Don't know anything about them but I'm reminded of the time we put out our B lineup after we clinched and Carrasco threw a 15k one hitter on us. The drop off to AAAA or borderline MLB guys is like a cliff

I've heard Eibner described as a Paulo Orlando with less speed & more power. He has struck out a lot & is 26 already. I've wanted the Royals to bring him up just to see how good he really is.

That’s an interesting thought. I looked it up and that night we had -

1. Jarrod Dyson CF 0 for 4 .245 average at that time
2. Ben Zobrist 2B 0 for 4 .282 “
3. Alex Rios RF 1 for 3 .270
4. Paulo Orlando LF 0 for 3 .247
5. Jonny Gomes DH 0 for 3 .213
6. Cheslor Cuthbert 3B 0 for 3 .233
7. Christian Colon SS 0 for 2 .293
8. Drew Butera 1B 0 for 2 .206
9. Francisco Pena C 0 for 3 .000

That was a brutal batting order going against a good pitcher in Carlos Carrasco. Gomes average against RHP was .203.

For 2016 we could have a lineup of –
1. Alcides Escobar SS
2. Mike Moustakas 3B
3. Lorenzo Cain CF
4. Eric Hosmer 1B
5. Kendrys Morales DH
6. Left handed bat TBD OF
7. Salvador Perez C
8. Jarrod Dyson, Reymond Fuentes, Paulo Orlando, Brett Eibner, or Jose Martinez OF – best player wins the position with next best player backing up.
9. Omar Infante, Christian Colon, or Raul Mondesi 2B

That’s not too bad. The lineup can really improve depending on the LHB that we get.

Found this on Jose Martinez:

At 27 years of age heading into the 2016 season, Martinez is just about to enter his hypothetical prime. Even if he is not much of a power threat, with fifty home runs and 134 doubles in his career, he has displayed an excellent ability to make contact. His overall 16.6% strikeout rate over his minor league career, including a 15.4% rate last season, would certainly make Martinez a solid fit on the Kansas City Royals.

Primarily a right fielder in his nine year minor league career, Martinez split his time between left and right last season for Omaha. Even if he is not likely to crack the starting lineup as a regular, Martinez could potentially fill in that backup role that Orlando had last season. Given the uncertainty around the Royals outfield at present, Martinez could potentially become an important piece in Kansas City.

Found this on Fuentes:

Fuentes' main tool is his speed which translates to both sides of the ball. He's a plus runner with good base stealing instincts and excellent range and defense in left field or center field. He doesn't show anything in the power department, probably maxing out at 5-10 homers per year at his peak. Scouts are down on his hit tool, despite posting at least a .315 average his last two trips through the Texas League spanning nearly 600 plate appearances. A red flag there is a .381 BABIP in 2013 and .392 BABIP in 2014 at the AA level. He's a career .302 hitter in 245 AAA plate appearances though with a .310 BABIP in 2014. His arm isn't quite noodle status but it's also not a strong point in his profile, grading out anywhere from fringy to a tick below average. Overall, I believe he could handle holding down either left or center field in a starting role for a team out of contention. Going to the Royals though, Fuentes looks like a 4th outfielder and another speed option on the bench. With limited time spent in AAA, he's most likely to head to Omaha to kick off the 2015 season.

Fuentes is not a power hitter. He has never hit more than 6 home runs in a season, and his best isolated slugging percentage was just .122 this season. However, he does have some other offensive skills that appealed to the Royals. Fuentes stole 25 bases in 28 attempts in 2014, and for his career, he’s stolen 187 bases at an 80% success rate.

That speed is made even more valuable by Fuentes’ plate discipline. In the last two seasons he’s posted a cumulative walk rate of 10%, while striking out in just over 17% of his plate appearances. This means that Fuentes seems to have solid contact skills, and he can get on-base at a very respectable clip. He also tends to post above average BABIPs, likely a testament to his speed. Add all of that together, and you can see part of why the Royals would be interested.

@JonHeymanCBS: royals' big hope is to keep alex gordon. but early indication is he isn't planning big hometown discount, like last time.

I’ve seen some video of them. Maybe 7 of the 19 HRs that Eibner had this year are on the Storm Chasers web site. He seems to have a nice swing. Also there is a video of Eibner playing CF and running down a fly ball and catching it over his shoulder. There are also a few videos of Martinez and Fuentes hitting. I’d really like to see some video of them playing the outfield.

I looked for video of the 2015 Omaha Storm Chasers games and could not find any.

That's a horrendous lineup. Escobar, Infante, Dyson, and the extra outfield spot ar gaping holes. Moose and Perez are mediocre and have a tendency to go into prolonged slumps. Hosmer, Cain, and Morales aren't enough to carry a lineup, especially in the AL on a team without dominant SP.

What hometown discount last time?

Gordo's numbers weren't wetting anyone's panties where he was getting a bunch of teams pursuing him. He outplayed his contract, but when he signed it, he was certainly not "giving" the Royals the hometown discount.

Heyman is either talking out of his ass because he is simply presuming based upon Alex's contract, or he's spinning some major revisionist history!

There was no "discount", it was a fair deal for both sides. Which, you know, is why they both signed it. We have to put up with all sorts of stupid phrases in baseball and "hometown discount" is one. It rarely if ever happens.

The MLBN guys were talking the other day on why starters get paid and how you need them in October. Yeah, our 4.98 ERA by starters was just crucial.

25 man roster as of today

Starters
Miguel Almonte
Danny Duffy (LHP)
Kris Medlen
Yordano Ventura
Edinson Volquez

Relievers
Louis Coleman
Chirs Young
Wade Davis
Brian Flynn (LHP)
Kelvin Herrera
Luke Hochevar
Joakim Soria

Catchers
Drew Butera
Salvy

Infielders
Christian Colon
Alcides Escobar
Eric Hosmer
Mike Moustakas
Raul Mondesi

Outfielders
Lorenzo Cain
Jarrod Dyson
Paulo Orlando
Brett Eibner
Jose Martinez

DH
Kendrys Morales

DFA Infante... the guy is a black hole. He plays 1 position, doesn't hit, can't run, old.. provides zero except Money sink and takes a valuable roster spot. See if he'll go to AAA, if not, bye-bye.

That's not a lot to get excited about, with two big question marks at corner outfield. Infield is slightly better than last year. Not quite as strong in the bullpen with the loss of Holland and Madsen, but Soria very well could fill a hole. Tim Collins will start out in AAA as he works back from TJ. Not a lot of consistent success in the Rotation outside of Volquez... But the ability is there.

Without adding a lot of payroll, kick tires on Corner OF's for a package around Herrera. Try to sign Parra.

I might even see what you could possibly get for Moustakas while his value may be high.... You have Cuthbert who could step in with basically similar production.

Not anywhere close to correct. Moose's defense is infintely better and his bat is as well. Cuthbert didn't look lost when he was up, but they aren't even in the same ballpark in a comparison.

Your 25 man doesn't look super pretty right now, but we still have a move or two to make at minimum. And nothing will happen until the Gordon situation resolves.

You overvalue moose like I'm hoping the rest of MLB GM's would.

Yet, I have a feeling we're not going to see Moose or Cain (two players who have seen similar turnarounds) sign one of these "fair" deals (plz prove me wrong GMDM).

I don't think that's the final lineup/everyday lineup, but the 2-6 (Moustakas/Cain/Hosmer/Morales/Perez) is not bad at all.

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of Denard Span in LF if Gordon is not resigned. Good defense + good OBp skills are the priority there for me (which is why I like the Korean OF Kim as well, or Dexter Fowler, even). The. That LF hits 2, and Moustaksas can return to the 6 spot and bump perez down.

They don't need an amazing offense. Just league average-ish.

Add A Kazmir or Chen + a LF option who can hit second, and I consider it a good offseason.