Free Agent Signings:
Carlos Santana
Mike Minor
Michael Taylor
Ervin Santana
Top 10 Prospects:
1 Bobby Witt Jr., SS
2 Asa Lacy, LHP
3 Daniel Lynch, LHP
4 Jackson Kowar, RHP
5 Erick Pena, OF
6 Nick Loftin, SS
7 Kyle Isbel, OF
8 Khali Lee, OF
9 Jonathan Bowlan, RHP
10 Carlos Hernedez, RHP [Reply]
17. Kansas City Royals
Record as of Monday morning: 9-5
Last Power Ranking: 21
Every winter there is some half-conceived team with no real shot of competing but are in that sweet spot of six-to-10 good players for them that gets declared as “fun” by national observers who have no intent to watch this team more than a dozen times in a six-month span. In a similar vein, there is always a solid cadre of veteran free agents who are neither difference-makers nor on the upswings of their career but are productive enough that they deserve a job somewhere, so we can all say “good pickup for the Jacksonville Jamokes” before forgetting where they signed 15 minutes later.
This spring in Kansas City, these two forces have joined up like a Voltron to produce a hot enough start to make them the current kings of the AL Central. The magical area where Kansas and Missouri meet is the only remaining territory where good, non-superstar players over 30 are not immediately fenced for prospects. Thus it’s the only place where Whit Merrifield and Salvador Pérez could be carrying the Royals with monster starts that, you know, probably won’t last. But they’re helping to keep things positive in Kansas City as we all try to suss out if Jakob Junis’ big turnaround is legitimate, and flip-flop on whether to descriptively refer to Brad Keller as the Opening Day starter or a former Rule 5 pick on a start-to-start basis.
Other teams of note:
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
Record as of Monday morning: 13-3
Last Power Ranking: 1
8. Chicago White Sox
Record as of Monday morning: 8-8
Last Power Ranking: 7
9. Minnesota Twins
Record as of Monday morning: 6-8
Last Power Ranking: 5
11. New York Yankees
Record as of Monday morning: 5-10
Last Power Ranking: 4
13. St. Louis Cardinals
Record as of Monday morning: 7-8
Last Power Ranking: 10
19. Cleveland Indians
Record as of Monday morning: 8-7
Last Power Ranking: 16
27. Detroit Tigers
Record as of Monday morning: 6-10
Last Power Ranking: 26
30. Colorado Rockies
Record as of Monday morning: 4-12
Last Power Ranking: 28 [Reply]
Kind of ironic one of the last times it snowed during baseball season was in May 2013. Guess who the opponent was for the Royals that night - Tampa Bay. [Reply]
17. Kansas City Royals
Record as of Monday morning: 9-5
Last Power Ranking: 21
Every winter there is some half-conceived team with no real shot of competing but are in that sweet spot of six-to-10 good players for them that gets declared as “fun” by national observers who have no intent to watch this team more than a dozen times in a six-month span. In a similar vein, there is always a solid cadre of veteran free agents who are neither difference-makers nor on the upswings of their career but are productive enough that they deserve a job somewhere, so we can all say “good pickup for the Jacksonville Jamokes” before forgetting where they signed 15 minutes later.
This spring in Kansas City, these two forces have joined up like a Voltron to produce a hot enough start to make them the current kings of the AL Central. The magical area where Kansas and Missouri meet is the only remaining territory where good, non-superstar players over 30 are not immediately fenced for prospects. Thus it’s the only place where Whit Merrifield and Salvador Pérez could be carrying the Royals with monster starts that, you know, probably won’t last. But they’re helping to keep things positive in Kansas City as we all try to suss out if Jakob Junis’ big turnaround is legitimate, and flip-flop on whether to descriptively refer to Brad Keller as the Opening Day starter or a former Rule 5 pick on a start-to-start basis.
Other teams of note:
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
Record as of Monday morning: 13-3
Last Power Ranking: 1
8. Chicago White Sox
Record as of Monday morning: 8-8
Last Power Ranking: 7
9. Minnesota Twins
Record as of Monday morning: 6-8
Last Power Ranking: 5
11. New York Yankees
Record as of Monday morning: 5-10
Last Power Ranking: 4
13. St. Louis Cardinals
Record as of Monday morning: 7-8
Last Power Ranking: 10
19. Cleveland Indians
Record as of Monday morning: 8-7
Last Power Ranking: 16
27. Detroit Tigers
Record as of Monday morning: 6-10
Last Power Ranking: 26
30. Colorado Rockies
Record as of Monday morning: 4-12
Last Power Ranking: 28
Not saying the Royals are a playoff team or anything like that, but come on, man. This writer should give us at least a LITTLE credit. Not even a damn "good job" or anything.
He probably had the Royals ranked around 17 during the spring of 2015. "Can't trust a team who went only a few games above .500 and got hot in the playoffs when they have no experience. Nothing elite. No stars. All of their success we WILL see regress, because it's not sustainable, yadda yadda" [Reply]
Who knows how the season will progress, but I don't know why there's reason to believe that Whit and Salvy can't continue what they're doing right now. Their numbers aren't astronomically great or anything, except for Salvy's power numbers maybe, but he's been a different hitter last year, this spring and so far this season.
The real question is can Dozier, Soler and Benintendi get going a little bit. [Reply]
Originally Posted by MAHOMO 4 LIFE!:
Nahhh I think actions always speak louder than words �� https://t.co/OkilMGgwN5— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) April 20, 2021
Not surprised he responded. What can you say at this point?
Would love a rematch and super excited that the Chiefs have Mahomes for a longtime. [Reply]
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho:
I, for one, appreciate the Royals stand against trading established, really good players for any prospects they can get.
Teams are hoarding prospects like never before. Remember when Nico Hoerner was “too much” to give up for Merrifield STRAIGHT UP?
That dude actually kind of sucks.
It’s easy to say “trade em” but nearly impossible to find a team willing to trade actual prospects of value.
I know it's early, but after seeing Benintendi look quite lost at the plate it makes me wish they would have just let Lee have at it instead. So weird how he's turned into a pumpkin since being thought of as one of the rising stars in the game back in 2017.
How does someone look so promising coming out of the gates, turn 24 and regress? He's like the much shittier version of Bryce Harper. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
Who knows how the season will progress, but I don't know why there's reason to believe that Whit and Salvy can't continue what they're doing right now. Their numbers aren't astronomically great or anything, except for Salvy's power numbers maybe, but he's been a different hitter last year, this spring and so far this season.
The real question is can Dozier, Soler and Benintendi get going a little bit.
Yeah that's the part that got me, picking those two, it's not like Whit has led the league in hits twice or anything.
