It's the end of the world as we know it... and we feel... fine?
2018 is a season of transition for the Royals, or at least it is at this point. Dayton Moore is back. Will he swing full into THE PROCESS 2.0? Or will he try to load up again and make some reload magic happen?
Pending Free Agents:
1B | Eric Hosmer | San Diego Padres, 8 years, $144 million ($5 million signing bonus; $20 million/year in Yrs 1-5; $13 million/year in Yrs 6-8 wth player opt out)
Spoiler!
(DI's Guess: Texas Rangers, 6, $118 million)
3B | Mike Moustaskas | Kansas City Royas, 1, $6.5 million
Spoiler!
(DI's Guess: Los Angeles Angels, 5, $98 million)
CF | Lorenzo Cain | Milwaukee Brewers, 5 years, $80 million
Spoiler!
(DI's Guess: San Francisco Giants, 4, $68 million)
RP | Mike Minor | Texas Rangers, 3, $28 million
Spoiler!
(DI's Guess: Los Angeles Angels, 3, $35 million+ $12 million team option
SP | Jason Vargas | New York Mets, 2, $16 million
Spoiler!
(DI's Guess: Baltimore Orioles, 2, $29 million)
SS | Alcides Escobar | Kansas City Royals, 1, $2.5 million
In case I, picks would be #32, 33, and 34, if Alex Cobb of Rays signs for $50 million guaranteed.
Kansas City will likely have 5 of the top 40-45 picks in the draft, and the bonus pool money should rival that of the teams drafting 1-3 in the 2017 draft. This should give KC tremendous flexibility in acquiring talent that otherwise might slip or not be "signable."
2018 Draft Names to Watch
RHP Kumar Rocker, N Oconnee HS, Georgia.
Spoiler!
Possibly goes top 10 but is a big, physical SP with ace potential. Moore and co. will be all over him if he slips a bit and could offer top 10 money at No. 16
OF Jarred Kelenic, Waukasha West HS, WI
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Kelenic is the top prep bat, toolsy OF. Royals would be ecstatic to have shot at him.
1B Triston Casas, American Heritage HS (FL).
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Tremendous raw power, best in HS bats. Royals typically like HS arms or HS bats with "special" tools. He qualifies.
RHP Carter Stewart, Eau de Gallie HS (Ga).
Spoiler!
Another big, physical specimen with huge upside. More likely to be available mid-first than Rocker.
ANY Any, Any (Any). Any current top projected pick who slides for injury concerns. Includes current top prospect prospect SP Brady Singer, U of Florida. [Reply]
Just bite the bullet and cut Gordon. Yeah, I know we still gotta pay him, but his fielding is not good enough to make up for a sub200 BA (much less a sub100 BA). Hell, I’d ship him to A ball if I could. Management should not tolerate this kind of performance. Period. [Reply]
It’s spring trainning so I’m not gonna bitch about it too much, but if Alex plays this way in April, they should absolutely float the idea of placing him on the DL for a while with a ‘phantom’ injury or he should consider retiring (not that I think there’s any chance he’d do that). He’ll just be hurting the team and stunting growth for other potential players that could be out there in the OF giving us better AB’s and working on their defense.
Hindsight is 20/20, of course, but we really should have let him walk after the 2015 WS. He would have left an all time hero. If he has a couple more years like the last two, he will be borderline remembered the way Mike Sweeney is(i.e. not fondly). [Reply]
Originally Posted by TomBarndtsTwin:
It’s spring trainning so I’m not gonna bitch about it too much, but if Alex plays this way in April, they should absolutely float the idea of placing him on the DL for a while with a ‘phantom’ injury or he should consider retiring (not that I think there’s any chance he’d do that). He’ll just be hurting the team and stunting growth for other potential players that could be out there in the OF giving us better AB’s and working on their defense.
Hindsight is 20/20, of course, but we really should have let him walk after the 2015 WS. He would have left an all time hero. If he has a couple more years like the last two, he will be borderline remembered the way Mike Sweeney is(i.e. not fondly).
Nope. He’ll never be a Sweeney. Dude could bat 000 and still be a hero for his performance in 2014-2015. He hit the biggest homer in franchise history and he’ll always be remembered for that. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy:
I dont want to see Orlando every day. How about Whit to the OF and Mondesi stays up at 2nd?
Man I dunno. I think Whit is a good utility player that can play most of the positions, but I feel like if he got every day reps at second, he would be great there. But, if Gordon has truly and completely lost his swing, they might not have any other choice but to do something like that. [Reply]
Grimm was released by the Cubs earlier this week, in part, because he was out of options. He's already on site in Surprise and said he exchanged texts with Wade Davis after Royals opportunity surfaced. Davis talked up Kansas City, he said.
If Alex is hitting like this once the season starts then you have to do something. You can't get too hung up on Spring stats though. Otherwise Peter O'Brien would be our starting 1B right now. [Reply]