(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 Bambi

Dayton Moore "In a small way I feel we've won the World Series."

Not sure if GMDM is SRS.

[Bambi]

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

Wut?

YEP

[-King-]

Best record in 2.5 decades and best 2nd half record in the league this year. He should be fired.
Posted via Mobile Device

[WhawhaWhat]

The Marlins Put The Wrong Date On Their Dumb, Fake No-Hitter Tickets

I post this because this is such a Royals thing to do.

Well, stupid begets stupid. The Marlins have been selling the 9,100 unused tickets to Henderson Alvarez's walk-off no-hitter in the season finale. Dumb, but not unbearably so. Until they ****ed up the date on the print-out tickets.

Look, if you're going to sell shitty vanity PDFs—which is despicable and perverse and naturally the Marlins are doing this instead of sending real tickets—the least you can do is get the goddamn date right. It's the whole reason to spend $15 (plus fees) for one of these monstrosities. Here's a screenshot of the ticket they sent reader Steve, for the game Sunday, September 29, 2013:

October 3rd is a Thursday, for anyone counting. In the interest of reader service, here's a PDF of a ticket with the correct date (all personal information altered or removed), because the Marlins use Helvetica and it took 90 seconds, and also because $39 for two PDFs is a vile perversion of natural order.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaChief

This was expected, IMO.

I'm much much more interested in the roster moves this off-season:
1. Do we retain or replace Santana?
2. Do we add power to the lineup?
3. Do we add depth to challenge/push Moose/Escobar?
4. Can we extend Shields with 2 more years? Can we lock up Hosmer?

Great questions and will make for an interesting offseason.

I don't think they'll go into the offseason with the plan to replace Escobar, but it would be smart to improve the depth at SS (a tall task in this environment, considering how few quality SSs are available).

Not sure what they'll do with Moustakas. Considering this organization's historical loyalty to players, I don't imagine they'll really make an effort to push him out/move him, but it would be great to bring in someone who can play either 2B or 3B and provide some pop.

While the end of April 2013 was WAY too soon to give up on Moustakas/demote him, the end of April 2014 would not be too soon if he's struggling. Would be nice to have a better option than playing a AAAA player there or rushing a prospect next season.

If they bring in an "answer" at 2B and slide Bonifacio to a UTIL role, then you have insurance at 3B. If they bring in an "answer" at 2B that also can play 3B, you have insurance.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaChief

This was expected, IMO.

I'm much much more interested in the roster moves this off-season:
1. Do we retain or replace Santana?
2. Do we add power to the lineup?
3. Do we add depth to challenge/push Moose/Escobar?
4. Can we extend Shields with 2 more years? Can we lock up Hosmer?

1. We have some good arms in the system with Ventura, Duffy, etc, so if we let Santana walk, that's fine with me. I like to think we can survive without Santana, as long as Chen can take a one year as a swing guy.

2. Yes, We need more power. IIRC, KC has 110 homeruns. Not good.

3. Yes, those two should be aware that they are going to be put on notice, and if they don't produce, they'll be shipped off to the scrap heep.

4. Would be nice to extend Shields, but I'm not 100% sure on that yet. Hosmer is, to me, more important than Shields at this point, but each side has it's positives and negatives in the argument.

[chefsos]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

I'm not thrilled about it, bunt it shouldn't surprise anyone.

Everyone missed the quality humor in this post.

[siberian khatru]

Originally Posted by Coach

1. We have some good arms in the system with Ventura, Duffy, etc, so if we let Santana walk, that's fine with me. I like to think we can survive without Santana, as long as Chen can take a one year as a swing guy.

We don't just need arms to replace Santana, we need to replace his 200+ innings. Getting 600+ average-or-better innings from our top 3 starters took tremendous pressure off our bullpen, which contributed to its success.

I don't see any way in hell Davis, Chen, Ventura, Duffy or Zimmer are going to throw 200 innings next year. If we don't re-sign Santana, we need to go find somebody else who will give us at least league-average 200 innings. Then you can slot the remaining guys at 4 and 5, which is where they belong right now.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by siberian khatru

We don't just need arms to replace Santana, we need to replace his 200+ innings. Getting 600+ average-or-better innings from our top 3 starters took tremendous pressure off our bullpen, which contributed to its success.

I don't see any way in hell Davis, Chen, Ventura, Duffy or Zimmer are going to throw 200 innings next year. If we don't re-sign Santana, we need to go find somebody else who will give us at least league-average 200 innings. Then you can slot the remaining guys at 4 and 5, which is where they belong right now.

Valid point on the 200 innings, and I agree with your comment on that. But what I am concerned about is the asking price may far end up being out of KC's price range. I also feel that with only 110 home runs, that's what held KC back (along with Fat Ass' dip of power and Gordon's mysterious struggles).

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by siberian khatru

We don't just need arms to replace Santana, we need to replace his 200+ innings. Getting 600+ average-or-better innings from our top 3 starters took tremendous pressure off our bullpen, which contributed to its success.

I don't see any way in hell Davis, Chen, Ventura, Duffy or Zimmer are going to throw 200 innings next year. If we don't re-sign Santana, we need to go find somebody else who will give us at least league-average 200 innings. Then you can slot the remaining guys at 4 and 5, which is where they belong right now.

Agree 100 percent.

If the target is someone who can pitch 180-200 innings at a decent level (especially with this defense behind them), there are a lot of potential options for that in FA, and a lot with the same time of potential upside/payoff we saw from Santana.

[CaliforniaChief]

So it looks like Lincecum is probably going back to the Giants. Too bad, I really thought he would have been a great 1-year option to resurrect his stock as a dominant ace on a $15 million deal.

So if not Santana, who will get a qualifying offer to secure a draft pick, who?

We've talked about Josh Johnson. Also due to hit the market are Matt Garza (who will probably make more than Santana, so no), Ricky Nolasco, Bronson Arroyo, Roberto Hernandez (formerly known as Fausto Carmona), Scott Kazmir, Ubaldo Jimenez, Phil Hughes, Hiroki Kuroda, and a few more.

I still dream about a Shields/Lincecum 1-2 punch, but realize it's probably not happening.

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaChief

So it looks like Lincecum is probably going back to the Giants. Too bad, I really thought he would have been a great 1-year option to resurrect his stock as a dominant ace on a $15 million deal.

So if not Santana, who will get a qualifying offer to secure a draft pick, who?

We've talked about Josh Johnson. Also due to hit the market are Matt Garza (who will probably make more than Santana, so no), Ricky Nolasco, Bronson Arroyo, Roberto Hernandez (formerly known as Fausto Carmona), Scott Kazmir, Ubaldo Jimenez, Phil Hughes, Hiroki Kuroda, and a few more.

I still dream about a Shields/Lincecum 1-2 punch, but realize it's probably not happening.

I wouldn't of minded Lincecum, but I don't know if he's ever coming "back". Last I heard, his old velocity is completely gone (His fastball was only reaching 89-90 in the game I watched in July).

[CaliforniaChief]

Originally Posted by Chiefspants

I wouldn't of minded Lincecum, but I don't know if he's ever coming "back". Last I heard, his old velocity is completely gone (His fastball was only reaching 89-90 in the game I watched in July).

He might be adapting, though...he's still striking out almost 200 batters a season and has been very durable, despite his epileptic delivery. 197 innings and 193 strikeouts this season.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaChief

So it looks like Lincecum is probably going back to the Giants. Too bad, I really thought he would have been a great 1-year option to resurrect his stock as a dominant ace on a $15 million deal.

So if not Santana, who will get a qualifying offer to secure a draft pick, who?

We've talked about Josh Johnson. Also due to hit the market are Matt Garza (who will probably make more than Santana, so no), Ricky Nolasco, Bronson Arroyo, Roberto Hernandez (formerly known as Fausto Carmona), Scott Kazmir, Ubaldo Jimenez, Phil Hughes, Hiroki Kuroda, and a few more.

I still dream about a Shields/Lincecum 1-2 punch, but realize it's probably not happening.

Lincecum is probably done as a consistently dominant starter. His bread and butter was the huge difference in fastball velocity and his changeup, and that hammer curve. As he has lost velocity, his changeup became more hittable and his curve lost some bite. You'll still see him dominant in spots here and there, but he'll get shelled a lot, too.

I expect Nolasco to re-sign in LA. Names I'd like to see KC look at are:

Nolasco
Scott Feldman
Josh Johnson
Scott Kazmir
Phil Hughes
Wandy Rodriguez (if the Pirates do not pick up his pricy option)

[HemiEd]

I hope like heck that they can get Santana signed. It would mean a lot and further signify their commitment to get away from the Wal-Mart approach.