Cut the Prozac in half.

I'm right on the 3rd base line about 6 rows up.

Howdy, neighbor!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Gordo says goodbye to that one.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AlwaysRoyal?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AlwaysRoyal</a> <a href="https://t.co/8l8wQJb1xg">pic.twitter.com/8l8wQJb1xg</a></p>&mdash; Kansas City Royals (@Royals) <a href="https://twitter.com/Royals/status/1120467047710904321?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SolerPower?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SolerPower</a> won&#39;t be contained by the dome. ☀️��<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AlwaysRoyal?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AlwaysRoyal</a> <a href="https://t.co/WsjGdkXttN">pic.twitter.com/WsjGdkXttN</a></p>&mdash; Kansas City Royals (@Royals) <a href="https://twitter.com/Royals/status/1120480825043243013?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Dozier does it again. I actually wonder what the Royals record for HR by the end of April is?

I'm pretty excited that one of our old 1st round picks is showing up. Great work Dozier, hope you are a part of our next playoff run.

He helped already. Him taking a lower contract allowed the Royals to sign Manea, who was shipped off for Zobrist.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/hdozier_17?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@hdozier_17</a> to the ROOF. ��<br><br>(almost)<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AlwaysRoyal?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AlwaysRoyal</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZG5k3y1GM2">pic.twitter.com/ZG5k3y1GM2</a></p>&mdash; Kansas City Royals (@Royals) <a href="https://twitter.com/Royals/status/1120486634485633029?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2019</a></blockquote>
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So is it too early to talk draft yet? Pitchers are looking pretty good in the minors so far, hitters not so much. I know you don't draft for need, so luckily the top draftees available are almost all hitters. Hopefully the vaunted trio of Matias/Melendez/Pratto eventually figure Wilmington out, because right now Matias has the highest BA of the trio with .207 at almost 20 games into the season. I think a good college bat is a needed infusion into the system, so my money is on 1B Vaughn being the pick. This rebuild is really going to start to drag on longer than it should if we don't get some more solid Vall around hitters in the system who won't strike out 2-3 times a game.

Even Gordon's outs are hard hit/not cheap outs.

That was poor angle by Soler.

Soler is such a bad OF

Bombs away

Is keller gonna be taken out yet?

And more Soler hijinks

Because Royals.

3-1 lead turns into 5-3 deficit, soon to be 6-3.

Keller was starting to lose it in the 6th, and then was going thru the third time. But with this bullpen, what difference does it make?

It’s kinda what we do, no?

Yup. It's what the 2019 team will be remembered for.

What the **** is Ned doing? Replacing a hot Hunter Dozier with this trash? Against a lefty at that.

Dozier hurt himself last at bat

I get that, but a lefty on a lefty?

That's just not good logic.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hunter Dozier pulled from game with lower back spasms. Had been DH because of the back yesterday and tonight.</p>&mdash; Joel Goldberg (@goldbergkc) <a href="https://twitter.com/goldbergkc/status/1120500146310193154?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2019</a></blockquote>
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We lost to the Ray's, I bet prison bitch is happy we lost to his favorite ideal team

Reminds me of dean palmer.

Yep. Im ready to bring up Starling. Soler DH. Not sure why we have Hamilton or Gore. Lets see what hes got.

26 years old
former top 5 pick
OPSing.950 in AAA
plus defender

Yeah..no reason to wait.

It's nice to see Nicky Lopez and Bubba Starling killing it in AAA. Itd be awful to rush them too the majors, especially when you have such integral parts of our future keeping them down. How could you ever replace Chris Getz, I mean Owings, and his .564 OPS. If a .564 OPS doesn't get your dick hard, then read on for more stat Viagra.

*****CAUTION STOP READING IF YOURE NOT READY FOR AN ERECTION THAT WILL LAST LONGER THAN 4 HOURS*****

So .564 OPS doesn't do it for you? Well let's dig a little deeper into the stat book. Does 26 SO to 7 BB get your blood flowing? How about the 8 RBIs in 22 games.

**** I just blew my load.

Guess you can only look at Chris Owings stats for so long.

**** Billy Hamilton and his worthless ass blocking Starling.

Come on Daytons Defenders. Tell me how these are thecright moves.

Don't we pretty much control Bubba the rest of his prime years at this point? Why not bring him up?

No if I'm not mistaken, he is out of options. Technically if he makes it we control his prime MLB years, but he has to actually make it.

I actually wouldn't be surprised if we see Lopez eventually. Bubba's going to be another matter. Once they bring him up there's no going back, so they're probably going to make him show sustained success at AAA, not just a couple hot weeks.

He will be 27 this August and isn't getting younger. With his speed and D he will be Billy Hamilton. There is no reason to not just call him up and send Duda to the moon. DM is just a clown.

There’s no reason to keep Hamilton over Starling


Hamilton provides nothing. Literally zero.

.564 OPS? I’m moist....

Hamilton reads the Bible

Starling likes the Pronz.

That’s an easy decision for Dayton.

The Royals "plan" for this year was speed (w/ emphasis on stolen bases) and defense. For that plan to work, Goodwin or Phillips had to make the team, Gore had to have multiple opportunities and Hamilton had to improve his OBP and Owings had to return to 2016 form. Not only has none of this occurred, but in tandem with Salvy's injury, we knew a good portion of this was not going to happen prior to playing a single regular season game.

And that fact alone is what makes the roster construction of this team criminal. While DM is ultimately responsible for roster construction, Ned Yost is every bit as dug-in and invested in how this roster has been constructed. If Ned didn't want Duda on the team, DM wouldn't have signed him, period. Ned wanted him. This approach to roster construction is actually regressive towards the larger goal of prospect development. When they got rid of all the veteran junk last year and let the young guys play, the team started to thrive.

I mean...two left handed hitting first-base-only players on a roster...a backup catcher...a late-inning-pinch-runner-only. Two bullpen arms with no options signed to hope they recover their careers and yield a trade at the deadline. The 40 man roster spots and the makeup of the 25 man active roster is just incredibly inflexible at this point. I really can't imagine anything getting better until they cut bait with a few of these guys and open up some roster spots so that they can do more shuffling and have the flex to send more guys up/down to the minors.

The optimist in me believes this will actually start to happen in June...but the pessimist in me isn't so sure they are't going to stay doubled-down on this "plan", despite the fact the plan just isn't going to work, given our current circumstances.

The Royals answer (which I'm not in agreement w/ their rationale):

1. Hamilton steals bases...Starling, while fast, does not really steal bases.
2. Defensively its mostly a wash. Starling w/ a better cannon, but Hamilton more experienced and likely better reads/angles.
3. Starling is not on the 40 and when placed on the 25, can't come off without having to clear waivers.
4. Probably hoped (and still hope) Hamilton outplays his recent career numbers and they can flip him at the deadline for something.

Re: Starling, there’s also the matter of him not having much success prior to this current 60 AB sample.

He only played 20 games in the minors last year. He hasn’t posted an .800+ OPS since 2012.

There’s nothing to be gained with Starling by rushing him. This team isn’t going anywhere. He’s not going anywhere.

Might as well let his sample stretch out to 50 games or so and 150 ABs or more. If he’s still raking, promote him and see what you have.

Progression of minor league players, especially hitters, is rarely linear. Letting Starling and Lopez marinate and improve a little longer at AAA isn’t a bad thing for them at the major league level.

Ultimately, the Royals added some boring vets that aren’t very good. The playing time Duda and Owings are getting is annoying.

It’s a good idea for a team that won’t contend to sign some cheap vets and try to rehab some value and trade them (see Jon Jay, Moustakas last year).

They’ve got another month or so to play patty-cake with the veteran guys. Then it should be on to more youth.

Starting in June, I’d like to see this lineup:

Merrifield RF
Mondesi SS
Gordon LF
Dozier/Soler 3B/DH
O’Hearn 1B
Dozier/Soler 3B/DH
Maldonado/Gallagher C
Starling CF
Lopez 2B

Lot of speed and defense in that group. When/if they trade Maldonado, if Viloria is still showing well, he can slide into the rotation with Gallagher.

Because Royals

Nobody is trading for Maldonado

He can’t even make contact

As a backup defense-first catcher w/ his skills? For a team in the hunt that has an offense-first signal caller? Sure someone would trade for that. They did last year. We just wouldn't receive much of anything for that trade. Maybe some cash or a fringe lottery pick, based on Maldonado's performance thus far in 2019.

Didn't somebody trade for Butera?

There's a really good chance Starling doesn't hit at the MLB level, but there is a 100% Hamilton doesn't.

There’s also a really good chance you crush the progress he has made by promoting him too soon.

Let him have some success, then encounter some struggles, and then prove he can adjust and succeed again.

Starling (bats right) and Lopez (bats left) would replace Hamilton (switch hitter) and Duda (bats left). Works for me. Would like to see Soler and Schwindel both get hot before the trade deadline. Trade Soler, promote Schwindel.

Also, Elier Hernandez (RF) is swinging a hot bat in Omaha. avg = .359, ops = .929. Nice stats but don't know where he'd fit in the lineup unless they move someone else like Merrifield or Gordon.

Hamilton is not a good hitter by any measure, but there are varying degrees of this. If Bubba comes up and looks like Mondesi did at first and can't even hit .100... You're going to have a much different opinion. This team is not winning the pennant. There's no reason to rush a guy up after he finally had two hot weeks at the plate. Especially when they can't send him down if he struggles.

Nicky Lopez has 2 strikeouts in like 65 at bats. That's cool.

Maybe he can take on a part time job in Wilmington teaching the guys there not to strikeout 2 times a game.

FG proj top-10 picks, we are #2 FYI


https://blogs.fangraphs.com/mock-draft-1-0-the-top-ten/

As I've said before, no thanks. Our high school picks almost always fail to develop. Merrifield, Dozier, O'Hearn, and soon Lopez are all college hitters that eventually made it to the majors. It seems pretty clear to me by now that we are almost incapable of developing high schoolers into patient hitters who can get on base. Dating back to Hosmer and Moustakas the vast majority of the hitters taken straight out of high school either have failed to develop or have significant flaws in their game.

Witt is absolutely the upside play. His ceiling is higher than Vaughn’s because of his defensive value and speed.

His floor is much lower due to the fact he’s a HS guy and has questions about his hit tool.

It wouldn’t be the way I go but I wouldn’t be surprised if KC goes that way, and it’s not going to surprise anyone.

I’ve seen some recent scouts of Witt that seem to indicate he has addressed some of his contact issues by selling out less for pullside power. A more all-fields approach, if underway, would improve his hit tool quite a bit.

It’s like saying “No drafting LSU players” after striking out on Dorsey and Tyson Jackoff. I mean you *could* but every situation is diff. Would you really turn down HS bats Trout, Harper, Machado, Seager, Correa on and on. Hardly.



Meanwhile here he was in the HS derby at the ASG last year. Yes they used aluminum bats but Witt cranked 11 jacks out of an MLB park. On his first 12 swings


https://usatodayhss.com/2018/video-m...-jr-rece-hinds

Nice evening's work for Homer.

Well, Homer Bailey sucks again.

Shocking.

Pitch comes middle-middle and Duda grounds out to 2B. Not good.

Lol I like how Lefebvre is starting to fire some shots. The camera cut to some pouting kid in a Royals cap and to paraphrase him, he said "I don't think that kid traveled all the way here to watch this."

Usually the broadcast team are a bunch of homers, so that was like a breath of fresh air.

10 straight losses to them

7-17.

That is pathetic.

Hey, we were 5-19 after 24 games last year!

Denny Matthews shoots some but Spittorff was a beast during the lean years. He would really rag on guys for not throwing at people or backing them off the plate.

Duncan, are you hearing anything about Kyle Isbel?

The guy can hit. If he can stick in CF, he’s a good starter. Power is a little light for corner OF. David DeJesus is a name that comes to mind when I read scouting reports and his profile.

Upgrade!

He is going thru the system quicker than anyone I can remember. I’ve read they are also looking at him defensively at 2nd.

We aren’t allowed to talk about the team this year because they will be good again someday and you won’t even care then what we did in 2019 / ChiefsPlanet

Nicky Lopez, anyone?

Also don't talk about the how good the Rays or any other small market franchise is because the Royals won a World Series in 2015.

DM has another wave coming in 2027 just gotta keep giving him decades to get it right

Yes, that's what everyone here is saying . . . . . :rolleyes:

The expectation for being able to compete again is 2021-22. He's (GMDM) trying to repeat the original plan. Whether you agree or disagree with that direction, that is the path they have chosen. If things aren't coming together by 21-22, most everyone here will be fine with moving on from GMDM come 23.

But ask yourself this: would you rather be the A's/Rays or Royals? The A's and Ray's have been consistent about constantly re-stocking their minor league pool, getting rid of guys before they get expensive, and not paying out big money contracts. Yes, they're more consistently competitive than the Royals year to year and don't have as long of a 'down cycle' when they hit it, but what has it gotten them?

A's have NEVER had any post-season success with this current formula and the Rays DID go to one World Series back in 08, but promptly got swept.

The Royals at least got back to back WS out of it, a trophy, and were within a hair of two trophies. Which result would you honestly rather have?

I mean, I realize the Rays are leading the AL East right now, have a lot of young talent and the A's are coming off a pretty solid year last year, but when these teams inevitably flame out in the post-season (if they even get there), then what do they have to comfort themselves with? Royals fans can at least pop in the DVD's of the 2015 WS and re-watch them and revive those memories of what it feels like to reach the pinnacle of the sport in a day and age that's designed for them to lose in . . . . . .

Why do Royals fans think they have to choose one or the other?

Would you rather be the 90s Chiefs or the 1999 to 2001 St. Louis Rams?

Why do others THINK there IS another alternative?

No other MLB 'small-market' franchise has figured it out yet . . . . . ? Are they ALL just idiots or does it come down to having to work in a system where the odds are stacked against you from the beginning?

If anyone thinks they have it all (having your cake and eating it too) figured out, maybe they should apply for some MLB GM's spots and start running a team of their own . . . .

The Royals have done a shitty job the last several years and pulling out the 14-15 seasons as a trump card to shut down any discussion isn’t something we are all going to agree to.

The Royals tried to extend their window of winning in 16 and 17 and made some decisions then that has cost them today. No one would dispute that. I have no problem with that, even though some of the decisions have blown up in their face.

Their early round picks (excluding 2018) have been pretty bleh the last several years. Some bad drafting, some bad luck.

GMDM is on the clock. He has till 2021-22 to get this team on track to be competing for playoff spots again. If he doesn't, I'm sure most here will be calling for his head come 23. I know I will. But I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt till then.

I don't blame them for going for it in 2016 - you have to! But, after 2016, it was painfully obvious they had to rebuild.

What's the old saying? I'd rather be lucky than good? It's not just the Royals, though. Luck plays a huge role in most successful playoff runs in all sports. Royals got extremely lucky those years...

FYP.

Everyone, especially in baseball, where you have to win 11 games now to win a Title, has a lot of luck go their way to accomplish that.

That said, the 2015 Royals were one of the most fundamentally sound teams I have ever watched.

As Hemingway famously said "You make your own luck" . . . . .

I totally agree being a little lucky is always a part of any run. But those teams (especially the 2015 team) simply dominated the competition in every phase of the game for the entire season. Some luck? Sure. But luck is not the reason they came out on top. They were truly better than every team in baseball from day one of the 2015 season. The 2014 team wasn't as dominant all season, but they WERE unstoppable in the post-season until facing the Bumgarner's.