Where you at, Royals honks

[Eleazar]

Allright losers, I have been reading the season previews on sports sites and am ready to see some ball this year.

Yeah, maybe we set a franchise record for losses last year. I don't care. So all you haters, just grab yourself a nice cool glass of Haterade and wash it down with some STFU and keep out.

Everyone else, give me your Royals takes. What do you think of the rotation? Will Hernandez be back and pitching like he showed he could? Will Snyder figure in at all? What can we look for from Greinke? Would it be sweet to have two fireballers like Mac and Affeldt coming out of the pen? What do you think of Tankersley? Is Teahen going to make the team? Will we see Ruben Gotay this year? Is there some way we could trade and re-acquire Michael Tucker to make us a lock for the postseason? (That one was for you, grandllama)

[sd4chiefs]

99 glasses of Haterade on the wall, 99 glasses of Haterade, take one down, pass it around, 98 glasses of Haterade on the wall.

[Dartgod]

99 glasses of Haterade on the wall, 99 glasses of Haterade, take one down, pass it around, 98 glasses of Haterade on the wall.
[hispanic accent]Hater-ade, Hater-ade, Hater-ade......WOOoooooo![/hispanic accent]

[Eleazar]

99 glasses of Haterade on the wall, 99 glasses of Haterade, take one down, pass it around, 98 glasses of Haterade on the wall.

:bang: :cuss:

[WilliamTheIrish]

I just want them to act like they care.

Maybe field a ground ball. Throw a strike. (past somebody). Play baseball like it's a fun game....cause it is.

[Bearcat]

[hispanic accent]Hater-ade, Hater-ade, Hater-ade......WOOoooooo![/hispanic accent]


heh

[Saulbadguy]

I honestly don't know. I don't know much about baseball, and don't claim to. I did send in for my tickets this year, so I hope they play well.

[teedubya]

I think Greinke will get 18 wins.

[Eleazar]

We will have a different rotation than last year when Brian effing Anderson was the opening day starter. Lima, Greinke, Hernandez, Gobble, and whoever the 5 starter is, that has potential to be pretty good.

The pen should be allright too with Affeldt settling in as closer, Mac maybe making a contribution, Field and Cerda and Carrassco still there, Tankersley and Wood contributing long relief.

Doesn't help that we have a bunch of schmucks in the corner outfield, but pitching is where it all starts right?

[Demonpenz]

go t-bones atleast their owner spends money

[Demonpenz]

we aquired brian hunter atleast it was the brian H hunter

[siberian khatru]

Anybody seen the Sweeney-to-Texas rumors?

[bkkcoh]

We will have a different rotation than last year when Brian effing Anderson was the opening day starter. Lima, Greinke, Hernandez, Gobble, and whoever the 5 starter is, that has potential to be pretty good.

The pen should be allright too with Affeldt settling in as closer, Mac maybe making a contribution, Field and Cerda and Carrassco still there, Tankersley and Wood contributing long relief.
..

I really like the thought of having Buck for the whole year. He did a good job last year from the time that he joined the team.

I am a homer and am hoping for good things if the starting staff can stay healthy, I think the bullpen will be ok.

Offense is going to be interesting. But I think it should be ok. As long as they don't suffer any big and/or rash of injuries.

[Demonpenz]

gobble lost 5 mph on his fastball. Right now he looks like a young darrell may with downsyndrome

[bkkcoh]

gobble lost 5 mph on his fastball. Right now he looks like a young darrell may with downsyndrome


Glavine never really was a burner either, location, location, location...

[siberian khatru]

Gobble's K rate dropped from 5.30 his rookie year to 2.98 last year -- a frighteningly low number. You simply can't have consistent success with that kind of number.

Glavine's K rate his first four years in the bigs was 3.55, 3.86, 4.36, 5.42 -- steady improvement, and not as low as 2.98.

The Royals pitchers last year were bizarrely told to not to strike people out -- Affeldt especially, which is just mind-numbingly dumb to do to a power pitcher like him. I'm hoping with Hansen back as pitching coach these guys will get back on track, and Gobble can get his K rate back in the 4's, at least. If he does, I think he'll be a fine pitcher.

[KevB]

Here's my take:

We have the worst OF in all of MLB, and probably the worst offense. Here's the likely lineup:

CF: DeJesus - good young player, but not a stud
2B: Graffanino - I hope Gotay or Murphy are starting by June
DH: Sweeney - How long will he last this year?
1B: Harvey/Pickering - ouch
LF: Stairs/Marerro - ouch again
RF: Nunez/Long - my god, this is really bad
C: Buck - looking forward to seeing more of this guy
SS: Berroa - I haven't lost hope yet
3B: Truby - Teahen by June

Bench: the above, plus Chris Clapinski

Now that I get a good look, this is the worst offense in MLB by a long shot.

The pitching staff has more promise.

Don't expect too much from Runy early
Lima is serviceable
Greinke is already the face of the franchise
Anderson sucks...Gobble is a younger Anderson
Snyder's arm may literally detach and fall on the ground
Bautista REALLY needs to develop into a top of the rotation guy
Sisco is intriguing
Cerda just needs to maintain the course set last year
Mac is a complete unknown
Tankersley has a decent pedigree, looking forward to seeing him
Wood is a decent swingman
Affeldt still has much to prove

Taking everything into consideration, this is clearly a 100 loss team. The hope is that guy like Teahen, Gotay, DeJesus, Buck, Bautista and Greinke continue to develop and show that they can lead this team back to respectability.

[siberian khatru]

Here's my take:

We have the worst OF in all of MLB, and probably the worst offense. Here's the likely lineup:

CF: DeJesus - good young player, but not a stud
2B: Graffanino - I hope Gotay or Murphy are starting by June
DH: Sweeney - How long will he last this year?
1B: Harvey/Pickering - ouch
LF: Stairs/Marerro - ouch again
RF: Nunez/Long - my god, this is really bad
C: Buck - looking forward to seeing more of this guy
SS: Berroa - I haven't lost hope yet
3B: Truby - Teahen by June

Bench: the above, plus Chris Clapinski

Now that I get a good look, this is the worst offense in MLB by a long shot.

The pitching staff has more promise.

Don't expect too much from Runy early
Lima is serviceable
Greinke is already the face of the franchise
Anderson sucks...Gobble is a younger Anderson
Snyder's arm may literally detach and fall on the ground
Bautista REALLY needs to develop into a top of the rotation guy
Sisco is intriguing
Cerda just needs to maintain the course set last year
Mac is a complete unknown
Tankersley has a decent pedigree, looking forward to seeing him
Wood is a decent swingman
Affeldt still has much to prove

Taking everything into consideration, this is clearly a 100 loss team. The hope is that guy like Teahen, Gotay, DeJesus, Buck, Bautista and Greinke continue to develop and show that they can lead this team back to respectability.


That's a very good take.

Here's the optimist view: Develop pitching this year, add/develop hitting next year, contend in 2007.

[KevB]

Wow. KevB's post is really depressing.

Can we get tk13 in here, stat?

I call it like I see it. Baird said all winter we needed to improve the corner OF spot(s). The best he could do was Terrence Long and Eli Marrero. When he got Marrero, he said he wasn't done with finding another outfielder. The season hasn't started yet, but we're running out of time. I'm still holding out hope that we can get Kearns or Mench.

As depressing as my post may have been, I'm still looking forward to the season. The pitching staff does have some promise. Greinke, Runy, Bautista could potentially be a formidable top of the rotation in a couple of years. Guys like Gobble and Tank could fill out the back end of the rotation ok.

I just don't see much promise with the offense. Teams have to get big production out of their corner OF's, and we have none in the pipeline. That IS really depressing.

[beavis]

Anybody seen the Sweeney-to-Texas rumors?
Yeah, but we want Mench, and they aren't willing to part with him.

[beavis]

That's a very good take.

Here's the optimist view: Develop pitching this year, add/develop hitting next year, contend in 2007.
Yeah, he's pretty much dead on. We have so many young arms in camp this year. I just don't see how they could screw all of them up.

[Pitt Gorilla]

I really want a young power-hitting left fielder, as does Allard. Fill that hole, and I think we have the makings of a good, young team (as long as Teahen lives up to expectations...)

[Pitt Gorilla]

go t-bones atleast their owner spends moneyMore than the Royals?

[beavis]

What are you... daring them?
Pretty much, it's not like they need any help doing it, is it?

I cringe everytime I hear Greinke's name brought up on the radio. I just know it's going to be followed by "out for the season...." But then again, I am the eternal optimist.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Guy Hansen will be a HUGE addition to this team. Check out the Hernandez article on kcroyals.com, as there are a few quotes from him. The man knows pitching.

[eazyb81]

The one thing that is keeping me optimistic this year is that we have no expectations to do well, similar to the 2003 season. Obviously, on paper we look pretty bad. But, by June our lineup could look drastically different. First, Teahen will be the everyday 3rd baseman, taking over for Truby. Second, Gotay will probably take over for Graffanino, and then Graffy can be a true utilityman. Finally, Justin Huber will be called up and should provide a big bat to play in a corner OF spot or just DH. Adding those three guys could make our offense respectable by the All Star break. The key is to get off to a fast start like we did in 2003 (and like we didn't do last year). I'm am expecting big things from our pitching thanks to Guy Hanson, so they will have to carry us this season.

[eazyb81]

Guy Hansen will be a HUGE addition to this team. Check out the Hernandez article on kcroyals.com, as there are a few quotes from him. The man knows pitching.

Now if we could just replace our medical trainer Nick Schwartz....

How this guy could still have a job is beyond me.

[SCTrojan]

Lima gives the team a veteran who's at least enthusiastic about being here. He also has some game left as he showed against the Cardinals in the playoffs.

Greinke has great stuff, so I think they're set for a number one guy. If Hernandez comes back to form and Anderson pitches like he did at the end of the 2003 & 2004 seasons, the starting pitching should be fine.

Pena and Hansen need to figure out a role for everyone in the bullpen. And then hope they all stay healthy. Last year, you never knew who was going to come out in what situation. They also need to stop with the Affeldt-can't-close-on-consecutive-nights experiment. Let's see what he can do.

I like the youth movement. They may be inexperienced, but at least they'll play hard. I don't want to see anymore lowpoints like the Detroit 27-hit barrage or the Expos' doubleheader sweep last season.

We all realize the team will lose its share of games. I just want to see constant effort. I think the young players will give that.

[Pitt Gorilla]

They're working Huber at 1st base.

[Demonpenz]

how does harvey be three hundred pounds and have so little power

[SCTrojan]

Dear Lord... I had blocked that out. What a dark, dark day.

It still wakes me up at night. The part that sticks with me the most (and I watched every excruciating inning) was being able to hear people seven rows away talking on their cell phones.

[shakesthecat]

KevB pretty much nailed it.

I'll add that, until the Royals learn to play much better fundamental baseball, it won't matter who's in the lineup.

Baird has done a pretty good job of aquiring young talent, but I have my doubts whether Pena is the right man to develop it.

I'll be pleasantly surprised if the team wins 75 games this year.

[eazyb81]

They're working Huber at 1st base.

They are trying him out at 1st base and outfield. They want to try and convert him to OF because we basically already have 3 1st baseman (Sweeney, Harvey, Pickering). He has played OF before in Australia, but not at the big league level, and he had a knee injury that slowed him down.

[siberian khatru]

the Expos' doubleheader sweep last season.


I was there. My one day of Royals baseball a year, on vacation, travel 1,000 miles to see them. It pours down rain, delaying the game, then I have to watch that abortion. :deevee:

[Eleazar]

go t-bones atleast their owner spends money

Oh yeah, care to tell us about the T-Bones' big money free agent acquisitions?

[Eleazar]

Now if we could just replace our medical trainer Nick Schwartz....

How this guy could still have a job is beyond me.

I know someone who works for him, you could give him a call and ask if you wanted. He's a doctor with a general practice down on the plaza.

[tk13]

Wow. KevB's post is really depressing.

Can we get tk13 in here, stat?
I don't know, I don't really disagree with anything he said... our offense looks pretty inept on paper. Now if guys like Long and Marrero are platooned properly, they seem to be pretty decent... Marrero kills lefties and Long does a good job against righties. I think Teahen might be up ASAP as soon as we can wrap his service time around an extra year, he tore it up in the Arizona Fall League. That said, as much as some fans seem to complain about losing Randa, I wouldn't be surprised if Chris Truby wasn't much of a dropoff, Randa only had like 2 homers and 20-ish RBI in the first half last year, and he wasn't hurt. Truby might not be quite as good defensively, but I can't imagine he'll be that much worse overall. I mean as bad as this looks, we had some massive black holes in the lineup last year.... Randa, Dee Brown, Desi Relaford. I wouldn't be surprised to see us trade Brian Anderson and/or Sweeney as long as they look good in spring training and Allard gets some decent prospects in return, especially corner outfielders. Actually I wouldn't be surprised to see us trade Marrero, Lima, anybody who's a veteran with value for prospects if Allard thinks he's getting a great deal.

I agree with the Guy Hansen thing, he's going to be good for the team, and he's got a ton of young prospects to work with. They aren't all Grade A prospects, but Hansen has worked in the Braves minor-league system for the last few years, so he obviously knows pitching. I read an article last week where Hansen was raving about Affeldt's stuff, but said he's had problems tipping his pitches and he's helped him stop that.

The good news is that they're doing it right this year.... last year because we had guys like Gonzalez and Santiago I guess Spring Training was more lax, this year the coaches are supposed to be working on fundamentals. I think the Chiefs could take a lesson from that.

[tk13]

Now if we could just replace our medical trainer Nick Schwartz....

How this guy could still have a job is beyond me.
They did fire the strength and conditioning coach or whatever it's called...

[KevB]

Baird has done a pretty good job of aquiring young talent, but I have my doubts whether Pena is the right man to develop it.

What does it say about our drafting and development that arguably our best pitching and hitting prospects (Bautista and Huber) were acquired outside the organization last year for Grimsley and a bag of balls? What a terrible, terrible job they've done in those areas. Hopefully the Billy Butlers and JP Howells from the last couple of drafts can turn the tide.

[Oxford]

The theme of last years team was, the "I'm here just for the paycheck" or "I'm gonna get traded because I want money that only one team will afford" or "I'm in the big leagues, what do I do now"?

This year the theme will be "I need to show them I belong here".
Guy Hansen will make a huge difference and the Appier/Lima/Greinke corner keep everyone in amazement.

If Sweeney, Anderson and Lima are performing well at the break, and if the Royals are out of it again, then they are definite trade prospects.

I think 70 and 92.

[Eleazar]

Bump in case llama missed it while he was taking care of his kids :thumb: