*** Official Royals Repository, Part 3 ***

[duncan_idaho]

In this thread: All things related to the AL Champions.

Duncan's Official Team Record prediction: 90 wins
One month in: Looking strong
All Star Break: Looking strong, probably should adjust up to 93-94 wins.
Duncan's Official Team MVP prediction: Eric Hosmer
One month in: Upstaged by his best friend MIKE MOOTACOS, MAN. Tell us bout your hittin, bro!
All Star Break: Lorenzo Cain starting to run away with this one.

Division Preview
Clearly, overlooking the Twins was a mistake at this point. I still don't believe in that team long-term, but they're starting to get that Magic Season twinkle about them.

Detroit is toast. Garbage rotation beyond Price and Sanchez, Miggy out.

And Cleveland... Cleveland still is dangerous if it ever clicks offensively, because the starting pitching is good enough for them to real off a 15-5 stretch and get right back into the playoff picture.

The Royals will be a division winner IF ...
1) Ventura and Duffy combine for 375+ innings of high-quality work
2) Eric Hosmer delivers on his potential with a FULL season of success rather than bursts
3) The deeper bullpen lessens the critical load on Herrera, Davis and Holland
4) Lorenzo Cain stays healthy
5) Either Alex Rios or Kendrys Morales bounces back to 2013 form

The first of these is clearly not going to happen. The second looked good through the end of May but is now eating Cain's dust (Hosmer has still been improved this year, though, lessening his valley. If he has a really hot second half, he can get right back in it). Item three is definitely the case. Item four should probably be first at this point. And Morales has more than bounced back.

Duncan’s Top 20 for mid-season 2015:

Spoiler!

1. Raul Adalberto Mondesi, SS, BOTH: Tools, tools, tools. RA has tools galore. At his best, he’s an All-Star SS who plays elite D, hits 15-20 HR, swipes 40 bags, and is an ideal 1, 2 or 3 hitter. At his worst, I think he looks a lot like Alcides Escobar. Plate discipline is his biggest challenge at this point, but evaluators are confident that will come with time. Clear No. 1
2. Sean Manaea, LHP: I still believe in the upside here, even with the abbreviated start. 6-5 lefties with his combination of stuff and deception have the ability to pitch at the front of a rotation for a long time.
3. Kyle Zimmer, RHP: He’s pitching again and staying healthy, which is nice. He’s pitcing out of the bullpen to build back his arm strength, which is less nice. But still has that high upside, just a lower floor now. Ideally, the team will use him as a bullpen weapon in September (because he has earned it) and then give him a chance to transition back to starting for 2016.
4. Miguel Almonte, RHP: Still love the body, FB/CH combo. Results aren’t eye popping, but he’s still low enough and early enough in the development to prize those things over performance. Still a solid No. 3 starter upside, and just a year and some change away from potentially being ready to contribute at the MLB level.
5. Cody Reed, LHP: Reed has popped up this year, forcing an early promotion to Northwest Arkansas. His stuff is legit, with mid-90s heat and a wipeout slider. Control still needs work, but a promising young arm (that makes Almonte much more tradeable)
6. John Lamb, LHP: Lamb has had a career resurgence in 2015, putting him back on the prospect map. He’s dominating at AAA and will be in the rotation mix in 2016, unless he suffers another setback. Fastball is back, changeup is improving, still working on the ability to throw the slider and curve for strikes when down in the count.
7. Jorge Bonifacio, RF, RH: Emilio’s little brother got off to a horrible start in 2015 but has heated up as the season went on. He also is translating BP power to game power for the first time, with 15 HR just past the mid-way point of his season. Despite his disappointing 2014, he has a chance to build his way back into legit prospect status – and still is only 22. Next challenge for him should be Omaha, but that may wait for the start of the 2014 season.
8. Scott Blewett, RHP: Blewett has a nice two –pitch mix already and is off to a strong start. With his size (6-6) and a good fastball/curveball combo, Blewett could eventually turn into a good No. 3 starter, with a MLB-average changeup.
9. Nolan Watson, RHP: The Royals’ 2015 sandwich pick is a polished prep arm who is adding velocity and explosiveness to a good, polished base. Likely to move quickly.
10. Ashe Russell, RHP: The 2015 top pick probably needs more work than Watson, but the upside is really nice. Again, advanced two-pitch mix that will depend on him adding a changeup. Could be a very good NO. 2 if it all adds up.

Spoiler!

11. Bubba Starling, CF, RH: Starling has been up and down this year but put himself back on the map by greatly improving his K rate while also improving across the slash line as a hitter. His defense and baserunning are MLB ready; if Starling can work himself into a league average hitter, he can be a solid MLB regular who plays great D in CF while hitting 15 HR and swiping 20 bags.
12. Balbino Fuenmayor, 1B/DH, RH: The Balbino came out of basically nowhere in 2015 to earn a Futures Game spot. Big power and an improved two-strike approach have turned the late bloomer into a legit prospect. He’s blocked at the MLB level currently by Eric Hosmer and Kendrys Morales, but Fuenmayor’s combination of power hitting and good average/strike zone control makes him intriguing.
13. Cheslor Cuthbert, 3B, RH: Cheslor probably is not going to be the star KC was hoping for when signing him out of Nicaragua, but he does look like he can be a solid reserve for an MLB club. Good defense at 3B paired with a solid plate approach and some gap power plays fine off the bench. He becomes a lot more interesting if they think he can stick as a 2B, which they have experimented with.
14. Chase Vallot, C/DH/1B: I really like Vallot’s power and plate discipline combo. His bat will probably force him from behind the plate, but he’s held his own despite being extremely young for every level he has faced.
15. Alfredo Escalera-Maldonado, OF, RH: Escalera-Maldonado earned a promotion to Wilmington at age 20, which is pretty advanced movement for that age. He’s an athletic outfielder who has shown some plate discipline at an early age, which is encouraging. Doesn’t sound like he can stick in CF long term for KC, but his bat has become one to watch.
16. Pedro Fernandez, RHP: I haven’t seen much of him, but like the reports I’ve heard on his fastball and general makeup. Could become the next Almonte/Mondesi, though he’s more likely to land in the pen than either of them.
17. Elier Hernandez, OF, RH: Elier Hernanez teamed with Escalera-Maldonado in breaking out at Low-A and earning a promotion to Wilmington. It’s still early for this guy – he is just 20 years old – but he doesn’t take walks and hasn’t developed the prodigious power many thought he had the potential for. Still worth watching.
18. Hunter Dozier, 3B, RH: Dozier is reworking his swing mid-season, which generally will cause production to do what his has done: Nose dive. The changes he made entering the season (seemingly geared towards increasing his power production) were a disaster, and now he’s trying to get back to what he used to be. Still looks great and checks most of the scouting boxes, but the performance hasn’t matched, and it almost knocked him out of the list.
19. Christian Binford, RHP: After a breakthrough 2014, Binford struggled mightily at AAA and suffered a demotion. His upside remains similar – a back-end starter who can eat innings – but Binford’s lack of velocity and reliance on command have caught up to him so far.
20. Marten Gasparini, OF, SH: Gasparini is intriguing because of his speed and athleticism. He’s a LOOOOONG ways from the majors and young for his level, but reports on his bat speed, swing, and speed remain positive enough to keep him on the bubble.

[Prison Bitch]

There weren't any pissed off Brew fans at the time, I read their boards and they loved it. And they loved it the whole next season they won96 and went to the NLCS. Even today I doubt you'd find many who would trade that year for "what ifs"

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by SNR

All I'm saying is that we'd be competitive with the Giants. Neither team has really changed the way they approach the game. The Royals are improved, and last year we were one base away from tying it up in Game 7.

It seems silly to me that the Giants are some sort of superpower and the Royals are shit in a bag. It'd be a pretty even matchup (again) as a World Series.

The Giants ARE a "Super Power". Three out of the last five World Series champions.

All I stated as that I'm not sure that this move is enough to win the Series, not that the Royals are a bad team.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

The Giants ARE a "Super Power". Three out of the last five World Series champions.

All I stated as that I'm not sure that this move is enough to win the Series, not that the Royals are a bad team.

The Royals could win the WS with or without Cueto because you're talking about three extremely small sample sizes. The Giants were never the best team when they won the WS, not even close, actually.

Getting Cueto improves the Royals chances in each playoff series, but only by a few percent. It's just the nature of baseball.

If you put a 38 win team in the NBA playoffs they would never win, but a 75 win team could win the WS.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by BWillie

It seems to me that Lamb was really really close to Odorizzi in prospect status. If Lamb would have never got TJd and struggled the 1st season after his injury (understandably so) he would have rivaled Odorizzi. I think I valued Lamb a little higher than most Royals fans though. Still, I thought they would give up more so I'm not really pissed about the trade or anything.

I think Almonte in the place of Lamb would have been perfect to me.

Your eval of Lamb is off base, man.

If he'd never had the TJ, he would have remained a superior prospect to Odorizzi. He was an elite guy before the injury, just never found his way all the way back. He's getting closer....

The highest value player in this deal is either Finnegan or Reed, depending on how you look at it.

Lamb is the third piece/lotto ticket.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

The Giants ARE a "Super Power". Three out of the last five World Series champions.

All I stated as that I'm not sure that this move is enough to win the Series, not that the Royals are a bad team.

They can't use those championship rings to find a deeper rotation or hit the ball better.

ON PAPER the Royals are an even matchup with the Giants. It'd be a tight series. I don't see any good reason to think that the Royals can't beat them given how close last year was.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

The Royals could win the WS with or without Cueto because you're talking about three extremely small sample sizes. The Giants were never the best team when they won the WS, not even close, actually.

Getting Cueto improves the Royals chances in each playoff series, but only by a few percent. It's just the nature of baseball.

If you put a 38 win team in the NBA playoffs they would never win, but a 75 win team could win the WS.

Yeah. Trading Cueto improves KC's chances of holding on to the division and of securing home field advantage in the playoffs by maintaining the best regular-season record.

It helps. It makes the Royals a better or more complete team - but it still is a crapshoot when you get there.

If Mike Trout goes on a tear like he has been on in the past week in a 7-game series, you're still susceptible to getting bounced.

[Hootie]

Are we really talking about Cardinals greatest teams in the Royals repository thread? Lmao. Yeah, ban me from your thread hahaha

[KevB]

Originally Posted by BWillie

It seems to me that Lamb was really really close to Odorizzi in prospect status. If Lamb would have never got TJd and struggled the 1st season after his injury (understandably so) he would have rivaled Odorizzi. I think I valued Lamb a little higher than most Royals fans though. Still, I thought they would give up more so I'm not really pissed about the trade or anything.

I think Almonte in the place of Lamb would have been perfect to me.

He didn't just "struggle the 1st season after TJ". He was awful in '12 and '13 while being utterly mediocre in '14. More importantly, his fastball was topping out in the high 80's. He really wasn't a prospect anymore at that point. It's pretty cool that he progressed and worked his way back into the picture, but I'll take Almonte at this point.

[ChiefsCountry]

It's funny that Lamb is talk on here while every other social media it's about Finnegan. We are way too advanced/nerdy/obessed with sports lol.

[okcchief]

Last years series was about as close as you could get with MadBum having a historically great series. If the Royals and Giants met again the Royals would probably be a slight favorite to win. It's not like the Giants skull ****ed them last year. I think everyone respects what the Giants have accomplished, but they aren't an unbeatable machine either. Baseball comes down to who is hot in October. The playoffs are much harder to predict in baseball than any other sport. Anyone who makes the cut has a shot. The Royals have a better shot with Cueto than without. They'll have as good of a chance as anyone, but the hottest team will win. Why not us?

[KevB]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

It's funny that Lamb is talk on here while every other social media it's about Finnegan. We are way too advanced/nerdy/obessed with sports lol.

The nerds in this thread have a longer history with Lamb, and his path has been interesting to say the least. It's easy to pull for him.

[KevB]

Originally Posted by okcchief

Last years series was about as close as you could get with MadBum having a historically great series. If the Royals and Giants met again the Royals would probably be a slight favorite to win. It's not like the Giants skull ****ed them last year. I think everyone respects what the Giants have accomplished, but they aren't an unbeatable machine either. Baseball comes down to who is hot in October. The playoffs are much harder to predict in baseball than any other sport. Anyone who makes the cut has a shot. The Royals have a better shot with Cueto than without. They'll have as good of a chance as anyone, but the hottest team will win. Why not us?

Adding Cueto should allow us to protect the pen a bit more. It also, hopefully, allows us to expand our lead in the division which would allow for more rest for our regulars. A rested position group and bullpen going into the playoffs would be big.

[okcchief]

Originally Posted by KevB

Adding Cueto should allow us to protect the pen a bit more. It also, hopefully, allows us to expand our lead in the division which would allow for more rest for our regulars. A rested position group and bullpen going into the playoffs would be big.

That could go both ways I suppose. Those wildcard teams that have had to battle to the last week have a good track record lately. Though having your season rest on that one game is terrifying. I'll take my chances as division champs lol.

[suzzer99]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

THIS! The Royals get hot, they can beat anyone in the playoffs.

At this point I'm more worried about some other team getting hot and beating us in the playoffs.

[alnorth]

So, win or lose, given the ALCS last year and this big trade, GMDM probably has guaranteed himself a contract extension even if we get blown out in the ALDS, right? We wanted an ace, and he went out and got one without completely trashing the future.