As the season comes to a close after an awful season, there is a possibility of some hope since the team played better in late August to the end of the season.
Here are all the important dates you need to know for the 2018-19 MLB offseason. Some of them do involve the Royals, such as:
Oct. 29: As of 9 a.m. ET on Monday, all eligible players are free agents (Escobar - good riddance).
Oct. 31: Most contract option decisions are due on this date (Hammel should be declined, resulting $2 million buyout and Peralta should be accepted, resulting $3 million increase to the payroll, and could be future flip for additional minor leaguers if he performs well).
Nov. 6-8: General manager meetings in Carlsbad, California.
Nov. 12: Deadline for free agents to accept or reject the qualifying offer.
Nov. 14-15: Owners meetings in Atlanta (possible future CBA discussions).
Nov. 20: Deadline for teams to add eligible minor leaguers to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft.
Spoiler!
The Royals announced they've added RHPs Arnaldo Hernandez, Josh Staumont and Scott Blewett to the 40-man roster, protecting them from next month's Rule 5 draft. Blewett appeared to take a big step in the Arizona Fall League. The 40-man roster is full right now.
Nov. 26-29: MLB Players Association executive board meeting in Dallas (possible future CBA discussions).
Nov. 30: Non-tender deadline.
Dec. 9-13: Winter Meetings in Las Vegas. This is typically when all offseason hell breaks loose.
Dec. 13: Rule 5 Draft (could see the Royals taking a stab here).
Jan. 11: Deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players to submit 2019 salary figures (I believe KC has some arb-eligible players).
Feb. 1-20: Arbitration hearings. You win some, you lose some.
Mid-Feb. : SPRING TRAINING!
As usual, let's have a good off-season discussion on ways that the Royals can/should/would do to improve. I will try to update the OP as the off-season goes along. And Duncan, you're more than welcome to provide us some information that I can add onto the OP. Just let me know.
Stupid Facebook Royals fans up in arms about Alshitty. "No one is giving him the respect he deserves" "OMG! I cant believe that he was only givin a minor league deal! How disrespectful to him"!
People are up in arms lol. You can tell the fans that became fans during the WS run. They dont know much. Hell, the amount of people that were upset that we "keep trading all of our best players" after we got rid of Butera was crazy. Trufans really get attached to the players no matter how terrible to mediocre they may be. [Reply]
He had some timely hits but has been near the bottom of turdsville in WAR for 3 seasons. Anyone caring about Escobar leaving is straight retarded. [Reply]
I will be at spring training in march. I don't have my flight tickets in front of me as of now. Will be at Talking stick giving Native Americans money [Reply]
Originally Posted by lewdog:
He had some timely hits but has been near the bottom of turdsville in WAR for 3 seasons. Anyone caring about Escobar leaving is straight retarded.
It goes beyond caring that hes leaving. People are mad that he got a minor league contract. I literally saw people that posted how disrespectful it was that he only got a minor league deal. Fucking fans are dumb. [Reply]
Originally Posted by dlphg9:
Stupid Facebook Royals fans up in arms about Alshitty. "No one is giving him the respect he deserves" "OMG! I cant believe that he was only givin a minor league deal! How disrespectful to him"!
People are up in arms lol. You can tell the fans that became fans during the WS run. They dont know much. Hell, the amount of people that were upset that we "keep trading all of our best players" after we got rid of Butera was crazy. Trufans really get attached to the players no matter how terrible to mediocre they may be.
Don't ever engage in a sports discussion with a Facebook fan. Keep that shit all right here. [Reply]
Originally Posted by dlphg9:
Stupid Facebook Royals fans up in arms about Alshitty. "No one is giving him the respect he deserves" "OMG! I cant believe that he was only givin a minor league deal! How disrespectful to him"!
People are up in arms lol. You can tell the fans that became fans during the WS run. They dont know much. Hell, the amount of people that were upset that we "keep trading all of our best players" after we got rid of Butera was crazy. Trufans really get attached to the players no matter how terrible to mediocre they may be.
Right, it goes without saying, but Facebook fans are incredibly stupid. Honestly, most anyone talking baseball outside of dedicated sports forums don't usually have much sense, either. Which is fine, not everyone cares for or obsesses over the small details.
Players are offered what they are worth, no player is obligated to money because they think that they deserve it. It's why I find it hilarious when players bitch (Kris Bryant, referenced below) about guys like Harper and Machado not being signed yet.
Originally Posted by :
Harper remains unsigned with less than a month before spring training begins, as does fellow superstar free agent Manny Machado.
"It's really weird," Bryant said. "Two of the best players in the game, and they have very little interest in them, from just what I hear. It's not good. It's something that will have to change. I know a lot of the other players are pretty upset about it."
The rumors going around are that Boras' asking price for Harper is $400 million. That isn't a case of "teams having very little interest", that's a case of complete fucking absurdity.
Anyway, Esky could conceivably enjoy another 2-3 years of being a utility journeyman. He had a hell of a career in KC from the casual fans' perspective. His bat was always consistently below-average throughout his entire career in KC, but what changed was that his once-great, Gold Glove range and defensive ability at SS fell off the face of a fucking mountain after the 2015 season.
I saw this tweet today from Joel...
Most games played of anyone in MLB since 2011 and 8th all-time most games played in Royals history. Thanks to Alcides Escobar for always saying yes to interview requests and for being a pleasure to work w/ the last 8 years. Good luck in Baltimore Esky https://t.co/rHz8gTJiDppic.twitter.com/CLxuahhWNT
...and the worst part is that accolade Joel points out in the first sentence is also most-likely what led to him losing his glove and, ultimately, his production. It's like his body completely gave up on him. [Reply]
It's not just baseball either, it applies to all kc sports. People fall in love with KC players and then get pissed when anyone talks bad about them. See Alex Smith. The guy was terrible but if you mentioned it, they think you're not a true chiefs fan. [Reply]
Originally Posted by TambaBerry:
It's not just baseball either, it applies to all kc sports. People fall in love with KC players and then get pissed when anyone talks bad about them. See Alex Smith. The guy was terrible but if you mentioned it, they think you're not a true chiefs fan.
Or if you dare mention that the Eric Berry contract might be an awful deal for the Chiefs [Reply]
Moose signs back with Milwaukee. Still just a one year deal though. He may never end up getting a decent long term deal at this rate. Will end up moving Travis Shaw to 2B full time.
Free-agent Mike Moustakas in agreement with #Brewers on a one-year contract, pending a physical, sources tell The Athletic.
Moustakas rejected #Royals’ $17.4M qualifying offer in Nov. 2017. Earned $8.7M total in ‘18 - $6.5M guarantee, $2.2M in incentives. His one-year deal with #Brewers for reported $10M, per @BNightengale, will push two-year total to $18.7M before incentives - just above one-year QO.
Moustakas rejected #Royals’ $17.4M qualifying offer in Nov. 2017. Earned $8.7M total in ‘18 - $6.5M guarantee, $2.2M in incentives. His one-year deal with #Brewers for reported $10M, per @BNightengale, will push two-year total to $18.7M before incentives - just above one-year QO.
