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?

[stevenidol]

Zack Grienke says he doesn't feel 100% comfortable with his elbow, and will undergo a precautionary exam.

Dodgers say the exam is just them being overly cautious.

Man, that would be an expensive injury.

[Prison Bitch]

Like i said, why isn't Mendoza getting the look? He's cheap and he's effective.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

Like i said, why isn't Mendoza getting the look? He's cheap and he's effective.

1) Because the Royals don't believe in him, 100 percent.
2) Because the Royals think he's a long reliever, optimally
3) Because Luke Hochevar is still on the roster and they continue to believe he can be "fixed"
4) Because if they can't fix Luke, Bruce Chen is available (who actually is fine at the No. 5 spot).

Mendoza as the long reliever/Chen as the 5 would be fine with me. I fully expect Mendoza to get a handful of starts filling in for Chen and another handful filling in for others in the rotation (Likely candidate: Wade Davis)

[Toadkiller]

Pulling out the big mojo for this season. Was looking through boxes of crap and man do I have a lot of Royals stuff. Made me really miss the good old days. We need the next two years to be great. Oh and parking was 3 bucks.

[AndChiefs]

Originally Posted by stevenidol

Zack Grienke says he doesn't feel 100% comfortable with his elbow, and will undergo a precautionary exam.

Dodgers say the exam is just them being overly cautious.

Man, that would be an expensive injury.

That's too bad. I like Greinke.

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Hochevar's spring line:

8 IP
8 Ks
6 BBs
6 ER
1.88 WHIP
6.75 ERA

Kid might pitch JUST awful enough to be able to cut him and win the grievance. Maybe.

Of course, the team would have to be willing to cut him, first...

Jesus, he's already in mid-season form........

[alnorth]

The Yankees are asking Derrek Lee to come out of retirement and play 1B until Teixeira gets back. He didn't play at all last year.

It'll be fun watching them crash and burn.

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by ChiTown

Jesus, he's already in mid-season form........

We should start Hoch opening day!

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by AndChiefs

That's too bad. I like Greinke.

I don't think the Dodgers paid him enough. Maybe if they paid him better his elbow wouldn't ache so much.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Hochevar's spring line:

8 IP
8 Ks
6 BBs
6 ER
1.88 WHIP
6.75 ERA

Kid might pitch JUST awful enough to be able to cut him and win the grievance. Maybe.

Of course, the team would have to be willing to cut him, first...

Cut him? Dayton's probably working on an extension.

[stonedstooge]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Hochevar's spring line:

8 IP
8 Ks
6 BBs
6 ER
1.88 WHIP
6.75 ERA

Kid might pitch JUST awful enough to be able to cut him and win the grievance. Maybe.

Of course, the team would have to be willing to cut him, first...

Told you he was good/Dayton Moore

[alnorth]

There's also pride getting in the way. Rany wrote about it a couple weeks ago:

Contrary to how it seems sometimes, the Royals are quite aware of what people think about Hochevar. They are also aware that almost everyone thinks they’ve made a big mistake by retaining him at such a high salary – and by “everyone”, I don’t just mean fans, I mean most front offices. They know they’re bucking conventional wisdom here.

And if they cut bait with him now, they’d be admitting they made a mistake without even giving him the chance to prove it. The embarrassment that would cause makes it highly unlikely that they would do such a thing. The only scenario I could see that would earn him his release is if Hochevar’s stuff is qualitatively down this year – his velocity is gone, or he can’t throw strikes, something like that. Basically, the Royals would need an excuse – an excuse above and beyond the fact that he’s been a lousy pitcher for five years.

Once the season starts, things change. A bad first six weeks in the rotation might be enough to move him to the bullpen, if not off the team. The problem, of course, is that by that point his entire salary is guaranteed.

[DeezNutz]

"conventional wisdom"? . How about all semblance of common ****ing sense.

Hochevar is a complete sack of ****ing shit. Has been for years. No surprise for anyone paying a modicum of attention.

[siberian khatru]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Cut him? Dayton's probably working on an extension.

With a K rate like that, who would blame him? STUFF!

[chefsos]

I don't see KC on the schedule today. Intersquad game?