Hopefully this isn't just a mirage. I've seen the Royals do this before when it doesn't matter.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Whit Merrifield enters the final day of the season tied for the major-league lead in hits (191) and leading the majors in stolen bases (44).<br>&quot;That would be pretty exciting,&quot; he said. &quot;To do it in the whole league would be a thrill, especially after having a fluke year last year.&quot;</p>&mdash; Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) <a href="https://twitter.com/rustindodd/status/1046232344686993408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Saw that Mondesi has more home runs this month than Escobar has had in any year of his career or something crazy like that.
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Lmao

Actually this does matter, especially for the young guys that will be on the team next year.

I don’t think Mondesi is a mirage. This is a supremely talented player finally having his tools click and match production.

Ryan O’Hearn might be a mirage.

But I think there are plenty of reasons to be at least intrigued, if not outright hopeful, about 2019. Merrifield and Mondesi are a pretty formidable 1-2 combination that will create a lot of runs and put a lot of pressure on opposing defenses.

A healthy Soler hitting somewhere behind them is exciting to me.

It will be fun to see what O’Hearn does in a full season (either way). Dozier has been promising to close the season (and after is written him off, too).

I’m also pumped to see Nicky Lopez. He could provide a major upgrade defensively at 2B (where Merrifield is good but not great) and that high-contact, high-OBP lefty bat could be a really nice sandwhich between Merrifield and Mondesi.

I don't believe Mondesi is a mirage either. His pedigree is so high and this was expected. I hope O'Hearn isn't one because if he's not and Soler comes back like he was playing then this O could be pretty damn good. I'm hoping the pitchers that have shown flashes can put it together a whole year. May be a surprising team

Hope he gets both. Really hope he is NOT traded.

Pretty cool for him. He did kinda get lucky Altuve got hurt. He typically has 200+ hits every year.

So is he being sarcastic about people calling his season last year a "fluke"?
That's pretty funny. Good for him.

So there's zero chance we trade him now because Moore thinks we are winning in 2019 and 2020 right?

Moore and Glass are currently negotiating one of the most important contracts in Royals history (TV).

Their public comments about being in contention should be taken with a grain of salt.

I wish the Royals would take 1-2M and create 'bonus pools" whereby cost-controlled guys would make extra payouts...i.e. Whit 350K, Mondesi 250, Ohearn 150 etc etc.


I can't explain it but watching Whit this year, I'm constantly annoyed he isn't making any money. It's not fair.

I don't know about a cost-controlled pool for Whit.

However, I would like to see an ACTUAL pool for Whit's sister...

I have never seen a fan base so insistent on sucking. Has Eric Fisher not taught anyone a damn thing?

And you’re chiming in with this now... why?

Much more recent discussion about Mondesi and O’Hearn and what next year looks like of late.

We’ll gladly take Adley Rutschman at #2 to pair with the rebuilding effort, though...

Yost extended :(

HE KEPT MATHENY AT THE GATE!!!

THANK YOU NED!!!!!

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showp...postcount=4651

This combined with the other guys hard on to trade Whit.

I am bullish on the Royals.positon players and think with some tweaking and luck competing in a year or 2 isnt so absurd.

Salvy being a lineup spanner in the gears makes me think 'nay' on taking Rutschman.

Salvy has 3 years left on his contract which is very team friendly considering the talent level. As soon as the team is ready to bring Rutschman to the MLB level, Salvy can be offloaded. If the upside is that they say it is for Rutschman, then they have to take him.

No I'm saying a catcher who isn't able to transition to 1B or DH offensively presents a problem.

Gimme a jerkoff like Cervelli who draws walks like they're going out of style and isn't a total liability at the plate with plus-plus defense.

So just heard Ned Yost got a one year extension. MOTHER ****ER. SON OF A BITCH. WHEN CAN WE RID OUR SELVES OF THIS IDIOT AND ESCOBAR. I'M SURE WE BRING BACK ESCOBAR AS UTILITY PLAYER TO take away abs from Mondesi and block Lopez.

I'm okay with Yost if the alternative is Matheny.

****ing duh.

Whether or not Esky and other washed up retreads are on the team next year is in no way up to Yost.

Yost guided our last youth movement to the promised land. He's proven he's perfect for the clubhouse in that capacity. GMDM needs to swallow his pride and stand pat this offseason.

Like it or not, I'd vastly prefer Edgar at the helm than red-assesses who play favorites like Matheny or Kendall.

Barring any comebacks, the NL is shaping up to be a lot of fun starting tomorrow.

I will miss not having the Royals when theres nothing else to watch on a random Weds night

Rutschman has the upside of being a switch hitting Buster Posey, though. High OBP, high average hitter with power and plus defense.

Cs don’t go too 5 unless they have the ability to be impact hitters, too.

Congrats Whit.

I love me some Whit....I just wish he was a few years younger

Congrats Whit!

Ned hate is pretty ****ing stupid.

Esky.....

That ends the 2018 season.

It is, he's had a lot of head scratches but a team could do far worst than Ned Yost!

Rationalizing extending Yost because of worse scenarios is the World Series run equalizer. Let’s strive for catching lightning in a bottle again instead of making sound decisions.

What's a better manager going to win us next season?

Like it or not, Ned isn't a bad option for the state the Royals are in. With so many young guys, it's probably more important for a manager to be better for the clubhouse and team chemistry than he is at making tactical decisions during games.

The dude oversaw our last youth movement and cultivated a perfect locker room that was an integral part of two trips to the World Series. There isn’t a better resume out there.

He should be welcomed back to 2019.

Agree to disagree. The Ned clubhouse thing sounds like a myth at this point. These guys were in it together from the get before they got to the big league club. Plus a Ned-proof pen. I have a soft spot for Ned, but it's time to turn the page.

Awesome for Whit...now I hope teams offer alot for him at the winter meetings

I get that the Royals are far from contenders, but who the hell do you want instead of Whit? He's here for a few more years, and he's a very valuable player.

Sure, I'd take a young ace starting pitcher over him, I guess. But you really think you're gonna get one of those in a trade?

More and more I think we should just keep Whit. Trade him as a rental if he's in the last year of control and the Royals still suck.

Hopefully there are offers similar to the Zobrist deal...we will see. Trade Market is different but he is really valuable and the Royals are going to compete in 2021 maybe? He's gonna be 30 soon...I def don't think they'll trade him for lotto tickets which they shouldn't

Fantastic year!

Wont be as productive when they are competitive. Dump him for a new piece to help the rebuild.

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Yost has a proven track record with developing young players, and it’s the things that drive us nuts about him - his patience and loyalty - that make
Him effective in that role.

He did it with the Brewers and he did it with KC. He’s fine for 2019.

As for trading Merrifield, I think the strong finishes by Mondesi and O’Hearn and some of the young SP probably push that trade viability to the back burner, at least until midseason next year.

If Mondesi can be what he was over a full season, you can see a path to being pretty good by 2020/2021, in which case it makes some sense to keep Merrifield.

They’ll inject some youth and power arms into the pen, hope for health from key younger players (Soler and Mondesi chief among them), and see what happens in the first half.

So did the Nationals all stars during their youth movement. For three seasons they had more talanrt on paper than we EVER did.

It didn’t matter. Under their leadership players were fistfighting in the dugout, not talking to each other on the team planes, and constantly fighting with management. Clubhouse issues are often cited in Oakland’s failure to win it all too - so much so that even Billy moneyball Beane cited team chemistry as a major focus during his current rebuild.

Even if you think the locker room stuff is overblown, I’d then point to the data that says that ultimately, managers either factor in +3 to -3 wins per year at most.

Maybe the Astros will get a re-match in 10 years!

QFT

I think it's gotten to the point nobody likes their manager. It doesn't matter how good you are. Read Andy McCullough's mentions on Twitter every night and people are just killing Dave Roberts. Same thing with Joe Maddon... you can find plenty of Brewers fans killing Craig Counsell. I'm not sure there's a fanbase that actually likes their manager. I guess maybe the Indians and Francona.

I'd rather have Ned 10 times out of 10 over Mike Matheny though.

:Royals: 58-104 :Royals:

I'm not sold on O'Hearn. It is nice to see Ned come back the team showed fire towards the end. I thought for sure he was done. I dont think next year will be his last either. Next year is going to be a fun year. They wont be great but certainly more competitive. That should be enough to lure Ned back again.

STILL butthurt about that game 4 loss from 3 years ago?

You’d think after winning the WS last year that you’d have gotten past that . . . .


Oh well. Enjoy your bitterness, i guess. :shrug:

2 games tomorrow?

2 game 163's! It's gonna be great. AND it's not loser goes home. It's losser vs loser on tuesday

For two of the divisions. Love that the losers then play it out for the wildcard. Love all the potential matchups that could be.

At the All Star break if you had told us we would be this record at the end of the year, we would had laughed it off yet gladly have taken it.

*** Official 2018 Royals Repository ***
 

Think of all the strategy that’s gonna go on knowing that the loser still plays a game the next day and when to let your loser pitcher bat and when to double switch hit!


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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Two years ago, Whit Merrifield debuted at age 27. On Sunday, he led the majors in hits and stolen bases, perhaps quieting some offseason trade talk. “For us to win going forward, we need Whit Merrifield on the team,” Royals GM Dayton Moore said. <a href="https://t.co/oQa0RTjegL">https://t.co/oQa0RTjegL</a></p>&mdash; Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) <a href="https://twitter.com/rustindodd/status/1046583568313602049?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Setting the price high, and rightfully so.

Hopefully it doesn't **** with the Chiefs game tomorrow. It's all day on ESPN.

DONT HASSLE THE HOZ



PadrAIDS finish 66-96. What would they have finished without Hoz' "clubhouse leadership"??

82-80

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The final results are in. Adalberto Mondesi had one of the greatest half-seasons in modern baseball history. <a href="https://t.co/rTL9XqvDVM">pic.twitter.com/rTL9XqvDVM</a></p>&mdash; Patrick Brennan (@paintingcorner) <a href="https://twitter.com/paintingcorner/status/1046754091668557824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The future is bright!!!

That's my concern too.

Playoff baseball games can go 4+ hours.

LOLZ

8 more wins than the R's. $21MM/YR for the next 4 years for 1.4 WAR player. That's got to hurt. Enjoy!

In FG, he ended -0.2 WAR. Actually below replacement.


In other news Whit finished 5.1, tied for 15th with.....Freddie Freeman and Paul Goldshmidt. WOW.

Man, it's weird... i don't even remember Sheff playing for the Marlins.

Can you believe Moore offered that guy a contract?

I feel like this has happened to us in the couple of seasons and they showed the beginning of our game on ESPN2. Or, I could just be making that up.

I'm pretty sure he was on the 97 Worlds Series team.

He won a World Series there.

There would be people bitching if Glass and Moore went out and signed Harper, Kershaw, Machado and Kimbrel.

As they should, since that would be idiotic

LMAO

I knew Harper would trigger a PB reponse.

I would Settle for just Harper and Machado. Think of the value they add to the TV deal.

Moore could be fired based solely on the contract he offered Hoz.

Really great year for Whit and Mondi. Hopefully they won't come out and shit the bed in the first half next year.

My early, completely uninformed record prediction for 2019 is 68-94. Trending in the right direction, but still a ways to go. Until the core from Lexington starts arriving I'm not sure we can expect any better than .500 ball. Unless I'm missing something, the only reinforcements currently on the horizon are Lopez and the bullpen pieces in AAA.