Cards fans would just bitch about their "shitty" corner outfielder like they did with Heyward last season.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Chris young gets close to $12M on 2-yr royals deal (about $11.75M)</p>&mdash; Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) <a href="https://twitter.com/JonHeymanCBS/status/673881747264823296">December 7, 2015</a></blockquote>
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If they're gonna go with starters only seeing the lineup twice, it sure as hell wont be with a 4 man rotation.

LMAO

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">��������
CHRIS YOUNG AND TIM COLLINS IN THE SAME BULLPEN
��������</p>&mdash; Hunter Samuels (@HunterSamuels) <a href="https://twitter.com/HunterSamuels/status/673883400168562690">December 7, 2015</a></blockquote>
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That's what's going to happen.

Aroldis Chapman to Dodgers. Snore.

Iwakuma also to Dodgers. Snore

Royals should trade for puig

Or, or, it helps fill in for losing Holland....

Duncan, If the Royals do trade a package that includes Herrera, I assume they'd be looking for a young OF that they could control for a few years. Do your inside sources have any idea who's on the list to target? What team has enough depth in the OF to let a very good one go? ( I hope they do NOT target headcase Yasiel Puig ).

Puig would be perfect fit. Cost controlled and we have a strong Latin American locker room presence, fellow Cuban, very loose clubhouse, manager that won't play head games and in a market with no pressure.

Plus, he's really good with potential to be great.

I want him in stl, preferably playing LF longterm

The mercurial Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig has often been a lightning rod for criticism. While things such as his tardiness and baseball's disdain for his showmanship have previously been made public, revelations in Molly Knight’s new book, "The Best Team Money Can Buy," shed light on new indiscretions.

In 2014, during the Dodgers' annual trip to Chicago, the team bus stopped downtown to allow rookies undergoing hazing to walk into a pizza place…When the bus was ready to leave, Puig was outside, looking for his luggage inside of the bay underneath the bus. After Puig ignored multiple requests to close the luggage bay, Greinke hopped off the bus, grabbed the suitcase in front of Puig and chucked it onto Michigan Avenue. Puig stepped toward Greinke and was restrained by reliever J.P. Howell.

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports writes about a couple of incidents with pitcher Zack Greinke. One was an argument between the two regarding a plane ride including wives and girlfriends. Passan recounts another incident

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/d...ew-book-063015

Yeah, what a dick. A guy tosses your suitcase in the middle of Michigan Avenue, and you're a testosterone filled star. Can't believe he wouldn't like that.

@McCulloughStar: Thought from many in the industry is if KC can sign a LHP -- like Scott Kazmir -- Danny Duffy might move to bullpen.

Duffys control was the problem. Seems like he is either going to be great or suck in either role depending on his control.

You can defend him if you want. When his own teammates says things like "It'd be addition by subtraction if they'd get rid of Puig", he's a prick.

LMAO Grienke is a nut and I miss him.

@nickcafardo: The Royals are interested in some of Bostons starters not named Price Or Porcello.

I assume Wade Miley or rent Bucholtz

Wonder what one of those guys and Jackie Bradley would cost us...

Any intradast in Joc Pederson?

THAT Dodger OF would be a great addition to the Royals.

A strikeout machine who can't run or play defense. Yeah, perfect fit.

Yeah, he had 26 HR but 170 SO. That could make one leary.

I assume if pedersen was available he'd be part of the chapman deal

@jonmorosi: #Royals interested in Gerardo Parra as outfield option if they fail to re-sign Alex Gordon, sources say.

Kansas City Royals: MLB Team Agrees to Deals With Pitchers Chris Young and Joakim Soria

Young is a good signing. Not sure how to feel about Soria though.

:drool:Holland is out. Herrera may be trade bait. Madsen is gone. The Royals' formula for winning includes having the best bullpen in baseball.

Seems like a pretty solid move to me.

Dodgers are building a monster.

Soria was pretty daggum good last year.

What's the report on his breaking stuff?

When I've seen him pitch, he's looked like a guy that's an out pitch removed from being dominant. His fastball is at least an above average pitch and his changeup was solid/average as well (not enough drop to be true out pitch to my eyes). His breaking ball seemed like it had a chance to be that putaway pitch he needed to finish off ABs but it hasn't come along that way.

A lefty with a mid 90's fastball and solid change should be able to get a lot more strikeouts but it always seemed like Duffy was having to battle through ABs when I saw him. Those long ABs will tax a starter pretty badly and frankly, if he can't get a breaker he relies on, perhaps being a 2-pitch reliever and maybe developing his change into more of a split-change grip (to get more drop) would take him to the next level.

Duffy just reminds me of Affeldt when he was in KC (though he's been more successful than Affeldt). You watch him throw and just wonder why he's not a little better than he is.

Dodgers have won the Paper Tiger WS every year the past like 4-5 years

Duffy's problem is between his ears.

Duffy's curve is overrated. It has some break, but it's not what it was pimped to be coming through the minors. Just don't think there is any real deception with it, so it's relatively easy to track out of the hand.

Mariners are trying to get Miley from Red Sox.

@JoshVernier610: KC has some hesitancy with SP Doug Fister & OF Denard Span due to health, but still a possibility. #Royals

Uhhh
@Ken_Rosenthal: Some agents believe that Kazmir will aim higher than Iwakuma’s three-year, $45M deal. Younger than Iwakuma, no draft pick attached.

People said that about Lynn for years - turns out he just didn't have a good way to get lefties out.

Sometimes what appears to be a mental issue really is an arsenal problem. Duffy's giving up a .340+ career OBP against off-handed hitters and with so much of baseball being RH, that's obviously a hell of a problem.

He doesn't appear to be shying away from RH hitters (he comes inside against them more than in years past). That's usually the first thing to look for with guys that are mentally defeated by off-handed hitters - they pitch away, away, away over and over again.

It could be that he's now psyched out by them, so in that regard, perhaps it's a mental problem...but one borne of a lack of available options. If he could tinker with his breaker or change (really, the change should be his best weapon against RHers), perhaps he could break through that wall.

I guess what I'm saying is that there's a lot of selection bias at this level. Most guys that are truly soft just don't get this far. Generally when something appears to be mental, especially with pitchers, its really just a problem with his arsenal and an innate knowledge that he's fighting uphill against every RHer. If he could just have a little more success against RHers, it may be what puts him over the top.

Yeah, that's kinda the impression I got as well. I was just curious if it had become a point of emphasis for them.

Obviously saying that 'if he just had a plus curve' is similar to saying 'if he just threw 5 mph harder' - it's not exactly a fair thing to say. But really, if Duffy could just get a little more depth/break on that curve, he'd be a legit #3 starter and those guys are going for $15 million/season these days.

We gave Vargas 4 yrs at $8mil /avg. I'd much rather give Kazmir 4 yrs at $15 mil /avg.

Have to wait for Duncan to chime in but from what I seen at times he wasnt even close to the zone so he wound get into a lot of 3-2 counts. I recall it being the more guys taking a pitch a foot outside the zone that forced those counts more so than guys fouling off a lot pitches.

Thats why I think hes pretty much the same guy as a starter or in the pen. If you arent in or around the zone stuff playing up in the pen doesn't mean muchm

Duffy is a mental headcase. Shields helped him out quite a bit to control the emotion, but that's his biggest problem. When he is on, he is a solid #3 pitcher.

Heard some people talking about the Royals looking into Jose Fernandez since the Marlins were trying to offload Ozuna. There's the price tag, 2 top 10 prospects.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">How exorbitant is the price on Jose Fernandez? Sources say the Marlins have asked the Dodgers for Julio Urias and Corey Seager.</p>&mdash; Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/673865841239265285">December 7, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Wonder how the Royals can get Ozuna. Jose Fernandez def going to cost a ton coming off arm injury is scary.

True.

If he's just erratic as shit, a move to the 'pen isn't likely to make him appreciably better. There's really no hiding a lack of command. If your biomechanics just won't allow you to repeat your delivery, you're sunk regardless of the role you're in.

If you're over 4 pitches/PA with a K rate below 9, you're in a tough spot as a reliever. If it's below 8 you're probably not very good and below 7 puts you in a group you do not want to be in. Duffy's over 4 and his K/9 is at 6.72. Some guys can survive that way but it's obviously not ideal (and, IMO, not sustainable).

Just looking at rates, looks like he's out of the zone a little more often than most (48.5% vs. about 50% average). His first pitch strike rates are also a little down (57 vs. 59). Guys do tend to swing at him a little more than average (48 vs. 46) and when they do, they tend to make more contact (82% vs 80%).

It seems to be a combination of things. He's not terribly good at fooling batters (slightly below average at getting guys to chase), not good at getting them to miss and not good at getting into favorable counts. He doesn't appear to be all over the place, but his contact rates don't profile as someone that would dominate even if he pounded the zone.

It could be that the low-quality breaking ball has him nibbling because he knows he can't attack guys and get them out (thus hurting his control numbers) or it could be that his command gets him into hitters counts where hitters know they can sit on a single pitch and drive it.

I tell ya, looking at his Pitch F/X it looks like about what I thought I saw w/r/t to his changeup - the thing doesn't drop at all. It's damn hard to fool guys with your change on just velocity alone. If you're doing that with no drop, you need a solid 10 mph of separation. He's sitting right at that mark and that's why it's rating average, but I really do think it'd be interesting to see him experiment with a split change to neutralize righties better.

Red Sox send Miley to the Mariners

Read the post above yours

His breaking stuff is nasty, but he can't throw it for a strike, so batters just spit on it.

Damnit

Ozunas price tag can't be 2 top 10 prospects...I hearsd they may want a SP

@JonHeymanCBS: Royals haven't given up hope of Alex Gordon return. Will have plenty of competition (possibly laa, det, stl, chic, bal etc)

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tigers GM Al Avila tells Detroit reporters that they are out of Cespedes and Alex Gordon talks. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tigers?src=hash">#Tigers</a></p>&mdash; Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) <a href="https://twitter.com/BNightengale/status/673986632425463809">December 7, 2015</a></blockquote>
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@McCulloughStar: BREAKING: Ned Yost says Rusty Kuntz will be the team's first-base coach again in 2016.

Adding to that, nothing he throws fades to a RH. FB/CH/Curve are all straight or come in to a right handed batter. As you've said, he doesn't really have an out pitch, so when he gets ahead, it's hard for him to consistently put guys away. He could do it if he had pristine location, but that's not the case. His curve is the big breaker, so he can sometimes get guys to chase when it starts in the zone and finishes back foot, but if he misses that by 2 inches, it's in the left field seats.

Kuntz won't retire until every last strand of that glorious hair has fallen off.

@FlannyMLB: Chris Young's deal with #Royals -- $4.25M in '16, $5.75M in '17 and $8M mutual option in '18 with $1.5M buyout. Roster bonuses $250K

So $5.25M per year average, with $1.5M buyout in year 3. Not bad. If he gives us anything close to this season, that will be money well spent.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Chris Young&#39;s deal: $4.25 million in 2016, $5.75 million in 2017 and a $1.5 million buyout of an $8 million mutual option in 2018.</p>&mdash; Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) <a href="https://twitter.com/McCulloughStar/status/674001424510926849">December 7, 2015</a></blockquote>
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doesn't seem bad for us

Well Young just replaced Guthrie in the rotation

I'm pretty emotional about Dr. Filthy McNasty returning to practice in Kansas City. Legit heartwarming.

"The sports bubble is about to pop":
http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...ut-to-pop.html

Basically argues that ESPN losing 7% of its subs in 2 years portends to consumers getting tired of the high cost that sports programming puts on their bills. This analysis suggests 40% of your bill goes to sports programming which many consumers don't care for. So they're leaving for Netflix, etc etc options.


This may be bad for us since we might be the last prospecter to make our way to the gold mine.

@JonHeymanCBS: Cliff Lee drawing interest from 15 clubs

It's awesome.

:thumb:

PB we've all seen this coming, literally all of us who paid attention were worried that the bubble would burst prior to the next tv contract but....

We will always have 2015!! Let's go get another!!!

How will ESPN's willingness to pay big bucks hurt the next local TV contract?

It's the conversation around cord cutters. Right now ratings are ridiculous in KC - but the landscape looks to be reinvented the next 2-3 years. We shall see.

That's right in general, but given the way KC is crazy about the Royals and Chiefs... I imagine the local ratings won't take too much of a hit. As long as both teams stay competitive.

If the sport money "pops" won't it eventually cycle about around and just lead to players making less money and t.v. contracts dropping down?

Don't know how long that will take but it's probably necessary.

America pays way too much for sports. tbh.

Where the hell does the bidding even begin on Cliff Lee?

Eventually, yes. The teams that have already inked long term deals will have huge advantages, though.

How much do we pay for music, movies, video games, and other forms of entertainment compared to sports?

I think that 3/$45 million would get Kazmir.

Cardinals are our main competitor for Gordon.

It won't be about the ratings, it'll be about what they're willing to pay for the MLB platform moving forward.

Great news!

Women are crazy for the Royals. It's insane.

For ESPN? Sure. For a local sports network? They only care about what the Royals bring in for local ratings, and the ad revenue they can make off it.

So non Royals news... but after all the talk about the Dodgers trading for Chapman to create a super bullpen, the trade may be off. A domestic disturbance from October has popped up.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/aroldis...9095.html?nf=1

I'll root for Gordon until he retires, unless he is playing for the cardinals.

Right... this is going to affect the landscape... we're talking huge TV Contracts that have been getting insane... this is the bubble that may burst that trend BEFORE the Royals can cash in on one of the lucrative deals... So the landscape of TV Deals possibly changing can and will have a drastically greater impact on the amount than what the Local ratings will do. Understand now?