Year Two of the Matt Quatraro tenure. Time to take a step up this year. Active in free agency and trades this offseason. A new look pitching rotation and bullpen. Will the young players take the leap up offensively? Bobby Witt extension? New stadium? Will Vinny recover from injury? Salvy taking aim at the Royals record book? Will Cole Ragans turn into the best Royals starting pitcher since Greinke 1.0?
Free Agents/Trades Acquisitions
Seth Lugo, SP
Michael Wacha, SP
Kyle Wright, SP
Hunter Renfroe, OF/DH
Will Smith, RP
Chris Stratton, RP
Nick Anderson, RP
Adam Frazier, 2B
Garrett Hampson, INF/OF
Matt Sauer, RP [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJay23:
This is what has me scratching my head at people calling for Q to be fired. Does he make headscratching decisions? Yeah he does, but so did Ned, and there were people here that wanted to move from him too. The grass isn't always greener.
The future is exciting for baseball in KC!
I have been more mad at some of the players, I haven't called for Q to be let go. I don't blame him for the Dayton Moore shit drafting, the minor leagues have 2 guys that are going to be in the majors for the Royals and actually provide some real pop. Also not his fault a guy that acquired at the deadline that quit on the Royals. [Reply]
Look, there's a lot of things about Qbert's style and decisions that I don't like. But pro sports are a results based business. The Royals were a joke last year and are gonna win 85 games or so and probably make the playoffs. He should be manager of the year and it shouldn't be close. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Why Not?:
Look, there's a lot of things about Qbert's style and decisions that I don't like. But pro sports are a results based business. The Royals were a joke last year and are gonna win 85 games or so and probably make the playoffs. He should be manager of the year and it shouldn't be close.
I dunno man. Aaron Boone has done a hell of a job.
Every time Aaron Judge walks to the play, Boone yells “hey go hit a homerun”.
Originally Posted by Why Not?:
Look, there's a lot of things about Qbert's style and decisions that I don't like. But pro sports are a results based business. The Royals were a joke last year and are gonna win 85 games or so and probably make the playoffs. He should be manager of the year and it shouldn't be close.
AJ Hinch has a case too, but the Tigers were 78-84 in 2023 and they had more hype than the Royals in spring training.
The Royals were 56-106 so this is an all-time turnaround by Quatraro.
The BBWAA votes for a first-place, second-place and third-place choice so I see Cleveland's Stephen Vogt and Houston's Joe Espada getting votes, too.
I see Quatraro winning and the 2-3-4 spots will be some order of Hinch, Vogt and Espada. [Reply]
Originally Posted by SithCeNtZ:
After watching Andy Reid for a decade, you would think Chiefs fans would apply the lessons with him to every other team they watch. Does he do stupid things? Yes. Does he learn from many of those things? Sometimes! Can you usually point out 2-3 times in a game where you scratch your head and wonder what is running through his mind? Absolutely. But we have 3 super bowls in 5 years and after watching other teams it could absolutely be much worse on the coaching front.
At the end of the day you have to evaluate a coach on some basic things. Do they get the most out of the talent they have? Is there little drama in the locker room? Do you believe the team achieved expectations or exceeded them for what talent they had? Did they generally come to play every game and represent the city and team well? If the answer is yes to all of these questions, and it is for Reid, then you have to just accept that this is as good as you can get and every coach is going to have some strategic mistakes at some point. Nobody is perfect. Q falls into this category so far. Is he perfect? No. But you can’t deny he checks off all the big boxes that are needed to be successful so far.
The thing Ned doesn't always get credit for is he definitely learned as he went along. There was a time where he'd get real stubborn about things like "This is the 7th inning guy" and such. But as the Royals played more and more big games he started managing more aggressively. Things like going to Herrera before the 7th inning or using Wade Davis on both ends of a rain delay in game 6 vs Toronto. Not sure 2013 Ned was the same guy as 2015 Ned.
Q has been more aggressive the last week or two so that's good to see. Q is the opposite of Ned in that he's pretty clearly playing matchups and statistics even if it's a different lineup every day. But for the most part it's worked. The offense even now is still top half of the league and we're still 2nd in the AL in run differential. And that's with only 4 hitters who are currently "above average" statistically. Bobby, Salvy, Vinnie and Massey. [Reply]
Originally Posted by GabyKeepsMeWarm:
Good morning! This is gonna be a great day!
Despite the above, the Manfred runner is still great for the game (also great for the Royals, they wouldn't be in a position to clinch tonight without it).
Regular Season Nine-Inning @MLB Games of Three Hours and Thirty Minutes or Longer:
Originally Posted by tk13:
The thing Ned doesn't always get credit for is he definitely learned as he went along. There was a time where he'd get real stubborn about things like "This is the 7th inning guy" and such. But as the Royals played more and more big games he started managing more aggressively. Things like going to Herrera before the 7th inning or using Wade Davis on both ends of a rain delay in game 6 vs Toronto. Not sure 2013 Ned was the same guy as 2015 Ned.
Q has been more aggressive the last week or two so that's good to see. Q is the opposite of Ned in that he's pretty clearly playing matchups and statistics even if it's a different lineup every day. But for the most part it's worked. The offense even now is still top half of the league and we're still 2nd in the AL in run differential. And that's with only 4 hitters who are currently "above average" statistically. Bobby, Salvy, Vinnie and Massey.
Ned's biggest flaw in Milwaukee was managing the bullpen. I'm not sure he ever got better at it, but when you have HDH to roll with, it pretty much eliminated having to make any decision.
Assuming the weekend goes right, Q has managed to get the Royals into the playoffs with less than any other KC manager. [Reply]
The magic number between the Royals and tigers remains three. That is the number that we should be focused on. It's been a terrific season, but focus must improve. No more Pham base running mistakes or Garcia flubs at 2B. No more striking out looking for pinch hitters or bad ABs with runners on. Focus up and seize the moment.
In Atlanta, tax the starters with long ABs and get after the bullpen. Don't make it more complicated than it needs to be. [Reply]
Originally Posted by myselff77:
Ned's biggest flaw in Milwaukee was managing the bullpen. I'm not sure he ever got better at it, but when you have HDH to roll with, it pretty much eliminated having to make any decision.
Assuming the weekend goes right, Q has managed to get the Royals into the playoffs with less than any other KC manager.
Any one of us could have managed that bullpen with 100% success. [Reply]
Holy crap! The Marlins came thru! I had to go to bed, I tried with all my might, but it wasn't to be. :-) LFG!!! Magic number 1 to get in, and 3 to get past the Tigers (Thanks CWS) [Reply]
