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]
Still listening to Dayton's interview from earlier... I had missed that he was even on. He also insinuated that Moose and Boras made it clear there were certain places he wanted to play, and Dayton wasn't sure those options were still available to him. So he wouldn't rule it out, never say never, but DM made it clear to Boras that Hosmer was his first priority. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
With that deal I'm a bit skeptical Moose is going to get to $50 million, but anything's possible I guess. I really think the whole 2 WAR thing is killing him... I thought it would knock down his market, but not nearly to this extent. Apparently Dayton did say this today. I don't know what options Moose has left at this point though.
DAYTON on MOUSTAKAS: "Moustakas had some expectations that were a little different, places he wanted to play. It was clear from the beginning that we weren’t a high priority."
Also from Petro:
DAYTON on MOUSTAKAS: “We felt that Hos is the priority. We have options at third. I wouldn’t say absolutely not. We want to make it clear that Hos is the player that fits us for the future. I want to get through the Hosmer negotiations before we work on Moustakas."
That's some pretty strong stuff from a GM, especially someone like Dayton who is always so positive and diplomatic. Don't usually hear a GM talk about two of his players and publicly say one is the priority who fits us for the future and one isn't. Its not like he's taking about Hosmer vs some bench guy. Just seems very weird to me, especially since they have the same agent. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla:
that seems really low. Maybe we do retain moose.
Theoretically the Yankees could sign him. That'd be pretty far from California, but he'd love that short porch in right field.
The Yankees have seemingly tried to go young like the Cubs and Dodgers though, and they have a highly rated 3B prospect waiting in the wings. Odds are Moose would not get much more than a 1 year deal from them. Then he'd have to go back out into a market with Machado and Josh Donaldson sitting out ahead of him at 3B.
Could see the Braves needing a 3B. The Cardinals don't make a ton of sense. Jedd Gyorko actually posted a much higher WAR than Moose last year. [Reply]
Also if you're in the mood for completely pointless speculation, Hosmer did post an ad on his Instagram page a few hours ago for a new bat grip tape he's sponsoring. It is in the Royals colors. It also has the #35, which is retired by the Padres. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
Also if you're in the mood for completely pointless speculation, Hosmer did post an ad on his Instagram page a few hours ago for a new bat grip tape he's sponsoring. It is in the Royals colors. It also has the #35, which is retired by the Padres.
Dayton's comments definitely seem like they're still in hot pursuit.
I had to look up #35 for the Padres--Randy Jones. Maybe the worst player to have a retired number? Padres also retired Steve Garvey for his 1 big playoff HR and 4 years of meh at the end of his career. Lame. [Reply]
Originally Posted by ChiTown:
Wow. Moose is ****ed (in MLB terms)
Prediction: he confronts Alex at ST this year and tries to fight him. Moose is a gamer who takes no crap
I could see him blaming Alex for ruining his life. Alex ran into him (not really his fault) and ended Moose' 2016. Then he ballooned and became a plodding one-dimensional HR hitter, right when the market for HR declined with the juiced ball. And vets like Alex stole all the $$$ in MLB's dumb FA system and promoltly turned into a pumpkin, making Glass wary of doing the same deal with Moose.
He will prob be down in AZ trying out for teams with other free agents looking for work, living off unemployment and food stamps. If Alex sees him and gives him the "dude nod"...
Originally Posted by Prison Bitch:
Prediction: he confronts Alex at ST this year and tries to fight him. Moose is a gamer who takes no crap
I could see him blaming Alex for ruining his life. Alex ran into him (not really his fault) and ended Moose' 2016. Then he ballooned and became a plodding one-dimensional HR hitter, right when the market for HR declined with the juiced ball. And vets like Alex stole all the $$$ in MLB's dumb FA system and promoltly turned into a pumpkin, making Glass wary of doing the same deal with Moose.
He will prob be down in AZ trying out for teams with other free agents looking for work, living off unemployment and food stamps. If Alex sees him and gives him the "dude nod"...
....it will be ON!
I hadn't really thought about it. I think this is pretty accurate. Alex cost Moose BIG TIME. [Reply]
Originally Posted by cosmo20002:
Also from Petro:
DAYTON on MOUSTAKAS: “We felt that Hos is the priority. We have options at third. I wouldn’t say absolutely not. We want to make it clear that Hos is the player that fits us for the future. I want to get through the Hosmer negotiations before we work on Moustakas."
That's some pretty strong stuff from a GM, especially someone like Dayton who is always so positive and diplomatic. Don't usually hear a GM talk about two of his players and publicly say one is the priority who fits us for the future and one isn't. Its not like he's taking about Hosmer vs some bench guy. Just seems very weird to me, especially since they have the same agent.
Sounds like GMDM might be a little butt hurt that Moose didn't have the Royals high on the priority list. Now he is going to make Moose wait before/if he makes an offer [Reply]
