million in 2010, $8.25 million in 2012 and $9.6 million in 2013 (total of $23.85 million). Greinke will be paid $3.15 million more than Garza over the remaining years of their contracts.

We can estimate that Greinke will be worth about 5 WAR in 2011 and 4.5 WAR in 2012. That makes Greinke worth $49.75 million over the next two years plus about $5 million for type A free agent compensation. We'll just say $55 million. Then we subtract what he's being paid and we get a surplus value of $28 million. Repeating this for Garza, we find he's worth $40.75 million over the next three seasons. Add in $5 million for free agent compensation and he's worth $46 million. he'll be paid $23.85 million. His surplus value is $23, which is $5 million less than the Brewers got when they acquired Greinke.

That's just the two main players. We've already shown the Cubs gave up a lot more elsewhere than the Brewers did. The Cubs not only gave up a lot more, but they got less in return. That seems remarkably difficult to accomplish, but that's what the Cubs just did.

I can't help but wonder how much the Cubs would have been willing to give up to Grienke?

Starlin Castro, Brett Jackson, Trey McNutt and Geovany Soto?

Plus cash? And Wrigley Field?

Well, if they could unload Wrigley Field on the Rays the Cubs would easily come out ahead even if they included every single player in the organization and got nothing in return. Too bad that didn't happen.

Some may say that Greinke could have vetoed a trade to the Cubs and that's certainly true. He could block a trade to 20 teams so it's probably likely one of those teams was the Cubs.

We never heard the Cubs were interested in Greinke and even if they were and he would have vetoed the trade, why on earth do you give up more than the Brewrers did to get a less pitcher?

What kind of ****ing nonsense is that?

[Ebolapox]

Originally Posted by KChiefs1

This guy compares the Greinke & Garza trades...I found it kinda amusing:

http://www.anothercubsblog.net/chica...za-trades.html

I note he COMPLETELY ignores escobar. kinda hard to compare when he's one of the bigger pieces of that trade.

[alnorth]

Welp. Lets go Royals. Wait, we'll suck at least until 2012...

Lets go Northwest Arkansas.