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 KChiefs1:
I'd trade Duffy & Merrifield to the Brewers for the best talent. I've heard they have a great farm system.
They shipped out a good portion of it to land Christian Yelich.
Unless the Royals are interested in acquiring Keon Broxton and/or Domingo Santana, I don't see a fit there for Danny Duffy.
If Milwaukee is willing to talk about Keston Hiura and pair him with Corey Ray, maybe that's something you can kind of make happen, but you need a premium prospect back to move Duffy and Merrifield considering the value of controlled players. And I'm not sure Milwaukee can quite put that package together now.
The Brewers could offer volume (Hiura and Ray are both bottom of the 100-top 200 prospects types, and they have a lot of pitchers with mid-rotation upsides and back-end starter likely future values), but if he Royals move Duffy and Merrifield together, they need star power, not volume.
There are better matchups out there.
The Angels and Duffy would make a lot of sense, and the Angels could offer some guys with that true star upside (primarily, Jo Adell, who is a monster in the making, IMO) [Reply]
I still don’t believe the team is going to be all that bad so tanking just for the sake of tanking doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t much care about the money it would take to sign Hos because they have proven that when the time comes they will spend so I don’t think his salary would really prevent anything if the team turns out to be good enough to need to add pieces and in the next few seasons. [Reply]
I'd rather have Moose than Hos long-term. From what y'all more educated types say, Hosmer's swing is gonna fuck him up at some point and Moose offers better position flexibility. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower:
I'd rather have Moose than Hos long-term. From what y'all more educated types say, Hosmer's swing is gonna **** him up at some point and Moose offers better position flexibility.
Is it a foregone conclusion that Moose will be able to move to first and play solid defense? Salvy will be occupying DH within a few years.
Genuinely curious and not intended for snark. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Sure-Oz:
You guys really think they're gonna get Hos?
It's no secret at this point that he's the guy they want.
Even if Hos shoots them down, Dayton just traded the guy who would be the opening day 1B. Right now it's either Dozier or a free agent. I can't believe they'd just hand the job to Dozier with no competition. The team website currently lists Cuthbert as both the starting 1B and 3B on the depth chart. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
It's no secret at this point that he's the guy they want.
Even if Hos shoots them down, Dayton just traded the guy who would be the opening day 1B. Right now it's either Dozier or a free agent. I can't believe they'd just hand the job to Dozier with no competition. The team website currently lists Cuthbert as both the starting 1B and 3B on the depth chart.
Royals have traded LHP Ryan Buchter and DH/1B Brandon Moss to Oakland for right-hander Jesse Hahn and Minor League right-hander Heath Fillmyer. This could clear some payroll space for a certain free-agent first baseman you know.
Are you fucking kidding me? Buchter was actually a decent reliever with several years of control. Hahn shouldn't be on a roster.... ANYWHERE. Salary dumps like this absolutely kill me. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud:
We'll see who's right and who's wrong at the end of this season.
The current odds aren't slanted in your favor.
I don't think anyone here has an illusion that KC is going to be good, sorry to burst your insanely large bubble.
And the timing of Billay's post was stupid, as early as it's made. However prophetic it may be, seeing GMDM's repeatedly stupid transactions that are occurring as the offseason progresses. [Reply]