Moose signs back with Milwaukee. Still just a one year deal though. He may never end up getting a decent long term deal at this rate. Will end up moving Travis Shaw to 2B full time.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Free-agent Mike Moustakas in agreement with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Brewers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Brewers</a> on a one-year contract, pending a physical, sources tell The Athletic.</p>&mdash; Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/1097254552334753793?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Moustakas rejected <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Royals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Royals</a>’ $17.4M qualifying offer in Nov. 2017. Earned $8.7M total in ‘18 - $6.5M guarantee, $2.2M in incentives. His one-year deal with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Brewers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Brewers</a> for reported $10M, per <a href="https://twitter.com/BNightengale?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BNightengale</a>, will push two-year total to $18.7M before incentives - just above one-year QO.</p>&mdash; Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/1097282209743024136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Free Agency has become weird

yup. people have figured out that mega deal free agents hardly ever end up being worth it.

it's just a correction. I mean the players won't see it that way, but it is.

I smell a lockout.

The real issue is service time.

The players just didn't focus on that when Detroit's owner was willing to fork out $200 million to aging vets whenever he wanted to have fun.

Service time is absolutely going to become an issue. Of course, that will screw over the Royals.

Only if the players don't strike first.

He should fire Scott Boras.

Lolololol.

But honestly did anyone expect him to not at least get a half way decent contract. Also he didnt want the one year deal knowing the free agents this year.

Travis Shaw apparently said this morning he still expects to play third. This means Moustakas will be playing 2B. I'm guessing we'll have to see how well that works in spring training first though

Spin it however you'd like, but the bottom line is Boras straight ****ed Moustakas out of some serious life changing money.

So his life changes if he has 27M instead of 18m? Yeah, sure.

Craig Counsell basically confirmed that if all goes well they're going to start Moose at 2B. It's obvious from the last couple years that the Brewers are basically more concerned with scoring runs than preventing them.

Not trying to spin anything. I have no reason to spin it in the first place. Im just pointing out that no one at that time thought that Moose should have taken the QO. People would have called him an idiot if he would have. Also lets not be dramatic, because he still got life changing money.

Good to know 9 million isn't "life changing" in your view. I think you're full of shit, but good to know nonetheless.

Typical thinking about defense is out the window when Pablo Sandoval is able to make at least one play at 2B.

For sure, but Boras made a rather critical mistake trying to get his client paid. Which is, you know, his primary duty.

It's whatever at this point, but I am still kind of surprised he didn't drop Boras after all of that business.

that's like...one of the dumbest plans I've ever heard for a pro level organization.

I think its kinda funny, since Boras is Boras and from most accounts Moose is sort of a little bitch. I think I blame Moose more than Boras though. No one wanted to sign Moose due to his attitude.

Joe Vitiello is hitting the ball off the cover in AZ

Just confirmed that Ned is doing a commercial about how a cellphone saved his life.

Pretty cool.

Wow, need looks bad in that photo. Reminds me of.

So he would have signed a 5-yr $15-20M/year after '17 if Boras wasn't his agent? That makes no sense.

Really hard to imagine Moose having good range and turning 2 as a 2nd baseman.

I think the best scenario for the Royals this season = Ned, God, the illuminati, the NRA, Cia, FBI, Cabelas\Bass Pro, and whatever's left of the cartels all get together and we get a WC spot. Ned retires after we lose. I love the guy, but he's done if Bochy is.

Agree.
That might be the Brewers plan, but he's going to have a really short season if that's the case. He's a third baseman with really great agility for his size but a history of knee injuries, very little vertical agility or overall speed and I can't recall any game in recent memory where he distinguished himself at second base. I'm probably wrong, but I don't think he would hold up physically playing second over a full season and his maybe 260 BA with maybe 30 HR's. He shoulda came home for a better fit and then we might win 70 or 75 games. Maybe more, weather is bad this year. Our young pitching might take us into late june with a .500 record if it stays cold.

Royals 2019, pray for rain in july.

Machado to Padres
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/2...res-reach-deal

i bet they sign harper too.

he doesnt want to go to philly im hearing

Cant wait to see what Harper gets.

Yesterday on 610 sports the normal The Drive guys werent on and "The Sports Machine", cant remember his real name, was saying that Bryce Harper was the most overrated player ever because he has some years where he his batting average drops. The ****ing guy has a career 900 ops.

A lot of money invested in Machado, Hos and Myers there. Does Myers still have a spot on the roster? If so - where?

That guy's name was Prison Bitch.

Machado is better than Harper.

I'm curious to see how Hosmer and Machado get along. Not a real great history there. Hos was close to Ventura and took his number in SD and we all remember what happened between Ace and Machado. I can't imagine either guy has a high opinion of each other.

I was about to say, a move like this were made with zero regard for the locker room - which was already an issue with Hos and Myers against their manager last year. Hosmer also went from being "the guy" to second fiddle (in both status and production). It'll be interesting to see how Hos responds to that.

Billy Beane liked to pretend locker room issues didn't matter for the first decade or so that he was with the A's - but now it's among his top priorities and for a reason. You can have all the talent in the world, but as the Nats showed us, it doesn't matter if the locker room hates each other.

Yeah...feels like a desperate move on the Padres part. They have plenty of talent coming up if they just be patient and let it materialize. I don't think they need Machado to push them over the top...and not sure he's the right player to bring everyone else up with him over the top. When has he ever done that? Dodgers were already heading to their title without him.

You mean NL title right? Nobody was beating Boston.

The Dodgers were drastically better with him than without him. Believe I saw a .040 jump in win percentage once he was acquired.

He’s a good sign for the Padres in that he is young and fits their contention window. They don’t have a true slugger in their minor league system, and Machado gives them that. That’s huge.

They’ll also have some established hitters at the MLB level as their young guys come up, which will relieve pressure and expectations quite a bit.

yup

That might be true, but color me skeptical on the long-term affects of Machado on a team that young. Clubhouse culture is not everything...but it's something. I don't follow the Orioles closely, but he always struck me as me-first player. I guess we'll see. And I'm not really crying about this signing anyway...means the White Sox have one less bat.

I really think they are going to hate the last 4 years of that contract. Or they are really hoping that the NL has a rule change and starts using the DH.

I just have a feeling the Padres will be regretting what they did in free agency this year and last year pretty quick. Maybe as quick as this year.

How do you think they feel about the Hosmer deal? ROFL

He'll generate WARs, but unless the Padres improve soon, the revenue value of those WARs isn't very high. Who cares if you win 74 games or 79 games?

Man. There's a ton of highly paid douche in that clubhouse now. Go and add Harper while you're at it.

San Diego.

Where careers go to die.

Machado is douchey. Hope the above continues.

Their improvement is imminent. Their wave of young talent rivals what KC had coming in 2011, and they have far more present talent on the team than the 2010 Royals.

Padres will be playoff contenders in 2020.

Agreed.

The Padres are a few pitchers away from a World Series win. If the club house isn’t a complete dumpster fire, they should be one of the top 5 favorites to win it all next year.

But it's San Diego, so nothing will go as planned and the team will play below expectations.

Baseball Prospectus released its farm rankings today.

Royals checked in at ...

Drumroll please ...

16th. That’s an impressive leap up from 28th or 29th last year.

I tend to like BP more than BA or MLB’s guys because those latter systems focus more on near-MLB talent as part of their rankings and less on upside (ie they more highly value a guy with a 4 starter upside who is close to MLB and has a higher floor compared to a guy with a lower floor but the ability to be a really good 2/3 at his best).

For Royals prospect thoughts, Clint Scoles is doing great stuff - for free - at Royals Academy.

I’m still trying to find time to do some highlights of the system. I’ll try to include some draft profiles if people are interested in that.

This. All of this.

I’ll plug Clint for a moment. He did great work at Baseball Prospectus KC and has a much better handle on these kids now than I do.

I just don’t have the time to watch minor league games, let alone travel to them, like I once did.

Still have a few guys on the inside I can exchange info with, but Clint’s scouting eye is sharper than mine at this point.

All I’ve had a chance to do recently is watch video on Erick Pena, the kid the Royals are going to sign on July 2 IFA day. I’ve watched about 200-300 swings of his now (combo of BP and game swings), and I see an AWFUL lot of Juan Soto and Oscar Taveras in his swing.

He’s a big (6-3) lefty with a smooth swing, great barrel control, and could project as a big-time power guy. He’s toolsy as you want a $3 million+ signee to be, but his swing is so natural, smooth, and controlled, I don’t think he has the extremely low floor of some of the Royals’ previous big spends (Marten Gasparjni, Elise Hernandez, even Matias).

He's only 16, right?

KEEP

****ING

DOUBTING

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GASPAR

INI

Yeah sure. If they’re Max Scherzer and Chris Sale.

????? They’re projected to win 79 (ZiPS) and 79.5 (Vegas) this year. They’re not even close. Do you mean 2020? They still won’t be close to top 5. Their prospects are all a ways off.

The first and best of them should start arriving this year.

Tatis, Jr
Urias (already debuted)
Francisco Mejia

All are MLB-ready or will be this season.

Their best pitchers are still two years out, but Chris Paddock could pop up this year and has pretty high upside.

2021 is probably when they really should start thinking about contending, unless they spend on some FA pitching or trade for some.

Great resource. Thanks for pointing it out. Hadn't heard of Royals Academy site, but learned several new things from reading...like I had no idea they're looking to give Isbel some 2B reps this year. Whit version 2.0 would be nice.

Who’s the best FA signee of all time? I suppose you could say Reggie Jackson way back when but I can’t prove it. Ricky Henderson a few diff places.


Answer: either Adrian Beltre (rangers) or Max Scherzer (natties). Max got a 7/210 deal and he’s already earned 214 on the field. So the final 3 years are free. Insane job, Max

*** Official 2018-2019 Royals Offseason Repository ***
 

Ones I would consider:

Vlad Guerrero to Anaheim
He produced 25 wins in 6 seasons with the Angels on a $70 million deal, and LA won a WS during this time period

Greg Maddux, Braves
The Braves’ dominance in the 90s was amped up by adding Maddux as a FA.

Randy Johnson, DBacks
3-4 Cy Young’s, a World Series win during his time with Arizona.

Barry Bonds, Giants
Steroid use aside, Bonds was a superstar for the Giants and every bit what was expected.

Ichiro, Mariners
He was amazing for the M’s

Get some sleep, Duncan.

:sobs uncontrollably:

Those are good names. I pulled up RJ’s page. Yep, huge FA hit.


Bonds too for sure.

This guy is going to be fun to watch this year. He's one of the best bunters in baseball and he's learned to stroke the long ball on a regular basis.

Royals' Adalberto Mondesi says he's feeling no pressure
5:01 PM CT
Associated Press

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The Kansas City Royals have been waiting patiently for Adalberto Mondesi to develop into the player they thought he could be. The time could be now.

The starting shortstop job will be his on opening day with Alcides Escobar departing for Baltimore on a minor league contract.

"Mondesi is a tremendously talented young man," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "We all saw it last year, but he's just scratching the surface of what he's going to be able to accomplish. It's going to be fun I think not only as an organization, but as a city and a fan base to watch him grow."


Mondesi showed a glimpse the last two months of last season how good he can be. He stole 32 bases in 75 games. He is the fourth American League player since 1900 to steal at least 30 bases in 75 games (or less), joining Coco Crisp (2010), Alex Cole (1990) and Larry Lintz (1976).

Since 1974, his 14 home runs and 32 thefts are matched by only six other players in their age 22-or younger season. The others were Mike Trout (2012-13), Hanley Ramirez (2006), Jimmy Rollins (2001), Alex Rodriguez (1998), Sammy Sosa (1990) and Barry Bonds (1986-87).

"No pressure," Mondesi said. "I know what I can do. Thank God I've got all those tools. So I just need to be ready and things are going to happen on the field. Whatever happens is going to happen. I don't have like limits, so I can just go out and play. I know I can do a lot of things."

Mondesi is the only player in history to make his major league debut in the World Series. New York Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard struck him out as a pinch-hitter on four pitches in the third game of the 2015 World Series. His father, Raul Mondesi, was the 1994 NL Rookie of the Year and played 13 big league seasons but never appeared in a World Series game.

The 20-year-old Mondesi has battled injuries and there was a 50-day suspension for a performance enhancing drug in May 2016. He was the opening day second baseman in 2017, but was overmatched at the plate. After hitting .103 and striking out 16 times in 39 at-bats, he was sent back to Triple-A Omaha.

The Royals believe he is ready now.


"He can be like a superstar," teammate Jorge Bonifacio said. "He's a super talented guy. He can do everything on the field."

Said starting pitcher Ian Kennedy, "He's got power and speed and everything else. He's a game changer, how he can steal bases and how he can swing the bat and hit a homer at any time. He can lay a bunt down. He's a unique player. I'm curious to see how he develops."

Escobar played in all 162 games in three seasons and seldom missed a game.

"I came in with the same mentality, be healthy and just be ready to play every day," Mondesi said.

Like 162 games?

"Let's do it," he said.

This guy could turn in an MVP performance this year.

Zimmer threw 1 2/3 scoreless today. Say mid-90s and had the power hook back.

Expect the breakdown any time now... but hope he finally found a way to stay healthy.

Aaron Brooks got lit up by the Royals in the start. He was one of the pieces that Dane and kcchiefsus were crying about that our trades for the 2015 World Series blew up our farm system. What freaking stupid morons.

KEEP

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DOUBTING

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CANNON

I mean, let's be real, Dane never had a solid sports take here, especially in regards to baseball.

The Athletic had a good write up on him a couple of weeks ago. I hope he can stay healthy for a little bit.

How crazy would it be if bubba and Zimmer stayed healthy and both went crazy this year?

2 hrs today for bubba.

Exactly what I was thinking. Somehow they both finally put it all together! That would be pure awesomeness!

plus 100,000!!

Incredibly crazy.

If Zimmer doesn’t weirdly become Mr. Glass, 2015, 2016 and beyond look a lot different for KC.

Dude was Verlander 2.0 before the injuries starting setting in. Sat mid-90s, could touch upper 90s when he needed, double-plus wipeout curve, plus slider, solid change.

And Starling... legitimately one of the most impressive athletes drafted in recent years.

Would love for both to see some big-league success, even if it is as a bullpen arm and a 4th OF type.

Starling’s defense is so good, he’ll have a good chance to make it.

I haven’t been paying attention but was told today that Starling is tearing it up & this thread verifies it.

Is it possible?

He had a couple hits yesterday or the day before. RBI too.

IIRC he was playing pretty well last year before the injury. Fingers crossed.

I think it's time for the Royals to get rid of Brian A. Flynn.

Bubba today:2-2 2 runs scored 1 rbi 1 bb. 1 double.


Maybe it happens