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?

[gblowfish]

Hud wants Royals to play 1930's style baseball, because some 90 year old Cardinal guy told him "it worked in 1930...."

Yeah.......

[gblowfish]

Hud reminds me of a rural high school debater who his totally getting his ass kicked by Rockhurst.

[gblowfish]

Hud: TAKE THE PAIN!!!!! TAKE THE PAIN!!!!

[gblowfish]

I'm now pretty sure....
Hud is mentally ill.

[gblowfish]

Hud should be forced to wear a hockey helmet while he works.

[gblowfish]

Hud is now talking about his sphincter....

[BlackHelicopters]

Rex is a paid hack. I still dislike him.

[gblowfish]

Hud's now talking about strap ons. I think he's lost it.

[duncan_idaho]

Anybody with a BA sub...

I'll swap you bad news on Hosmer for the good news on John Lamb from JJ Cooper.

DM me.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Hypothetical:

Glass fires Moore and hires you as the GM. You will have access to all of the resources that Moore had, but no more. Your payroll will be capped somewhere in the $90MM range unless you can begin drawing 2.5 million+ fans/year.

How would you retool the Royals? What do you do with guys like Moustakas and Hosmer? How do you try and develop the players you have in A ball? What kind of trades might you make in order to restock the farm system?

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Hypothetical:

Glass fires Moore and hires you as the GM. You will have access to all of the resources that Moore had, but no more. Your payroll will be capped somewhere in the $90MM range unless you can begin drawing 2.5 million+ fans/year.

How would you retool the Royals? What do you do with guys like Moustakas and Hosmer? How do you try and develop the players you have in A ball? What kind of trades might you make in order to restock the farm system?

I'd try to trade as many arms in the minors as possible. Furthermore, Perez is officially on the table, since he likely brings the biggest return.

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

Hud's on 610 polishing the turd right now. Amazing. He should have worked for the Iraq Ministry of Information.

Yup.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Hypothetical:

Glass fires Moore and hires you as the GM. You will have access to all of the resources that Moore had, but no more. Your payroll will be capped somewhere in the $90MM range unless you can begin drawing 2.5 million+ fans/year.

How would you retool the Royals? What do you do with guys like Moustakas and Hosmer? How do you try and develop the players you have in A ball? What kind of trades might you make in order to restock the farm system?

Moose goes down
Hosmer starts to ride some pine
Both hitting coaches along with Yost are gone
New coach, don't know who is available but someone will be
New hitting coach, again someone with ML experience above 54 AB's
French is DFA if I can't trade him off
Getz is gone
Giavotella is called up to prove either he can play at this level or he cannot
Dyson starts everyday in CF, Cain in RF


Since Moore has all but ruined or traded any value we had in the minors then turning to FA will have to be the gig. Cleveland has guys that are raking and are making 1/2 of what we are paying French

The big trade I would make would be for Butler. That could be for prospects but ideally for a 2nd baseman or RF plus a prospect or 2 that are close.


Overall, the new manager will be of one who is not a players coach and isn't afraid to spank the players when they need it. Treat the players like Pro's. Meaning if you don't produce you're out. There is no kid glove bullshit. Get up there, do what you can do, play with your head in the game and show some fight.

Anything less will get you benched or sent down. If the manager can't set the expectation of play good or else then the players won't.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

I'd try to trade as many arms in the minors as possible. Furthermore, Perez is officially on the table, since he likely brings the biggest return.

Dumb move. Perez is one of the 3 guys I make efforts to keep, Gordon, Perez, Escobar. Everyone else is on the block.

Those 3 however provide you with gold glove potential defensively and 2 of the 3 can be consistent double hitters with 15-20 HR's. I don't trade any of them.

[Al Bundy]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Hypothetical:

Glass fires Moore and hires you as the GM. You will have access to all of the resources that Moore had, but no more. Your payroll will be capped somewhere in the $90MM range unless you can begin drawing 2.5 million+ fans/year.

How would you retool the Royals? What do you do with guys like Moustakas and Hosmer? How do you try and develop the players you have in A ball? What kind of trades might you make in order to restock the farm system?

I set as many sticks of dynamite throughout the stadium and boom. They all go off at the same time. Problem solved. We move it downtown, rid ourselves of blue and light blue uniforms. EVERYONE is on the table as far as trade. I hire a pure numbers guy as my assistant, I prefer someone who has never played baseball past high school and only looks at the numbers. I completely change the culture from low A ball to Kansas City, including hitting approach and pitching approach, completely understanding not every prospect is the same.