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.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

David Glass can eat a dick. Seriously.

All I can say is... if whatever they do for this season doesn't work, they're going to enter "save our Chiefs" territory. I've said that before on here, but good god...

I'm an optimistic guy. Always have been. But at this point, they're acting like they won't even try. And I can't pin that on Dayton Moore.

They had better find a way to bridge the gap this year. Or the fan revolt will kill the franchise in KC. Which is goddamned shame.

Exactly, between increased TV revenue league wide and demands of the new CBA which restrict draft spending, the Royals have no excuse.

There isn't a big enough bag of shit that David Glass could swallow.

[Unsmooth-Moment]

Santana for Sisk? I'll take it.

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by KevB

If he takes over Hochever's spot in the rotation, I'm his new biggest fan

I don't expect Hoch to be going anywhere. Dayton is Hoch's biggest fan. I mean this "kid" (29) is going to finally experience his breakout season!

[Tytanium]

I think it's a good deal. I did notice that Santana led the majors in HR given up with 39 though. Somehow beat Hoch to that one.

[KevB]

Originally Posted by ChiTown

I don't expect Hoch to be going anywhere. Dayton is Hoch's biggest fan. I mean this "kid" (29) is going to finally experience his breakout season!

Damn you, this is no time for realism. It's the off-season, where dreams come true.

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by Unsmooth-Moment

Santana for Sisk? I'll take it.

Plus $13MM for 1 year. He better make hay, because that martha focker just cost us ~1/6 of our payroll..

[DJ's left nut]

Duncan, I disagree.

This is exactly the kind of acquisition that puts mid-market teams like the Royals into a hole.

It's the high price of mediocrity that kills in this league and the Royals most certainly just found an expensive chunk of mediocrity to plug into their rotation. His HR rates went up because he lost another .5 mph off his fastball. He's now sitting comfortably in that 'bleh' starter range at 91.5 mph. His slider, while once something of a wipeout pitch, has simply eaten his arm alive. The guy has spent the last 1,000 innings of his career throwing a slider for 1/3 of his pitches. In the process he's never really bothered to develop an adequate 3rd pitch and there's all of about 6 mph difference between his fastball and his changeup.

Maybe he levels out at the 4.00 ERA range, but the degradation of his stuff suggests that he could also just be shot. You have a finite number of bullets in the gun and 2-pitch pitchers that rely on sliders and fastball velocity have fewer still.

At best, the Royals had better view this guy as a turn and burn option. Get your year out of him and if it's worth a !@#$ (which is still unlikely, IMO), cast him off to some other poor soul that is willing to ignore the damage he's done to his arm over the last 1/2 decade.

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by ChiTown

Plus $13MM for 1 year. He better make hay, because that martha focker just cost us ~1/6 of our payroll..

The trade rumors link says we are getting cash back as well.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

"You have $20 million. You can have a very good player, or you can have Jeff Francouer and Ervin Santana..."

The Angels weren't going to pick up Santana's option (nor should they have, he sucks). The Royals shouldn't be giving up anything here as they have already saved the Angels the cost of their $1 million buyout.

Have fun with this guy.

I'm sure Billy Butler will. Those guys love each other.

Francoeur is a sunk cost at this point, and there's not much point in rehashing the disaster that deal has become. But it was not AWFUL at the time. AWFUL is continuing to run him out there while blocking Myers.

A strange year last year - in which everything was around career levels except how many fly balls made it out of the park - aside, Santana has been a slightly above-average starter since breaking into the bigs.

He's not an ace, but "He sucks" isn't really accurate.

I'd much rather them take a one-year dip on a guy like Santana than sign someone like Kyle Lohse to a multi-year deal.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

I'm sure Billy Butler will. Those guys love each other.

Francoeur is a sunk cost at this point, and there's not much point in rehashing the disaster that deal has become. But it was not AWFUL at the time. AWFUL is continuing to run him out there while blocking Myers.

A strange year last year - in which everything was around career levels except how many fly balls made it out of the park - aside, Santana has been a slightly above-average starter since breaking into the bigs.

He's not an ace, but "He sucks" isn't really accurate.

I'd much rather them take a one-year dip on a guy like Santana than sign someone like Kyle Lohse to a multi-year deal.

And if that $13 million could've been spread over 4 years to give the Royals the boost they need to get Anibal Sanchez? Hell, with time value you're really talking about $16 million. That's another $4 million/season they could've stuck onto an offer for Sanchez, who could be a true #2 starter for the Royals and for a fair period of time.

[Bowser]

Am I in the minority by saying I'm just not impressed?

This feels like a "name" acquisition to placate the masses that are screaming for starting pitching.

On the other hand, at least they signed somebody that could potentially help the rotation, provided his arm isn't ground beef at this point.

[ChiefsCountry]

Angels sent cash in the deal as well.

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by Bowser

Am I in the minority by saying I'm just not impressed?

This feels like a "name" acquisition to placate the masses that are screaming for starting pitching.

On the other hand, at least they signed somebody that could potentially help the rotation, provided his arm isn't ground beef at this point.

It is a good get. It just shouldn't be our only get for starting pitching and we don't know yet if that will be the case.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

And if that $13 million could've been spread over 4 years to give the Royals the boost they need to get Anibal Sanchez? Hell, with time value you're really talking about $16 million. That's another $4 million/season they could've stuck onto an offer for Sanchez, who could be a true #2 starter for the Royals and for a fair period of time.

Look, this is the classic argument for why DM is dumb as ****. He makes a ton of smaller moves, all misguided, that in their totality are a real drain on the organization.

Regarding Santana, he's low-risk/high-reward. Is it perhaps unlikely that he lives up to his cost? Yes, but that's the nature of any FA acquisition, too. What's equally true, though, is that $13M for Santana should NOT prevent any other move that this team could make.

Yeah, we might hear bullshit excuses to the contrary: "Small market!"; "No money!" "Small peniseses!" But that's simply the Walmart way.

[KevB]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

And if that $13 million could've been spread over 4 years to give the Royals the boost they need to get Anibal Sanchez? Hell, with time value you're really talking about $16 million. That's another $4 million/season they could've stuck onto an offer for Sanchez, who could be a true #2 starter for the Royals and for a fair period of time.

That wasn't going to happen. We weren't investing huge chunks for 4+ years first of all. Second, somebody like Sanchez, with a positive post-season in his rear view mirror wasn't coming to a team like the Royals.