Love it.

Butera will always have a spot on my wall -- in my framed copy of the KC Star front page, the pic of him hugging Wade Davis after the final out of the 2015 World Series.

Glad to see the Cam Gallagher era begin. Also supposedly the Royals will call up Viloria in September. I'd like to see him catch a few innings.

Looks like they got a decent AAA reliever.

I should add that Butera also had one of the biggest at-bats in Royals history. I've always said that if I ever ran into him, that would be the first thing I would thank him for.

I think that will always be everyone's memory of him.

Although I will say he took a big walk in the 8th inning comeback against the Astros in game 4. Kept the inning alive, allowed us to take the lead and bring in Wade to shut the door. That was huge.

Butera certainly had his shining moments, but was otherwise a terrible catcher with horrid offensive statistics and subpar defensive numbers. The fact that the Royals traded 2 months of that for an alright minor league reliever is highway robbery on DM’s end.

THAT was huge, and I would say that was his greatest contribution to a team that was facing elimination. Big ups to The Hair-flip!

Facebook fans are the dumbest of the dumb. They literally have no clue about the sport. People bitching about us getting rid of all the good players lol. Someone was bitching because we keep trading Major Leaguers for Minor Leaguers. Just so ****ing ignorant it makes my head hurt.

Don't look now but Nick Pratto is starting not to suck. Hitting .273, 12 HR, .761 OPS. Still don't understand why a guy that is an above-average athlete wants to play 1B, but whatever. Apparently has a 60 scouting grade arm, and could be a pitcher if he wanted. Guess he can't play 3B since he's LH.

Dn, that'd be nice if he started picking it up. We need a 1B.

Some dude on Twitter was so mad he won't watch the Royals till they get a new gm. Trading Butera was the last straw!

I mentioned a week or so ago that he was picking it up since the minor league ASB and May have had something click.

He is .310/.388/.482 since then over 225 ABs. It’s driven mostly by his very hot August.

You found OK's twitter account.

May god have mercy on your soul.

I looked up Vasto. He's had one appearance in an MLB game, and he gave up 3 ERs in only two outs of an inning. That's all he played.

Probably still too young, and I'm certainly not complaining. We weren't going to re-sign Butera anyway (or at least we shouldn't have bothered) so it's definitely a great trade to get anybody for Butera this late.

They've only been fans since 2014, so whatever.

All my girl friends are pissed. Mainly because of his hair and he was cute.

Players like Hosmer, Cain, and Moustakas I understand. Getting pissed over Butera? The ****?

If they also like Salvy, why don't ya go ahead and show them the Italy vs Venezuela game of the last WBC.

610 was reading tweets from people and dear mother of jeebus, the masses are idiots. So much anger over a pretty bad back up catcher.

Butera was one of the worst royals I've see

It's nice to at least see some contributions from the young guys lately. Even again tonight, Dozier, O'Hearn, Mondesi, now Gallagher all doing something out there.

Also another good start from Keller.

I would have no problem running this lineup out there next year. Just start Soler over Phillips and Gallagher backs up Salvy. I would like to see them at least shore up the pen though via trade or FA.

Speaking of... holy O'Hearn. Just did it again. Guy is hitting with some serious pop. Now 3-5 with 4 RBI tonight, plus 7 HR in 21 games.

Seriously, O'Hearn almost has half as many HR/RBI as Hosmer in 111 less games.

O'Hearn is a BAMF

So.... did I hear the radio broadcast correctly tonight when they said that Whit was the oldest player on the roster now? Is that really right or did I have whiskey in my ear?

Hosmer was hanging around in my fantasy draft about 50 spots beyond where his rank suggested he should be picked, so I pulled the trigger on him. One of the worst picks I've ever made. That contract is going to go down as one of the worst in baseball history. Mike Hampton-level bad.

Let's build our team around him!!!

Butera will probably always own the greatest walk in Royals history.

https://media.giphy.com/media/D6WuLOKOpR2fK/giphy.gif

FWIW - as much as I can remember in the midst of my 15-year-old sexual angst haze - this is what it felt like in '85. Every year that went by you appreciate what happened more, and that no one can ever take it away.

Until about 10 years later then it starts to get sad. After 20 years later you become convinced losing has always happened and will always happen.

Alex Gordon says hey, **** you.

There is a reason he hit .230 with a .700 OPS in AAA. His current pace of slug is not sustainable.

That's highly possible. The league will adjust for sure. But for now they might as well play the guy and see what happens. He's the first American League player to have 7 HR and 19 RBI in his first 21 games since Carlos Delgado 25 years ago.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Based on my research, O’Hearn is the 11th player ever. The list:<br><br>Mandy Brooks (1925)<br>Orlando Cepeda (1958)<br>Willie McCovey (1959)<br>George Scott (1966)<br>Alvin Davis (1984)<br>Carlos Delgado (1993-94)<br>Albert Pujols (2001)<br>Jeff Francoeur (2005)<br>Cody Bellinger (2017)<br>Rhys Hoskins (2017) <a href="https://t.co/dcs5RY9eHa">https://t.co/dcs5RY9eHa</a></p>&mdash; Kurtis Seaboldt (@KSeaboldt) <a href="https://twitter.com/KSeaboldt/status/1035748013506002944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 1, 2018</a></blockquote>
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BREAKING NEWS! - THE ROYALS SUCK! - STAY TUNED

source? link?

Huge if true.

I want to see Phillips play every day for at least 1/2 the season. His defense is valuable, and the power + patience profile is worth investigating.

Gordon/Phillips/Soler

Bonifacio rotates in at DH and plays some corner OF.

Phillips has never gotten daily AB's at the MLB level. He needs a team to be patient with him to see if he can figure it out.

It's the only reason why Moose, Hos, Gordo and Cain broke with this team. They had 2 seasons if not more to each "figure it out".

No interest in Goodwin? Seems like the more established guy.

I don’t care about established. I care about upside.

Phillips offers the potential for plus defense in CF with a .260/.350/.475 slash line. He’s younger than Goodwin and was a higher regarded prospect.

Goodwin is a fine 5th Of to have around because he can play any spot and is a LH bat (giving you 2 RH AND 3 LH bats which is a good mix). But I don’t expect much of him.

Hot, wild-ass guess/take: Soler gets moved at the 2019 trade deadline.

That's my thought. We're talking about a AAAA guy with zero plate discipline

Phillips was a top 100 prospect who's never been able to play full time. He'll be starting everyday next year. Plus he's a solid defender, this team values CF defense so much he'll play even if his bat struggles. Goodwin will have to light it up to steal his job, or the combo of not finding a trade partner for Whit and Nicky Lopez playing so well they just can't keep him at AAA anymore.

How about we just move Gordon to the front office?

Junis, Keller, Duffy are three solid looking SP for next year's rotation. You've got some bullpen arms in AAA that should be ready to go. I like Phillips a LOT. Dozier's been a lot better of late. Mondesi has been better. I don't expect O'Hearn to continue THIS pace, but let's see if he bottoms out or just to a solid bat. Whit's a solid veteran. If Soler's healthy, and Goodwin's your 4th OF... I'm telling you guys, they could be shouting distance of .500 as soon as next year.

Phillips is the re-incarnate of Alex Gordon.

Sweet!
https://twitter.com/royals/status/10...627695104?s=21

Whit with the walk off homer!

Phillips jacked up.

Phillips is such a character. If he turns into what we hope he's going to be a fan favorite.

Whit walks it off. Damn that dude is one bright spot in this year for sure.

Whitley!

#1 pick is probably gone, but at least the kids are starting to show some life.

*** Official 2018 Royals Repository ***
 

I'm hoping the 2nd pick is just as good as the 1st pick.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9918798fc3.png

It often is, unless there’s a generational talent like ARod or Chipper or Harper.

The biggest difference is probably the draft money.

Increase that trade value Whit!

The Orioles are just going to take the catcher anyway, right?

May as well win against them

Fun game tonight. Young players are doing well. No pressure, just have fun get experience...

Lol the Royals do this shit all the time after they’ve clinched a losing season.

Whit Merrifield is a god, maybe not thee god, at least I don't think.

Wish we could have PH Butera for him or something and lost the game though

Soria doing Soria things in Milwaukee.

He’s been excellent for them and is having a great year.

Royals would have been better served to hold onto him and move him at the trade deadline, rather than dumping him ASAP just
to cut some money.

Though, of corse, if the royals had him, they might not be in line for a top 2 pick...

God, Baltimore is awful. How did these two teams fall so far in just three years? Amazing.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ned Yost says Jorge Soler had a setback in his rehab. Asked about possible return this year and Yost said probably doesn’t look very good</p>&mdash; Joel Goldberg (@goldbergkc) <a href="https://twitter.com/goldbergkc/status/1036290354692145153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 2, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Rany had a crazy stat on Twitter this morning. Whit has basically moved into the top 25 position players in Royals history in WAR. The only 2B ahead of him is Frank White. He's only played really for two seasons.

I hate the idea of trading Whit because the optimist in me hopes we compete while he's still good. But what could we possibly get for him in an offseason trade? Draft picks or prospects. Duncan - thoughts?

I think you bring him back and give the team a shot. Whit and aMondesi could be a hell of a middle infield next year.

Merrifield has been worth the cost of admission alone this year. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but the diehard fan in me wants us to bring him back and keep him here.

Yeah it seems like that's most likely. But if some team wants to break the bank for Whit obviously you have to think about it. That's really what I'm wondering - what would it take to pry Whit away?

Some lady had a sign "Whit makes us a Merri Field"

wtf?

Whit & Salvy are untradeable to me.

First time watching?

Whit with a base hit and his 30th stolen base.

English please

you can't trade draft picks in bb

Lol I was just thinking - why don't I ever hear of any big blockbuster draft trades?

LMAO Viloria with a bat flip for his first hit. He did smash it though.

Young guys looking good today. Hudler shitfaced...

They just needed to be mathematically eliminated before they could really hit like pennant champs...

That was the best homestand we've had in a while. 7-1.