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.

The 2013 season is closer than we realize. The Royals will feature a rebuilt rotation that likely includes 4 new starters. The most-watched prospects of 2012, Wil Myers and Jake Odorizzi are gone, the price required to rebuild the rotation.

The Royals still have Sal Perz, who has even more of a "star" look to him than a year ago. They still have Alcides Escobar, who was a little less SS jesus in 2012 but brought more at the plate. Billy Butler finally hit a number of home runs that matches his build and how hard he hits the ball. Alex Gordon did it again. Hosmer and Moose struggled.

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.

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?
2) When will Luke Hochevar be shown the door?
3) Does Hosmer bounce back?
4) Can Moustakas hit for a whole season like he did in the first half of 2012?
5) Who regresses?
6) Who plays 2B?
7) Can Jeff Francoeur be at least replacement level, rather than epic horrible level?
8) Will Dayton Moore survive to see 2014?
9) Will Danny Duffy come back healthy? And if he does, is he the same, better or worse?
10) And the big one: Has KC added enough to run down the big-money Detroit Tigers?

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Why isn't DM making a move for Shumaker? Seems like a no brainer. Can play 2B and all outfield spots. Hits close to .300 every year. A really good locker room guy. Could provide some veteran leadership in the locker room. Knows how to win, has two World Championships rings.

Cards won't be asking much. He just doesn't fit into our plans this year but seems to be a great fit for the Royals.

I would like it. The price you guys were talking about yesterday (Calixte or Mondesi) makes it unattractive, but if it was, say, a low impact guy like a depth starter or a lottery ticket arm, that might work.

Also was thinking about this... let's play pretend and flash forward to mid-season or this time next year. Say Orlando Calixte is raking at Northwest Arkansas (.280/.330/.500 slash). At his age, and if his D at SS holds up, that probably makes him a top 50 prospect. Would St. Louis be interested enough in a young SS to move one of the power RHPs for him? With Rosenthal, Miller, Jenkins and Martinez, seems like there's a surplus there that might match up.

Cards perspective on that? Not sure how dire a need SS is for you guys.

[stonedstooge]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

Hosmer was consistently tweaking and altering his approach and swing. Seitzer talked about it all the time. It was after his horribly bad luck start that they started trying to work on things and adjust them (don't recall the specifics anymore) even nothing was broken. I don't really think Hosmer needed help. It wasn't until they broke what wasn't fixed that things started getting bad for him as far as making poor contact and having ugly swings.

I really don't care about Frenchy and am not sure he can be helped. And it just seems like Seitzer had a lot of influence in that he wanted the guys to be patient even in favorable situations, so they would just watch meatballs go right by.

Could be. I liked Seitzer and believe Francouer had a hand in his dismissal along with Leadheaded Ned. Guess we will see what happens with the new batting coaches.

[duncan_idaho]

If I'm being optimistic about the offense, here are best case scenarios:

7 - Alex Gordon: .310/25/80 RBI/110 R/10 SB/.380 OBP/.500 SLG
6 - Escobar: .300/8/50/85 R/.340 OBP/.390 SLG/40 SB
3 - Eric Hosmer: .300/30/110/100/15 SB/.350 OBP/.500 SLG
DH - Billy Butler: .325/30/100/85/0/.375 OBP/.500 SLG
5 - Mike Moustakas: .280/35/90/80/3/.340 OBP/.500 SLG
2 - Sal Perez: .300/22/85/75/0/.330 OBP/.500 SLG
9 - Jeff Francoeur: .280/25/75/75/.315 OBP/.450 SLG
8 - Lorenzo Cain: .280/20/75/75/.320 OBP/.450 SLG/25 SB
4 - Chris Getz: .260/0/40/65/.300 OBP/.375 SLG

If you get max upside years from EVERYONE (not going to happen), then you can talk about elite offense.

I think 720 R is a pretty good mark to shoot for. And that's with Hosmer and Moustakas being quality producers, if not elite guys (though if Moose puts up a .270/30/80 line, with his defense, that makes him an elite AL 3B).

[stonedstooge]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

If I'm being optimistic about the offense, here are best case scenarios:

7 - Alex Gordon: .310/25/80 RBI/110 R/10 SB/.380 OBP/.500 SLG
6 - Escobar: .300/8/50/85 R/.340 OBP/.390 SLG/40 SB
3 - Eric Hosmer: .300/30/110/100/15 SB/.350 OBP/.500 SLG
DH - Billy Butler: .325/30/100/85/0/.375 OBP/.500 SLG
5 - Mike Moustakas: .280/35/90/80/3/.340 OBP/.500 SLG
2 - Sal Perez: .300/22/85/75/0/.330 OBP/.500 SLG
9 - Jeff Francoeur: .280/25/75/75/.315 OBP/.450 SLG
8 - Lorenzo Cain: .280/20/75/75/.320 OBP/.450 SLG/25 SB
4 - Chris Getz: .260/0/40/65/.300 OBP/.375 SLG

If you get max upside years from EVERYONE (not going to happen), then you can talk about elite offense.

I think 720 R is a pretty good mark to shoot for. And that's with Hosmer and Moustakas being quality producers, if not elite guys (though if Moose puts up a .270/30/80 line, with his defense, that makes him an elite AL 3B).

JIMP

[CoMoChief]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

If I'm being optimistic about the offense, here are best case scenarios:

7 - Alex Gordon: .310/25/80 RBI/110 R/10 SB/.380 OBP/.500 SLG
6 - Escobar: .300/8/50/85 R/.340 OBP/.390 SLG/40 SB
3 - Eric Hosmer: .300/30/110/100/15 SB/.350 OBP/.500 SLG
DH - Billy Butler: .325/30/100/85/0/.375 OBP/.500 SLG
5 - Mike Moustakas: .280/35/90/80/3/.340 OBP/.500 SLG
2 - Sal Perez: .300/22/85/75/0/.330 OBP/.500 SLG
9 - Jeff Francoeur: .280/25/75/75/.315 OBP/.450 SLG
8 - Lorenzo Cain: .280/20/75/75/.320 OBP/.450 SLG/25 SB
4 - Chris Getz: .260/0/40/65/.300 OBP/.375 SLG

If you get max upside years from EVERYONE (not going to happen), then you can talk about elite offense.

I think 720 R is a pretty good mark to shoot for. And that's with Hosmer and Moustakas being quality producers, if not elite guys (though if Moose puts up a .270/30/80 line, with his defense, that makes him an elite AL 3B).

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Ok, we'll just stop right there.... You're making me chuckle.

Not sure if you're just trolling, or really don't know what you're talking about.

Chicago's offense is lightyears better than KC's. They scored 75 more runs than we did. That's a fairly sizeable difference. Minnesota's offense even outscored KC's by 25 runs (mainly due to their ability to get on base).

KC and Cleveland are right on par with each other, offensively. We scored 9 more runs than them... so there's the two teams that you should compare from last year.

Go take a look at how many runs the Royals scored in 2011. Hosmer and Moose had significant sophomore slumps.

The "we might make the playoffs" scenario presumes their 3rd years, which is not an unreasonable assumption at all, will be like or better than their 1st years. And Butler/Gordon/Perez/Escobar wont regress.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by CoMoChief

Frenchy had an .805 OPS in 2011. Shocked everyone, but he did it. He's not likely to repeat that because his babip was really high in 2011, but it was really low in 2012, and he's probably a low-700 OPS guy. If we're talking "maximum potential" for Frenchy, thats not an outrageous call. (what is probably unreasonable is presuming everyone maxes out)

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

If I'm being optimistic about the offense, here are best case scenarios:

7 - Alex Gordon: .310/25/80 RBI/110 R/10 SB/.380 OBP/.500 SLG
6 - Escobar: .300/8/50/85 R/.340 OBP/.390 SLG/40 SB
3 - Eric Hosmer: .300/30/110/100/15 SB/.350 OBP/.500 SLG
DH - Billy Butler: .325/30/100/85/0/.375 OBP/.500 SLG
5 - Mike Moustakas: .280/35/90/80/3/.340 OBP/.500 SLG
2 - Sal Perez: .300/22/85/75/0/.330 OBP/.500 SLG
9 - Jeff Francoeur: .280/25/75/75/.315 OBP/.450 SLG
8 - Lorenzo Cain: .280/20/75/75/.320 OBP/.450 SLG/25 SB
4 - Chris Getz: .260/0/40/65/.300 OBP/.375 SLG

If you get max upside years from EVERYONE (not going to happen), then you can talk about elite offense.

I think 720 R is a pretty good mark to shoot for. And that's with Hosmer and Moustakas being quality producers, if not elite guys (though if Moose puts up a .270/30/80 line, with his defense, that makes him an elite AL 3B).

If we actually do that, we're probably closer to 770-780 runs than 720.

[DeezNutz]

Don't think for a minute that duncan was projecting our lineup in its totality. He simply listed all of the major pieces and their individual best-case scenarios.

Some might make this; some won't, and some will disappoint.

In sum, have to hope that the roster as a whole is significantly more talented, and this is the million-dollar question.

[lewdog]

RUSH Sucks!!!

[duncan_idaho]

I'm by no mean saying that's what I expect the lineup to put up (And if that did happen, I'd expect them to be over 800 runs).

Just listing best case scenarios, IMO, from each of them. Not what I actually expect to see ...

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

I would like it. The price you guys were talking about yesterday (Calixte or Mondesi) makes it unattractive, but if it was, say, a low impact guy like a depth starter or a lottery ticket arm, that might work.

Also was thinking about this... let's play pretend and flash forward to mid-season or this time next year. Say Orlando Calixte is raking at Northwest Arkansas (.280/.330/.500 slash). At his age, and if his D at SS holds up, that probably makes him a top 50 prospect. Would St. Louis be interested enough in a young SS to move one of the power RHPs for him? With Rosenthal, Miller, Jenkins and Martinez, seems like there's a surplus there that might match up.

Cards perspective on that? Not sure how dire a need SS is for you guys.

No way Mo our GM can expect a Calixte for a utility player. Nor anything less than a Meyer + more for any of those other pitchers you mentioned.

Kelly or Lynn maybe. For crissakes Lynn won 18 games last year.

I think DJ was talking about throwing in Kelly and Shumaker. Thats too much for me. I think Kelley would be your #2 or #3 starter. He throws in the high 90's and doesn't walk a lot of hitters. He's a top notch talent. And he's the grandson of Machine Gun Kelly. Think of the marketing.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

Don't think for a minute that duncan was projecting our lineup in its totality. He simply listed all of the major pieces and their individual best-case scenarios.

Some might make this; some won't, and some will disappoint.

In sum, have to hope that the roster as a whole is significantly more talented, and this is the million-dollar question.

Shumaker would be way better for you guys at 2B than Getz. No way they are asking a lot for Shu.

DM has decided that this is your 2 year window to make a run. I hope is pans out. You loyal Royal fans deserve to root for a winner. Deserve to experience playoff baseball in KC.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

No way Mo our GM can expect a Calixte for a utility player. Nor anything less than a Meyer + more for any of those other pitchers you mentioned.

Kelly or Lynn maybe. For crissakes Lynn won 18 games last year.

I think DJ was talking about throwing in Kelly and Shumaker. Thats too much for me. I think Kelley would be your #2 or #3 starter. He throws in the high 90's and doesn't walk a lot of hitters. He's a top notch talent. And he's the grandson of Machine Gun Kelly. Think of the marketing.

The ****?

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Shumaker would be way better for you guys at 2B than Getz. No way they are asking a lot for Shu.

DM has decided that this is your 2 year window to make a run. I hope is pans out. You Royal fans deserve to root for a winner. Deserve to experience playoff baseball in KC.

Agree with all of this, dude. Thanks for the kind thoughts.