Bad trade for a shit pitcher. Fire JJ.

Yeah, that's a headscratcher. Maybe they think they can do something with him, but I would think that you could sign guys out of the indy league to match his performance. Very puzzling.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Today the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Braves?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Braves</a> acquired IF Nicky Lopez ($0.5M median trade value) from the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Royals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Royals</a> in exchange for LHP Taylor Hearn ($0.2M).<br><br>The deal is accepted by our model.</p>&mdash; Baseball Trade Values (@BaseballValues) <a href="https://twitter.com/BaseballValues/status/1685776228387819520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 30, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

No.

Can we trade for Luke Weaver again? Hes had a great year for Cincinnati with his 6.80 era. Really thought last year was just an aberration! We need some relief pitchers to win games so we can lose 111 games instead of 117.

Is JJ a dumbass?

He literally had a quote saying they didn't want guys 3-4 years away...he's just like Dayton obsessed with getting guys back that are "ready" says to me they don't trust their system.

Yes, Hearn was acquired last week by the Braves for cash considerations.

I'd move Singer for a good return.

Mecca was no where to be found when they won all weekend. Shocker.

It's terrible I had shit to do..but hey if 3 games wipe out 4 months by all means.

winning some games no matter the record is still fun...am I right?

The Royals scored 4 runs in 2 innings off this guy in April. Guess Sweeney saw something lol. Sad return for Nicky.

Freddy Fermin, the best 2nd string catcher in the bigs, he is a gamer

I'm ready for JJ to be gone. The guy is Dayton Moore. The fact that nothing changed in the front office should have ruled him out to begin with. JJ is shit.

He doesn't know what he's doing,if they dug Taylor Hearn why didn't they just pay the cash for him a week ago?

He is, love him. He's always talking about working hard. Reminds me of a certain 2nd baseman for the Mets in the early 70s "if Chico work hard, berry berry hard, Chico make team"

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">JJ Picollo warned us with his comments about wanting &quot;major-league ready&quot; players, but holy crap, this is even worse than I thought.<br><br>Taylor Hearn has as much service time as Nicky Lopez (3+ years), has a 5.26 career ERA, and the Braves JUST PURCHASED HIM FROM TEXAS SIX DAYS AGO. <a href="https://t.co/QmDJyp9uWW">https://t.co/QmDJyp9uWW</a></p>&mdash; Rany Jazayerli (@jazayerli) <a href="https://twitter.com/jazayerli/status/1685779469783457794?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 30, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Lopez trade opens up playing time for Samad Taylor now. Clears a path of Nick Loftin as well for next season.

Lopez had no ****ing value on the trade market was pretty obvious. People just love to jack off to some minor league prospects who more than likely won't be even be good as the turd they acquired. Royals twitter is pretty much the only place where there is any uproar over this trade.

Yep, and the Royals gave away Lopez for nothing.

I don't care that they traded him, why did they trade him for a guy they could have had for cash a week ago?

They'd have been better off taking back an A ball lottery ticket.

It's impossible to defend trading for a guy that could have been had for nothing last week.

You're clearly going to defend every single move this org does. They could have gotten a lottery ticket instead of a dude that we know sucks ass and doesn't have much control left.

Hearn showed alot in his time with the Braves his ERA was 108.

I'm not getting worked up for trading a turd and getting a turd back.

If the Braves think he's good enough to be a bench player on their team he's probably not a turd...also the Braves have bent the Royals over on the last several trades... probably should stop trading with them.

You would be ****ing pissed if the Royals had traded for Nicky Lopez.

He is what he is, a backup role player.

The problem is why are you taking back a guy who was DFAd last week? Why didn't you just claim him then...that's like not getting something for free then trading for it.

It's dumb.

Other than Soler, who did nothing his last year in KC then turned it on in the postseason, how they got bent over?

Braves traded Waters for a high school pitcher who is hurt.

Dick Lovelady for cash.

It's not a great trade but Lopez is also a guy with zero pop in his bat. I don't think you'd get someone on a team's top 30 prospect for him but maybe I'm wrong. But in the end I think it's a salary and roster dump as much as anything. They're dumping a guy who just isn't going to be worth what he's making and clearing the room for an infield with Witt and Garcia penciled in with Massey and Taylor already on the team and Loftin on the way to fight for the remaining spots.

If they're salary dumping on a million dollars then prepare for Perez to go..and if they are salary dumping what does that say?

Also why are the Royals targeting relief pitching? That's supposed to be the easiest thing to develop and has little value to a bad team.

Id argue any good reliever (unless young guy with years and years of control) on a bad team like this even has NEGATIVE value.

I was listening to some KC sports talk and I couldn’t believe they were defending Piccolo. Basically saying “well just because he worked under DM doesn’t mean he shares the same philosophy”. WTF how can you defend this guy and claim he doesn’t bear any responsibility for where the Royals are now? KC has some of the most gutless sports media.

There's a serious question there about money. That's a bigger concern because it's not like Lopez is going to get a major return either way. It's that they traded for a guy they could have had a week ago for cash considerations. They still got him but saved a bunch of money in the process. Dumped salary, avoided the cash considerations and didn't eat any of the contract to get a better return. Looks like a straightforward dump to me.

I actually don't think JJ has been like Dayton as much as people say. Dayton wouldn't have done this. JJ seems pretty hung up on trying to find relievers and fringe pitchers they think they can fix. Dayton struggled finding starting pitchers but a lot of his moves did follow the pattern of trying to find starters and if they didn't work out then they could move to the pen.

Because it is the Royals and they have shown they do not know what they are doing. The Braves, however appear to be doing things correctly.

For those who are willing to give JJ a chance, what do you need to see and by when for him to show he is a capable GM able to make the team competitive?

I'm done with him after seeing the interview where he insists they need major league ready talent in return on any trade. Even if that is his desire, he should be more aware of the fanbase and need to differentiate himself from DM and not put it out there directly.

Hopefully Sherman can have a Clark Hunt/Pioli type revelation sometime soon, clean house, and hire someone respected and proven who can lead the change.

I think the organization is so far away from being competitive that the evaluation of JJ needs to be more transactional. Is he making moves that puts the organization in a better position for the future? At this point I think there just seems to be a lot of negativity surrounding everything, and the lazy approach is to just look at ML. If they are reworking philosophies and instructional procedures throughout the org, that takes time. But we as fans have limited visibility into that because the rewards of such changes will never be immediate, and ultimately you can\will see dips in productivity at the MiLB levels if the changes are massive (which are needed). We are seeing the minors taking a step back this year.... the HOPE is that this is due to organizational philosophy changes.

What a lot of us were hoping was these "changes" would be of the personnel type so we would KNOW 100% a philosophy and approach overhaul was occurring. That isn't happening and we're hearing some of the same "GM Philosophy speak" from JJ that we heard from Dayton. Which gives the impression that we're just ****ed.

Yesterdays trade is a Dayton Moore trade. I don't know if JJ knows he is toast and wants to really just completely destroy the organization on his way out, if Sherman is telling him every trade he makes there needs to be a guy that can help in 2024 and not beyond or if he is just incompetent.

I need him to stop talking about getting back major league ready talent in every trade.

I liked what they got for Chapman. Ragans was close to MLB but had issues they thought they could fix and was high ceiling. The younger player in the package is the type of lottery ticket they should be acquiring.

When they're trading any talent, of any level, and the return doesn't make them younger, or better, or have more upside than the player they shipped out, that's an issue.

I didn't expect much for Nicky Lopez. I did expect them to do something different/better than acquiring a shitty reliever with the same level of control, who is older and worse. Especially one who literally was available for CASH last week.

It's a Scott Pioli-type move.

Three years is what you should give a GM unless legal or total shit show circumstances

This is 1 of 2 things...

JJ literally has no idea what he's doing and is nothing more than a Dayton Moore puppet as he says a whole lot of the same type of stuff...

Or

Dumping salary and acquiring "major league ready talent" is an edict from John Sherman. JJ has been told this team is not adding payroll and if anything needs to cut payroll while improving. So you have a GM who has his hands tied by ownership because hey if you are Sherman "An A ball lottery ticket doesn't get me my new stadium"

Could be either or hey maybe it's both, the fact that that entire front office is the same save for 1 guy tells me alot of about Shermans desire to spend money.

When he was already in the organization for 15 ****in years he doesn't get the time or judgement a new GM gets, that's a different scale.

This year is a total shit show, this is Nathaniel Hackett level incompetence.

I would agree under normal circumstances.

With Picollo, being an internal promotion who was touting a willingness to keep the good things (the work Drew Saylor and company were doing with hitters, letting Paul Gibson continue to overhaul pitching development after 1 year) while also ditching the bad things (extreme loyalty to players, lack of ability to be transactional, over-focus on "developing players as leaders and men", unwillingness to dump the shitty ****ing major league coaching staff).

Has he carried through on that?

It's hard to say.

Some of the pitching at the lowest levels has shown promise. Maybe the development there is working. But the hitting has also taken a step back at most levels, including the majors. I'm not sure they have something they can really hang their hat upon.

It's something fans can't get a complete picture on. But it sure seems like the stale air that was causing a lot of problems still is fairly stale and causing problems.

They're as bad as a team that is tanking on purpose...they really come off as a team that has no idea what it's doing.

The whole "major league talent" thing re: Nicky Lopez really was discouraging to see. I was willing to give them benefit of the doubt after that Rangers trade and see what types of returns they were seeking. Pulling in that level of return for him is just... inexplicable.

They're getting dragged for it, and rightfully so.

Taylor Hearns can be acquired pretty easily.

Major League ready just makes me think of the Beltran deal. That tunnel vision will kill you.

Mark Teahen was such a homo too

This is what a trade looks like when a team recognizes that it's bad and is trying get it turned around instead of salary dumps.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Civale is owed less than $1M for the rest of the season and comes with two additional years of control. Manzardo is the Rays’ No. 4 prospect, per <a href="https://twitter.com/MLBPipeline?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MLBPipeline</a>.</p>&mdash; Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/1686099640016363522?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

When have the Royals ever gone wrong trading for a Hearn?

Its like they wanted to dump Nicky but made a bogus trade for some feels

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Josh Vernier getting on the radio this morning and making Nicky Lopez out like a bad clubhouse guy was certainly something. “He hasn’t been all in on his role in a while now.”</p>&mdash; Royals Farm Report (@RoyalsFarm) <a href="https://twitter.com/RoyalsFarm/status/1686018296921866240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

A Royals mouthpiece shitting on Lopez because Dickollo ordered him to.

I wonder if Sam Mellinger ever second-guesses taking that Royals media relations job.

The Royals seem really serious about using friendly media to shit on players they move on from.

Also they apparently don't like criticism, the Royals farm report guy basically said he was told about a year ago by someone in the organization "you have no idea what you're talking about."

I'd say we are at "total shit show" level:

historically bad record - check
just ran a bad draft - check
WTF trad - check
butchering the new ballpark - and check

What positives can we cling to? Strong attendance?

And they just assigned Blake Mitchell to the Arizona complex league...so once again super slow development and not full season ball...bad sign.

Same level that Max Clark and Walker Jenkins are at.

Yea are they 19..oh right they aren't.

You're desire to defend the Royals brain dead front office is funny though.

They all just graduated high school ball dipshit. No team is going to send a high school senior straight to Single A for a month after he signs. Mitchell is what 4 months older than Clark. Big ****ing deal.

Defend it... continue.

They did the same thing with Bobby Witt.

We'll see where he is starting next year so I'll be reasonable but for the most part this front office is completely brain dead.

trying to get "major league ready players" with this trash heap of a roster is funny. it's not just sad, it's actually funny. this ballclub is so ****ed.

its gonna be a long haul for the Royals...there is still fun to be had watching games

our division is so ripe for the taking too but oh well

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We have traded RHP Jose Cuas to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for OF Nelson Velázquez.<br><br>Velázquez, who is on the 40-man roster, has been optioned to Omaha (AAA).</p>&mdash; Kansas City Royals (@Royals) <a href="https://twitter.com/Royals/status/1686164952812285952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 1, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Another dude on the 40 man lol, Cuas is balls but c'mon.

odds have to be in our favor at some point

Okay I like this trade, way to make up for it from Yeaterday JJ

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Today the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cubs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cubs</a> acquired RHP José Cuas ($1.7M median trade value) from the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Royals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Royals</a> in exchange for OF Nelson Velázquez ($2.8M).<br><br>The deal is accepted by our model.</p>&mdash; Baseball Trade Values (@BaseballValues) <a href="https://twitter.com/BaseballValues/status/1686166981920317440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 1, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Got to think Olivares is gone. Velazquez has played all three outfield spots.

Thank god their model allows for a 40% difference in value.

This trade is meh both ways. Cuas seems to have really good swing and miss stuff and for some reason he's using his fastball as his 3rd pitch. Velazquez has power but also his own swing and miss.

Just a ho-hum who gives a **** trade.

Velazquez should never, ever touch CF in Kauffman. He was ****ing trash out there in the smallest CF in baseball. He is not a good defender.

The good news for us is that Olivares is a butcher in all three OF spots.

That’s a pretty decent get for Cuas

Velazquez has 60 grade power, that's a solid return for Cuas cause he sucks.

It got hard to watch Cuas pitch...shakes his arm, glove and leg every pitch