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
Spoiler!
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 Superturtle:
Nope. Owner doesn't want to spend any money to keep the championship core together, then he can get fucked.
That's a bit harsh. They signed Perez, Gordon, Duffy and Ventura. They were never going to sign them all. I never thought I'd see the day where the Royals put a $150 million payroll out there. They spent a lot of money to give these guys a chance.
That said, I'd have to imagine a new ballpark will be a tough sell either way. Kauffman is pretty well regarded as one of the most beautiful ballparks in baseball. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
That's a bit harsh. They signed Perez, Gordon, Duffy and Ventura. They were never going to sign them all. I never thought I'd see the day where the Royals put a $150 million payroll out there. They spent a lot of money to give these guys a chance.
That said, I'd have to imagine a new ballpark will be a tough sell either way. Kauffman is pretty well regarded as one of the most beautiful ballparks in baseball.
This FA market is the most stagnant I think I remember ever seeing. We should be able to sign at least a couple of these guys to at least reasonable deals, if not team friendly. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Superturtle:
This FA market is the most stagnant I think I remember ever seeing. We should be able to sign at least a couple of these guys to at least reasonable deals, if not team friendly.
It's tricky. I've always been for signing Hosmer, but there's no argument that will reduce payroll flexibility down the road. I don't think Hos will be signing any kind of team friendly deal.
I think Cain has been probably the most important player, but you can't be overspending for a guy in his mid 30s. Moose has the swing that should age well but he's had a lot of leg problems and I don't think his quickness at third was even as good as the World Series years. The good news is power just isn't as expensive as it used to be. Look at Trumbo last year and JD Martinez this year. Posted via Mobile Device [Reply]
Given what the Royals, Cubs and Astros have done it's going to be hard to turn that tide. Teams can do it because baseball fans enjoy watching a group of young prospects come up together, and a lot of the big market teams figured out it makes more sense to develop your own guys over throwing out huge contracts to guys in their 30s. [Reply]
It's self-serving, but he does have a decent point. Most teams aren't trying to put the best team they reasonably can on the field. Instead, they are "rebuilding" for a better team in a few years that likely won't materialize anyway. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
Given what the Royals, Cubs and Astros have done it's going to be hard to turn that tide. Teams can do it because baseball fans enjoy watching a group of young prospects come up together, and a lot of the big market teams figured out it makes more sense to develop your own guys over throwing out huge contracts to guys in their 30s.
I'd say they enjoy winning. It's satisfying when a group comes up together and wins, but if they don't, there's not much fun in that. [Reply]
Originally Posted by cosmo20002:
It's self-serving, but he does have a decent point. Most teams aren't trying to put the best team they reasonably can on the field. Instead, they are "rebuilding" for a better team in a few years that likely won't materialize anyway.
They old trade for someone elses mediocre QB and be steady or to draft and develop a franchise QB and be great argument. [Reply]
Originally Posted by cosmo20002:
I'd say they enjoy winning. It's satisfying when a group comes up together and wins, but if they don't, there's not much fun in that.
Well that's obvious. But it's definitely different in baseball because there is such a large minor league system and fans follow it more closely than other leagues. In football and basketball you can watch the NCAA but you don't know which players will end up on your favorite team. In baseball we know who guys like Mondesi are and they are tied to KC.
The influence of advanced statistics and analytics has really changed this too. 15 years ago a lot of fans would have just wanted the Royals to spend money, period. Today there is a fairly large section of diehard fans who would prefer this team not sign any of their free agents, save money, and start working towards getting high draft picks to rebuild. No way that happens 15 years ago. [Reply]
