2023 – A new beginning for the Royals. Matt Quatraro era begins. A year to see which of our young players will make up the core going forward. Can Bobby Witt Jr become a superstar SS or will go to the hot corner? Will Brady Singer take the next step forward? Will Salvy be Salvy? Will Big Vin or Pratto take first base? Will they find a position for MJ? Who else emerges from the youth movement? Not to mention the development of the new downtown stadium.
Free Agents/Trades Acquisitions
Jordan Lyles, RHP
Ryan Yarbrough, LHP
Josh Taylor, LHP
Aroldis Chapman, LHP
Top 10 Prospects from Baseball America
1. Gavin Cross, OF
2. Cayden Wallace, 3B
3. Drew Waters, OF
4. Ben Kudrna, RHP
5. Frank Mozzicato, LHP
6. Maikel Garcia, SS
7. Tyler Gentry, OF
8. Nick Loftin, OF/3B
9. Angel Zerpa, LHP
10. Carter Jensen, C [Reply]
The Royals Have No Good Argument For A New Stadium
If you're going to start the process of strong-arming a populace out of money it doesn't have for a stadium it doesn't want, there is no smoother and yet more manipulative way to do it than to invoke the widow of the team's most popular manager. I mean, imagine how the A's could have managed their stadium campaign if they'd bothered to chase down Connie Mack's great-great-great granddaughter.
But John Sherman, the owner of the Kansas City Royals and the iconic stadium they wish to replace, went there and a lot of other very weird and cloying places in a letter to Royals fans who will be expected to foot the bill for said stadium and all associated lands. He started with Nancy Howser, Dick Howser's widow, and his experience at the 1985 World Series, and pivoted from there to a stream-of-consciousness platitude-off ("restoring the Royals to their rightful place in Major League Baseball" is particularly grandiose) that eventually got to the crux of the matter.
Sherman (no relation to Miami Marlins owner Bruce Sherman, who already has his new and almost unused stadium) is trying to play two Missouri counties, Jackson and Clay, against each other for the right to pay for restoring the Royals to their rightful place—which according to a cursory tour of the standings since 2000 is 30th out of 30 teams. And that isn't the stadium's fault, which at 50 years old is younger only than Fenway, Wrigley, Dodger, Angel, and the Oakland Coliseum but is by no means a rundown heap.
Sherman takes care to invoke the Chiefs, the new terminal at the airport, the expanded streetcar line, the NFL Draft, the World Cup, and the new stadium for the NWSL's Kansas City Current as perfectly sound reasons for a new baseball stadium, none of which the Royals actually have contributed to or have a stake in. Sherman just wants a new stadium because he wants a new stadium, and he just wants someone else to pay for it because he doesn't want to pay for it himself. Not defensible, but at least understandable.
But Nancy Howser doesn't have anything to do with this, and neither do Sherman's memories of 1985 or even 2015, or the Royals' place in the universe, or even the Current. Credit to him for gussying up a letter that hides the nut graf until the end, but the nut is still the nut. John Sherman is preparing the touch, and the only thing separating him from, say, the A's is that he hasn't gone to the threat stage. But it's coming. The Royals have their rightful place to defend, after all, and being the American League's Pittsburgh Pirates comes at a price—a price Shermy is hoping someone else will pay. [Reply]
Lolwut? What the fuck is that shit? What could sway them between Jackson and Clay county? There is no way in hell they move to Clay fucking county. Why not just stay where they are if they're not moving downtown KC? There not serious with this Clay county shit, are they? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Titty Meat:
Sherman's letter was so ****ing stupid it's amazing how out of touch he is
The Clay county vs Jackson county shit really has to piss people off though, right? They're trying to make the counties fight for the right to pay for a billionaires stadium. A billionaire that owns one of the most inept franchises in all the major sports. They could have been way more open about this process from the beginning. [Reply]
Originally Posted by dlphg9:
The Clay county vs Jackson county shit really has to piss people off though, right? They're trying to make the counties fight for the right to pay for a billionaires stadium. A billionaire that owns one of the most inept franchises in all the major sports. They could have been way more open about this process from the beginning.
The leveraging play would have been smart if the demand was actually high for a new stadium but he fucked up his messaging so badly it has turned alot of people off. He goes on some rant about a guy who's been dead for 40 years, then something about the airport, and finally getting into how a new stadium would create benefits. The benefits should have been the message all along and maybe when he talks about the team with his stupid mustache atleast pretend to be excited about the future [Reply]
Originally Posted by BWillie: OLD ROYALS DOING GOOD NOW
Whit Merrifield .754 OPS Ryan OHearn .889 OPS
Brent Rooker .800 OPS
Jorge Soler .834 OPS
Emmanuel Rivera .728 OPS
Carlos Santana. .730 OPS
I heard from the great Bob Fescoe that the ownership group is ponying up 1B of their own money for the new stadium. I think that is pretty reasonable if it is a 2B project. It was said that David Glass never spent more than 25M on stadium upgrades [Reply]
Originally Posted by BWillie:
I heard from the great Bob Fescoe that the ownership group is ponying up 1B of their own money for the new stadium. I think that is pretty reasonable if it is a 2B project. It was said that David Glass never spent more than 25M on stadium upgrades
Or you could've read it in Sherman's letter a few posts above you [Reply]
Honestly what the Royals are asking for in public funding isn't that bad. Just extenstion of the current tax that is already in place. And the Chiefs get the same amount from it, seems reasonable to me. [Reply]