2012 Kansas City Royals Repository Thread

[alnorth]

2012 Slogan: Our Time

A better, more accurate 2012 Slogan: It is Finally Next Year
(from Great Expectations)

An alternative slogan if you don't like that one: Someone has to win this crappy division
(from alnorth)

With the beginning of a new year, it is time for the 2012 version of the Royals Repository Thread. We've got Hosmer, we've got a 2011-dominating Gordon, we've got Moose, we've got hopefully a killer bullpen, we've got a stereotypical slow slugging DH, we've got easily one of the best defensive shortstops in the AL, we've got a promising catcher in Salvador Perez. Hell, we've got offense and promising prospects galore.

We do not have starting pitching.

Oh yeah, we've also got this:



Get ready for, (as of January 2012 anyway), one of the most confusing puzzles of a baseball season in recent Royals history. Will they suck? Maybe, I don't know. Will we be given a year of 0.500 baseball? Possibly, I don't know. Will they win the division and go to the playoffs for the first time in 27 years? For the first time in a long time, it could happen, I don't know. 92 losses, 92 wins, or anything in between would not surprise a lot of us.

Everything goes here except Gameday threads and really big news. If a giant story breaks, the Royals achieve some awesome milestone, or we sign/lose a highly significant player/coach/mascot/whatever, then it might also deserve its own thread. This being Chiefs Planet, please do not clutter the board with new threads about trivial Royals news or you will only annoy those who come here for just Chiefs football. If you aren't sure and its not a Gameday thread, it goes here.

What sort of stuff often goes here? SPchief explained it well, so I'll just copy that:

If you locate something of interest.. ANYTHING.. deals on apparel, best ways in/out of the stadium, giveaways, great stories from this season or from seasons gone by, rumors, trades, anything.... feel free to post it here.

[Stanley Nickels]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

What has he done again? Sanchez. Perez. What else? Oh yeah, not signed another starter.

Congrats?

I've gotta disagree with you on the condition that next season we do open the checkbooks. Some agents of the starting pitchers that were available find ways to get word to certain teams that they'll sweeten the pot for them to end up in those cities. I really think DM saw the one-year deals for aging guys as fruitless for a maturing club. I'll take his word that he didn't know that they were gonna go as cheap as they did. If, however, we don't get one next year, I'll be pretty frustrated, even if we have a few young stud arms.

[Dr. Johnny Fever]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Kyle Davies isn't in the rotation, so we're automatically better than we were last year.

Don't forget Jeff Francis. +2 on addition by subtraction.

I think the Royals feel like they have the young arms on the team/in the system now to compete. I don't think they saw a need to go hard after another starter just to do it if the fit wasn't what they wanted.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Three7s

You mean July.

Yeah

[Sure-Oz]

Cards Molina about to sing a 5 year 70 mill deal....this is a steal if he pans out (perez)

[Sure-Oz]

Originally Posted by RockChalk

This signing is exciting, don't get me wrong. But the Royals cock-teased us by saying it was a MAJOR announcement.

Agreed....i thought it had to be gordo

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by Three7s

If he did, Paulino might not be in the rotation! Not knocking you or anything, I like Paulino too. Just saying that most people seem to think that if the Royals did get another starter, Paulino would be the one out.

Well, if that's true, Moore would be acting '09-level stupid. At the very least, Paulino deserves a shot. More so than Duffy, at the absolute very least.

Originally Posted by Saul Good

If we're building for the long haul, I'm okay with not signing a starter just for the sake of signing a starter. I'm not a fan of anyone who was available. Let's see what we've got this year so that we can know how to attack next year. If we look up in August and find ourselves in the thick of things but needing a starter, then we can make a trade.

Kyle Davies isn't in the rotation, so we're automatically better than we were last year.

True about Davies. But, in hindsight, the Chen contract is a poor decision (still light on the dollars, so hard to care too much), and Jackson seems like it could have been a Meche-like move (perfect time to buy).

Originally Posted by Stanley Nickels

I've gotta disagree with you on the condition that next season we do open the checkbooks. Some agents of the starting pitchers that were available find ways to get word to certain teams that they'll sweeten the pot for them to end up in those cities. I really think DM saw the one-year deals for aging guys as fruitless for a maturing club. I'll take his word that he didn't know that they were gonna go as cheap as they did. If, however, we don't get one next year, I'll be pretty frustrated, even if we have a few young stud arms.

I'm hopeful that we'll be set next year with guys coming up through our own system. My problem is that I think 2012 is here for the taking, and I'd like to see some aggression to try to capitalize.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

Well, if that's true, Moore would be acting '09-level stupid. At the very least, Paulino deserves a shot. More so than Duffy, at the absolute very least.



True about Davies. But, in hindsight, the Chen contract is a poor decision (still light on the dollars, so hard to care too much), and Jackson seems like it could have been a Meche-like move (perfect time to buy).



I'm hopeful that we'll be set next year with guys coming up through our own system. My problem is that I think 2012 is here for the taking, and I'd like to see some aggression to try to capitalize.

I disagree with pretty much all of this.

Duffy is going to be a stud. He needs to be in there.

Chen's a bargain, and he can eat some innings.

Jackson is WAY over-valued right now. Hell, he was maybe the top pitcher available.

The Tigers are head and shoulders above us on paper. Jackson/Oswalt isn't changing that. More than anything, we need to know what we have in Sanchez, Duffy, and Paulino (even Hochevar to an extent). Chen's probably going to be dealt before the end of the year, IMO.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

I disagree with pretty much all of this.

Duffy is going to be a stud. He needs to be in there.

Chen's a bargain, and he can eat some innings.

Jackson is WAY over-valued right now. Hell, he was maybe the top pitcher available.

The Tigers are head and shoulders above us on paper. Jackson/Oswalt isn't changing that. More than anything, we need to know what we have in Sanchez, Duffy, and Paulino (even Hochevar to an extent). Chen's probably going to be dealt before the end of the year, IMO.

I respect your right to be wrong.

"Is going to be." Maybe so; the stuff is there. Doesn't mean a bit of polishing in Omaha would hurt. He showed enough cracks last year to warrant the time, depending on his performance this spring. Paulino, however, did not.

Jackson, based on his contract, is not overvalued at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. Oswalt would never have signed with the Royals, so that's a moot point.

As for Chen, I like the dude a lot, but his career statistics make me more than a little skeptical, let alone betting on years three and four of decent production.

[Saul Good]

I watch Duffy, and I feel like the minors will just make him regress. He's got filthy stuff, and his strike one and strike two are the best pitches on our team. He needs to learn to trust his stuff in the zone, and that won't happen in Omaha.

In the minors, he can get strike three without getting near the zone. In the majors, hitters just spit on that shit. It drives up his pitch count and lets batters off the hook. If he keeps getting Ks because future insurance salesmen don't know how to manage the strike zone, it's just going to reinforce bad habits. It's hard to get through to a kid when what he's doing is working.

[Dr. Johnny Fever]

I always respect your takes Deez but I don't think this was/is necessarily the year to go all in. Detroit is the clear favorite while our team is mega young and still needs time to grow imo. Adding a guy like Jackson isn't going to change that.

I see more Cardinal games than any other team and he was solid but I wasn't very impressed by a lot of his outings. Why over-spend on a guy if you aren't really convinced about him when you have so many good, young arms in your system and guys like Paulino were diamonds in the rough? I know I'm among the minority but I'm glad we didn't go all in for Jackson.

I know everyone is hyped up about this season... and I am too... but lets be realistic about the experience on this team. Winning the division this year would be WAY over-achieving. If we're in a position to do it after the break then we can make a deal or two. In the meantime I think we're still mostly in a grow and see what we have stage.

JMO.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Dr. noonanbeermefever

I always respect your takes Deez but I don't think this was/is necessarily the year to go all in. Detroit is the clear favorite while our team is mega young and still needs time to grow imo. Adding a guy like Jackson isn't going to change that.

I see more Cardinal games than any other team and he was solid but I wasn't very impressed by a lot of his outings. Why over-spend on a guy if you aren't really convinced about him when you have so many good, young arms in your system and guys like Paulino were diamonds in the rough? I know I'm among the minority but I'm glad we didn't go all in for Jackson.

I know everyone is hyped up about this season... and I am too... but lets be realistic about the experience on this team. Winning the division this year would be WAY over-achieving. If we're in a position to do it after the break then we can make a deal or two. In the meantime I think we're still mostly in a grow and see what we have stage.

JMO.

I agree with all of this. (Other than the part about respecting DZ, of course. Saul Good respects no man except Saul Good.)

[Dr. Johnny Fever]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

I agree with all of this. (Other than the part about respecting DZ, of course. Saul Good respects no man except Saul Good.)

Heh I TRY to respect everyone until the prove they don't deserve it and Deez is a good poster.

Trevo on the other hand...

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Dr. noonanbeermefever

Heh I TRY to respect everyone until the prove they don't deserve it and Deez is a good poster.

Trevo on the other hand...

I'll take Trevo over that Dr. Johnny Fever guy any day.

[Dr. Johnny Fever]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

I'll take Trevo over that Dr. Johnny Fever guy any day.

I'm certain all MU fans would.

[alnorth]

5/$7MM to the end of arbitration. 3 club options at 3.75 in 2017, then 5 in 2018, then 6 in 2019. Potentially 8/$21.75MM, a little under $5MM AAV for his first 3 free agent years.

At worst, if Perez can't hit worth a damn and regresses defensively to being merely above average, the Royals break even and don't have to use the options. (well no, actually at worst he breaks a femur and we're just out $7MM) If Perez does not regress too much and is a real legit 800ish OPS catcher with a little power and elite defense, this becomes one hell of a good deal.

edit: apparently there's $5MM worth of incentives buried in there, so could potentially be 8/$26.75MM