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).
Spoiler!
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]
Originally Posted by OKchiefs:
Because IF we can get anything of value for him (i.e. multiple prospects) it's more valuable than one above average second baseman on a 90 loss team.
Omar Infante was an above average second baseman (when we signed him). Whit can play like... what? 3 or 4 different positions?
He's Ben Zobrist Lite. He's a pretty valuable player to have. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RubberSponge:
I have already stated that Alex's worth wasn't in his bat. It was his defense, hometown sentiment and putting butts in seats from his popularity locally.
What it really was: keeping us competitive in the last 2 years of our window. I didn't want to re-sign him at all....but they didn't have to go 5/100 on him. 4 was ok, at 72M wasn't a franchise killer. And his first two years we had every reason to expect he'd be a 2-3 WAR player. Had it happened, he'd have earned prob 50M of his deal and eating the rest is no biggie.
That had real value going into 2016. We spent that on Ian Kennedy too. If our core was leaving after 2015 we probably don't sign Alex or Ian. [Reply]
I think he meant minor league camp and not in season but....
Ned Yost just mentioned on the Royals TV broadcast that he’s talked to Alex Gordon about possibly starting the season in the minors. pic.twitter.com/kLMjv6aS2H
Kennedy is a very likable dude; I really hope the struggles were injury related last year. He mention the lower spin rate, would the new baseball cause that? Were the seams flattened? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Great Expectations:
Kennedy is a very likable dude; I really hope the struggles were injury related last year. He mention the lower spin rate, would the new baseball cause that? Were the seams flattened?
Hamstring definitely affected his change up. The crappy juiced balls only inflated his issues. Not sure about the seems being flattened, but I will never forget Kenly Jansen constantly throwing balls away because he didn't like the feel of them during the world series. He was basically exclaiming his disdain for the 2017 game ball as he snarled at ball after ball that he threw back out of play. I'm sure many pitchers felt that way all year. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Prison Bitch:
Gordo has K'd all three AB tonite
Bringing his Spring Training totals to:
4 for 46 (.087 BA), 0 HR's, 1 extra base hit, 3 RBI's, .189 OBP, and a mind boggling .297 OPS.
I understand it's just Spring Training. I understand players at this point in March are often times tweaking their swings and trying out new approaches. With that being said, there's precious little evidence to support the notion that Alex will start magically hitting come April. Or May. Or June. Or September.
Pull a Gil Meche, Alex. Retire and save your legacy while enjoy the tens of millions you've rightfully earned. Give it 5 years and the Front Office will give you a cushy ambassador gig next to Mike Sweeney. Right after your Royals Hall of Fame induction. [Reply]
You might not get many takers on the new shirts just because people don't want to be reminded that Alex Gordon is still on the team. You should change it to "JunisNation", or "SolerNation", or even "DudaNation". Just a thought. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DeepSouth:
You might not get many takers on the new shirts just because people don't want to be reminded that Alex Gordon is still on the team. You should change it to "JunisNation", or "SolerNation", or even "DudaNation". Just a thought.
Dudanation sounds like a gay porn, not sure that goes over well. [Reply]