Crown Crazed

Is Aaron Crow a Bust?

Paul Torlina — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:47:16 +0000

You may remember Aaron Crow's amateur career. Stud starting pitcher at the University of Missouri. He was a high first round draft pick for the Washington Nationals in 2008 (9th pick) but they were unable to sign him and he went back into the draft in 2009. The Kansas City Royals grabbed him with the 12th pick of the 2009 draft. Immediately the projections began that he was a top of the rotation guy who could be in the big leagues within a couple years at most. So what happened to Aaron Crow? Is he a bust? My good friend Cardinals Fan (who is also a Mizzou fan) and I have this discussion often. It usually begins and ends with him asking me, "When are the Royals going to put Crow in the rotation?" I guess the only way to figure out whether he is a bust is to first define what a bust is, exactly. The first factor you have to consider when judging draft picks is WHERE they were picked. The next factor is expectations for the player based on the draft position in he which he was chosen. The third factor is the amount of money it took to sign the player. The fourth factor is how long it took the player to move through the system and reach the major leagues, if he ever does so. The fifth factor is what role he plays on the major league roster. The final factor is his performance level in that role. Let's look at each factor separately to see if we can get a handle on Crow. 1. Crow was a top first round pick TWICE. The higher the pick, the greater the expectations are on a player. When an MLB team chooses a player in the Top 10-12 picks, he'd better be an impact player on the MLB roster one day or it is a wasted pick. Washington picked him at #9 in 2008; the Royals at #12 in 2009. 2. Expectations were very high for Crow. The Royals and their fans penciled Crow in as a top of the rotation starting pitcher in KC. He was an ace at Missouri and was expected to improve and develop further once he got some innings in the minor leagues. He may not have been a true "ace" at the MLB level, but he was projected as a #2 or very good #3 pitcher in a winning starting rotation. 3. Crow turned down a lot of money from Washington to re-enter the draft. Despite being taken lower the next year by the Royals, it still took a lot of money to sign him. Crow signed with the Royals for approximately $4.5M a couple of months after being drafted. 4. Crow moved through the low minors relatively quickly, advancing from A ball to AA on a fast track. But something happened to Crow at the AA level- he could no longer command the strike zone. When he wasn't walking lots of hitters, he was getting lit up when he threw strikes. It was reported that he was having trouble with his mechanics, particularly that he was unable to consistently repeat those mechanics throughout innings or games. Eventually, Crow struggled so much that he was demoted from AA to A at the end of the 2010 season. Surprisingly, Crow showed up to Spring Training in 2011 and was lights out. He opened a lot of eyes and was noticed enough to get a very long look for a roster spot. Crow continued to pitch so well that he made roster the Royals roster in 2011, less than 2 years after being drafted. One more important detail....Crow made the team as a reliever rather than a starter. 5. Crow was so good in the bullpen as a rookie that he eventually became one of the more dependable setup men for closer Joakim Soria. Crow was dominant as a rookie and was counted on heavily by the team. He was so good that he was named the Royals lone All-Star in 2011. He even earned some time as the team's temporary closer during a brief time that Soria had some injury/performance issues. Crow is currently in his third season as a setup man and continues to perform VERY well in that role. Many discussions will bring up his name as a potential closer on an MLB roster but there is rarely any discussion about him returning to the starting rotation. Crow's performance history at the MLB level indicates that he is much less effective in his second inning of work whenever he pitches that long. The Royals appear to be well aware of this since it is now extremely rare that you see him pitch more than one inning. He NEVER does it in a close game. Crow is not a starting pitcher let alone a top starter. Even when the Royals were extremely short on starting pitching, he was not given a legitimate shot as a rotation candidate. This fact, along with his struggles in multiple inning appearances (and the very limited time in which he makes such appearances), suggests that there has been no improvement in Crow's ability to repeat his mechanics for more than one short inning. Despite this, he does appear to have the ability to serve as a closer if the need arose due to performance, injury, or trade. 6. All-Star in 2011, but not quite as good but still above average in 2012. Still good this season but not quite as dominant as in previous seasons. His performance at the MLB level has been nothing to complain about. He has been mostly reliable in his role as a setup man/temporary closer. The majority of Royals fans would tell you that he does not scare them when he enters the game. So is Aaron Crow a bust? Taking these factors into consideration, I am completely on the fence with this question. On one hand, you have a top draft pick who was supposed to be a starter at the top of your rotation and you paid him $4.5M to be that. He has no major history of arm trouble since being acquired, yet he can't pitch effectively for more than one inning at any level. He never became the important part of the home-grown starting rotation that the Royals must rely upon due to payroll constraints. It does not appear that the Royals ever have any intention of giving him another shot to start, and all of Crow's career stats (minor league and MLB) support that approach. On the other hand, he's made an All-Star roster and performed at an above-average level in every season he's pitched. You could make a case that he might be the best closer the Royals have on their roster. In terms of MLB payroll, he is relatively cheap ($1.28M salary this season) and is not arbitration-eligible until after 2014. He is not a free agent until 2017. If he remains effective in his role (or as a closer) he is extremely valuable for the amount of money he costs the Royals. Cardinals Fan and I have this detailed discussion and still haven't come to a solid conclusion. His take is that a team crying for starting pitching (prior to 2013, anyway) had no choice but to keep him a starter and keep developing him to sink/swim as a starter. Cardinal Fan thinks the Royals messed up on Crow and gave up on him too soon, ruining him as a starter due to impatience. I don't recall Cardinals Fan calling Crow a bust, but rather blaming the Royals for his failure as a starter. Despite Cardinal Fan's viewpoint, I do not think the Royals screwed Crow up. I think the Royals responded to what Crow's performance in multiple-inning appearances told them and found a way to get him on the MLB roster to help the team. Crow DOES have the look of a draft a bust right now, BUT I'm not prepared to call him one yet for a single reason: it is still to early to decide. The most important factor in deciding is draft position. If Crow is a 3rd round pick and finishes his career as an effective setup man for the Royals then it is a victory. But a pitcher who is a Top 12 pick MUST hit as either a regular member of a good starting rotation or a closer. Crow doesn't look to be a starting pitcher but he does have a chance to become an effective/dominant closer for the Royals. I think we need to give him until the end of the 2014 season to make a determination. If he is not the closer by then (or is not traded for some significant addition to the Royals roster to aid them in the race for the postseason), then he is a bust. Conclusion: Crow is not a bust yet, but if he is still a setup man for the Royals in November 2014 then he is a bust for sure.

Jeff Francoeur triples, celebrates with an Eddie Rodriguez sac slap

Travis Pflanz — Wed, 01 May 2013 16:08:06 +0000

On Monday night, the Royals broke their 2 game skid, winning 8-2 over the Tampa Bay Rays (I still want to say Devil). Batting 7th, Jeff Francouer had a nice game, going 2 for 4 with an RBI and a triple... and a celebratory tap of 3rd base coach Eddie Rodriguez's balls. The best part of this scene, Rodriguez doesn't looked shocked or upset... Instead, he has that "Damn'! You got me!" look on his face. I guess boys will always be boys!

Are the 2013 Kansas City Royals really just Zack Siler?

Paul Torlina — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 21:03:07 +0000

Today I stumbled across the following post on a Kansas City Royals message board that I frequent:

"Just remember when the team started 18-11 a few years back, how good that felt, then reality set in and the true Royals showed up...it could still all fall apart."

This is perhaps the most difficult war that Dayton Moore, Ned Yost, Eric Hosmer, the Royals marketing department, and the cute girl they added to the K Crew this season have to fight these days. Apathy in the face of success. Waiting for the other shoe to drop. Pessimism despite cause for optimism. "Same old Royals"-itis. It is like the time you asked out that good-looking [girl/boy] and [s]he said YES (ZOMG!!!) and then you spent too much time waiting to become the victim of a scheme like the one from "She's All That" where it turns out it wasn't real. (BTW, Laney Boggs was an absolute smokeshow once they did her up). For the rest of us who haven't had that happen to us, this is just the everyday tortured life of the modern Royals fan. We expect them to fall apart because that is what they do. Don't get your hopes up because they WILL be crushed by The Empire. Do not dare to hope-your hopes will be destroyed. Your inner child will be wounded like it is every year that you try to have some optimism. Ladies and Gentlemen, YOUR Kansas City Royals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So let's lay on the shrink's couch and talk about it. That was 2009, we've seen other people since then, and some time has passed to heal our last broken heart. Is it really better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all? Mark Teahen says, "NO." But Garth Brooks says, "Life is not tried, it's just merely survived if you're standing outside the fire." So is it OK to love again? Garth says "YES!" (but I don't want to hear from him the 6th inning anymore at The K!). Just to open the wounds that have [mostly] healed (at least physically), let's take a look at that 2009 team. That team started out 18-11 and built a decent enough record to lead the AL Central on May 7th. Royals fans are used to disastrous starts, so surviving April and being 7 games over and in first place on May 7th was cause enough for celebration. That was the last day of a 6-game winning streak when Brian Bannister beat the Seattle Mariners 3-1. That quickly came to an end as the Royals lost 6 in a row and 11 of their next 14. The season effectively ended with everyone pointing and laughing as Royals fans stood embarrassed when the good-looking date revealed the evil plot. It wasn't real. It was all a ruse. Freddie Prinze, Jr. (though impressive with a hackey-sack) wasn't interested in us after all. Why, then, is it OK to get involved with the Royals again and risk another heartbreak? That 2009 team was built quite a bit differently than the current version of the Royals. If you want to draw parallels that will make you feel better this time around, note that the 2009 club got off to that start and then injuries hit with a team that had little to no depth to make up for the injuries and then it was curtains. The notable injuries: Alex Gordon, Coco Crisp, and Gil Meche. The Meche injury probably hurt worse than anything because the remaining suspects for the starting rotation after Zack Greinke and Meche were Brian Bannister, Kyle Davies, and Kyle Davies' twin Luke Hochevar. It was basically "Greinke and Meche and forget the rest" back then. On top of that, the bullpen (Juan Cruz and Kyle Farnsworth) failed to stay healthy/live up to expectations and one of the team's perceived strengths weakened as the season progressed due to overuse. Only Joakim Soria was worth a damn that season. This squad has a lot more depth from 1-5 in its starting rotation as well as a legit extra starter in Bruce Chen in the bullpen in the event of an injury. Will Smith also remains in AAA and has shown he can be average at the MLB level at times, along with Danny Duffy and Felipe Paulino eventually returning from elbow injuries. To go with that, Yordano Ventura and Kyle Zimmer could move quickly through AA ball this summer and be ready to help out after August 1st. The 2009 Royals didn't have anything like that for depth in pitching. Then you look at the 2009 offensive losses in Crisp and Gordon (though not yet an established productive hitter) being gone for 110 games and suddenly the only established bats in the lineup that lived up to expectations were Billy Butler and David DeJesus. If you want to draw a parallel now and say that Butler and Gordon are the only ones doing anything, the difference is that the 2009Royals were counting on older players then who had reached their ceiling and/or had no previous track record of production at the MLB level. Mitch Maier, Mike Jacobs, Miguel Olivo, Jose Guillen, and the Yuni Bomber......puke. Look at this year's offense and in the place of those guys you have Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer, Moose, Salvy Perez, and Alcides Escobar. Frenchy and Getz may be turds but there are only 2 turds in this lineup and they are at the bottom of the order. Make your comments about Hosmer and Moose and how they've started this season (and how 2012 went for them) but you still can't deny that they have a lot of upside as early 20's aged players. This set of players is young, has potential to do more than the guys from 2009, and is also less injury prone due to youth. Not to mention that there is some actual depth around with a guy like David Lough in Omaha and Elliott Johnson/George Kottaras on the bench. Miguel Tejada can play for a month full-time in the event of a minor injury to an infielder but that is a spot of concern if there is a long-term injury. You can certainly make arguments that none of these guys can be counted on to improve offensively or perform consistently and that all this team has on offense is Butler and Gordon. You might even be right, but that is still not disastrous because of the one glaring difference between 2009 and 2013: the starting pitching. The Royals have LOTS more of it these days and if you have solid starting pitching you are in every game. Improved defense behind the pitching also is helping and there is no reason to forecast a significant defensive dropoff barring injury. There will be a few games where the Royals kick the ball around and it will cost them (see, Detroit on Wednesday night), but it will not be the norm. It is to be expected that the starting rotation will regress some after an excellent start. However, the track record of most of the pitchers in the starting rotation indicates that they are not pitching incredibly above their heads compared to their career numbers. They are striking out a TON more batters this season and that is not all that irregular for many of the current starters. And what if they don't really regress? By the same token, the offense is also extremely unlikely to continue to sputter at this rate. The young hitters have struggled for most of April and that list includes one notoriously slow starter (Moose) and another hitter trying to rebuild his swing and confidence after a disastrous 2012 season (Hosmer). Even a minor improvement from Moose to get above a .200 batting average would be a boost, some extra base hits to go with that would be even better. His typical "start slow, get hot" career norm would be a major help right now. Hosmer has shown signs of 2011 by driving the ball much better in the past week. These two players are what the Royals' future hopes are riding on, but there is enough production from other spots in the lineup right now to where it isn't sink or swim with Moose and Hosmer. Escobar and Cain are helping make up for Moose and Hosmer and neither is playing way above their head. In sum, the Royals have improved starting pitching and that stabilizes things and covers lots of other deficiencies. When your starter is going to go out and give a quality performance more often than not, it helps cover up the nights when the offense can only score 3 runs or the bullpen blows a game here and there. When the offensive production picks up this team could become dangerous in an instant. This year, the risk of loving the Royals isn't all hanging by a thread. The rope actually has more than a few strands bearing the weight of winning expectations. Hang over the fire at the end of that rope, Royals fans. You're not going to want to use the rope to hang yourself this time around.

2013 Kansas City Royals: Pessimist Edition

Paul Torlina — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:01:52 +0000

There are a lot of Kansas City Royals fans who are excited for 2013. The possibility of contending for the division title, a wild card spot, or at least breaking .500 for the first time in 10 seasons has them ready for April 1st. The man pictured above is not one of them. There are an equal amount, or more, who are decidedly UN-excited about 2013. Non-plussed. Not particularly impressed (truly a Danny Clinkscale-like statement). Yawn. Same old Royals. Whatevs. Why are these people not excited? The Royals have a young offensive lineup. They have a strong bullpen. They added starting pitching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let's look at the reasons:

Jeff Francoeur is slated to start in Right Field on Opening Day and play regularly. For those who haven't been following along, Frenchy has had a rough go since being anointed a star as a young Atlanta Brave. He has mixed in a good season here or there, but Frenchy has mostly been a disappointment as a hitter. Despite batting .300 once as a rookie in 70 games, the best On Base Percentage Frenchy has ever had in his career (which began in 2005 as a Braves rookie) is .338. An average OBP is somewhere around .340 to .350. A .300 is considered bad. Frenchy has 3 MLB seasons in his 8 year career in which he has not reached the .300 OBP mark. He had a 2011 season that was considered a "great" year for him and earned him a 2-year contract extension. His OBP that season? .329. Below average was a helluva year for Frenchy!!! He hit 20 HRs that season and played an incredible RF (according to the Royals) but in reality he has lost some range since then. How did 2012 go for Frenchy, in year 1 of that extension? Wretched. .287 OBP, 16 HRs, and decline in defense. At age 29, he is what he is and there is no reasonable expectation for another 2011-like season. But hey, he's GREAT in the clubhouse, has a nice smile, is a really nice guy, is accommodating to fans, can cook a heck of a Belgian waffle, loves pets, and is REALLY good at making whipped cream pies to use on his teammates during post game interviews!!!
As you might have heard, the Royals traded OF prospect Wil Myers for some starting pitching this off-season (more on this later). As you might have also heard, Wil Myers was one of the top-rated hitting prospects in ALL of baseball-not just the Royals system. Myers is a Right Fielder. He was expected to either make the Royals out of Spring Training or go to AAA until June or July if.........wait for it...........Frenchy got off to a decent start or was producing in RF and at the plate to where you couldn't take him out of the lineup. You see where we're going here, right? Not only do you have one of the worst everyday hitters in the league slated to be your starter in RF over a top hitting prospect, but the significant upgrade you had in your back pocket to take over and provide an offensive boost is now gone. So you've got Frenchy in RF and if he is so bad that you have to go in another direction come May or June you now have to turn to...........[insert name of over-the-hill, never was, never has been, or completely unproven MLB roster space occupier]. Not a great reason to love the RF position on this team.
The Royals lineup is relatively young and the young hitters could arguably be set for improvement this season. There is no guarantee of that. Mike Moustakas got off to a hot start in April last season and then pretty much declined the rest of the year. Eric Hosmer was a disaster for the entire year. There is still no established threat at 2B offensively. Alcides Escobar might have had his career offensive year in 2012. Lorenzo Cain couldn't stay healthy enough to play regularly last season until July, and even then he was not the same with legs that were significantly less than 100%. Can he even produce if he's healthy? He doesn't have a long MLB track record to give us any indication that he can. So, it is pretty much Alex Gordon and Billy Butler-and the Royals' lineup can afford ZERO regression from either one of them. SPOILER ALERT: a solid argument could be made that both of them are due for it.
So, the Royals lineup might not get much better. But that's OK because they so significantly upgraded their starting rotation that they don't really need to score any more runs, right? Won't they just prevent a lot more runs from scoring and get their wins that way? Well, the Royals didn't exactly go obtain a new slate of lights-out pitchers. Start at the top. James Shields (acquired in exchange for Wil Myers and other "top prospects") is an above average pitcher, but he's a #2 at best and he's going to decline since he's on the wrong side of 30. Ervin Santana is a #3 or #4 on a contending team. His velocity on his fastball has dropped every season he's been in the majors. He was extremely home run prone last season while pitching in a great home ballpark for pitchers and is coming off an elbow injury. Does that make you feel good about the Royals #2 spot in the rotation? Jeremy Guthrie is slated for the #3 spot and he is in his mid-30's. If you didn't know, that is dangerous territory for a starting pitcher to start a sharp decline. Nobody knows which Guthrie the Royals will get-the one who was so bad that he got traded to KC in exchange for Jonathan Sanchez (!!!!!!) or the one who was dominant from August to the end of the season as a Royal. Guthrie relies on his fielders to get outs, so if his pitches start getting hit harder his defense will have less of a chance to catch those batted balls for outs. Wade Davis was the other pitcher acquired in the Wil Myers trade and he is set as the Royals' #4 starter. He was sort of good a few years ago. Last year, the Tampa Bay Rays thought so much of him that.......... they sent him to the bullpen for the season. He was OK there, but there is no guarantee he can carry that back to the starting rotation. At this time, the #5 starter would appear to be Bruce Chen. What's wrong with that? Other than him being Bruce Chen, nothing. As Ozzie Guillen once beautifully said, "Are you f*cking kidding me?! BRUCE. F*CKING. CHEN." after the White Sox lost a game Chen started and won. So, yeah.....good stuff. Additional points to be made: (1) the Royals refuse to slot Luis Mendoza into the #5 spot despite his success in the rotation in 2012; and (2) the other option for the #5 starter is Luke Hochevar-who is still on this roster because "he's got great stuff." So did Todd Wellemeyer and Dan Reichert.
Finally, the trump card. These are the Royals. Their owner is awful and won't spend the money it takes to win. The GM is an idiot. They never do anything right. All of that shit.

Hope for the Royals in 2013 (no, seriously)

Paul Torlina — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 15:52:27 +0000

Spring Training is here!!! Royals pitchers and catchers have reported and the rest of the squad is due in late this week. As they say in Major League Baseball, hope springs eternal. Every team has a chance for hope-even if they lost 100 games the previous season. There are constant examples of worst to first for downtrodden franchises to cling to as an explanation of how things can get better quickly. The 2012 Baltimore Orioles are an example of that. As 2013 begins for the Kansas City Royals, hope is real for the first time in at least 4 seasons. For some who never bought into 2009's potential for success, you have to reach back to 2004. If you thought 2003 was a fluke all along, you are probably thinking about 1994 as the last time the Royals had a legitimate rotation and a lineup full of promising bats. For those poor souls who had no hope in the 2000's, the 2013 version of Royals Hope is more than a new slogan and a chance to see that top prospect get to KC to see what he can do. The first place to talk about contention over hope is with the Royals' pitching staff. Recall that Bruce Chen started on Opening Day last season in Anaheim. He was respectable enough that day with 6 innings of shutout ball with 4 strikeouts. Luke Hochevar started the home opener against the Indians. Not so much for Luke. He pitched 4 innings and gave up 7 runs-which began yet another inconsistent and disappointing season for him. Chen's entire 2012 was a disappointmet, but then again an "excellent" season from Chen is still barely league average. In 2013, the primary season for legitimate hope is that Hochevar and Chen will compete for the LAST spot in the Royals' starting rotation. Not only do the Royals not have to trot one of these two out to the mound to battle the opposition's legitimate #1 or #2 starter but also, with any luck, one of them might not even make the team out of Spring Training. In the #1-4 spots in the rotation in 2013 are James Shields, Jeremy Guthrie, Ervin Santana, and Wade Davis. If you follow baseball, you might have heard that the Royals made a minor trade to acquire Shields and Davis. There are question marks about any pitcher going into a new season. The primary question is always health. Can Shields stay healthy and do what he has done for the most of the past 5 seasons in Tampa? Is Santana's elbow healthy enough for him to stay in the rotation all season and be effective? Will Guthrie stay healthy and be the guy who pitched in the first half of the season for Colorado or the guy who finished the season with the Royals? Is Wade Davis really a starting pitcher or should he be in the bullpen? Legitimate questions abound. I'm not going to break down each pitcher stastically to try to predict what will happen in 2013. Nobody knows. Here is what IS obvious without a bit of speculation. The Royals are better in the #1-4 spots of their rotation than they have been since at least the 1997 season (when the Royals #1-3 was Kevin Appier, Tim Belcher, and Jose Rosado). Put another way, the two "best" pitchers that started two different opening day games in 2012 will be fighting for the #5 spot and/or a roster spot. That statement, in and of itself, makes for substantial evidence that the Royals' starting rotation has been upgraded significantly. I will not discuss "the trade" here-I'm going to only look at what the Royals gave up from the MLB roster or added to the MLB roster in preparation for 2013. They added 3 new starting pitchers and retained Guthrie-who had an excellent second half once he joined the Royals. The argument against what the Royals did is either based on how much money they are paying 3 of these 4 pitchers (it IS a lot) or what their projected performance is for 2013. Let's get the money out of the way first. I could not care less about the money. The Royals have spent nearly 20 years pinching pennies on talent at the MLB level and it has shown in their pathetic record since 1994. The current investment in payroll at the MLB level by the Royals has been long overdue and this $80Million payroll for 2013 should be the standard for the Royals going forward. In 2018, we should not still be calling the 2013 payroll the highest in club history. On to the projections. Many argue that the projections for the #1-4 Royals starting pitchers indicate that they will not perform much above league average and that will limit the Royals ability to contend and/or win more than 85 games. Similar projections indicate that Royals hitters will not score a significantly higher number of runs. Along with the improvement of the rotation, it is absolutely VITAL that the Royals bats improve at 3 of the corner positions (1B, 3B, RF) and CF if they want to talk about winning more than 85 games and contending for either the AL Central Division title or a Wild Card berth in the playoffs. You know what projections are? Bullshit. If projections were as accurate and correct as proclaimed when published then there would be no reason to play the games on the field. If the projectors were that reliable, you can bet your ass I'd have paid them a couple hundred thousand dollars by now to project the winning Powerball numbers for me. Nobody knows what in the hell is going to happen. Are projections sometimes right? Sure. How often? I don't know-I don't have time to parse every single projection and figure out how accurate it was. I am equally sure that a significant number of projected statistics were incredibly inaccurate. Since this is a Royals blog, lets use projections for a few Royals as an illustration of the value of projected stats/performance (I'll use the ZiPS projection system): (slashes=Batting Avg./On-Base %/Slugging %/On-Base Plus Slugging %) Jeff Francoeur 2012 ZiPS: .273/.314/.437, 37 2B, 17 HR 2012 Actual: .235/.287/.378, 26 2B, 16 HR Eric Hosmer 2012 ZiPS: .304/.354/.474, 36 2B, 20 HR 2012 Actual: .232/.304/.359, 22 2B, 14 HR Mike Moustakas 2012 ZiPS: .274/.316/.436, 38 2B, 19 HR 2012 Actual: .242/.296/.412, 34 2B, 20 HR Alex Gordon 2012 ZiPS: .278/.358/.464, 36 2B, 20 HR 2012 Actual: .294/.368/.455 51 2B, 14 HR Billy Butler 2012 ZiPS: .295/.362/.462, 41 2B, 19 HR 2012 Actual: .313/.373/.510, 32 2B, 29 HR Alcides Escobar 2012 ZiPS: .270/.309/.366, 23 2B, 5 HR 2012 Actual: .293/.331/.390, 30 2B, 5 HR (Thank you RoyalsReview for the nice summary of this) So, looking at these 6 players, ZIPS projections missed badly on 3 players, missed significantly on Butler and Escobar, and was pretty close on Gordon. This is what the naysayers are relying upon for 2013 folks. A system that had less than a 20% success rate on what were expected to be the Royals' six most important bats in 2012. This will not shock anyone, but those same projections for 2013 are not as kind as the 2012 projections for several of these players. It is certainly reasonable to think that Butler may regress a bit-he had an amazing 2012. Same thing for Escobar-maybe he had a career year in 2012. However, the inverse might also be true for Moustakas and Hosmer. Maybe they'll turn out to be busts. Maybe Frenchy really is forever crappy and his 2011 was an aberration. I'm willing to concede any of these points. The point is that NOBODY KNOWS WHAT THE HELL IS GOING TO HAPPEN. The Royals were 12th out of 14 teams in scoring last season, so here is what MUST happen in 2013: 3 or 4 of the Royals regular bats in their lineup MUST significantly improve while Gordon, Butler, and Escobar collectively maintain roughly the same production. The candidates are Frenchy, Lorenzo Cain, Hosmer, Moustakas, and Sal Perez-who missed the first half of the season in 2012. If this doesn't happen, the success of the rebuilt starting rotation will not matter all that much. Let's look at it briefly with each player. Frenchy can't get any worse can he? There is no way in hell the Royals can justify him playing as the starting RF into June if his numbers approach 2012's numbers. Even a borderline MLB player can do better than that. You have to count on RF production improving as a whole either by Frenchy improving or a replacement performing at a higher level. Hosmer/Moose are real question marks. Will they grow from their 2012 struggles? The potential for major bounceback is certainly there, but there are plenty of stories of failed top draft picks. Was Moose's second half the result of his knee injury he played through? The two things seem to be related if you just look at the season chronoloically, but maybe the league adjusted to him and he didn't handle it well. If Lorenzo Cain stays healthy can he be more productive at the plate? I'd like to see him stay healthy just to know what he really could be. Maybe he isn't capable of that or maybe he was just unlucky last season. There are just too many variables with these particular players, the greatest variable being that they are all (with the excpetion of Frenchy) very young or inexperienced at the MLB level. The projections don't have much of a sample size to work off of and are not as reliable as they might be for a 6-7 year veteran. Here is what the Royals' lineup comes down to; if their biggest worry is that they have an offensive hole at the RF position and they are OK at the corners and in CF from an offensive perspective then they will be a much improved club over not only 2012's record but also what the current projections are for 2013. Every good team has a hole in one place or another and if the Royals biggest problem is RF I'm probably pretty happy as a fan. That means the other players are meeting previous seasons' stats, improving on a disappointing 2012, or pitching at a level above and beyond what the 2012 starting rotation provided. If that is the case then the Royals are performing above the projections for 2013 and that will make for an exciting season. The 2012 Baltimore Orioles defied all of the modern statistical evidence on their way to a Wild Card berth. The Royals could do exactly the same thing, but they seem to have a lot shorter road to travel than that Baltimore team had. There are most certainly some moving parts that need to fit together to make it happen for the Royals. For the first time in years, the Royals hopes are not built on 13 different players catching lightning in a bottle for a season. The 2013 Royals are not counting on a group of retreads past their prime to maybe put together a career season and instead are counting on their young core players to take a step forward while being supported with upgraded starting pitching. For the first time since 1994, the Royals are built to take a crack at the division title and have a young nucleus of position players in place with a legitimate set of experienced and proven starters. The 2013 Royals have announced that they are going for it and are not trying to sell prospect development any longer. It is time to start winning at the MLB level. One may disagree with "the trade" or point to projections to say that the Royals will fail. The great thing about being a Royals fan right now is that we will get to see what happens on the field and, if things go right, things "going right" for the first time in a LONG time in KC could be a hell of a lot of fun. Hope springs eternal in Major League Baseball. For the first time in years (or decades), the hope in Kansas City is legitimate.

Luke Hochevar is the Hot Girl You [Dated] Back in the Day

Paul Torlina — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 17:07:51 +0000

This just in.....Luke Hochevar sucks. This also just in.......the Kansas City Royals are a bunch of god-damned idiots. I could just stop there and you would nod silently and go about your day. Instead, let us delve into the latest chapter of whichever of those first two statement you think should be the title of the book. This chapter reminds you of that hot girl you dated in high school for awhile even though you didn't really like anything else about her. She was awful but she was hot and so you tolerated the rest of her because HOT GIRLFRIEND (or SEX WITH HOT GIRLFRIEND-adjust accordingly depending on your age at the time). But in reality she's mostly insufferable (or just crazy) and you're an idiot for staying with her for those few moments that you can simply appreciate hotness and forget about everything else. Earlier this season, I washed my hands of Hochevar and I expected that the Royals would do the same before 2012 ended. Royals fans who are still following along after the All Star Game have pretty universally come to one certainty when it comes to the Royals' offseason plans to make 2013 something to be excited about: Luke Hochevar needs to go. He is eligible for arbitration and will likely get a significant pay raise (estimated to $5 million or so for 2013?) due to the fact that he will throw right around 200 innings again this season. To his credit (and the Royals' detriment) Hochevar has been pretty durable during his career and that means he deserves a raise in the Bizarro World that is the MLB pay structure. So the easy solution is to avoid giving an awful pitcher a raise by not making him the necessary qualifying contract offer which would lead to arbitration. The Royals save $5Million+ and he gets a fresh start. Win-win. Sounds pretty simple. Instead, the Royals have indicated that they think Hochevar can still be a good starting pitcher for them. This despite the fact that the biggest thing holding them back is their poor starting pitching. Their starting rotation issues have directly caused several extended losing streaks in the recent past, and it contributed to an awful July record of 7-19 (after they had scratched back within a few games of .500 despite having a 12-game losing streak in April that was.........wait for it................actually NOT directly caused by poor starting pitching). According to the KC Star article linked to above, "Pitching coach Dave Eiland sees, in Hochevar, a pitcher 'who is starting to figure some things out,' and who is 'making strides' while stressing 'the growing process is over now; it’s time to go out there and be consistent'.” You know what? Eiland is absolutely right. The growing process is over. It has been over for awhile now. Hochevar is 29 and this is his 5th year at the MLB level. Consistency also should have appeared awhile ago. It looked like it might have arrived in the second half of 2011, when Hochevar's numbers were consistently the best of his career for the longest stretch of his career. Everyone was expecting that Hochevar to start the 2012 season they way he finished 2011 and use it as a launching pad for his arrival as a building block on a winning team's starting rotation. Unfortunately, we all know the story so far this season, Hochevar has been consistent at one thing: being inconsistent. There are literally two versions of him this season (and his career):

Hot Girlfriend Luke. He is lovable and wanted by all. Hot Luke throws deep into games without allowing many baserunners. He throws shutouts or maybe gives up only one run in 7+ innings pitched. He works quickly. He keeps his defense on its toes. Hot Luke kisses babies and likes walks on the beach. He has more starts this year in which he allowed two or less earned runs than C.C. Sabathia. Hot Luke thinks his wife's pet ferret is amazing. He matches David Price in a pitcher's duel. He fixes things around the house during a homestand. Hot Luke DVRs "Bachelor Pad" and watches it with his wife so they can have "together time" when the Royals aren't on the road. He once threw a complete game with just 80 pitches. Hot Luke goes to his wife's friend's party and plays nice and pretends to like everyone, leaving all of her friends thinking, "Maybe Luke is allright and we misjudged him. I guess we just needed to give him a chance."
The Other 80% of the Girlfriend Luke. He is an asshole. He walks too many guys and gets his pitch count near 100 in the 4th inning. 80% Luke's stuff is flat and right over the middle of the plate; and it gets hit HARD. He complains about having to help clean the house, take out the garbage, and mow the lawn during extended homestands. 80% Luke tinkers with several pitches during the game. He folds like a lawn chair when there are men on base and he has to pitch out of the stretch. 80% Luke's numbers are bad when pitching out of the stretch and are downright dreadful when runners are in scoring position. Right before he leaves for a road trip, 80% Luke turns on every light in his wife's ferret's bedroom (of course the ferret has his own bedroom-the Hochevars are freaking millionaires!!!!!!), then blasts the stereo and walks out of the house to leave it that way for days so that the ferret gets freaked out while they are both gone because his wife is out of town on the professional beach volleyball tour. I mean, WHO DOES THAT TO A PET?!!!!! He also has seven starts giving up six or more earned runs; only two pitchers in baseball have been worse. Only three others have started as many games with as bad an ERA as 80% Luke’s. 80% Luke is also known for showing up to his wife's friends' parties in a horrible mood, making a scene and demanding that they leave early, and then leaving his wife in the awkward position of having to make up a story about how she doesn't feel very good so she and 80% Luke are going to leave the party early.

In defending Hochevar, some suggest that he has been tweaked so many times in 5 years by former pitching coach Bob McClure, former manager Trey Hillman, current manager Ned Yost, and now Eiland. He was tipping his pitches, then he wasn't going after hitters and pitching to contact, then he wasn't throwing inside often enough, somewhere in there he wasn't relying on his fastball enough, and now Eiland says he's been throwing his cutter too much and it is messing up his mechanics for his other pitches-his best pitches. Hochevar's response is that he feels like he's been messed with a lot and that he just needs to execute his pitches better. In other words, he sounds like he's done listening and is ready to do it his way. Eiland has essentially countered with, "How's that been working out for you?" The other complication is that you can't send him to the bullpen and use him there, either, because bullpen guys tend to enter the game to pitch when there are runners on base. So.......yeah........that might not work out so well given his numbers when pitching out of the stretch/with runners in scoring position. He's a starter-not a stoppper. While Hochevar might have a point that he's been told to try a lot of things that will make him successful, there is one common denominator to all of this: LUKE FREAKING HOCHEVAR!!! It doesn't matter what he does or what some coach adjusts, it doesn't stick and Hot Luke ends up reverting back to 80% Luke before too long. The same pattern repeats and all the good feelings of having a hot girlfriend go *poof* the minute the unbearable personality takes over and makes life otherwise miserable. The problem is that the Royals won't simply cut the hot girlfriend loose. They are afraid. They think about former Royal Phillip Humber. They look at the examples of Jorge de la Rosa, Jason Schmidt, Kevin Millwood, and Chris Carpenter (all guys who their original teams got frustrated with for various reasons and traded or cut them loose) who found success at later stops in their careers and potential regret scares them to death. The Royals have to change that thinking between now and the deadline to offer arbitration. They can never move forward to build a starting rotation that can help them become a playoff contender with unreliable pitchers like Hochevar in the mix. The Royals cannot hold onto the hot girlfriend out of fear that they cut her loose and she might hook up with the guy who heads up the Robotics Team, evolve into a person you'd actually want to hear talk, and live happily ever after and repeatedly win "Best Couple on Earth" several years in a row. The Royals have given Hochevar 5 years and 125 starts and still don't know what they have. He is still the hot girlfriend that can be tantalizing. You know, until the rest comes out and makes people hate him. The time has come for the Royals let Hochevar go and let him grow on his own and if that means he finds success elsewhere then good for him and good for the Royals for moving on. The Royals must move on and learn for themselves that the right pitcher (the total package-hot AND worth hearing talk) who can help them contend is out there for them. If Hochevar turns out to be a great pitcher for another team then that is just how it is and the Royals can't be blamed for trying-or for letting him go. Heck, even the leader of the Robotics Team needs that special someone in their lives. Let him go, Royals. Let someone else put up with his crazy ass. And if he thrives then that is great. As long as it isn't for the San Diego Padres. EVERYONE hates those assholes.

Blue Rocks Lose Series To Hillcats On 8th Inning Homerun

Jeffery Pettyjohn — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 05:59:50 +0000

After recovering from a disastrous 1st half of the season to winning the 2nd half title in roaring fashion, this year's edition of the Wilmington Blue Rocks overcame a lot to put themselves 1 game away from advancing to the Carolina League finals. But at the end it was another one of those 1 run loses that ended their season. The game started out as a pitcher's duel between Blue Rocks' Leondry Perez and the Hillcats' Aaron Northcraft with both sides not getting a runner past first base til the top of the 3rd when Blue Rocks DH Geulin Beltre hit a one out solo homer to left, giving the Rocks the 1-0 lead. That lead would hold til All World/Future Atlanta Braves SS Andrelton Simmons hit a solo homer in the bottom of the 4th to tie it up 1-1 for the Hillcats. The pitchers' duel would continue with help from both team's defense and the game did have the feel of one that was going to be decided in extra innings until Hillcats catcher Braeden Schlehuber hit a one out homer in the 8th for a 2-1 Hillcat lead. The top of the 9th had swinging strikeouts from Matt Fields and Cheslor Cuthbert before Brett Eibner worked a walk to keep the game going for the Blue Rocks. However the next batter Geulin Beltre hit a soft flyout to right to cinch the series win for Lynchburg. Lynchburg now will play the Southern Division champ Winston Salem in a best of 5 series for the Carolina League Championship which started Saturday in Lynchburg.

Blue Rocks Win 2nd Half Division Title; Begin Playoffs At Home Versus Hillcats

Jeffery Pettyjohn — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 04:11:47 +0000

At one point a little over 2 weeks ago the Blue Rocks had lost a 2.5 game lead to the Frederick Keys but after splitting a series with Lynchburg, they came home, won 11of 13 games and punched their ticket to the playoffs. This team started to come come together in the 2nd half after the additions of 1B Mark Fields, RHP Brooks Pounder, and SS Orlando Calixte . Mark has simply racked since he has joined the Blue Rocks, having one the best offensive outputs for the 2nd half for either the minors or majors. Brooks came up and solidified the back end of the starting rotation and became an ace on the team. Orlando was a midseason call up who was a welcomed surprise with his offense and becoming an anchor for the infield defense. These 3 under the leadership of manager Vance Wilson have saved what was looking like a horrible season and now are 2nd half division champs and ready to do damage in the playoffs. As of this posting the Rocks are hosting the Lynchburg Hillcats in game 1 of the Carolina League Northern Division Championship and for a brief preview of the series comes down to one man for the Rocks: Mark Fields. If he gets in the mix its hard for other teams to handle the press he puts on opposing pitching staffs. For the Hillcats they will have an interesting addition coming in game 2 in the form of SS Andrelton Simmons. He was the Carolina League batting last year but I first saw him play short was for the Atlanta Braves this season before he hurt his wrist sliding into 2nd on a heads up hustle play. Simply put this guy may be the the Derek Jeter cause everything he is so smooth and effortless but so powerful. The Hillcats having this guy for the duration of the playoffs could be a problem but first they have to get by Hillcat starter and Carolina League Pitcher of the Year Greg Scholosser tonight. (Again as I type this I am underground working on the NYC subway so I don't know the score. I think I will tell everyone about my new job on a later post) Congrats to the Blue Rocks and good luck in the playoffs. (I just made it topside and the Rocks lost 8-0 so I will have a post on tonight's game before morning)

Free Agent Pitcher Preview: 8 Pitchers That Should Draw the Royals’ Interest

Mark Poulose — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 05:13:34 +0000

As the Kansas City Royals 2012 campaign meets its ultimate conclusion, the organization must improve their starting pitching heading into 2013. With a roster burgeoning of young, capable talent in the field, the 2012 rotation pitched the Royals from relevance and into a top-ten draft slot next season. Although likely to field a 2013 rotation of mostly homegrown talent, the Royals do have the financial capability to bring in some free agents. Coming off a 2012 offseason where the market for an effective starter was thin, the 2013 free agent class offers more promising names. Here is a quick rundown of some of the players. 1. Zack Greinke Most Royals fans have fallen in love with the idea of Greinke returning to Kansas City. Greinke, born and bred in the Royals organization, has a unique relationship with Kansas Citians. Starved of baseball success, Greinke’s 2009 Cy Young season remains the only relevant baseball story in Kansas City for quite some time (unless you count the All-Star game… I’m not sure if I do). Triumphing over personal problems, a shy personality, and a classic talentless Kansas City roster, Greinke’s accomplishment seemed to be one of inconceivable odds. Growing tired of the losing, Greinke demanded a trade to the Milwaukee Brewers, which certainly looks to have become one of the few win-win trades in sports (A gold glove shortstop, an above average center fielder, and a future number two for two years of Zack Greinke. I will make that trade every day of the week). Realistically, Greinke will not return to Kansas City. After the Philadelphia Phillies extended left-hander Cole Hamels, Greinke became the clear crown jewel of the free agent class. He will likely command anywhere between $115-$145 on the open market. The organization should not shell out that type of cash for a pitcher who has never pitched like an ace aside from his Cy Young season and has a history of personality issues. [caption id="attachment_12721" align="alignleft" width="441"] In 2008, Tampa Bay Rays pitcher James Shields, right, takes a swing at Boston Red Sox's Coco Crisp after Crisp was hit by a pitch and charged the mound in the second inning of a baseball game.[/caption] 2. James Shields Hailing from an organization that seems to churn out nothing but low-cost, high-talent pitchers from their farm system, Tampa Bay will likely let “Big Game James” walk this offseason. Following a season in which he will likely finish with an ERA around 4.00, Shields’ payday this offseason should take a hit. Advanced numbers show that he has pitched better than his ERA this season, but the results on the field are what truly matter. Somewhat of a fly ball pitcher throughout his career, Shields could flourish in a Kansas City uniform. Shields’ age (31 on Opening Day, 2013) should limit the length of his contract to 3-5 years, so he could be a very attractive option to the Royals organization. 3. Kyle Lohse After the cross-state rivals St. Louis Cardinals extended Jake Westbrook, they appear to be looking to lock up either Adam Wainwright or Kyle Lohse for a few more seasons. Wainwright fits their organizational philosophy and goals better than Lohse, and the Cardinals have engaged in preliminary talks to retain him rather than Lohse. Also, according to ESPN’s Jayson Stark, St. Louis is looking to let Lohse walk off due to payroll restrictions. Although a little advanced in age (34), Lohse has pitched exceedingly well the past two seasons, including a career year this season. With an ERA of 2.61, Lohse should command a lot of attention this offseason. Lohse has pitched extensively in the AL Central as a member of the Minnesota Twins; however, his age spikes a red flag for an organization as young as the Royals. That, along with an excellent walk year, should keep him out of the Royals plans for 2013. However, General Manager Dayton Moore has brought in players like Jose Guillen, Gil Meche, and Bruce Chen. So we could be in for a Dayton surprise this summer. 4. Shaun Marcum From Excelsior Springs, Missouri, the Royals definitely have an “X-Factor” in the negotiation process other teams do not. After posting some good seasons as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, Marcum really came into his own as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers and has been an anchor in their rotation the past two years. Good, not great, on a World Series caliber team Marcum profiles as an excellent number three. Pitching in the offensively weak National League Central, look for Marcum’s numbers to increase if he switches leagues this offseason. Marcum will likely take a salary hit this offseason due to a semi-recurring elbow issue this season and may be looking to come home to Kansas City. However, sports is a business, so look for Marcum to follow the dollar signs. 5. Brandon McCarthy Probably one of the better pitchers you have never heard of, McCarthy was once a top prospect in the White Sox organization. After Luke Hochevar-ing in Chi-town and Texas, McCarthy has found a home in pitcher-friendly Oakland, and, according to Fangraphs, the American League’s best pitcher in 2011. In Oakland, McCarthy discovered the cut fastball and soon changed his pitching style to adapt to his newfound pitch. McCarthy, 29, definitely has the capability of being a shut down pitcher, but Billy Beane is the master of keeping “no name” players who continue to perform beyond other organization’s expectations. 6. Ryan Dempster Dempster is an interesting case for the Royals. Although 35, Dempster has the potential to offer the Royals a quality starter on a short contract that will also be able to provide a lot of veteran advice to a young pitching staff. Dempster has seen it all in the game—he has started, relieved, and closed AND been successful in all 3 roles. Dempster has pitched exceedingly well this season as a member of the Chicago Cubs and, now, the Texas Rangers. Dempster is a player that I would keep an eye on in the offseason—his age will attract fewer teams than other pitchers, and he has intangibles that should help a young roster learning how to be relevant on the Major League level. 7. Anibal Sanchez Coming to the Detroit Tigers via trade from the Miami Marlins, Sanchez likely is a half season rental. Following last offseason’s spending spree in the Motor City, the Tigers likely will not attempt to resign Sanchez. However, Sanchez is likely to have many suitors this winter. Advanced statistics favor Sanchez more than his record would indicate, but this might be more due to the fact he pitched in a football stadium (as a member of the Marlins) for most of his career, rather than his actual on field performance. Still, Sanchez is going to be an option KC will have this offseason and they would not be doing their due diligence if they did not inquire. 8. Ervin Santana Once a promising prospect for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Santana has been inconsistent throughout his career. With the Angels possessing a team option worth $13 million for the 2013 season, look for Santana to hit the open market after posting an ERA in the mid-5’s thus far in 2012. Santana is 29 at this point and should generate some interest on the market, but, if offered a multi-year deal, should leap at that opportunity. With some promising in-house candidates,* look for Kansas City to pursue one, maybe two starters this offseason. With their lineup set for the foreseeable future, this offseason is where the Royals need to make a move to prove to this city that they truly want to win and be a relevant team in baseball. However, it is important to note that Kansas City is a “B-list” destination for many free agent pitchers; players crave big markets that are used to making a push towards the postseason. This presents a significant challenge to David Glass and Dayton Moore. *I am really high on Jeremy Guthrie. Throughout his career, he has had to pitch against the American League East as a member of the Orioles and later in the thin air of Coors Field. Although he is not a front of the rotation starter, I believe he will love to pitch in fly-ball friendly Kauffman Stadium with the defense he has behind him. Provided the Royals dramatically improve their Opening Day rotation, the Royals could be the young, talented team we were promised ahead of the 2012 season. Glancing at the likely 2013 Opening Day Lineup:

Alcides Escobar
Alex Gordon
Eric Hosmer
Billy Butler
Mike Moustakas
Salvador Perez
Lorenzo Cain
Wil Myers
Johnny Giavotella

If the Royals could simply assemble an average rotation, the Royals could run away with the AL Central considering the dearth of talent in our division. The onus is on David Glass this winter to acquire the starting pitching to succeed, and I believe he will. Since the hiring of Dayton Moore, when GMDM has asked for money to pay free agents, Glass has obliged and put the money there. Now that homegrown players have entry-level salaries, the payroll has slipped, as it should have. 2013 will provide Glass with the opportunity to gain some trust with Kansas City, and I believe he will do his best to bring in free agent starting pitching.

Brooks Pounder Named Carolina League Pitcher of the Week

Jeffery Pettyjohn — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 06:16:54 +0000

After having two outstanding starts and giving up only 1 unearned run between both games, Brooks Pounder was named the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week for August 13-19. Against Potomac on August 13th, Brooks pitched 7 innings of shutout baseball, giving up an unearned run on 4 hits with 5 strikeouts and no walks to get the winning decision. But on August 18th the right hander pitched even better going another 7 innings, giving up no runs on 3 hits, 1 walk and 7 strikeouts in a game where he didn't figure in the decision. This past week was so good for him he lower his ERA by 1 whole point. Brooks was originally drafted by the Pirates in the 2nd round in 2009 but only made it their high A affiliate before being apart of the Yamaico Navarro trade that brought him to the Royals this past December. Brooks was another guys brought in midseason to kick start the team much like Matt Fields was brought in for offensive spark. Well I hope both catch on with the Royals and congrats to Brooks on his award

Blue Rocks Begin Playoff Push With A Series Win and 1st in Division

Jeffery Pettyjohn — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 09:15:45 +0000

Jason Adam looks like a whole different pitcher when he gets run support and that was evident as the Blue Rocks won the rubber match to win the series versus the Potomac Nationals. In fact over Jason's last 6 starts, he's 4-2 with an ERA of 3.36 and getting an average of 4.8 runs of offense per game during this stretch. Last night was a great example of how different of a pitcher Jason can be as the Rocks put up 7 runs in the 1st inning and he took care of the Nats' offense. In 6 innings of work he gave up only 4 hits with no runs allowed and 5 strikeouts. If the team can continue to give Jason and the rest of the starters then the Blue Rocks can make some noise come playoff time. Oh and what of these playoffs? Right now the Rocks lead the Frederick Keys by one whole game with a little over 2 weeks to play. The Blue Rocks next 14 out of 18 game will be against Northern division foes so I'm sure the Nationals and the Keys are going to have their say on whether the Rocks can hang on to 1st place. And yes the team has been playing great as of late winning their last 5 out of six and last 7 out of 10 so the team is coming together. I like to think that Rocks manager's Vance Wilson painting the wall one night due to the team's uninspired effort. Honestly if he could light into these guys once a week cause seeing this team seems to on the within reach of a long offensive run, they fall back into their ruts. I hope when he did go off it was like this: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnIaqAsnSxU&w=420&h=315] The Rocks continue their playoff push at home this weekend against 1st half Northern Division winner Lynchburg this weekend at home.

A Sneak Peek at the Royals 2013 Rotation

Mark Poulose — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 22:07:30 +0000

Starting pitching is the name of the game. As the season winds down into another losing campaign, the Royals have one clear problem to address in the offseason—starting pitching. Fielding a rotation with a record of 36-50 and an ERA of 5.22 (as of August 16^th), the Royals’ rotation has effectively decimated their chances of competing in a weak AL Central. Uncompetitive and unable, many pitchers that have started for the 2012 Royals should not be on the roster next season if the team plans on winning the division. 2013 will be a defining season for the Dayton Moore Royals, and if they fail to produce, expect Moore to applying for jobs in other cities. The Royals have a surprisingly long list of candidates to fill the 2013 rotation. Incumbents Bruce Chen, Luke Hochevar, Will Smith, Jeremy Guthrie, and Luis Mendoza are guaranteed chances to make the Opening Day roster, while AAA stud Jake Odorizzi is primed to make his claim on a rotation spot after a dominating year in 2012. Players such as Nate Adcock, Everett Teaford, and Aaron Crow are sure to also get the chance to showcase their starting ability in Spring Training. Danny Duffy and Felipe Paulino, the Royals’ two best pitchers in 2012, should make their return to the Royals sometime in June, likely demanding two rotation spots. As the 2013 season becomes visible on the horizon, the rotation battles are sure to become intense. The Candidates

Bruce Chen—Before coming to the Royals organization in 2010, Chen was journeyman lefthander who had yet to find a home in the majors. Meeting moderate success in his first year with the Royals, the team brought him back on a one-year deal to see if he could replicate his success. Chen did, and in the offseason the Royals signed Chen to a two-year extension. Since signing the two-year extension, Chen has become the “ace” of the Royals staff (being the tallest midget doesn’t mean much) and has a record of 8-10 to go along with an ERA of 5.56. Although Chen had pitched well in his first two years in Kansas City, advanced metrics showed that he might have been getting a little lucky. Also, Major League hitters adapted to Chen’s new pitching style he adopted in KC, and soon his 86 mph fastballs were finding fans beyond the outfield walls. Despite his status as the 2012 “ace,” Chen should not be guaranteed a roster spot next season—the time to win is now, and Bruce has not shown the ability to retain a roster spot on a quality Major League team.
Luke Hochevar—this is a narrative Royals fans know well. Drafted number one overall, Hochevar was saddled with expectations he probably did not [caption id="attachment_12692" align="alignright" width="246"] Luke Hochevar has proven he can be an innings eater. Will that help him make the 2013 rotation?[/caption] deserve considering his overall body of work. Although dominating the college game at Tennessee and pitching well in Independent ball before the Royals drafted him, minor league success did not follow. Never dominating any level of minor league ball, Hochevar was called up and given a rotation spot simply because the Royals had no viable alternatives at the time. I truly believe that Hochevar could have been a dominant pitcher on the Major League level. Possessing a large frame and a clean delivery to go along with a plus fastball and plus curveball, Hochevar never got a chance to develop cerebrally as a pitcher in the minors. The Royals hurried him through the system because of their dearth of pitching at the Major League level, and, in turn, stunted his development. Hochevar has been the same old Hochevar this year, showing spurts of domination drowned by long stretches of batting practice fastballs. Hochevar will get a good shot to make the rotation next season due to his longevity in the rotation—but in the last year of his contract, he is (like Chen) susceptible to being cut.
Will Smith—acquired via trade from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for 3B Alberto Callaspo, Will Smith has been a pleasant surprise for the 2012 Royals. Although his first stint in the bigs was greeted by an absolute shelling by the New York Yankees, Smith has returned from AAA with a vengeance. Showing refined command and an explosive curve, Smith has become one of the Royals’ best pitchers since the All Star Break. Will Smith is definitely a future rotation member, and can develop into an above average number three. Being a big left-hander, look for Smith to be in the 2013 rotation.
Jeremy Guthrie—Guthrie is a player the Royals have liked for quite some time. When the Baltimore Orioles traded Guthrie to the Colorado Rockies last [caption id="attachment_12693" align="alignleft" width="246"] Guthrie should maximize his potential in Kansas City.[/caption] year, the Royals were said to be attempting to acquire Guthrie, but were outbid by the Rockies. A fly ball pitcher, Guthrie was murdered in the thin air of Colorado, pitching to the tune of an ERA well above 6 at Coors Field. On the road, however, Guthrie had an ERA of 3.77. With Kansas City having the largest outfield in Major League baseball, it would logically follow that he would maximize his potential here. Although his scoreless innings pitched streak is somewhat of a surprise, Guthrie would make a nice number four on a quality team. That, combined with the fact that the Royals have sought him for a long time, should guarantee and very good chance for Guthrie to make the 2013 rotation.
Luis Mendoza—After destroying AAA last year (2.18 ERA in 144.1 IP… DESTROYING AAA), Mendoza was given a shot to make the Major League rotation but initially lost out to Felipe Paulino. Following Paulino’s injury, Mendoza was given a permanent rotation spot and has pitched beyond organization expectations. Although his first few starts were rough, Mendoza has pitched extremely well since and has been the Royals’ most consistent starter this year (this may speak more about the starters’ ineptitude, but still, he has earned his keep and more this season). Mendoza fits into the Royals’ 2013 plans and should get a rotation spot next season.
Jake Odorizzi—One of the key components coming in the Zack Greinke trade, Odorizzi has pitched exceedingly well this season at both AA and AAA. Although many fans in KC are pining for Odorizzi’s call up, he hasn’t dominated AAA in a way that would indicate Major League success. Management needs to see more strikeouts and longer outings in order to call him up, but expect to see September starts from our best pitching prospect. Odorizzi will get a chance to make the rotation next season, and we should be cautiously optimistic about his chances. He has future front line starter written all over him, he just needs to fully develop.
Nate Adcock—Adcock is an interesting case. In AAA this season he has an ERA of 4.86. Not good. On the Major League Level this season he has an ERA of 2.67. What should we make of that? No one really knows, but the organization is treating it like a gigantic red flag and has made Adcock set the team record for call-ups and demotions in one season. 2013 outlook: long reliever.
Everett Teaford—Everett Teaford is a younger Bruce Chen. What does that mean? That means he is not a Major League caliber starter. Following the Jose Mijares departure, I can see Teaford becoming the Royals’ lefty specialist. However, he should get a look at the 2013 rotation following his good season at AAA this year and moderate big league success as a starter 2012. Likely outcome, however, will be the bullpen.
Aaron Crow—I wrote a column earlier in the season demanding Aaron Crow get a rotation spot (http://crowncrazed.com/2012/the-time-has-come-for-the-royals-to-start-aaron-crow), but I have had some second thoughts. Drafted number 12 overall, Aaron Crow’s draft slot alone demands a chance to make the rotation, but should he get a shot? Crow was never successful as a starter in professional ball, and he has been a dominating reliever. However, a little digging indicates that he has shown a great inability to get batters out beyond 1 inning pitched. Look for Crow to stretch out his arm in the offseason in the hope for making the rotation, but don’t expect him to earn a spot.
Danny Duffy—after nearly quitting baseball due to an emotional disconnect from the game, Duffy has come back more enthusiastic and quickly become [caption id="attachment_12694" align="alignright" width="246"] Danny Duffy has all the makings of an ace.[/caption] the fans’ favorite pitcher (for evidence, look at his twitter feed, @dduffkc23. The guy is just awesome.). After a promising start to the season, Duffy tore is UCL and required Tommy John surgery, pushing his availability to the Major League roster back to mid-June 2013. However, if there is one pitcher on the Royals roster I would expect to make a quicker comeback than expected, its Duffy. Duffy is a relentless worker that loves his team (see his timeless tweet, “#BuryMeARoyal”) and would do anything to be back on the mound today. Duffy is a front of the line starter, and as soon as he is healed, will be placed at the front of the rotation. Get excited Royals fans; this kid is going to be a stud for years to come.
Felipe Paulino—another man’s trash is another man’s treasure—literally. After claiming him off waivers from the Colorado Rockies, the Royals harnessed Paulino’s potential and he quickly started dominating opposing lineups in a Royals uniform. Unfortunately, his season was also cut short due to a UCL tear and Tommy John surgery and should be expected back in late June next season. Paulino should demand a rotation spot, but the organization’s handling of him has been suspect at best. He, along with Duffy, was the Royals’ best pitcher early this season, yet Paulino has always had to work harder for a rotation spot despite his performance. Should he get a spot? Yes. Will he?

Although many fans expect the organization to go out and sign a free agent pitcher (namely, an ace) to lead the rotation, do not expect the organization to do so. Boasting tons of young talent that will be Major League ready in 2013, the Royals likely won’t need to spend hundreds of millons on a free agent pitcher to lead the rotation next season. While the Royals do not possess a defined ace heading into next season, there is no reason to sign a top-flight starter when it would not make financial sense to do so. Many fans have fallen in love with the idea of the return of Zack Greinke, yet he has not pitched strikingly well since his Cy Young season and will likely command $120 million (at least) on the open market. For a team that will eventually have to resign young studs like Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Danny Duffy, Billy Butler, Felipe Paulino, Greg Holland, Tim Collins, and others, spending $20 million a year on a player like Greinke would not make financial sense for the small market Royals. The Royals have enough young talent to field an above average Major League rotation at a financially viable cost. Retaining as much young talent as possible should be the key for this organization. If the Royals can keep a combination of Hosmer, Moustakas, Duffy, Butler, Paulino, Holland, Collins, and others for a little over $20 million a year, that would create far more wins than the signing of one bona-fide ace. And with John Lamb returning from Tommy John surgery and Kyle Zimmerman expected to rise quickly through the minors, young aces are on the way. Projected Opening Day Rotation

Bruce Chen
Will Smith
Jake Odorizzi
Luis Mendoza
Jeremy Guthrie

Royals’ fans can expect to see a rotation looking like the above to start the season. What is important to remember here is that this will not be the best rotation they will be able to field throughout the season. The Royals will have Duffy and Paulino returning from injury to solidify the top of the rotation and it will be interesting to see who will be able to keep their roster spot once they return. Projected Midseason Rotation

Danny Duffy
Felipe Paulino
Luis Mendoza
Jeremy Guthrie
Will Smith/Jake Odorizzi

Pretty good-looking rotation, huh? With average cost of each player coming in at under $1 million, the Royals have the opportunity to field a low cost, highly effective rotation and be able to resign many of their young players to long-term contracts. Furthermore, Kansas City can only expect Duffy, Smith, and Odorizzi to continue to develop and reach their potential. If the Opening Day rotation can keep the Royals afloat next season, expect the Royals to make a second half push in an exceedingly weak AL Central. But, the best thing may be the depth the Royals will have at starter next season—if injury does occur, current staff members such as Bruce Chen, Will Smith, and Luke Hochevar will be able to make spot starts or even fill in at the bottom of the rotation, providing the Royals with insurance they will surely need to win. Although 2012 was supposed to be #OurTime, expect 2013 to be a year of more success than Kansas City has seen in a while.

Did the Kansas City Royals just become… SMART?!!!!

Paul Torlina — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 21:02:21 +0000

Today we learned that Melky Cabrera has been suspended for 50 games for violation of the MLB performance-enhancing substance policy for having tested positive due to elevated testosterone. One cannot help but wonder if Dayton Moore (or someone else within the Kansas City Royals organization) had knowledge of Cabrera's use of PEDs last season when he was a member of the club and enjoyed what was then thought to be a career year. It is absolutely speculation, but it is worth wondering just how far back Cabrera's PED use goes. Think about the timeline:

Cabrera is sent to Atlanta after falling off significantly as a New York Yankee;
Cabrera signs a contract with the Royals after Atlanta cuts him loose;
Cabrera shows up to Royals Spring Training in 2011 having lost a serious amount of weight and puts himself into the "best shape of his life" category;
Cabrera earns a starting job in centerfield and rakes for the entire season, turning in a career year at the plate;
The Royals offer Cabrera and Jeff Francoeur matching 2-year contract extensions.* Cabrera rejects it and Francouer accepts*; and
As a result*, the Royals trade Cabrera to the Giants in exchange for Jonathan Sanchez

*allegedly

Buster Olney (via Twitter) is also reporting that news of Cabrera's suspension has been circulating in San Fran as long as 3 weeks ago. So, did Dayton Moore pull a fast one and dump Cabrera with knowledge of his PED use before the Melk Man's bubble burst? While it cannot be argued that Cabrera for Sanchez was a good trade, it looks a lot better today than it did yesterday. Today, the Royals are rid of a player who would have been a free agent after the 2012 season and they were instead able to get something in return for him via trade. Jonathan Sanchez f'ing sucked, but Moore was able to turn him into Jeremy Guthrie who, at least for the moment, looks like the serviceable pitcher Moore was trying to acquire when he dealt for Sanchez. In the meantime, the Giants have lost their best hitter during the stretch run of the pennant race and will still likely lose him as a free agent at the end of the season. They might get a draft choice as compensation for that, but it hardly softens the blow of the gaping hole they now have in the outfield. The Giants' trade deadline acquisition of Hunter Pence sure makes a whole lot more sense today, doesn't it? From a Royals perspective, so does the Cabrera trade if they knew about his PED use last season and THAT is why there was no contract extension. Note that the Giants haven't signed him to one either. If any of this is true, the Royals have finally pulled a move that usually ends up with them holding the empty bag and leaving their beleaguered fan base to say, "Only the Royals!" Well played, Mr. Moore. Well played.

1B Mark Fields Named Topps Carolina League Player of the Month

Jeffery Pettyjohn — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 23:41:37 +0000

If being named the Royals Organization Blue Rocks' Offensive Player of the Month wasn't enough, Mark Fields wins an award that two former Blue Rocks/current major leaguers have won. Thanks to our friend in the Blue Rocks Media Dept Jeff O'Connor for compiling these stats, Mark had a blistering month of July hitting .355 with 13 home runs and 19 RBIs. He scored 18 runs in the month, belted six doubles and added a triple. He recorded an on-base percentage of .425 and a slugging percentage of .794 for a 1.219 OPS. In the 23 games he played first base, he only made one error. Mark started his career out with the Tampa Bay Rays and made it as far as AA Birmingham before he was released. After that he was playing independent baseball in Illinois before the Blue Rocks signed him and after a slow start, he has been tearing the Carolina League pitching up and keeping the Rocks in playoff contention. Now this Topps award he has won, a Blue Rock player hasn't this since Brian McFall did it in July of 2007 but former Blue Rocks Glendon Rusch, Johnny Damon and Carlos Beltran are also past winners of the award. We all know what careers they're still having and I hope its a good omen for Mark and the Royals to see him contribute to turning the parent club around.

Kansas City’s young talent showing promise for successful 2013 season

Justis Michael — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 06:42:06 +0000

General Manager Dayton Moore has said many times that the team will be very aggressive in the off-season following the 2012 season. But will the fans see any "aggressive" moves? I'm not so sure. Before the Wednesday trade deadline, Moore had plenty of chances to get a decent to good starting pitcher and he didn't. He also stated that if any trades were made, they were going to be for "Major League ready talent". The Royals did strike one deal sending right-handed closer Jonathan Broxton to the Cincinnati Reds but in return for 2 minor league pitchers. Now don't get me wrong, I think this was a good deal considering the Reds will only have Broxton (23 saves with Royals) for 2 months then, unless a deal is made, he will be a free-agent. So it's good to get at least something in return. The two prospects we received, J.C. Sulbaran (Former High-School teammate of Hosmer) and Donnie Joseph, were ranked among the top 30 Reds prospects. Shifting back to the majors, there is a chance we could see the Royals trade OF Jeff Francoeur this August in order to make room for No. 2 prospect Wil Myers. Francoeur should clear waivers no problem, it's just a matter of if any team would be willing to take the chance of getting him. This season Francoeur is posting a .238/.275/.366 line with 9HR and a measly 30RBI. [caption id="attachment_12639" align="alignleft" width="246"] Wil Myers went 2-4 with 3 RBI's and a run scored in this years Futures Game.[/caption] If in fact a trade does occur and Wil Myers finally debuts in KC in an actual Royals uniform, then the only other prospects in (AAA) Omaha fans would be raving about will be RHP Jake Odorizzi and 2B Johnny Giavotella. Giavotella has been a surprise lately posting a line of .332/.420/.502 with 10HR. Granted his offense was never questioned coming into the year, it was his defense that needed improvement. In his 75 games with the Omaha Storm Chasers, Johnny Giavotella has only committed 5 errors. Other than 2B, the Royals are just about set at every position, in my opinion I think you give Gio another shot at the everyday job. I think you might be able to get something good out of Chris Getz considering how much his offense has improved since last year, and I'm sure a team would cash in on Yuni to be a backup utility guy for them. Whether or not Dayton Moore keeps his word and is aggressive this off season is just something we'll have to wait to see, I just wouldn't get your hopes up too much.

The Royals Are A Broken Record

Leland Jones — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 14:41:24 +0000

It's been really hard to try and pick something to write about when it comes to our beloved Kansas City Royals. I have been struggling mightily with a topic that is worth writing about. I just got back from a much needed week vacation and I can safely say I only checked scores a couple of times on my trip. I then realized this is the same thing that happens every year at this point. The Royals will give us all hope in the early going, only to wither away when the blistering heat of a Kansas City summer lies over the entire city. The sun must get in their eyes when fielding, batting, base-running, pitching, making pitching changes, making trades, and well...bunting. This team is the exact same as all the other ones that are long forgotten with hope of a better tomorrow. It's like the nightmare where you are trying to escape the monster hot on your heels, yet every time you try to reach the corner you just get farther and farther away. I am usually the person that will watch every game or try to listen to it but lately I find myself not even wanting to watch the highlight from each game (get it?). This team had a chance to do something this year which they hadn't done in so long. I know being 4 games under .500 seems like so long ago, but this team was there. Then some bad hitting, pitching, managing, lineups, bullpen and of course the sun helped turn the golden record into another dreadful repeat of past years. You have to sit there and take all of it in and wonder if they will ever escape the losing. As the Royals are being banned from talking to members of the other team (Maybe they were asking the players how to win ballgames?), the collective fan-base must continue to sit in the corner listening to the same anthem over and over and over and over. Quite frankly, I am ready to snap the record in half and start over. The Rays changed their LOGO and shortened their name before they started winning. Maybe we will go with the KC Roy's and pay tribute to the greatest fictional baseball player of all time, Roy Hobbs. I am all for the lightning patches as well. This team needs a jolt, and I have spent 20+ years of my life hoping lightning would strike at least once. Well Kauffman faithful, let's toast to the broken record that is the Kansas City Royals and strap in for another turbulent off-season from Dayton Moore; full of overpaid guys past their prime and boneheaded trades.

How can the Royals still trade Jeff Francoeur? How MLB trades can happen after the deadline

Travis Pflanz — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 13:54:26 +0000

The 2012 MLB trade deadline has come and gone. The Royals traded away closer-by-default Jonathan Broxton to the Cincinnati Reds for a pair of minor league arms, but he was the only Royals player dealt at the deadline. To the dismay of many Royals fans and presumably the Royals front office, Jeff Francoeur and Yuniesky Betancourt are still members of the Kansas City Royals organization. Jeff Francoeur has dissappointed at the plate in 2012 (no need to rehash the stats) and Betancourt is... Well, Betancourt - A sub-par middle infielder with a little bit of pop in his bat. Although the Royals were unable to move these payers before the non-waiver trade deadline which occured yesterday at 3pm central, there is still a possibility the Royals could move Frechy and Yuni in 2012. How? I will let Jason Stark of ESPN tell you - From an article originally published in 2004, but holds true today.

There are all kinds of waivers for all different occasions. But essentially, here is how waiver deals can be made between Aug. 1 and the Aug. 31 deadline for setting potential playoff rosters:

Virtually every player in the major leagues will be placed on waivers this month, whether a team intends to trade that player or not. If nothing else, the sheer volume of names can at least disguise players whom clubs do want to sneak through so they can be dealt.

If a player isn't claimed by any team in either league, he can be traded until the end of the month to anyone.

If a player is claimed, but only by one team, the player can be traded only to the team that claims him.

If a player is claimed by more than one team, the club with the worst record in that player's league gets priority -- and the player can be traded only to that team.

If a player is claimed only by teams in the other league, the club with the worst record in the other league gets priority -- and the player can be traded just to that team.

If a deal can't be worked out or the team doesn't want to trade that player, he can be pulled back off waivers once in August. If he is placed on waivers again before September, he can't be recalled a second time.

Or, if a team is just hoping to dump a player's salary, it can simply allow a team which claimed that player to have him for a small waiver fee. If that happens, the team that gets the player has to pay his entire salary. That's how the Yankees were stuck with Jose Canseco and the Padres were stuck with Randy Myers in recent years: They claimed those players, thinking they were just blocking other teams from getting them. Instead, their old clubs said: "You claimed him. You got him."

In the past, many teams claimed players just to keep them from being traded to contenders with a better record. This year, that isn't expected to happen as often, because most teams can't afford to get stuck with a big contract if they're awarded a player they really didn't want.

Will the Royals be able to move Francoeur?

Jonathan Broxton Traded to the Cincinnati Reds

Travis Pflanz — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 19:32:16 +0000

With a little more than half an hour remaining until the MLB trade deadline, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports is reporting the Cincinnati reds are now interested in Jonathan Broxton. 2:16pm:

Sources: #Reds trying to get Broxton from#Royals. #Rangers are out on Broxton. Other teams in play.

Rosenthal has also stated that the Texas Rangers are no longer in talks with the Royals regarding Broxton, although other teams are still interested.

UPDATES

2:27pm - Rosenthal now reports the Reds have acquired Broxton from the Royals. Official announcement and confirmation still pending. 2:46pm - Mark Serrano, Double-A pitcher in Pensocola with the Reds, tweeted:

Congrats to teammate @JCSulbaran on getting traded to the Royals. Tear it up bruh.

JC Sulbaran, RHP, was the #9 prospect in the Reds organization according to Baseball America. Sulbaran has a 7-7 record with a 4.04 ERA and 1.481 WHIP in 19 starts and 109.2 IP. 2:59pm - Danny Knobler of CBS Sports tweeted:

Royals will get a couple of minor league players for Broxton

3:15pm - Jon Morosi of Fox Sports tweeted:

#Royals acquire AAA Lefty Donnie Joseph and AA righty JC Sulbaran for Broxton.#Reds

Donnie Joseph, LHP reliever, is 8-3 with a 1.72 ERA in 2012. The 24 year-old has a .994 WHIP and 18 saves between double and triple-A in 2012 with 11.7 SO/9 and 2.BB/9 for a 4.00 SO/BB.

2012 Trade Deadline, The Kansas City Royals, and Ludacris

Paul Torlina — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 16:21:47 +0000

"In this life, one thing counts. In the bank, large amounts." Prior to the 2011 season, the Kansas City Royals' minor league system was rated as the best in the history of the entire galaxy since it was formed by [insert name of the supreme deity you follow on Twitter these days]. In terms of minor league prospects, the Royals had Hosmer, Moustakas, Montgomery, Escobar, Cain, Duffy, Crow, Odorizzi, Giovatella, Perez, Myers, Lamb, and those were just the guys who were knocking on the door to the major leagues. There was another wave of guys behind them. A vault full of cash in that minor league system! They were coming for that number one spot. It was ON like Donkey Kong for the Royals. Cash in on those prospects, laugh all the way to the bank, and then all the way to the World Series. "Ya, baby. YEAH!" Hosmer had a great rookie season; Moose a strong finish to 2011. Escobar, Crow, Perez, and Duffy also showed promise during the season too. Even though Lamb tore his UCL, Montgomery pitched well enough to get promoted to AAA after nearly making the MLB roster at age 21. Many had said 2013 was the year the Royals should really be ready to make noise, but 2012 suddenly was starting to look like it could be the year if things fell just right and the young starting pitching blossomed. 2011 was an exciting year from start to finish and 2012 was looking even better. Well, the young starting pitching either got hurt or regressed in 2012. Duffy is now on the shelf with a UCL tear of his own, Lamb still isn't pitching in games due to a foot injury slowing his comeback, and Montgomery has pitched so poorly that he has been demoted to AA (where he has been iffy in a few starts since then). To go with that, Cain's injuries (he was supposed to replace Melky Cabrera's bat and provide a defensive upgrade in CF) and Hosmer's disastrous first half of the 2012 season have been major factors in the Royals' regression on offense as well. Well, that and the fact that Jeff Francouer and the Yuni-Bomb(er) have gotten major playing time in the middle of the batting order despite the existence of better hitting options at their positions (like the statue of Mr. and Mrs. K at the stadium-which undoubtedly could get on base at a better rate than either player). So it is trade deadline 2012, and the Kansas City Royals are in a familiar place to them since the strike of 1994: last place in the AL Central, near last in the AL, and in contention for a top-5 pick in next year's MLB amateur draft. #OurTime. Many critics are frustrated with GM Dayton Moore and blame him for the failure of the Royals this season. I've even seen some ludicrous claims from the Twitter and message board geniuses that the Royals are no better off today than they were before Moore was hired. That is complete nonsense. However, the thinking that Moore has to do something other than blindly "trust The Process" is absolutely correct. So what should Moore do? He should trade some of these prospects (cash in) for two top-notch starting pitchers. Prospects are just that: prospects. There are no guarantees of anything with most prospects. I give you the following names:

Ed Hearn
Gary Thurman
Thad Bosley
Larry Sutton
Joe Vitiello
Jamie Bluma
Dan Reichert
Blake Stein
Juan LeBron
Chris George
Jeff Austin
Jimmy Gobble
Jeff Grainger
Jim Pittsley
Colt Grif.....GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I've got to stop before I hurt someone.

In case you don't recognize these names, they are top Royals prospects from the mid/late 1980's, through the 1990's, and into the 2000's. There is a reason you may not remember them: they did not become productive everyday players at the MLB level (probably really nice guys, though. Except for Juan LeBron, because F-HIM! I don't know anything about him, never met him, have no reason to hate him or dislike him any more than any other failed prospect. But F-HIM anyway). If it makes you feel better, the Royals aren't alone with their lists of failed prospects. Ever heard of Matt Laporta? He's a very recent example of a can't-miss hitting prospect who was obtained in a trade by the Cleveland Indians in exchange for CC Sabathia (along with pitchers Rob Bryson, Zach Jackson, and a player to be named later-yeah you've never heard of those guys for a reason). 3 seasons after he was acquired, Laporta is still shuffling between Cleveland and AAA. The lesson here is that prospects are not guaranteed. Sure they are a commodity for trading but you are NEVER sure that they are going to replicate their minor league success at the MLB level. But sometimes they do, and prospects are cheaply salaried and are a controlled cost for several years if they become MLB'ers, and so they are valuable to teams who care about saving MLB payroll dollars when possible (which is 28 of the 30 MLB teams). Sometimes you've got to spend that prospect currency to obtain proven MLB talent or young talent that is ready to play everyday at the MLB level. With the greatest minor league system ever invented, the Royals were sitting on piles of money bags when the 2011 season started. The took some of that money and deposited it their own checking account known as the Royals 25 man roster. Just as important as these bags of money on the top of the pile were the additional prospects in the lower levels of the minor leagues (A-ball and below). The so called "second and third wave" that give this system so much depth and strength. That equates to piles and piles of money that are available to acquire top MLB starting pitching. It is now time for Moore to tweak his plan and take those money bags out on a shopping spree. This is the whole reason he tried to accumulate that stockpile of talent. Moore knew he'd have to spend some of it to fill holes in the Royals' system. Only Wil Myers should be held in the vault, with every other name being made available in trade talks for 2 top of the rotation guys. Can Moore do that before today's trade deadline? WILL he? SHOULD he? Possibly, but probably not. However, Moore MUST do it before Opening Day next year. He needs to make a trade and include ANYONE (not named Wil Myers) out of the piles of moneybags, cashing in those prospects to get those top MLB starting pitchers. If that includes a big deal today, and then another one in the offseason, then that is great. Maybe he needs to take a gamble on a pitcher who has stumbled in 2012 (I'm looking at you Tim Lincecum) or who is going to be expensive payroll-wise within the next 2-3 years (Matt Garza?). The typical fan response to this thinking is: "I want to make a trade for better starting pitching, but I don't want to give up [prospect name]." I used to feel the same way, but name one pitcher in the Royals system right now who is certain to be ready to be a top of the rotation starter in 2013. If you say Jake Odorizzi you might be close, but how is he any more certain than Montgomery, Duffy, Crow, or Lamb were before the 2011 season started? The Royals' pitching prospects have been ravaged by arm injuries or regression since 2011. It is time to infuse some MLB-ready top end pitchers into this system so that The Process can stay on track. And that is not free. The time to sit and count the stacks of money and wait for it to grow has passed. Some of that money is going to turn out to be counterfeit, and it is better for another team to make that discovery once they have obtained it from the Royals. Moore has more currency than he knows what to do with sitting in the Royals minor league but it isn't doing the MLB squad any good for 2012 or 2013 if it continues to just sit there. The time has come for Moore to make his move. It is time for him to say, "Sometimes I wish I didn't have all this money man... nah I'm just playin, I'll work through my problems."

Royals: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Lucas Parton — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 17:00:04 +0000

To think, 4 months ago; press, radio hosts etc. were deeming the Royals to have, if not a .500 season, then very close. Now 98 games into the season the Royals are 16 games below .500 and are showing no signs of getting any closer. Coming into the 2012 season high hopes were there for a lot of players: Hosmer with his bat, Alcides with his glove. Then we also came into the season with big question marks. The way Moustakas ended the year last year, could he keep that going or would he still struggle, was Billy Butler more than just a consistent .300 doubles hitter, how was Cain going to hit in the big leagues, and plenty more. Lots of those questions are the good; as Moose has put together an excellent year, Billy is on pace for 30+ home runs, Lorenzo Cain since coming off the D.L. Is hitting the cover off the ball. Now, lets look into some more of those question about the Royals.

The Good

Billy Butler: As mentioned above, he has proven himself as a power hitter as well as a contact hitter. Now at 20 home runs, twitter has him on #balboniwatch. Of course, referring to the Royals home run record set by Steve Balboni. Billy has also provided 62 RBI's as well. He is also proving his consistency, hitting .299 with 16 doubles, putting his slugging percentage at .507. Showing that is the power and producing guy the Royals need in the middle of the lineup. Alex Gordon: after getting off to an abysmal start to the season, Alex has since started heating up. Moving back to the lead-off spot, he has showed his bat. He now has 116 hits and hitting .295. Still with only 5 home runs his power numbers have dropped, but walking 52 times has his OBP at .379. Alcides Escobar: The biggest surprise of the year. As his amazing glove wasn't a surprising aspect of his game, his .302 batting average certainly is. Only 30 hits away from his season total from last year with 187 less at bats is a telling number. Not only is Escobar flashing the bat, but showing a little power doing it; 30 extra base hits, just 3 under his total last year. Certainly, something to look forward to in the future.

The Bad

Ned Yost: As the year has progressed, Yost has finally settled down and found homes for a few players. Gordon and Escobar are slotted at 1 and 2 on an everyday basis, which has worked well for the players. After that, we have seen a lot of different players in the 3 through 9 holes. Ned has had a year to forget, managing injuries and trying to figure out where to place the batters in the lineup. This last 10 game homestand, Ned had 10 different lineups. Seems a little over-the-top. Eric Hosmer: With the recent hot (well for him at least) streak Hosmer has taken himself out of 'The Ugly'. Hosmer is hitting a mere .230, slugging only .365. Hosmer is still walking, as he has 35 times so far this season. With the highest hopes and biggest expectations going into the season, Hosmer has failed to deliver. Call it the sophomore slump, call it whatever you want.

The Ugly

Jeff Francoeur: Wow. After a pleasantly surprising season last year .285/.329/.476 smacking 20 home runs and 87 RBI's, this has been a year to forget. His line so far this year is .240/.278/.371 with 9 home runs and only 30 RBI's. Francoeur has not been good, and to add insult to injury, hes blocking one of the most prized prospects in baseball, Wil Myers. Its time for Frenchy's time in KC to be over. Hopefully, a deal gets done before the Tuesday, July 31st deadline. Pitching Staff: A team ERA at 4.50. Enough said. The only bright spot in this is, of course, the bullpen. When you are as overworked as the Royals bullpen, we don't criticize them for giving up a couple runs. In the first 98 games, the Royals starters have completed 34 quality starts. With multiple guys on the DL, expect to see more and more young guys come up within the coming months. I could have done this for every player on the roster, but lets face it, it would only be worse.