So is David Glass gonna use the money we're not spending this year....

[cmh6476]

i feel like an asshole!

[beavis]

We'll have them all for a minimum of 6 years. They are unable to become free agents before then. The norm for the first two years is for them to make at or around the league minimum. After that, they start getting increases every year. I think they are eligbile for arbitration after 3 years (that maybe off by a year).

I look for Baird to start to try to lock them up through their arbitration years like they did Berroa. He's signed through his seventh year. The club gets a slight discount on what the player would normally cost, plus an extra year beyond free agency, and the player gets the safeguard of a long term guaranteed contract.

Baird has said the money is there to sign these guys. I just hope he's right.

[cmh6476]

Originally Posted by beavis

We'll have them all for a minimum of 6 years. They are unable to become free agents before then. The norm for the first two years is for them to make at or around the league minimum. After that, they start getting increases every year. I think they are eligbile for arbitration after 3 years (that maybe off by a year).

I look for Baird to start to try to lock them up through their arbitration years like they did Berroa. He's signed through his seventh year. The club gets a slight discount on what the player would normally cost, plus an extra year beyond free agency, and the player gets the safeguard of a long term guaranteed contract.

Baird has said the money is there to sign these guys. I just hope he's right.

I hope you're right

[KCTitus]

Wow... a full decade of the 'youth movement'. I can remember before I left KC hearing Herk talking about how, now, they were going in a new direction called the youth movement. That was 1994.

I guess 'youth movement' is a euphymism for acting as a triple A club in the major leagues.

That's just sad, relegate the club or fold it.

[JohnnyV13]

Actually,

I think the royals are doing the right thing. For the first time in years, the Royals have some young pitchers that look like they can be legit top of the rotation guys.

The only way for a small market team to win is to follow the Marlins Model: use young players with key veterans, and if you are in position to make the playoffs at the trading deadline, get star veteran rentals to make your team competitive in a playoff series.

In years you are not competitive at the trading deadline, you have to deal players that are coming up on free agency to restock your farm system (a la the Beltran deal). If this works, you will have a constant flow of young talent coming to the bigs. BUt, you need outstanding personnel evaluation to carry out this strategy.

[beavis]

Originally Posted by KCTitus

Wow... a full decade of the 'youth movement'. I can remember before I left KC hearing Herk talking about how, now, they were going in a new direction called the youth movement. That was 1994.

I guess 'youth movement' is a euphymism for acting as a triple A club in the major leagues.

That's just sad, relegate the club or fold it.

That youth movement consisted of... Johnny Damon. I think this one is legit. 20 out of the 25 players on the team are under 30.

[KCTitus]

Originally Posted by beavis

That youth movement consisted of... Johnny Damon. I think this one is legit. 20 out of the 25 players on the team are under 30.

I dont follow the club, but I do remember there being others. One guy went to the A's and a Pitcher was signed by the Braves, I think, and got subsequently hurt.

At that time, they did not resign any of their 'big name' FA's and brought up a bunch of young people. They're still doing it and as they develop, the player signs with another club for a 10M+ annual salary that KC cannot afford.

It's truly a shame, IMO, I like the Royals back in the day, but today they're just not competitive in the Majors.

[beavis]

Originally Posted by KCTitus

I dont follow the club, but I do remember there being others. One guy went to the A's and a Pitcher was signed by the Braves, I think, and got subsequently hurt.

At that time, they did not resign any of their 'big name' FA's and brought up a bunch of young people. They're still doing it and as they develop, the player signs with another club for a 10M+ annual salary that KC cannot afford.

It's truly a shame, IMO, I like the Royals back in the day, but today they're just not competitive in the Majors.

They traded Appier to the A's in the late 90's, but he was no spring chicken at the time. Early 30's if I recall correctly. The only one I can think that we lost to the Braves was Paul Byrd, who we signed as a free agent the year before, and was in the twilight of mediocre at best career when he went to Atlanta.

[tk13]

Originally Posted by KCTitus

Wow... a full decade of the 'youth movement'. I can remember before I left KC hearing Herk talking about how, now, they were going in a new direction called the youth movement. That was 1994.

I guess 'youth movement' is a euphymism for acting as a triple A club in the major leagues.

That's just sad, relegate the club or fold it.

You have to remember the team had no official owner at the time, and they let things toil for years until they finally let Glass have the team. Glass was Kauffman's hand picked successor... I had my doubts at first but the 2003 season proved a lot to me, he proved he is more than willing to spend money in order to improve the team and make a bunch of trade deadline acquistions. Then he spent money to bring in some more quality veterans to try and put us over the top quickly, but at the same time he is sticking with the plan of going through this youth movement. The free agent moves blew up in his face, but it wasn't through lack of trying. Now we're building the farm system better than it's been built in a long time, and we're not going to abandon it like we did several times in the 90's. Of course if you'd actually followed the team you'd know that as opposed to just sounding like the idiot that calls into sports radio that you abhor so much...

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by tk13

You have to remember the team had no official owner at the time, and they let things toil for years until they finally let Glass have the team. Glass was Kauffman's hand picked successor... I had my doubts at first but the 2003 season proved a lot to me, he proved he is more than willing to spend money in order to improve the team and make a bunch of trade deadline acquistions. Then he spent money to bring in some more quality veterans to try and put us over the top quickly, but at the same time he is sticking with the plan of going through this youth movement. The free agent moves blew up in his face, but it wasn't through lack of trying. Now we're building the farm system better than it's been built in a long time, and we're not going to abandon it like we did several times in the 90's. Of course if you'd actually followed the team you'd know that as opposed to just sounding like the idiot that calls into sports radio that you abhor so much...

I don't doubt that he'll lay out some money when we are one or two players away, and they tried to do that in '03-'04 with Leskanic, White, Gonzalez and Santiago, et al. The moves didn't work out, and it turned out that IMO we had an '03 team that was grossly overachieving, but he did bring in some people that the FO thought could put us over the top.

Now, it seems we need a few more years again. But I'm not in the "Glass will never spend money" crowd. I just think he knows as well as the rest of us that a bat or two isn't going to make this into a 90 win team, and he didn't get rich by dumping his money into poor investments.

[cookster50]

Originally Posted by cmh6476

i feel like an asshole!

*sniff* You smell like one too!!


Sorry, couldn't resist!

[KingPriest2]

There was a article by Flanagan about this around 2 weeks ago. They are all basically signed til 2008 and we will have a payroll of $50 mil

[KingPriest2]

Originally Posted by KingPriest2

There was a article by Flanagan about this around 2 weeks ago. They are all basically signed til 2008 and we will have a payroll of $50 mil

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted on Wed, Apr. 06, 2005



Royals could afford to keep core players through 2008

JEFFREY FLANAGAN


You will hear the Royals talk a lot over the next several years about their core of young players. That is now the standard language of all small-market teams.

Small-market teams will try to keep their core of young players together as long as they can, and away from vultures such as George Steinbrenner, while at the same time keeping an eye on their break-even point.

As the Royals look to the future, their break-even point in terms of payroll in three or four years is likely to be around $50 million. (Remember that there is another collective-bargaining agreement coming in 2007 that could sway that figure.)

So will the Royals be able to afford their core in, say, 2008? The answer would appear to be yes.

Let's take a totally hypothetical look at what the roster and payroll might look like in 2008, taking into consideration the players' service time, which evolves from pre-arbitration to arbitration to free agency. We'll also make the huge assumption that this core becomes a highly productive one.

Pitchers: Jeremy Affeldt would be entering free agency and could easily command $7 million from the Royals. The rest of the core of pitchers would be arbitration or pre-arbitration players. Here are the estimates: Zack Greinke ($2.75 million), Denny Bautista ($1.75 million), Runelvys Hernandez ($5 million), Mike MacDougal ($1.2 million), Jaime Cerda ($700,000), Nate Field ($700,000), Andy Sisco ($700,000), Mike Wood ($700,000), J.P. Howell ($360,000), Luis Cota ($360,00), Ambiorix Burgos ($360,000).

Catchers: John Buck ($1.5 million), Paul Phillips ($450,000).

Infielders: Angel Berroa is under contract for $4.75 million. Mike Sweeney's present contract will have expired, but it's possible that the Royals could get Sweeney, who will be 35 in 2008, for perhaps $6 million as a DH then. Ruben Gotay ($1.2 million), Mark Teahen ($1.2 million), Andres Blanco ($450,000), Justin Huber ($450,000).

Outfielders: David DeJesus ($1.5 million), Mitch Maier ($360,000), Chris Lubanski ($360,000), Billy Butler ($360,000), Unknown free-agent bopper ($10 million). The Royals, in this hypothetical situation, would be able to afford a $10 million free agent.

Total cost of the payroll for 2008: $50,160,000