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 Demonpenz:
people saying that cain is the greatest player since brett? That is a bit much. Also in the post season Beltran wouldn't have even had to dive for those balls. Cain's late jump forced him to dive or the fact that he apparently can't run correctly.
Originally Posted by Demonpenz:
people saying that cain is the greatest player since brett? That is a bit much. Also in the post season Beltran wouldn't have even had to dive for those balls. Cain's late jump forced him to dive or the fact that he apparently can't run correctly.
Lucky for you, you won't need to worry about him being on the team, right?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk [Reply]
Originally Posted by Demonpenz:
people saying that cain is the greatest player since brett? That is a bit much. Also in the post season Beltran wouldn't have even had to dive for those balls. Cain's late jump forced him to dive or the fact that he apparently can't run correctly.
I’m a Cain lover. He’s good. Best Royal since Brett? Probably. Not like there’s a great list of Royals from past 30 years though. Brett was a once in a lifetime player. Cain’s a once in a 10-20 year player. I hope we aren’t considering the two on the same level. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Demonpenz:
I guess I am the only one that doesn't love cain that much. Often injured not a ton of power etc. Good guy and rings though.
Originally Posted by lewdog:
I’m a Cain lover. He’s good. Best Royal since Brett? Probably. Not like there’s a great list of Royals from past 30 years though. Brett was a once in a lifetime player. Cain’s a once in a 10-20 year player. I hope we aren’t considering the two on the same level.
This was my first thought when I read the post....I liked Cain as a player, but mentioning him in the same conversation as Brett is silly.
While I loved the team that won the WS in 2015, nothing will compare to the team that was the Royals in the late 70's thru the 80's.
There were guys on that team that make Cain an afterthought.....
If I think of Lorenzo Cain I am not even putting him in the Top 20 of present or former Royals.
That doesn't diminish what he did here....he was a great defensive player and without him this team doesn't win the AL Championship, much less get to the World Series. [Reply]
Sweeney is so insanely underrated. Hitting 333 with 144 RBI’s in a season, or batting 340 in a season to just barely miss the batting title, or his breakout 1999 season.
Give me Sweeney’s 4 year stretch from 1999-2002 over Cain’s. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bufkin:
Sweeney is so insanely underrated. Hitting 333 with 144 RBI’s in a season, or batting 340 in a season to just barely miss the batting title, or his breakout 1999 season.
Give me Sweeney’s 4 year stretch from 1999-2002 over Cain’s.
Sweeney STOLE money from the Royals on his last contract. We could have had either Beltran OR Damon, maybe both. How many 100 loss seasons was he paid for? Three? Four? How many 100 loss seasons did Cain have? Zero? The minute Sweeney got his big payday he was either hurt, or useless, or both.
