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?

[BlackHelicopters]

Picked the wrong week to quit huffing.

[stonedstooge]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

I dunno man, the last guy we had from Hawaii sucked. And I can't even remember how to spell his last name.

[KevB]

Dutton's latest goes through our options at 2B in his latest article. He says White Sox are asking a lot, as Beckham is young, controllable beyond this season and has been their best player. Wha? He's hitting .302. Yipee. His Babip is an unsustainable .340. Beyond that, his OPS this season is .730, which is with that inflated BA. His OPS the last two years was .668 and .633. Why would we want to give up anything valuable for this guy? Oh yeah, he has 2 home runs this season.

Dutton also references Rickie Weeks' batting average when evaluating his performance. I thought Dutton was smarter than that?

[DeezNutz]

He's not. In fact, he starts getting pretty testy when pushed with new school, statistical, "magic," which he understands only slightly better than DM.

[Sure-Oz]

Dutton will just state facts, i wouldn't expect much speculation

[nychief]

Originally Posted by Sure-Oz

Dutton will just state facts, i wouldn't expect much speculation

That's what a reporter does, hopefully.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

I like Duffy too but he's had TJ already. That obviously hurts his value quite a bit. Plus the dude quit the game once before. Trouble throwing strikes. He has some high upside but some serious red flags.

I agree actually. Duffy is a unique talent. Left, throws upper 90s when he wants to. Good stuff. BUT, the guy pitched 3/4 of a season and had a 5.64 ERA. And as you said, who knows if his mind is in it or if he has the control. If you put a gun to my head if I had to pick Ventura or Duffy it would be really, really close. I'd go back and forth depending on the day.

[Mama Hip Rockets]

From mlb.com trade buzz:

Howie Kendrick and Erick Aybar appear to be the most likely to be traded, given how solid they’ve been on both sides of the field and the team-friendly extensions they signed last year. The Royals — with Chris Getz, Elliot Johnson and Miguel Tejada — are looking for a second baseman with offense and would be willing to include veteran starter Bruce Chen or Luke Hochevar, who’s been effective out of the bullpen but hasn’t started all year, in a deal. They also have two top guys in the Minors in Danny Duffy and Yordano Ventura, but Royals reporter Dick Kaegel doesn’t believe they’ll be included in a deal.

http://mlb.mlblogs.com/2013/07/30/an...f-phone-calls/

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by cumshotguru

How's Colon's defense at 2B? As others have said he is having a pretty good July. I wouldn't mind giving him a shot, couldn't be any worse than what we are trotting out there.

Colon would most likely be worse than Chris Getz, both offensively and defensively. He could possibly be that bad. But I don't even care, cuz you never know. We know Chris Getz sucks. Let anybody with a pulse give it a shot at 2b

[Coach]

Who's starting the game thread?

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by Coach

Who's starting the game thread?

I thought SPChief might take it. He won the last.

[ChiefsCountry]

Originally Posted by thurman merman

From mlb.com trade buzz:

Howie Kendrick and Erick Aybar appear to be the most likely to be traded, given how solid they’ve been on both sides of the field and the team-friendly extensions they signed last year. The Royals — with Chris Getz, Elliot Johnson and Miguel Tejada — are looking for a second baseman with offense and would be willing to include veteran starter Bruce Chen or Luke Hochevar, who’s been effective out of the bullpen but hasn’t started all year, in a deal. They also have two top guys in the Minors in Danny Duffy and Yordano Ventura, but Royals reporter Dick Kaegel doesn’t believe they’ll be included in a deal.

http://mlb.mlblogs.com/2013/07/30/an...f-phone-calls/

Chen or Hoch for Kendrick would be theft.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Prison Bitch]

Duffy has the stuff to beat MLB hitters consistently, he has a lot of Scott kazmir in him if he can locate

[SPchief]

Originally Posted by lewdog

I thought SPChief might take it. He won the last.

Am at a BBQ and on my phone

[Fansy the Famous Bard]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

Duffy has the stuff to beat MLB hitters consistently, he has a lot of Scott kazmir in him if he can locate

And that is his issue without a doubt. He did not locate his pitches in the strike zone very well during his time up here. He's gotten hit because of it... But his "stuff" is nasty.