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.

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?

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

You really think 91 PAs is a valid sample size?

Is that really what you got from that sentence?

I'm saying I would rather see what Falu has at this point because of the small success he had vs what Giavotella has produced to this point. Even more so if they are both short-term options.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

but you can say the same thing about Giavotella. Falu actually produced at the major league level (granted with only 1/4 of the ABs), where Giavotella hasn't.

I have been as hard as anyone on here, I think, on Gio. But he has produced consistently at the minor league level at a much higher level than Falu.

He's hitting better than Falu this year at the same level, and Falu has really only had ONE good offensive season (last year).

Based on their minor performance and upside, Gio is more likely to be successful hitting in the major leagues than Falu.

[DJJasonp]

Wil Myers is 0-2 in his MLB debut today.....BUST!!!!

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Can you elaborate on why you want him?

Kendrick is a nice player but not a star, and he probably costs "Star" prices to purchase. There are other targets who offer more offensive upside (Alex Rios, Chase Utley, Mike Morse) at likely lower costs in prospects/trade chips.

If you bring in a stop-gap like Utley or Morse, you can sign a similar replacement in FA for about the same money you'd give Kendrick.

If you are able to land a guy like Rios that you control for a few more years, don't have to worry as much about a FA bat.

I'll put it this way: Rios and Utley are big-enough bats to make a major difference and impact in the KC lineup. Kendrick is a good bat but does not have the same effect.

I'm not a guru like some of the baseball fanatics on this board (yourself included). I'm just thinking of winning now, and HK can help this team today.

[AndChiefs]

Originally Posted by DJJasonp

Wil Myers is 0-2 in his MLB debut today.....BUST!!!!

To be fair...the Red Sox have Aceves pitching. His 5 ERA is pretty daunting.

[CaliforniaChief]

I think all of us envisioned a day when Odorizzi and Myers were playing in the majors together.

For Tampa.

I'm cool.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by ChiTown

I'm not a guru like some of the baseball fanatics on this board (yourself included). I'm just thinking of winning now, and HK can help this team today.

Fair enough.

So you'd be cool with targeting Alex Rios or Chase Utley if they can help MORE today, right?

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaChief

I think all of us envisioned a day when Odorizzi and Myers were playing in the majors together.

For Tampa.

I'm cool.

I cooled quite a bit on Odorizzi's ultimate upside during the course of last season. I don't think the kid ever develops the breaking pitch he needs to be a legitimate No. 2 starter (his upside when acquired), but he'll be a solid 3/4 for a while, I think.

Myers, who knows what's going to happen. His massive K rates are a real concern, IMO. I still think Jay Bruce is kind of his "best-case scenario" but time will tell.

[Nightfyre]

Interesting to note: Royals are 11-3 in June, but are still struggling to play catch-up with the Tigers who are 10-5 this month. Even though the Royals are hot, the Tigers are making it tough.

[Nightfyre]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

I cooled quite a bit on Odorizzi's ultimate upside during the course of last season. I don't think the kid ever develops the breaking pitch he needs to be a legitimate No. 2 starter (his upside when acquired), but he'll be a solid 3/4 for a while, I think.

Myers, who knows what's going to happen. His massive K rates are a real concern, IMO. I still think Jay Bruce is kind of his "best-case scenario" but time will tell.

I still think Odorizzi will be a AAAA pitcher. Even in AAA, a lot of his outs were deep flyouts that MLB power will turn into homeruns, imo.

[CaliforniaChief]

Originally Posted by Nightfyre

Interesting to note: Royals are 11-3 in June, but are still struggling to play catch-up with the Tigers who are 10-5 this month. Even though the Royals are hot, the Tigers are making it tough.

True. Just think though, we could be completely buried right now. We're hanging in there.

[mr. tegu]

Odorizzi made two starts with Tampa and got pretty beat up.

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Fair enough.

So you'd be cool with targeting Alex Rios or Chase Utley if they can help MORE today, right?

Sure

[Nightfyre]

Also noticed today that Felipe Paulino's rehab start got put off due to back stiffness.

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaChief

True. Just think though, we could be completely buried right now. We're hanging in there.

For the rest of June, the Tigers have two more against Baltimore, 4 against Boston, three against the Angels, and three against Tampa for their next 12 games.

We have two more against Cleveland, three against CWS, two against Atlanta, and three against Minnesota. I think we should be able to make up a few games throughout the rest of this month.