*** Official 2018 Royals Repository ***

[duncan_idaho]

The season is upon us, even if spring is not.

2018 MLB Draft Picks
#18
#33 - Compensation (Eric Hosmer)
#34 - Compensation (Lorenzo Cain)
#40 (Competitive Balance Round A)

018 Draft Names to Watch

RHP Kumar Rocker, N Oconnee HS, Georgia.

Spoiler!

Possibly goes top 10 but is a big, physical SP with ace potential. Moore and co. will be all over him if he slips a bit and could offer top 10 money at No. 16

OF Jarred Kelenic, Waukasha West HS, WI

Spoiler!

Kelenic is the top prep bat, toolsy OF. Royals would be ecstatic to have shot at him.

1B Triston Casas, American Heritage HS (FL).

Spoiler!

Tremendous raw power, best in HS bats. Royals typically like HS arms or HS bats with "special" tools. He qualifies.

RHP Carter Stewart, Eau de Gallie HS (Ga).

Spoiler!

Another big, physical specimen with huge upside. More likely to be available mid-first than Rocker.

ANY Any, Any (Any). Any current top projected pick who slides for injury concerns. Includes current top prospect prospect SP Brady Singer, U of Florida.

Current Prospects to Watch:

OF Seuly Matias - Huge tools. Hit 2 HR in Lexington (A) season opener.

1B Nick Pratto - Top pick in 17 has advanced approach and good glove; needs to start tapping into power in first full year in minors. Also at Lexington.

OF Michael Gigliotti - Good defender in CF, good OBP skills, plus baserunner. Next mainstay in CF for KC, IMO. Advanced college bat also starting at Lexington.

OF Khalil Lee - Probably has highest upside in Royals' system. Could hit 30 HR in majors, could steal 30 bases. Plus defensive ability in RF. Nice test at Wilmington this year.

3B Emmanuel Rivera - Really nice approach and good contact skills. Power is still developing. Also getting a good test at Wilmington.

SP Foster Griffin - Made nice strides in 2017. Needs to continue to progress in 2018. Could be a lefty version of Jakob Junis (good breaking ball that he can really manipulate, OK fastball, good command).

1B Samir Duenez - Duenez still is intriguing, hoping for a step forward in his power production this year at Northwest Arkansas, which would turn him into a legit prospect.

Others to keep an eye on:
SP Gerson Garabito (Wilmington), OF Marten Gasparini (Lexington), C MJ Melendez (Lexington), RP Tyler Zuber (lexington), RP Richard Lovelady (Omaha), SP Dan Tillo (Lexington), SS Nicky Lopez (NWA), SP Scott Blewett (NWA), OF Brewer Hicklen (Idaho Falls),

In general, Lexington and Wilmington are the most interesting spots to watch. Nice depth and a lot of interesting pieces at both.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Al Bundy

I gotcha. Last nights game was the first loss I was legitimately pissed off about.

There are no losses worth being pissed about. Things to be pissed about:

Mondesi not playing (unless injured or on leave)

Dozier or Bonifacio not playing

Running Perez into the ground by having him catch too much

Not trading Moustakas and/or Duda

[OKchiefs]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

There are no losses worth being pissed about. Things to be pissed about:

Mondesi not playing (unless injured or on leave)

Dozier or Bonifacio not playing

Running Perez into the ground by having him catch too much

Not trading Moustakas and/or Duda

I'll add to the list. I'll be pissed if Merrifield and Duffy are not traded at either the deadline or in the offseason.

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by OKchiefs

I'll add to the list. I'll be pissed if Merrifield and Duffy are not traded at either the deadline or in the offseason.

Duffy needs to continue rebuilding his value before we trade him off. That deal is still a steal if he can pitch at 2016 levels.

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by OKchiefs

I'll add to the list. I'll be pissed if Merrifield and Duffy are not traded at either the deadline or in the offseason.

What kind of return are you expecting for them?

[OKchiefs]

Originally Posted by Chiefspants

Duffy needs to continue rebuilding his value before we trade him off. That deal is still a steal if he can pitch at 2016 levels.

Well that's my assumption that he will continue to do so. I think he might be a better fit for an offseason trade.

[OKchiefs]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

What kind of return are you expecting for them?

Well, with a different GM I'd expect a pretty sizable return on both. I don't know enough to get too specific. Of course, I have no faith in Moore to pull off a big trade considering he rarely comes out the winner in trades and has almost no track record since trading Greinke of pulling off big trades. I don't think he has the skill or balls to make the necessary moves.

[Great Expectations]

I thought the big trades for Cueto and Zobrist played out pretty well for us.

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by OKchiefs

Well, with a different GM I'd expect a pretty sizable return on both. I don't know enough to get too specific. I don't think he has the skill or balls to make the necessary moves.

Duffy is having the worst season of his career and making $15 mil for the next 2 years so they'd be selling low. What would you give up for him?

[tk13]

Originally Posted by Great Expectations

I thought the big trades for Cueto and Zobrist played out pretty well for us.

Not to mention the Guthrie trade, the Shields trade, and the jury is still out on the Soler trade. Dayton's done a decent job with trades, even though he's often criticized for them. Even for Herrera, he got more than the Mets did for Familia.

Now free agent signings are a whole other deal, he's not done very well there, but as we've seen this offseason teams are starting to get more stingy when it comes to FA because it's such a risk.

[OKchiefs]

Originally Posted by Great Expectations

I thought the big trades for Cueto and Zobrist played out pretty well for us.

I'm talking about selling assets for big returns. He's shown very little ability to do so.

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by tk13

jury is still out on the Soler trade.

How can the jury still be out on that trade? Soler is still on the Royals producing and Wade Davis isn't on the Cubs.

[OKchiefs]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

Duffy is having the worst season of his career and making $15 mil for the next 2 years so they'd be selling low. What would you give up for him?

That's mostly been from early season struggles. He's been much better lately, and I'm assuming he will continue to return to his career norms. If he pitches 3.00 ERA or so the rest of the year I would imagine teams would go off of that and not what he did to start the season.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by OKchiefs

I'm talking about selling assets for big returns. He's shown very little ability to do so.

Seriously, man, what the **** are you talking about?

Dayton Moore has sold major assets exactly two times as GM of the Royals:

1) Zack Greinke
2) Wil Myers

Both of those trades were monumental successes and contributed in huge ways to the best five year run of Royals Baseball since the 80s, including two AL Pennants and a WS title.

The next biggest return he has moved was Wade Davis, and Davis’ stock had taken a major hit due to his injury issues in 2016.

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by Al Bundy

Well this is fun.

Well, after sweeping the Twinks, Ned had to get us back on track in the race to the bottom. Brandon Maurer folks....his line for 2018 is Leonard Pinth Garnell Quality Awful:

Game Appearances: 16. Record: 0-4 with 1 save. 12 innings pitched. 25 hits, 19 runs, 4 homers, 11 walks, 7 Ks, ERA of 14.25. Opposition is hitting .439 against him.

Last night he faced three batters. All three scored.
And he draws a paycheck.

There's GOT to be somebody in Omaha or Arkansas who can do better than this stiff.

[OKchiefs]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Seriously, man, what the **** are you talking about?

Dayton Moore has sold major assets exactly two times as GM of the Royals:

1) Zack Greinke
2) Wil Myers

Both of those trades were monumental successes and contributed in huge ways to the best five year run of Royals Baseball since the 80s, including two AL Pennants and a WS title.

The next biggest return he has moved was Wade Davis, and Davis’ stock had taken a major hit due to his injury issues in 2016.

Will Meyers trade was still part of buying big league talent. I still see a distinction between buying big league talent and selling. He's had no problem buying, but I personally don't like the track record on selling. I guess he hasn't been a seller that often for us to be too judgemental, although that in and of itself is a problem as well. He has a track record of hanging on to guys for too long and not selling when the opportunity presents itself. The Zack Greinke trade is the only trade where he has gotten a huge return. Even that trade was viewed as less than what should have been expected. In hindsight the trade worked out great, but I don't think you can expect every trade that looks a little light on the return to pay off beyond what is expected.

I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not the only one to suggest Moore is gun shy on pulling off big trades or to question his ability to get a big return.