Witt Jr and Brady McConnell could be two of the four infield positions of the future. Some have suggested trading Dozier while he's hot. Could this be a setup for that? [Reply]
1/Maikel Franco for $2.95M by the #Royals is just the kind of non-tanking deal rebuilding teams should emphasize. KC will see if it can revive the promise once expected. If so, Franco still has a year of control in 2021, allowing KC to keep, extend or trade him. If not
2/the Royals will be done after a year having spent less than $3M to have at least a legit MLB player man 3b. Franco will play next season at 27. He may never reach his potential. But good for KC for taking a measured risk to see.
Expect to see some platoons this year with the Royals. Hunter Dozier will play every day, but may platoon a bit with Ryan O’Hearn at 1B. Whit Merrifield will play a lot of CF, but could platoon a bit at 2B with Nicky Lopez. Lineup will fluctuate day to day depending on matchups.
Originally Posted by Wilson8:
He was also sent back to minors last year, where he turned things around with a .175 AVG. Maybe a brilliant move that I just can't see. Mecca mentioned that we should look at 3B Travis Shaw. That seems like a pretty good idea now.
Shaw is without a doubt a better defender. I'm sure someone will take a chance on him as a bounceback candidate but it might be a minor league deal. It's hard to say he was better than Franco offensively though. Shaw got sent down too. His OPS was 150 points lower, and he was completely lost at the plate last year and struck out in 33% of his at bats. Given his history you'd thought Dayton would go defense over offense but he really didn't here. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Chris Meck:
what am I missing here?
Why are we ****ing around with Dozier's head? Why don't we put him at third for 162 ****ing games? hasn't he earned it?
why are we dicking around with the spots we have have a bona fide major leaguer at?
Trying to make sure we have enough passable bats. Even on a down year last year the guy put up a .700 OPS and put the ball in play.
If Bubba, Brett Phillips, O'Hearn and Lopez all hit like they did last year and Gordon retires the entire second half of the lineup is going to be brutal. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
Trying to make sure we have enough passable bats. Even on a down year last year the guy put up a .700 OPS and put the ball in play.
If Bubba, Brett Phillips, O'Hearn and Lopez all hit like they did last year and Gordon retires the entire second half of the lineup is going to be brutal.
I get the Merrifield can play pretty much anywhere and it doesn't affect him, but not many people are like that.
If we need bats at different positions, we should go get bats that play those positions. Moving guys around is generally not a great Idea, in my opinion.
I agree we need bats, I just think we shouldn't move guys around when we know they're good at a regular spot. [Reply]
Per source, the Royals' 3B search came down to two options: Maikel Franco and Travis Shaw. Franco was younger with more upside (and more cost-efficient). Franco had a down year last year but scouts say change of scenery could make a huge difference.
Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry:
Here you go Mecca.
Per source, the Royals' 3B search came down to two options: Maikel Franco and Travis Shaw. Franco was younger with more upside (and more cost-efficient). Franco had a down year last year but scouts say change of scenery could make a huge difference.
Looks like the Royals went with Franco because he still has arbitration years.
The problem is if you are doing that because Dozier is a bad 3rd baseman which he is...his defensive metrics had him at -10 in 100 games. Why are you replacing him with another below average 3rd baseman?
Personally I question if Dozier is kind of smoke and mirrors and would be open to moving him. [Reply]
Would have preferred to roll with Gutierrez at 3B if they were going to move Dozier off the hot corner. At least Gutierrez did decent at the plate in limited action and is by far our best defensive option at 3B. I'd rather we just go with lock down defense to the point it makes sense and doesn't kill us for half the lineup. Don't think Gutierrez would have been a black hole in the lineup. Franco at 3B makes 1B and RF more of a liability as well over O'Hearn/Mcbroom at 1B and McBroom/Whit in RF. Dozier over Soler in RF, being the only improvement I see...maybe Dozier over McBroom, but I haven't seen a comparison the two of them for RF.
If Gordon doesn't play, I can see this being a move we had to make due to the likely weakness of Starling's and Phillips' bats. Whit goes to left if Gordon doesn't play? [Reply]
A thing from 2019 that will always make me laugh: Terrance Gore appeared in *seven* different playoff series before getting his first start in a Major League game.
