Royals get #6

****ing Cleveland got the first pick

Royals just got ****ed HARD (as did the A’s)

So, another bust like Cross or Mitchell coming in the 1st?

Wow.

I was disappointed to land at 7. But I wasn't "Expected to be at #1 overall and landed at #6" disappointed...

Damn - y'all got rat****ed on that one.

I'll say this, though - I'm glad Oakland got hosed a little.

Cleveland is a deserving #1 (and really, KC would've been). Neither team openly tried to suck. Cleveland just never could get its offense straight and its pitching kept breaking down. Kansas City just didn't have the talent but I don't feel like it was for lack of trying.

Oakland openly tanked. They went full Rachel Phelps. **** those guys.

Likely.

Too far out of range for a ‘can’t miss’ prospect, although I’m not sure there are actually any of those in this draft.

We seem to do pretty well when we draft in the Top 3. Not so much after that.

Still can’t believe neither the A’s or the Royals landed in the Top 3. You realize what the odds were for that NOT to happen?

Just crazy bad ****ing luck. Unreal. :shake:

Yeah, this isn't last year's draft.

The top of the draft isn't as elite and I don't think you have a really steep fall-off after 5 either.

It's a fairly linear draft; the picks don't fall off greatly at any point that I can see. There should be good talent at 6.

Royals went full on young but still had close to a 100 million payroll - granted that is Salvador Perez and Greinke mainly but still it's not like they went to full on Rachel Phelps mode.

I agree for the most part.

The problem, generally, is the Royals scouting can’t identify it. They have a hard time separating the wheat from the chaff.

But at least I don’t have to worry about them missing on a generational prospect this year, so there’s that . . . . .

I believe I saw something about the Royals not being eligible for the lottery picks next year since they picked in the lottery the past 2 years, is that correct?

no more first round pitching...Lets get some bats and speed out of this mug

Not sure, but if that’s the case then we get ****ed again.

We get ‘rewarded’ from the lottery with the #8 and #6 pick two years in a row and then have to sit the next lottery out?

**** that. What a crock of shit baseball has become. On a mission to take away nearly every advantage small market teams could once exploit.

Wanna make sure we keep things equal for the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, etc.

No you have to a selection in the top 6 for two straight years. Royals didn't last year. They will be eligible for the lottery in 2025. But if they get that, they won't be in 2026. See Pirates this year.

This is so dumb the lotteries are always rigged. It doesn't matter anyway we can't draft for shit and we won't spend money

They rigged the draft for...Cleveland?

That seems unlikely.

My bad then, thought I saw that on Twitter but I couldn't find the Tweet again.

No shit. The Royals look like the Dodgers compared to Cleveland

Cleveland has shown they can win, it's not like it hasn't happened in other sports.

2 percent and 0.9 percent got first and 2nd get real.

Save money for the later rounds post

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Washington <a href="https://twitter.com/Nationals?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Nationals</a> TECHNICALLY won the first pick of the 2024 MLB Draft ... but won&#39;t select until 10th overall<br><br>Why? How? ⬇️<a href="https://t.co/kiTDiDvg3A">https://t.co/kiTDiDvg3A</a></p>&mdash; Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) <a href="https://twitter.com/BaseballAmerica/status/1732179230631342314?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mets, Red Sox, Diamondbacks, Royals Interested In Lucas Giolito <a href="https://t.co/fymX2PpbIm">https://t.co/fymX2PpbIm</a> <a href="https://t.co/9o5kanq6vI">pic.twitter.com/9o5kanq6vI</a></p>&mdash; MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) <a href="https://twitter.com/mlbtraderumors/status/1732184715681988632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Baseball America already has a mock draft out!

6. Royals — Vance Honeycutt, OF, North Carolina

Honeycutt made an early case as the favorite for the top player in the 2024 draft class with a sensational freshman season in Chapel Hill. He homered 25 times, stole 29 bags and put on a defensive clinic in center field of Boshamer Stadium. He remains near the top of the class thanks to his standout toolset, but he has dealt with injuries and has yet to hit over .300 in a single season. Honeycutt did cut his strikeout rate from 29.7% to 20.4% in 2023, which was a significant question mark entering the year. Opinions will vary significantly on Honeycutt’s hit tool, so he’ll need to improve his swing, his approach and produce a high batting average to ease skeptics next spring.

Even worse, can't get a lottery pick in 26 if get one next year.

First trade at Winter Meetings and its Yankees/Red Sox
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING: The New York Yankees are acquiring outfielder Alex Verdugo in a trade with the Boston Red Sox for right-handeres Richard Fitts, Greg Weissert and Nicholas Judice, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN.</p>&mdash; Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1732220490943488184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 6, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Literally ****ing hate the god damn lottery. It makes no ****ing sense in a league that plays 162 games. I hate pretty much everything about the MLB.

Maybe we will take another high school catcher!

The unspoken part of this is if they trade Salvy, I wonder what that number becomes. He makes $20 million next year.

The Royals have the second pick in Wednesday's Rule 5 Draft.

Devin Mann, Christian Chamberlain, Asa Lacy and Beck Way are the Royals' notable unprotected players.

What a disaster that pick was

I'm definitely not a conspiracy guy and don't actually think this was rigged, but if it was, Cleveland and Cincy make a ton of sense if you correctly understand what the draft was implemented for. Cincy was awful the year before, got better, and got rewarded with the second pick. This is a dream scenario for MLB, because it shows that there is no reason to tank multiple years in a row. In fact, you might get rewarded by being better.

As for Cleveland, they are a logical pick as a harmless team that won't bring out the conspiracy crowd like the Yankees or Red Sox would, but accomplishes the real goal and why the draft was put in place: to punish bad teams. It's not about funneling players to certain teams, which is why people saying "why Cleveland that's dumb" are wrong in that assesment. They don't really care where the #1 pick goes. They just care that the top 3 teams don't pick #1, and dropping the As and Royals is great for them. I'd bet anything I own that Manfred would want this to be the outcome of the draft every single year, and so would the players union. Don't reward teams who tank, reward teams who spend money and drive up salaries. Again, I don't think this actually happened and it's unfortunate royals had the same odds to pick sixth as they did to pick first basically, but saying "they would never do this for Cleveland and Cincy" isn't any sort of proof that it wasn't rigged.

What? Why would Manfred want salaries of players high? Cincy was just a bit ahead of the Royals in spending and Cleveland was the 3rd lowest in spending. You make 0 sense.

You are missing the point completely which is why it makes no sense to you. Manfred wants salaries high as a byproduct of competitiveness. If hypothetically every team made it their absolute mission to be the best team every year regardless of future plans,then salaries will go up because free agency will be more competitive. This is basic supply and demand. He doesn't care about salaries in and of themselves he wants every team trying as hard as they can, which aligns with the players union complaining tanking teams aren't spending.

It works great to discourage tanking...but it is bad for teams that are organically shitty, poorly run and cheap like the Royals. We aren't tanking, we are just bad from top to bottom with no end in site.

Oh please, we have $30million to spend!!!! Think of the 5 or 6 pieces of shit we'll be able to sign with that kind of coin!

I'm not a conspiracy guy but....

https://media.tenor.com/x0NVZ0edAPkA...-pepesilva.gif

Almost all of their pitching draft picks are. Wonder what Ashe Russell is doing these days? Probably heroin.

Zoloft

I have to admit I liked the Asa Lacy pick, but it was the 2020 pandemic draft so all the teams were going off limited info.

Looking back on it, the whole draft is meh. Reid Detmers turned out to be the best college arm.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Astros Acquire Dylan Coleman From Royals <a href="https://t.co/t6ZiKE8dhW">https://t.co/t6ZiKE8dhW</a> <a href="https://t.co/tUH7WGg5rl">pic.twitter.com/tUH7WGg5rl</a></p>&mdash; MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) <a href="https://twitter.com/mlbtraderumors/status/1732459274020716967?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 6, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Glad to see JJ has been reading CP
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Royals reportedly interested in Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill <a href="https://t.co/Sx5u4Ir7ZV">https://t.co/Sx5u4Ir7ZV</a></p>&mdash; Royals Review (@royalsreview) <a href="https://twitter.com/royalsreview/status/1732465459184697701?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 6, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">With the second pick of the Rule 5 Draft, the <a href="https://twitter.com/Royals?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Royals</a> select RHP Matt Sauer, No. 25 on the Yankees&#39; Top 30 Prospects list.<br><br>Follow live: <a href="https://t.co/T1J0prPAJQ">https://t.co/T1J0prPAJQ</a> <a href="https://t.co/TyZp1Nyneo">pic.twitter.com/TyZp1Nyneo</a></p>&mdash; MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLBPipeline/status/1732476318892085436?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 6, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I just don't know what you've got.

I mean I'm not asking for Mariano Rivera here.

But the Cardinals seem to believe they can push themselves into playoff position this year. So they're looking for some reasonably proficient BP arm. Do you guys even HAVE a reliever on the roster who managed an ERA below 4.5 over more than 30 innings last year?

Because a 4.5 ERA in relief is pretty much the bottom rung of roster worthy.

Jose Cuas looks like he might be something worth having in a middle relief role. Missed some bats, didn't walk the ballpark (though a BB/9 over 4 still sucks). If I had to pick somebody off your roster I guess it'd be Austin Cox but really we need a righty more than a lefty. Alec Marsh has interesting stuff but ZERO command.

Is James McArthur a thing? He doesn't appear to be; looks like a AAAA guy.

I mean the bottom line is that I'd spin the wheel and take my chances on Carlos Hernandez. I've always kinda liked Josh Staumont's stuff but if I'm swapping reclamation projects I'm not swapping a Gold glove power/speed LFer for a setup man. The respective degree of difficulties are identical but the upsides are far apart.

I just don't know what the Royals have to get it done. That big league roster is roooooouuuuuugh.

Cuas is with the Cubs, traded last season for Nelson Velazquez.

McArthur, after his first game, was lights out. Staumont is a free agent.

Staumont got Matheny’d. As did Brentz.

Wait, you don't buy into the thought process of the Royals should be able to trade a player everyone agrees is garbage for a player that has at least some value? Your analysis is fair and refreshing around these parts.

The minor league system isn't much better. It's rough. Bottom 5.

I was reading the Baseball Prospectus top 10 for KC yesterday, and I realized that the current regime has kind of broken me.

The Mozzicato/Kudrna draft started it for me, and I think the Blake Mitchell pick last year finished it.

So the George Brett doc airs tonight on the MLB Network. For those of us who don't get the channel, is there anyway to stream the broadcast online anywhere?

Can't wait to go with a slot pick and have absolute an absolute ass draft again.

I mean, I fully expect it to be an undersized HS pitcher from a scold weather state.

Saw that the Royals were a finalist for Eduardo Rodriguez. That would have been a decent signing I think.

Good to see the Royals rack up all those minor league signings with that 30 mill.

.

If I'm JJ, I think I try to swing a deal with the Reds for Brady Singer. Spencer Steer would be ideal, but they got some options in Jonathan India and Noelvi Marte.

It's gonna rock when they announce Ohtani to the Royals today!!!

Now THAT will be epic

From Ken Rosenthal in the Athletic:

Damn Gray would have been awesome. Wonder how competitive our offers are? Gotta think we'd have to over pay to get a gone to come here.

Should have traded Melendez while he was a top 100.

Saw an unconfirmed report that Ohtani is signing with the blue jays

If you have been paying attention on Twitter, the Royals are extremely active in the pitching market and potential trades. Not in the big names of course, but alot of them. It's something you don't see from them normally. Lots of smoke out there and it's from the big name national guys.

Ohtani to the Dodgers….the most boring and predictable outcome of his FA comes to fruition.

Soto to the Yanks as all the other day…

Yay baseball….

Royals should’ve offered 10 years and $701 million

What the hell would he have gotten if he hadnt blown out his arm last year?

Sent from my SM-S906U1 using Tapatalk

Royals offered 10 years $699 million.

I mean shit, the Royals are only worth like 1.15 billion

Baseball economics need fixed so badly. Shohei's contract AAV is more than the whole 40 man payroll for like 4 orgs last year. Seems like an equitable system.

This is going to be the worst contract in baseball in 3 years.

"Japan's new team"

I doubt this has much to do with trying to win.

especially if he cant stay healthy on the pitching side

Hell, I could see him falling off a cliff in just a few years with the bat.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Left-handed reliever Will Smith and the Kansas City Royals are in agreement on a one-year, $5 million contract, sources tell ESPN. <br><br>Smith, 34, made his big league debut with the Royals in 2012. He has won a World Series ring each of the last three seasons.</p>&mdash; Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1733903363941527632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Royals traded Will Smith to the Brewers in 2014 to get Nori Aoki.

Not a bad bullpen guy. I like it.

pretty sure aoki got hot in august and really helped the Royals get playoff ready.
plus he got hit in the nuts on a pop up!! ;)

Will Smith has won the last three World Series, which means Royals 2024 championship!!!

If the Royals can get some starting pitching who can take some bulk innings, our bullpen is looking to be sneaky good.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Like to see the Royals looking at some of the better starters on the market. Lucas Giolito and Marcus Stroman appear to be on their radar, as are others.</p>&mdash; Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) <a href="https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/1734052756321702038?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I really hope we get Giolito.

Twitter has been floating Ryne Stanek to the Royals as well. Overland Park native, former first round pick of Rays. Reliever/opener type.

More smoke on pitchers. But Flaherty can get ****ed with an AIDs covered dildo
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Royals are indeed interested in Marcus Stroman, as <a href="https://twitter.com/JonHeyman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JonHeyman</a> reported, but Kansas City is casting a wide net in its search for pitching. Per sources, the Royals have also had discussions with Lucas Giolito, Michael Wacha and Jack Flaherty.</p>&mdash; Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) <a href="https://twitter.com/Feinsand/status/1734251512203800669?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>