(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?

[Mecca]

Someone should explain to me why the Royals guy on 610 is convinced Bonifacio is gone. Also Dyson being able to play center isn't that big a deal since Aoki and Bonifacio could fill in there making Maxwell a better keep.
Posted via Mobile Device

[alnorth]

I think I'm now even more convinced that we'll start the year with 11 pitchers.

We need Dyson, Maxwell's our 4th OF, Valencia's obviously not going anywhere, and getting rid of Bonifacio would be crazy. I guess we could trade one of those guys, but there's a decent chance that it works itself out by June. Moose could suck again, or someone could get hurt. Even if Moose hits well enough to stay and we are as incredibly lucky with injuries in 2014 as we were in 2013, I have to believe that its not that hard to shuttle pitchers in and out of Omaha all year. We might have a few pitchers who log a lot of miles in the air or on the bus than usual, but we should be able to make it work.

Imagine if Dyson were cut in March, and then by the end of April Maxwell broke his leg or something so that we never really needed to free that spot up, it would look pretty silly then.

[Fansy the Famous Bard]

Do it Duncan.

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Just looking at the roster, Dyson's ability to play CF and steal bases as a pinch runner is a huge asset, but it is more easily replicated than what you get out of Jason Maxwell (who offers big-time RH power and crushes lefties).

If they carry 12 pitchers, I think Dyson is the odd man out. It's also possible they go with 11 pitchers early to protect him.

EDIT: MY NEXT POST WILL BE NUMBER 6,000. Should I use it to start the 2014 repository?

Put it in the porn thread.

[dmahurin]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Just looking at the roster, Dyson's ability to play CF and steal bases as a pinch runner is a huge asset, but it is more easily replicated than what you get out of Jason Maxwell (who offers big-time RH power and crushes lefties).

If they carry 12 pitchers, I think Dyson is the odd man out. It's also possible they go with 11 pitchers early to protect him.

EDIT: MY NEXT POST WILL BE NUMBER 6,000. Should I use it to start the 2014 repository?

I say do it. This one had good mojo to end the year.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

:
SP2: Jason Vargas: Worse, but I like Vargas to put up good No. 3 numbers (3.75 ERA/200 IP/1.25 WHIP)
.

Oh my, where can I get action on this prediction?