Royals *** Official 2018 Royals Offseason Repository *** - Page 28

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat:

Post-Longoria trade, Giants now project at 75.0 wins and have the game's 29th-best farm system. Also, depending on calculation, possibly MLB's highest payroll.
— NEIFI Analytics (@NEIFIco) December 20, 2017

Yet again, very similar to KC. Bad dadm team, 70-75 win range, and higher payroll than we should have relative to the wind we will get out of it.
[Reply]

The Rays are sending between 12-17 million to San Francisco as part of the deal AND eating all of Span's contract.

That's going to basically give Longoria to the Giants for free this year and also give them major relief vs the luxury tax. So now they've shipped out 15 million in a terrible contract on a minus-value player, while taking on Longoria for what amounts to 69-74 million over five years.

Easy to see why they pulled the trigger. Don't get the Rays angle. They must have loved Arroyo.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
[Reply]

Source confirms Yonder Alonso will be the Indians' new first baseman, as @Ken_Rosenthal and @BNightengale said, on a two-year, $16M deal with an option for a third year. First-base market is getting interesting, with Eric Hosmer clearly best left and Logan Morrison clearly next.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 21, 2017

[Reply]

Getting closer....

[Reply]

That's too bad for the Rays. Longoria is the type of guy you'd like to see stay around forever.

I'm really worried Moose is about to screw us and sign a deal that isn't going to get us a pick. I wonder what it would take for Dayton to make a serious run at him too. You'd have to backload the daylights out of these things, but it's not going to help any "rebuilding" process if we aren't getting draft picks for these guys.
[Reply]

Originally Posted by tk13:
That's too bad for the Rays. Longoria is the type of guy you'd like to see stay around forever.

I'm really worried Moose is about to screw us and sign a deal that isn't going to get us a pick. I wonder what it would take for Dayton to make a serious run at him too. You'd have to backload the daylights out of these things, but it's not going to help any "rebuilding" process if we aren't getting draft picks for these guys.

Rebuild window is shorter, of course, if you keep Hosmer and Moustakas, too.

If Moustakas signs anywhere, they get a comp pick, just a matter of when in draft. It would be after comp balance b if less than $50 million guaranteed.
[Reply]

If you're SF why not try and win the best year or two? What's the downside? "We lose a year of rebuild!" Pffft. Haven't we learned diff franchises have diff rebuild schedules? Cleve has done several in the past 20 years.

I don't like what Det did, they gave away everything and it looks like they'll be in a 5+ year wilderness. If not longer. Sux did much the same.
[Reply]

@jcrasnick: The #Royals have focused more on Eric Hosmer than their other big free agents, Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas, sources say. They're looking like the #Padres main competition for Hosmer. But can they wait so long that Duda, LoMo and the other Plan B's drop off the board?
[Reply]

Originally Posted by Sure-Oz:
@jcrasnick: The #Royals have focused more on Eric Hosmer than their other big free agents, Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas, sources say. They're looking like the #Padres main competition for Hosmer. But can they wait so long that Duda, LoMo and the other Plan B's drop off the board?

Sure.

Because 'Plan B' isn't Duda or LoMo. It's...fuck, I dunno...Soler? I mean if Hosmer walks, are they really going to care who they plug in at 1b for the next 2-3 years?

And if all else fails, there's always Pedro Alvarez - the single worst defensive player I have ever seen. The guy who is such a bad defender that I saw him stand a foot or more away from 1b while taking a throw from SS on multiple occasions. Dude just set up in the wrong spots, like there was a phantom base he was just certain he was standing on. Just a comically bad defender.
[Reply]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Sure.

Because 'Plan B' isn't Duda or LoMo. It's...****, I dunno...Soler? I mean if Hosmer walks, are they really going to care who they plug in at 1b for the next 2-3 years?

And if all else fails, there's always Pedro Alvarez - the single worst defensive player I have ever seen. The guy who is such a bad defender that I saw him stand a foot or more away from 1b while taking a throw from SS on multiple occasions. Dude just set up in the wrong spots, like there was a phantom base he was just certain he was standing on. Just a comically bad defender.

Forgetting about somebody on the roster.....

[Reply]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry:
Forgetting about somebody on the roster.....

:-)
[Reply]

An ESPN article today: Is there anybody left to sign Eric Hosmer?

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/2...gn-eric-hosmer

Originally Posted by :
Early in the 2017 season, Eric Hosmer questions were popular whenever the topic of the current free-agent class came up. Where would he go? For how long and for how much? The answers tended to be all over the place.

At the time, there was a wide disconnect between what the mainstream sectors of the baseball industry thought Hosmer would get, and what metrics-slanted analysis thought he was worth. Then Hosmer spent most of the rest of the season producing at a higher level than he ever had before and finished with career bests in all of his slash stats: .318/.385/.498. As a result, when Hosmer entered the offseason, it seemed the mainstream perceptions of his value would prove to be more reflective of his market worth than his sabermetric portrait.

That may still be the case, but in baseball's game of high-stakes musical chairs, Hosmer is fast running out of places to plant his derriere.

At MLB's winter meetings last week in Orlando, Hosmer's agent, Scott Boras, waxed poetic about Hosmer's "premium value," which he abbreviated to "P.V." as if it were an objectively-based metric. Boras was referring to Hosmer's value-added qualities such as clubhouse leadership and proven ability to produce in high-stakes moments, such as he did while helping the Kansas City Royals to consecutive AL pennants. Those are valuable qualities and Hosmer has them, but in an age of analytics, it's tough to market a player on that basis.

Besides, as it turns out, the few teams with first-base holes have been filling their needs with lower-value commitments in terms of both money and contract length. The list:

Phillies: Carlos Santana (three years, $60 million plus an option year)

Red Sox: Mitch Moreland (two years, $13 million)

Mariners: Ryon Healy (acquired via trade with five years of team control remaining)

Nationals: Matt Adams (one year, $4 million plus incentives)

Indians: Yonder Alonso (two years, $16 million plus third year triggered by a vesting option)

-----

That leaves us with three possibilities for Hosmer. And to be frank: None of those three are slam dunk fits, either:

Brewers: The Brewers got tremendous bang-for-the-buck production in 2017 from their first-base duo of Eric Thames and Jesus Aguilar, and right now they are slated to bring back that tandem in 2018. Milwaukee has been rumored to be in the market for a free-agent splash, but most typically in relation to starting pitchers. The Brewers also need to fill out their setup staff in the bullpen now that Anthony Swarzak has signed on with the Mets.

Nevertheless, Hosmer is a sleeper fit in Milwaukee. He would stabilize a position for years to come on a team that should continually transition players to the majors over the next years, even as a solid current roster continues to compete. Hosmer's ability to hit situationally would be a godsend to a Brewers offense that is heavy on power -- but also on strikeouts.

Still, if the Brewers spend big on someone, it'll probably be a pitcher.

Padres: The Padres seem to be in the process of upgrading their big league roster even though their highest-ceiling prospects in a deep minor league system are a few years away. Because of that, Hosmer is not an obvious fit. In lieu of investments elsewhere, especially in starting pitching, San Diego would likely remain a second-division team during Hosmer's best remaining seasons. On top of that, San Diego has already made a pricey long-term commitment to incumbent first baseman Wil Myers, though he's a good-enough athlete to play on an outfield corner for a couple of years.

San Diego keeps coming up in the rumor mill as a contender for Hosmer, and, to be sure, they are Hosmer-curious. If San Diego sees Hosmer as a cornerstone piece, along with Myers, around whom they can construct a competitive lineup that will gradually be upgraded by prospects transitioning to the majors, then the Padres make as much sense as anyone.

But the question remains: Is the apparent lack of synchronization between Hosmer's remaining peak and San Diego's competitive timeline too much to justify such a large expenditure?

Royals: We end up where Hosmer started: in Kansas City. The Royals are embarking on a rebuild, though to call it a "wholesale" rebuild would be to overlook the ongoing presence of productive veterans like Salvador Perez, Danny Duffy, Kelvin Herrera and Whit Merrifield.

As Hosmer's situation lingers, along with that of teammates Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain, it complicates the rebuilding plan in one sense. That is, if any of that trio ends up dangling long enough that a short-term deal becomes the only course of action, then the draft pick compensation that Kansas City is counting on could take a hit.

The magic contract value is $50 million: If Hosmer, Moustakas and Cain all land deals of at least that total value, then KC could end up with three first-round compensatory picks. But if those players end up on short-term deals, then the quality of the draft compensation dwindles.

Would that be enough reason for the Royals to pay an extra premium in their effort to retain Hosmer, as they've been anxious to do all winter? In a marketplace that, for Hosmer, currently has little clarity, that might make as much sense as anything.

[Reply]

Seems like Boras is really blowing this for Hosmer.
[Reply]

Hoz, Moose, and Dyson all back.
[Reply]

Originally Posted by kysirsoze:
Seems like Boras is really blowing this for Hosmer.

I'm guessing Boras didn't expect it to go this poorly, but some of this is just the nature of baseball today. It's why I wasn't super high on trading anyone at the deadline. The market for position players just isn't what it used to be. All of these big market teams are being more careful with their money, and most all of them have put their focus on developing their own position players. They aren't trading their top prospects away, and they aren't trying to simply "buy" a team anymore.

The Yankees, Cubs, Dodgers, have all developed their own offensive prospects. Judge, Sanchez, Bryant, Rizzo, pretty much the whole Dodgers lineup. Same thing with the Astros even, develop your big talent (Correa, Springer, Altuve) and supplement them with smart free agent moves.
[Reply]