He was 2 yrs from FA. Isn’t hard to understand.

Incorrect.

He had 3 arbitration years after this year before he hit FA in 2023.


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...igCAnM/pubhtml

https://legacy.baseballprospectus.co...s-city-royals/

Even more to my point then. We were just buying out some arb years.

Yes. We were trying to cost control so we knew what we'd be paying going forward and could avoid arbitration. Whit gets a little bit more money upfront, but saves the Royals several million in his last 2 years of arbitration. Smart business move by the Royals.

Supposedly, there's a club option for his first FA year, but not sure what the amount on that is and hasn't been reported anywhere yet.

This is a good deal for the Royals, especially if Whit has a great start to this season and we decide to trade him to a Playoff contender who is looking for more than just a rental. I like it.

The option is believed to be worth $10.5 million.

If they sit O'Hearn against a decent amount of the lefties we face, I think you can expect him to repeat. While I don't trust Ned to do so, he really needs to maximize his roster to get them to start turning the corner towards competing again. The Royals don't need to be a .500 team, but they need to start their improvement and that will necessitate a semi-platoon of a guy like O'Hearn. If you play O'Hearn everyday, he regresses as an overall player. I'm not sure he'll ever be the kind of player that can play against lefties all the time.

We have a "not bad" rotation and I think the bullpen could actually become the biggest improvement if one of our rule 5's surprise and Zimmer shocks. Otherwise, the bullpen will be a work in progress for 2019 and we'll be well short of .500. If the bullpen surprises, getting close to .500 is not completely nuts in our mediocre division.

Always assume all financial transactions are zero NPV

I was just looking at O'Hearn's splits. Which prompted me to figure out who'd take his place in the line up if you wanted to sit him against Lefties. Owings bats about .152 against RHP and .269 against LHP. Move Dozier to 1st, Whit or Owens to 3rd. O'Hearn and Owings both have better numbers at the end of the year.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Now that the tooth extraction of a football game is over, pitchers and catchers report a week from Tuesday. Arizona here we come!</p>&mdash; Mike Swanson (@Swanee54) <a href="https://twitter.com/Swanee54/status/1092261864610893826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2019</a></blockquote>
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another great pick by dayton.

Is that what it was? Steve Blass disease is the sudden inability to throw strikes. I don't know if that's "a lack of confidence." But I thought Russell was suffering from something deeper, such as depression or anxiety. The Royals made it sound like it was not baseball related, but life related, and when he got that squared away, the baseball would follow. That's not Steve Blass disease.

Assuming the best...that he becomes a prospect again...in terms of his original contract and option years, how is it all affected by the 2 year layoff? I have no idea how these kinds of situations affect team control years and original signing bonus, etc.

Holland signed by the Dbacks.

@FlannyMLB: Per source, the Royals are closing in on a one-year deal with reliever Brad Boxberger. Story to come on http://Royals.com

@JonHeyman: Boxberger goes to royals. 2.2M plus incentives

Surprised nobody has posted this stuff yet. Crazy stuff. I'm all for several of these proposals. Proposal 1 would render Terry Francona's maddening bullpen management style obsolete. GOOD. Proposal 2 would drag the NL out of the stone age. GOOD.

Sources: MLB and players discussing rule changes that could alter game

12:03 PM CT
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association are discussing potentially drastic changes to the on-field game and economic landscape of the sport in the middle of a collective bargaining agreement, a significant departure from the past that speaks to the chasm between the parties but represents a thaw in the chill that has divided the sides, sources familiar with the talks told ESPN.

Dueling proposals from MLB on Jan. 14 and the union on Friday covered a wide range of topics, according to sources. Among them include:

A three-batter minimum for pitchers

A universal designated hitter

A single trade deadline before the All-Star break

A 20-second pitch clock

The expansion of rosters to 26 men, with a 12-pitcher maximum

Draft advantages for winning teams and penalties for losing teams

A study to lower the mound

A rule that would allow two-sport amateurs to sign major league contracts

With owners meetings set to begin this week and spring training next week amid another tepid free-agent market, the willingness to bandy about ideas -- and the openness to addressing concerns -- is seen as a step in the right direction by both sides. Whether any substantive change comes of it, sources said, remains unclear.

The three-batter minimum for pitchers, first reported by The Athletic, is perhaps the most controversial measure, as it would ostensibly eliminate a job created by modern bullpen use: the one-out left-handed reliever. MLB's proposal of the idea illustrates the league's concern with both time and pace of game, as constant bullpen shuffling has contributed to the average game time lasting longer than three hours. The rule would apply to all pitchers, except in instances in which pitchers finish an inning or are injured, sources said.

The union did not strongly oppose the idea, according to sources, instead suggesting it preferred the implementation to be delayed until 2020 rather than 2019, as MLB proposed.

The league's other bid to deal with pace of play was the enactment of a 20-second pitch clock, something commissioner Rob Manfred can put into place unilaterally. While numerous players have spoken out against the pitch clock, the recognition that Manfred has the ability to mandate it, even without the union's support, gives him leverage on the issue, according to sources.

In the discussions, the possibility of the clock being turned off when runners are on base was raised, sources said.

One of the union's counterproposals was the adoption of the designated hitter in the National League, according to sources. While a compromise could be the rule being eased in, the union is advocating for a universal DH in 2019, sources said.

In addition to the universal DH, the MLBPA is interested in changes that would use draft picks to incentivize winning and grant players the ability to earn additional service, which could allow them to hit free agency earlier and theoretically counteract what the union believes is the manipulation of service time by teams.

Low-revenue teams that succeed -- whether by finishing above .500 or making the playoffs -- would be given greater draft positions or bonus pools under the union's proposal, according to sources. While the depth of the penalties were not clear, the union suggested teams that lose 90-plus games in consecutive years could be affected negatively in the draft.

In the wake of Oakland Athletics first-round pick Kyler Murray potentially leaving behind baseball to pursue an NFL career after a Heisman Trophy-winning season, the union also suggested the idea of bringing back the major league contract as an enticement for two-sport athletes to stick with baseball, sources said. Currently, all draft contracts are minor league deals subject to a draft pool that penalizes teams that exceed it.


Athletics draft pick Kyler Murray recently announced he's entering the NFL draft. The MLBPA has suggested bringing back the major league contract as an enticement for two-sport athletes to stick with baseball, sources said. Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Service-time issues remain a key concern for the union, according to sources, with teams capable of keeping major league-ready players in the minor leagues without recourse. While both sides acknowledge service time is a difficult problem to solve, the union's proposal included the possibility of additional service time for performance, playoff appearances or awards, according to sources.

Among the union's ideas was a single trade deadline before the All-Star break, sources said. Currently, the non-waiver trade deadline is July 31, and players who pass through waivers can be dealt until Aug. 31. An earlier trade deadline could force teams to emphasize the first half, which might force them to focus more in the offseason on acquiring players via free agency to improve the likelihood of that rather than allowing them to strike well past the 100-game mark.

MLB's carrot in its proposal was an expansion of roster size from 25 to 26, creating 30 new major league jobs, according to sources. The offering included a 28-man limit on September rosters and a maximum of 12 pitchers during non-September games, sources said.

The league also is interested in studying mound height, with the potential for Manfred to implement a lowering of the mound in 2020, according to sources.

Another league proposal would end all spring training games that are tied after 10 innings and use spring training and the All-Star Game as testing grounds for the rule that starts a runner on second base in the 10th inning of a tied game.

In typical bargaining sessions, dozens of ideas are offered, considered and placed on the back burner, so the likelihood of a handful of these proposals being ratified, let alone all of them, is unlikely, according to sources. Still, as MLB and the union seek to find a place of understanding amid a winter chill that has fractured already-tenuous relations, the mere discussion, sources said, is considered a positive.

Royals are the front-runner for international free agent Erick Pena, who is expected to sign July 2 and is rumored to be in line for a $3-4 million bonus. He’s a top 10 guy in the class.

Pair him with the #2 draft slot coming up, and that’s a nice shot of high end potential in the system

There was something floating out there today that they'd at least thought about the idea of moving the mound back, although I'm not sure that's likely. But the mound hasn't been moved since 1893. It's been raised and lowered but not actually moved to a different distance.

I'm not sure about some of the other rules. I think the DH thing is going to happen. I'm the only person who actually likes the leagues being different. But I'd never want the Royals to lose the DH. Maybe I'd feel differently if the Royals were an NL team.

Not sure what to think of the three batter rule either. I get it. But will it really save that much time? I think another idea would be just to make it so a relief pitcher has to come in ready. Give him like 2-3 warm up tosses and it's time to go. Is that any more dangerous than leaving a guy in for three hitters if he doesn't have it?

Expect 10-14 score baseball games

I like this one.

It's why I can't believe they'd do it. No way it would make the game shorter.

It was a different time for sure and it was a more dramatic mound adjustment because they moved it back several feet.. but when they moved the mound back to the current distance in 1893, scoring skyrocketed about 3 runs a game.

No doubt baseball was different then, but in 1892 Boston won the pennant averaging about 5 runs a game with a sub-3 team ERA and one player on the whole team with a .300 average.

Two years later Baltimore won the pennant scoring 9 runs a game with a 5.00 team ERA. All 8 starting position players hit over .300 and had at least 92 RBI.

On the bright side maybe it’ll get Alex Gordon to hit better

Giving lower payroll teams higher picks for winning is an interesting attempt to stop the tanking trend. I kinda' like it because it can only be helpful to the Royals when they're winning - they never really tried to tank like other teams, so I don't see it changing the way they operate - only a potential benefit.

But I'm not sure how it helps the current issues being experienced with FA contracts. Teams like the Royals MIGHT change some behaviors, like signing a lower to mid tier FA here or there instead of going with a rook. However, the top tier FA's continue to stay on the market so late into the off-season because high revenue teams have simply changed their business approach to FA and aren't paying/bidding like they used to.

Since top tier FA's tend to set the market for everyone else, I'm not sure how this will change much, since the high revenue teams are usually signing the big names. I'm curious as to whether the corresponding penalty for tanking applies to high revenue teams as well - I would think it would have to...otherwise, they could tank without repercussions. Maybe they think the penalty will cause them to go spend crazy for the Harpers and Machado's of the world? I'm not so sure. You don't need those guys to simply avoid tanking.

I’ve seen a proposal where this would occur:

Win 70 or less 2 straight years: next draft pick drops 10 slots
3 straight - 15 slots
4 straight - 20 slots

That gives a team a reason to not completely bottom out and try to remain respectable down the stretch.

I like it.

It seems fair to offer draft position bonuses - maybe after round 1 - for reaching certain win totals, too.

Two batters.
Meh..

So no waiver trades? Think it would be better to borrow a soccer concept in allow for some sort of method to loan out a player if you can figure out a mechanism that makes this acceptable to both sides in a loan.
Seems too short.
30 man roster, 14 pitcher maximum from April to August 31 then it goes to the 40 man with 18 pitchers max until postseason.

Weight draft slotting by best record post trade deadline.


No.

No objections.

Still sounds like the Brewers might end up with Moose again. Means they'd have to move Travis Shaw, who was a gold glove finalist at third back to 2B for a whole season. Plus they have a big time prospect at 2B knocking on the door.

https://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/1713468

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Royals signed Homer Bailey to a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training. He’s spent his entire career with the Reds.</p>&mdash; Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) <a href="https://twitter.com/rustindodd/status/1094257744318730240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Ned Yost in a Verizon commercial?
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f5fd7c7dfd.jpg

Looking forward to the season. Gosh, things look so much better than did at AS break last year. Real reasons for some optimism about contending at some point.

yep.

Absolutely. While I don’t think contenting is in the cards this year, this should be a team that keeps us interested through the AS break and slightly beyond. For a rebuilding team with little pitching, I’ll take it.

As optimistic as I like to be, if the bullpen is still terrible this might still be a last place team. We'll see if guys like Lovelady can actually come up and give us a shot of life. There will probably be games where the offense looks rough and other games where they light it up with their team speed and a little bit of pop. At their best we might actually be a pretty fun offense to watch compared to the rest of the league.

The catch is who knows if anyone in our division will actually be any good. The White Sox could still make a move or two, including Machado. The Twins just continue to add mid range free agents, although they did get Nelson Cruz. It's the same question as last year for them though, is that all going to come together and actually work. The Indians are the front runners by default but they're not nearly the same team either. If any of the other teams could just play above their head for a bit you're probably a 2nd place team at least.

What's Jose Lima up to these days? Think we could bring him in for a look in the pen?

Not sure if serious...

Let's just say he's in the bullpen with Dan Quisneberry waiting to relieve Yordano Ventura.

It wouldn't change anything, if you suck and are going to lose 90 games because of past bad contracts, you are still going to suck. Why go spend a shit ton to still lose 90?

They want competition? Salary floor and ceiling. 8 teams make postseason per conference.

If they institute the clock they also need to bar batter timeouts. Maybe also push the batters box away from the plate a inch or more on each side.

Not too familiar with baseball, I'm guessing?

Too soon? Nah

ROFL

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Free-agent reliever Drew Storen in agreement with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Royals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Royals</a> on minor-league contract, source tells The Athletic. Deal is pending a physical.</p>&mdash; Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/1096529238327549952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
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I felt like last year the Omaha team had a couple or 3 guys that would've been upgrades to the KC club; but no reason to burn a season's eligibility on a lost year.

But-I expect the pen to be better; and it's one of the spots a small market team can reasonably spend and get improvement.

I think it could be a 75ish win club pretty easily. With a little luck right around .500

I’m not really concerned about the W total this year. I’m on board for picking inside the top 5 again.

Would like to see Boxberger, Diekmann, and Storen build up a bit of trade value.

Want to see Mondesi continue to progress.

Want to see Duffy rebound, and if he does, explore a mid season trade for him.

I’ll try to get to a prospect highlight when I can. Probably won’t do a full list - there are better resources for that these days than me - but will focus on guys I’m excited about.

Link us broseph. Though honestly, I prefer your takes

I will. Will be this weekend.

I’ve been in an airport nonstop for the past 29 hours, with the exception of a six-hour detail to the Motel 6 by Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (which is shady as ****, never stay there).

Three cancelled flights, two delayed flights, two missed flights later, I’m hoping to get hope tonight to the wife and kids. Been too long of a week.

Hopefully these 1 year deals workout for trade bait

@LWorthySports: The #Royals have officially announced they've signed Drew Storen to a minor-league with an invitation to spring training.

Godspeed, man. That blows. F this weather

WTF?? We would have totally got the PHX crew together for dinner if we knew you were gonna be in town

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here&#39;s the Mondesi poll results. My opinion, he&#39;s unlikely to be #1 but more likely than not to be Top 5. Kind of depends on how soon he gets past the &quot;struggling; thinks he can hit anything&quot; phase. I&#39;d certainly rather him than Correa or Story. <a href="https://t.co/1EXX6eoF6E">https://t.co/1EXX6eoF6E</a></p>&mdash; Bill James Online (@billjamesonline) <a href="https://twitter.com/billjamesonline/status/1096567012011241478?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
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A healthy season with no more "accidental" PED-ingestions from Mondesi is all I ask for.


We're almost there, gentlemen. Hoping to make it back to KC for a game or two. Also, the series in DC right around the 4th of July looks like an intriguing trip this year.

No one comes to Phoenix and doesn’t tell the crew here.

NO ONE!!!!

It's over.

@JoeTrezz: News from Orioles camp:

The Orioles have signed veteran shortstop Alcides Escobar to a minor league contract that includes an invite to Spring Training.

An All-Star in 2015, Escobar averaged 155 games played over the past eight seasons with the Royals.

PB weeps.

I've done just that three times.

Fight me.

Ok, where you want to meet?!?!

Arrowhead Grill and then ask me what happens.

That's great! See you next time you're in town!

Ask me what happens.

I will when I meet you! Great!

The O’s are in a masterclass of tanking.

Phoenix was an unplanned destination. Wasn’t even supposed to connect there. I landed at 8. Caught an Uber to the Motel 6 by the airport. Flew out at 6:15.

One of these years I’ll get there and get us hooked up with some sweet ST treatment.

That Motel 6 is in a great part of town!!!

Pretty rough.

The inside of the door had a sign advising me to deadbolt and chain the door for my own protection.

Best GIF of the year already
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/826gVF7Yax">pic.twitter.com/826gVF7Yax</a></p>&mdash; TOM MARTIN (@TomKCTV5) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomKCTV5/status/1096603418423119872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Thank God.

ya know...that rotation...I mean if those kids pitch the way they did the last half of the season and Duffy were to put it all together finally...shit, man. That's could POSSIBLY be the best rotation we've had in decades. I mean, even the WS years the starters were pretty mediocre.

Saw a tweet that someone said 'most Royals fans don't know Escobar isn't s good person.' so I googled and found this.

http://www.i70baseball.com/2011/06/1...gotten-affair/

http://www.playerwives.com/mlb/kansa...-leury-moreno/

I’ve long stopped caring about these guy’s personal lives. If one of these dudes is renowned for being a great guy, cool, that’s a bonus. Otherwise, I’m just going to watch them perform in the arena and let them worry about their own lives. Nobody was buying an Escobar jersey for their kids anyway.

Escobar included.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Zimmer throwing some LIVE batting practice <a href="https://t.co/PCruoIZpUo">https://t.co/PCruoIZpUo</a></p>&mdash; 610 Sports Radio (@610SportsKC) <a href="https://twitter.com/610SportsKC/status/1097201082504142848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Stupid Facebook Royals fans up in arms about Alshitty. "No one is giving him the respect he deserves" "OMG! I cant believe that he was only givin a minor league deal! How disrespectful to him"!

People are up in arms lol. You can tell the fans that became fans during the WS run. They dont know much. Hell, the amount of people that were upset that we "keep trading all of our best players" after we got rid of Butera was crazy. Trufans really get attached to the players no matter how terrible to mediocre they may be.

He had some timely hits but has been near the bottom of turdsville in WAR for 3 seasons. Anyone caring about Escobar leaving is straight reeruned.

I will be at spring training in march. I don't have my flight tickets in front of me as of now. Will be at Talking stick giving Native Americans money

It goes beyond caring that hes leaving. People are mad that he got a minor league contract. I literally saw people that posted how disrespectful it was that he only got a minor league deal. ****ing fans are dumb.

Don't ever engage in a sports discussion with a Facebook fan. Keep that shit all right here.

Right, it goes without saying, but Facebook fans are incredibly stupid. Honestly, most anyone talking baseball outside of dedicated sports forums don't usually have much sense, either. Which is fine, not everyone cares for or obsesses over the small details.

Players are offered what they are worth, no player is obligated to money because they think that they deserve it. It's why I find it hilarious when players bitch (Kris Bryant, referenced below) about guys like Harper and Machado not being signed yet.


https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/01/18/kr...gency-decision

The rumors going around are that Boras' asking price for Harper is $400 million. That isn't a case of "teams having very little interest", that's a case of complete ****ing absurdity.

Anyway, Esky could conceivably enjoy another 2-3 years of being a utility journeyman. He had a hell of a career in KC from the casual fans' perspective. His bat was always consistently below-average throughout his entire career in KC, but what changed was that his once-great, Gold Glove range and defensive ability at SS fell off the face of a ****ing mountain after the 2015 season.

I saw this tweet today from Joel...
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Most games played of anyone in MLB since 2011 and 8th all-time most games played in Royals history. Thanks to Alcides Escobar for always saying yes to interview requests and for being a pleasure to work w/ the last 8 years. Good luck in Baltimore Esky <a href="https://t.co/rHz8gTJiDp">https://t.co/rHz8gTJiDp</a> <a href="https://t.co/CLxuahhWNT">pic.twitter.com/CLxuahhWNT</a></p>&mdash; Joel Goldberg (@goldbergkc) <a href="https://twitter.com/goldbergkc/status/1097192171323691010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
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...and the worst part is that accolade Joel points out in the first sentence is also most-likely what led to him losing his glove and, ultimately, his production. It's like his body completely gave up on him.

Haha. True

My KC HOF Lego collection.

https://i.imgur.com/E9rGPQO.jpg?1

It's not just baseball either, it applies to all kc sports. People fall in love with KC players and then get pissed when anyone talks bad about them. See Alex Smith. The guy was terrible but if you mentioned it, they think you're not a true chiefs fan.

Or if you dare mention that the Eric Berry contract might be an awful deal for the Chiefs