I'm open to the possibility that Herrera might prove to be a better reliever than Holland, but Holland will be fine.

Reliever or closer? I ask because the closer role takes a certain amount of testicular fortitude and "grit". Holland has two plus pitches just like Herrera does, but Hollands are fb slider, where as Herreras are fb change. If you examine further, you will see that Herrera also mixes in a cb, where as holland used to use a splitter, but now is almost predominantly a fb slider guy.

I find this interesting because I often hear the reason Herrera shouldn't be the closer is because he only has two pitches. (Yes I know that's plenty, but it's an argument people use to discredit Herrera as a bonafide closer)

Either way, Herrera is just so overpowering that even w/o the recent struggles of Holland you would have to consider swapping their roles. IMO Holland will be just fine, but that doesn't change the fact the alternative is a higher percentage play atm.

I haven't followed the offseason.

What happened to the guy that everyone referred to as "Filthy McNasty"?

Name escapes me.

Soria was let go. He's with the Texas Rangers now.

Surprising.

He had TJ surgery, and we saved some serious cash letting him walk. I believe he's on the rangers dl atm.

He won't be the same anyway

Had TJ surgery last offseason. Royals figured they had Holland to close this year and didn't want to pay Soria's salary after surgery.

Any failed pitcher from here on out gets it fist city to the face.

shouldn't be. He's not what he used to be, the options were nowhere close to being worth exercising. He'd need to agree to come back for a lot less money.

Johnny, I like the way you think.

good win today!!

I agree. I like Soria, but it was time to let him go, and rightfully so.

It seems to me like Yost has really pushed all the right buttons so far.

He's not giving away outs with a bunch of bunts, but seems to be using them in the right spots. He seems to be managing the staff well, watching the pitch counts, hit and run to spark the offense, etc.

I've really got no problem with Yost to this point.

And by the way, I'm 1-0 in Royals Game Threads, although this one scared me off from doing another one tomorrow.