(New) 2013 Kansas City Royals Repository

[duncan_idaho]

New thread, this time with more burst.

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.

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.

At the midway point, Dayton is left counting on the river card. The flop and turn didn't help him, and he's looking at the Tigers holding a pair of Queens and the Indians holding a pair of 9s. His 2013 plan hasn't failed - yet - but the odds are not in his favor.

Burning questions updates below.

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?

Midseason check-in: Yes, the rotation is certainly improved enough. Shields has pitched like a fringe No. 1 and Santana is having his best season. Guthrie has horrible peripherals but has continued to perform well at his home park and eat innings on the road. Davis brought neither his kick-ass mentality or improved velocity back to the rotation and is in Luke Hochevar/Hiram Davies territory.

2) When will Luke Hochevar be shown the door?
Midseason check-in: It appears, never, at this point. Hochevar has been solid in non-leverage situations, though pretty much every time he has been used with men on base in an inning, it has been a disaster.

3) Does Hosmer bounce back?
Midseason check-in: It took some time, but Hosmer's performance from June 1 on is probably the most encouraging thing about the 2013 season so far.
4) Can Moustakas hit for a whole season like he did in the first half of 2012?
Midseason check-in: Nope. Moustakas was god-awful, then great for about 3 weeks, then god-awful again. He has been better since he started working with Brett and Grafol but still has a long way to go.
5) Who regresses?
Midseason check-in: Welp, Alicides Escobar is not a surprising name here (though Yost's stubborn insistence on hitting him second is ridiculous). Billy Butler is a surprise. He isn't having a terrible year - still contributing a lot to the offense - but he's not hitting for the average or power he has displayed over the past several years.
6) Who plays 2B?
Midseason check-in: A whole bunch of people, and not that great. Gio is at least getting a shot, though he once again is not doing much with it.
7) Can Jeff Francoeur be at least replacement level, rather than epic horrible level?
Midseason check-in: Hahahahahahahahahahaha
8) Will Dayton Moore survive to see 2014?
Midseason check-in: Outlook uncertain. Probably still around, unless the team completely tanks in the second half and he does something foolish. My guess - he sacrifices Ned Yost this offseason and gets one more shot with a new manager in 2014.
9) Will Danny Duffy come back healthy? And if he does, is he the same, better or worse?
Midseason check-in: Yes. Velocity looks the same, and it looks likely he is the same guy as before.
10) And the big one: Has KC added enough to run down the big-money Detroit Tigers?
Midseason check-in: Doesn't look like it, does it?

[BlackHelicopters]

Originally Posted by lewdog

Why do I have the feeling we are going to miss out on getting another bat for this lineup?

28 years and counting, that is why.

[Lex Luthor]

I was initially on board with bringing in Carlos Beltran. But the more I think about it, the more I think the Royals just dodged a bullet. Carlos Beltran is going to be 37 when the season starts and his skills and durability are obviously declining. If Billy Butler can just return to the form of two years ago he will put up better numbers than Beltran, and he'll do it for half the price.

I'd hate to see the Royals make the same mistake the Angels made. The Angels made a huge blunder when they signed Albert Pujols, but they can recover quickly from that mistake because they have a local TV contract that pays them $147 million per year. The Royals local TV contract pays them $20 million per year, and they can't afford to tie up $48 million on an aging player with declining skills. If they did that and Beltran didn't perform, Dayton Moore's entire rebuilding plan would be flushed down the toilet and Royals fans would be without all hope once again.

Thank you Carlos for signing with the Yankees! Thank you for saving Dayton Moore from himself.

[Fansy the Famous Bard]

While I somewhat agree, i don't think GMDM is done... meaning, he's gonna end up giving money to some schmuck like Juan Pierre or.... duh duh duuuuuuuh... Jeff Francouer.

Beltran at least means production in my eyes... regardless of the age and rate of decline. I have no doubt in my mind that if a trade is not made, he'll blow a wad of cash (with years invested) on someone that ****ing sucks.

[BlackHelicopters]

GMDM is not done which is as scary as it is hopeful. Maybe we did dodge a bullet with Beltran. Maybe he is hoping Moose, Butler, et al. rebound and have stellar offensive numbers. Vargas can't be the big splash. Can it?

[kcchiefsus]

So when does the current local TV contract expire? Does anybody know if there is hope of a significant bump in revenues once a new contract is negotiated? Of course, I'm sure we could double the yearly revenue from this and David Glass would still say the "break even point" is $85 million.

[Fansy the Famous Bard]

Originally Posted by kcchiefsus

So when does the current local TV contract expire? Does anybody know if there is hope of a significant bump in revenues once a new contract is negotiated? Of course, I'm sure we could double the yearly revenue from this and David Glass would still say the "break even point" is $85 million.

Through 2019.

[BlackHelicopters]

Originally Posted by kcchiefsus

So when does the current local TV contract expire? Does anybody know if there is hope of a significant bump in revenues once a new contract is negotiated? Of course, I'm sure we could double the yearly revenue from this and David Glass would still say the "break even point" is $85 million.

We finally return to the real argument. The economics just don't work for Kansas City. Yearly aberrations occur, but these huge TV contracts are going to keep the high and mighty in the drivers seat.

[DJJasonp]

Originally Posted by Brainiac

I was initially on board with bringing in Carlos Beltran. But the more I think about it, the more I think the Royals just dodged a bullet. Carlos Beltran is going to be 37 when the season starts and his skills and durability are obviously declining. If Billy Butler can just return to the form of two years ago he will put up better numbers than Beltran, and he'll do it for half the price.

I'd hate to see the Royals make the same mistake the Angels made. The Angels made a huge blunder when they signed Albert Pujols, but they can recover quickly from that mistake because they have a local TV contract that pays them $147 million per year. The Royals local TV contract pays them $20 million per year, and they can't afford to tie up $48 million on an aging player with declining skills. If they did that and Beltran didn't perform, Dayton Moore's entire rebuilding plan would be flushed down the toilet and Royals fans would be without all hope once again.

Thank you Carlos for signing with the Yankees! Thank you for saving Dayton Moore from himself.

This. The homer and nostalgia in me really wanted it to happen. But I think most of us, deep down inside, knew it had more bad than good for the royals in the long run.

As much as I like HR's......we dont have to hit a ton of them to be successful. But we do need to get on base and not strike out a shit ton (which is why I like the aoki move). And we need to have players be clutch with runners on.

Beltran would have helped that....and because I truly believe hitting is contagious....he could have had a similar impact to our lineup as did Shields to the pitching staff.

While I think the Aoki move was good....there are still a few "IF's" involved with next season (if we make no more moves) if we are to make the playoffs:

IF Butler returns to form and stops hitting into DP's

IF Moose can hit above 265 and above 20 HR's

IF Cain, Lough, Maxwell, Dyson, collectively, can produce respectable numbers

IF no one else regresses

[WhawhaWhat]

#royals will try again to beat yanks on omar infante. should be strong market. also an uphill battle for kc.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) December 8, 2013

[Jerm]

Heyman also tweeted we offered Beltran 3 yrs. 40 mil.

[Al Bundy]

Originally Posted by DJJasonp

This. The homer and nostalgia in me really wanted it to happen. But I think most of us, deep down inside, knew it had more bad than good for the royals in the long run.

As much as I like HR's......we dont have to hit a ton of them to be successful. But we do need to get on base and not strike out a shit ton (which is why I like the aoki move). And we need to have players be clutch with runners on.

Beltran would have helped that....and because I truly believe hitting is contagious....he could have had a similar impact to our lineup as did Shields to the pitching staff.

While I think the Aoki move was good....there are still a few "IF's" involved with next season (if we make no more moves) if we are to make the playoffs:

IF Butler returns to form and stops hitting into DP's

IF Moose can hit above 265 and above 20 HR's

IF Cain, Lough, Maxwell, Dyson, collectively, can produce respectable numbers

IF no one else regresses

In other words, we're ****ed.

[BlackHelicopters]

Originally Posted by DJJasonp

This. The homer and nostalgia in me really wanted it to happen. But I think most of us, deep down inside, knew it had more bad than good for the royals in the long run.

As much as I like HR's......we dont have to hit a ton of them to be successful. But we do need to get on base and not strike out a shit ton (which is why I like the aoki move). And we need to have players be clutch with runners on.

Beltran would have helped that....and because I truly believe hitting is contagious....he could have had a similar impact to our lineup as did Shields to the pitching staff.

While I think the Aoki move was good....there are still a few "IF's" involved with next season (if we make no more moves) if we are to make the playoffs:


IF Butler returns to form and stops hitting into DP's

IF Moose can hit above 265 and above 20 HR's

IF Cain, Lough, Maxwell, Dyson, collectively, can produce respectable numbers

IF no one else regresses

If.

[Unsmooth-Moment]

Omar Infante would be nice.. How much is a guy like that going to get?

[tk13]

There's a big article in the Seattle Times today ripping apart the dysfunction in the Mariners front office. Our buddy Jack Z, who fans across baseball would've fired their own GM for about 4 years ago, gets shredded. If true this is amazing.

One of those speaking out is Blengino, the former No. 2 in Zduriencik’s front office. Blengino, who was working for the Milwaukee Brewers with Zduriencik at the time, said he authored virtually the entire job application package Zduriencik gave the Mariners in 2008, depicting a dual-threat candidate melding traditional scouting with advanced statistical analysis.

Blengino said he prepared the package because he was versed in the hot trend of using advanced stats for team decisions.

“Jack portrayed himself as a scouting/stats hybrid because that’s what he needed to get the job,” Blengino said. “But Jack never has understood one iota about statistical analysis. To this day, he evaluates hitters by homers, RBI and batting average and pitchers by wins and ERA. Statistical analysis was foreign to him. But he knew he needed it to get in the door.”

The Seattle Times obtained a copy of the package, which talks of rebuilding with minimal pain through shrewd drafts, undervalued free agents and a “vast pipeline of young, homegrown star-caliber talent.” Advanced stats charts ranked every major-leaguer and top minor-leaguers, while computer spreadsheets depicted each team’s positional depth and payroll commitments.

Zduriencik declined to speak about his stats knowledge or Blengino’s role in the package.

It’s hardly unusual in the corporate world for trusted assistants to design job applications. But after initial success, Zduriencik had a slew of failed player moves — coinciding with his eventual decision to push Blengino out.

“Jack tried to destroy me,” Blengino said.

http://seattletimes.com/html/mariner...ners08xml.html

[penbrook]

Originally Posted by Unsmooth-Moment

Omar Infante would be nice.. How much is a guy like that going to get?

Heyman said 3-4 year deal worth about 8-10 mil a year.

Infante hit .318 last year.