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
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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 tk13:
How do you know that? You don't. This is the biggest bit of revisionist history you'll see. Sure it's terrible in hindsight, but Gordon was coming off a 5 year stretch where he posted about 25 WAR and he keeps himself in as good of shape as any athlete in baseball. The general thought was the last year or two of the contract had the potential to be an overpay, but literally no one predicted he'd fall off a cliff.
Many were assuming he'd get $20M a year. What he got seemed pretty reasonable, and it seemed crazy to not re-sign a key piece of the 2014-15 run, especially immediately after winning the WS. Apparently, he was fairly close to going to Chicago or St. Louis, but KC stepped up and made a similar offer. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BlackHelicopters:
I was at game 7 1985. Anyone with TV footage of the event will see me on the visitors dugout roof in my Stephens College sweatshirt ,heh another story, with my brother . I was 20, he was 19. We both jumped onto the field with many other idiots . He went and slid into third base. I went to home plate and filled two souvenir beer cups, heh, see above, with home plate dirt. Still have it . I shit you not. I am not old. Now, get off my lawn.
I've got it on VHS in the console of my truck. My pops was there so I taped it for him. He caught a foul ball some fucking cardinal hit [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
I don't know where the pitching will come from, but I think the book has yet to be written on Soler, Mondesi and Cuthbert. That's kind of the forgotten thing when people say the Royals don't have any prospects. These are all three guys who were highly thought of young players, and they are all 25 or younger.
Well, that's the thing. Add Whit to that list - a non-prospect that just hit his stride as he head's to age 30. And Jake Junis...on nobody's list, but really became a dependable 3-4-ish starter. Cuthbert is still young -just turned 25 last November. If he follows his pattern of graduating to the next level early...but not mastering it until the next year...and w/ last year a lost year for him, maybe look for him to emerge. If he's just AAAA...next man up. Maybe Dozier.
Pitching. Lot of "if's" in both directions. IF Kennedy regains his change-up, look for 2016 version as a rebound. If Junis continues to develop, then those two with Duffy aren't a bad 1-3. Not close to "100 loss bad". But no idea what to expect from 4 and 5 spots. A lot will depend on Karns recovery and whether this Oaks kid becomes a ground ball machine in the bigs. No expectations for Hammel and really hope he's traded. But I suppose he could be average at best if he stays.
Really, if the rotation can just be average, their season will go the direction of what becomes of an unproven and possible dumpster fire of a bullpen. [Reply]
Originally Posted by cosmo20002:
Many were assuming he'd get $20M a year. What he got seemed pretty reasonable, and it seemed crazy to not re-sign a key piece of the 2014-15 run, especially immediately after winning the WS. Apparently, he was fairly close to going to Chicago or St. Louis, but KC stepped up and made a similar offer.
I think it was mainly Gordon fans didn't think he would fall off like he did. I figured he would regress defensively some, but his at bats have been horrendous for his so called level. He needs to ask ichiro for some lessons. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
How do you know that? You don't. This is the biggest bit of revisionist history you'll see. Sure it's terrible in hindsight, but Gordon was coming off a 5 year stretch where he posted about 25 WAR and he keeps himself in as good of shape as any athlete in baseball. The general thought was the last year or two of the contract had the potential to be an overpay, but literally no one predicted he'd fall off a cliff.
several, on here, predicted he’d decline quickly and we should move on. Many saw it as a crippling overpay. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla:
several, on here, predicted he’d decline quickly and we should move on. Many saw it as a crippling overpay.
No offense, but it was the exact opposite. Most people were excited the Royals were going for it, and figured Alex would provide solid seasons early on in the deal, with the potential we were overpaying toward the end. Your memory is failing you here. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla:
several, on here, predicted he’d decline quickly and we should move on. Many saw it as a crippling overpay.
There were some who thought he'd decline on the back half and maybe hurt in year 4.
I don't think many if any wanted to keep him for 5/100, what his market was originally thought to be, but that came back to the pack eventually- and he did leave money on the table to stay here (10-12 million and another year, from what I was told).
But I don't remember anyone thinking he'd be this bad and fall off the cliff right away. Concern was all about years 3 and 4. [Reply]
I was practically yelled at for saying to let him go. It's revisionist history to say people didn't want to go 5/100 on him, most did. I do agree tho that 4/72 wasn't seen as that bad, and he should've produced 72M of value. Even 50M is ok, it's no problem shifting some value to Alex for the contributions he's given this franchise. And, we still had a 2-year window with our roster where Alex' 2-3 WAR seasons (before falling off the cliff) could've been quite valuable.
But the wheels fell off immediately and they can't be put back on. He's our Konerko. Our Victor Martinez, our Mauer. And not in a good way. [Reply]
