***Official 2021 Royals Season Repository Thread***

[ChiefsCountry]

For all things Royals for the new year.

Free Agent Signings:
Carlos Santana
Mike Minor
Michael Taylor
Ervin Santana

Top 10 Prospects:
1 Bobby Witt Jr., SS
2 Asa Lacy, LHP
3 Daniel Lynch, LHP
4 Jackson Kowar, RHP
5 Erick Pena, OF
6 Nick Loftin, SS
7 Kyle Isbel, OF
8 Khali Lee, OF
9 Jonathan Bowlan, RHP
10 Carlos Hernedez, RHP

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by BWillie

Don't you think it would be a huge waste to play Melendez anything but Catcher? Most reports are positive about his defensive I've read. Salvy can't frame either and if Melendez catches 75% and Salvy 25% that saves Salvy sooo much so he can just rake.

If Melendez hits in MLB in an expected fashion based on his Milb numbers we have a potential 8 WAR player on our hands. Muuuuch less in OF.

I think it's a huge waste to not play him and Perez in full-time roles.

I don't really care what that looks like. If it was me, I'd play whichever one was my best defender 100 games behind the plate. That's likely Perez.

I'd then DH Perez for 50 games or so.

That leaves me 60 games behind the dish for Melendez and 90 games to find him playing time somewhere else.

He's athletic enough to play 3B and LF and actually be a plus player at both (especially 3B, which is an important defensive position). If he hits like expected, the ability to always have a plus, middle-of-the-order bat at C is a major benefit to lineup construction.

You keep Perez fresh and get the best version of him. You have generally plus defense at C. You have league-best offense at the C spot. You get 45 games of plus D at 3B with a plus bat and 45 games of average D with an average bat for the position.

I'm anxious to see how much contact Melendez and Pratto make at the highest level. I am more optimistic about Melendez but still suspect we'll be happy if he's a .260 hitter (with a .340 or so OBP and .500+ SLG).

[ChiefsCountry]

Originally Posted by OKchiefs

That's what I've been saying. They already want to push it even further and eliminate the benefits of a high draft pick by implementing a draft lottery like the NBA. You know what the NBA has that MLB doesn't? A salary cap. They want to have their cake and eat it too.

Put in a floor, put in a cap, and implement more profit sharing. The big market teams may bitch and moan, but at the end of the day there is no MLB without the small market teams.

You know what the MLB has that the NBA doesn't have - parity.

[OKchiefs]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

You know what the MLB has that the NBA doesn't have - parity.

And how much parity will they have if they go to a draft lottery? Yeah tanking sucks but what better option do small market teams with limited budgets have? They already saw what Moore was doing in the draft with large bonuses in later rounds to lure elite talent away from college, they’re doing everything they can to take away any possible competitive advantage small market clubs may have.

I also would argue MLB doesn’t have significantly more parity than the NBA.

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by OKchiefs

I also would argue MLB doesn’t have significantly more parity than the NBA.

See a lot of teams in MLB winning 3-4 championships in a row, huh?

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by jd1020

See a lot of teams in MLB winning 3-4 championships in a row, huh?

You could argue parity is bad for business. MLB problem is it's hard to market stars. Even a casual fan can watch an NBA and NFL game and the stars explode from the screen, especially in NBA. You can see the difference between Patrick Mahomes & someone like Taylor Heineke. It's like night and day.

When you watch an MLB you don't know who's any good on a given day and nobody cares about anyone but their team. It's a huge problem for MLB. This nation used to turn in in droves for the World Series regardless of the team. Baseball is not our pastime anymore, football is.

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by BWillie

You could argue parity is bad for business. MLB problem is it's hard to market stars. Even a casual fan can watch an NBA and NFL game and the stars explode from the screen, especially in NBA. You can see the difference between Patrick Mahomes & someone like Taylor Heineke. It's like night and day.

That's your example?

A casual fan probably doesn't even know who the **** Taylor Heineke is. Thats like saying a casual baseball fan can tell the difference between Max Scherzer and Will Crowe.

[ChiefsCountry]

Originally Posted by OKchiefs

I also would argue MLB doesn’t have significantly more parity than the NBA.

8 different World Series champs in 8 years.

[ChiefsCountry]

Last 8 years in the NBA - Curry 3, LeBron 2, Kawai 2, Greek Freak 1

Last 8 years in the AFC - Brady 4, Manning 2, Mahomes 2

Lots of parity in the salary cap leagues where a superstar player in the NBA is the difference and a franchise QB means everything

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by jd1020

That's your example?

A casual fan probably doesn't even know who the **** Taylor Heineke is. Thats like saying a casual baseball fan can tell the difference between Max Scherzer and Will Crowe.

On a given day you can't tell the difference between Mike Trout or a guy like Brett Phillips. That is everyday in MLB. You can watch one NBA game and know Giannis or Joel Embiid are freaks and Georges Niang not so much.

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by BWillie

On a given day you can't tell the difference between Mike Trout or a guy like Brett Phillips. That is everyday in MLB. You can watch one NBA game and know Giannis or Joel Embiid are freaks and Georges Niang not so much.

What happens if the one game I watched is the one that Embiid scored 14 points?

And if you are talking marketing, being a non basketball fan, I wouldn't even know who the **** Embiid was if I didn't have 4 friends that were 76ers fans.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

I think it's a huge waste to not play him and Perez in full-time roles.

I don't really care what that looks like. If it was me, I'd play whichever one was my best defender 100 games behind the plate. That's likely Perez.

I'd then DH Perez for 50 games or so.

That leaves me 60 games behind the dish for Melendez and 90 games to find him playing time somewhere else.

He's athletic enough to play 3B and LF and actually be a plus player at both (especially 3B, which is an important defensive position). If he hits like expected, the ability to always have a plus, middle-of-the-order bat at C is a major benefit to lineup construction.

You keep Perez fresh and get the best version of him. You have generally plus defense at C. You have league-best offense at the C spot. You get 45 games of plus D at 3B with a plus bat and 45 games of average D with an average bat for the position.

I'm anxious to see how much contact Melendez and Pratto make at the highest level. I am more optimistic about Melendez but still suspect we'll be happy if he's a .260 hitter (with a .340 or so OBP and .500+ SLG).

It's really frustrating how so many people want to trade Melendez. I've literally seen reasoning like *Perez is going to refuse to not catch 130 games so Melendez has no spot."

It's just dumb.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Mecca

It's really frustrating how so many people want to trade Melendez. I've literally seen reasoning like *Perez is going to refuse to not catch 130 games so Melendez has no spot."

It's just dumb.

Oh, it's absolutely stupid.

It's the dumbest thing possible.

Melendez is the most valuable guy out of all their position prospects, by far, and his offensive profile is the most likely to translate well to the majors.

[poolboy]

They will find a spot for him, he may have to move around some at first

unless some body blows us away with a pitching offer. Good Catchers are a premium commodity right now

[Mama Hip Rockets]

Originally Posted by jd1020

What happens if the one game I watched is the one that Embiid scored 14 points?

And if you are talking marketing, being a non basketball fan, I wouldn't even know who the **** Embiid was if I didn't have 4 friends that were 76ers fans.

I don't watch basketball at all or know any 76ers fans, and I know who Embiid is.

[dallaschiefsfan]

Originally Posted by Mama Hip Rockets

I don't watch basketball at all or know any 76ers fans, and I know who Embiid is.

That may be true...but I fit your profile and have no clue who Embiid is and have nearly no friends or work acquaintances that talk about the NBA. The local news makes a big to-do about the Mavs...but I just don't know many people that wear Mavs gear, etc. Plenty of Cowgirl and Rangers gear. I know it's a popular take to think the NBA is about to overtake MLB, but people have been trying to bury MLB for years - first with Soccer (ha!) and now with the NBA. MLB has not been top dog for quite a while...but it's firmly #2. With as many games as they play each year, it's really astonishing how many people attend per night for any given team.

MLB's meta-problem has always been the same in terms of common sense solutions for improving the game - individual teams are far more important to the owners than the MLB brand. In other sports, there's significantly more loyalty to their sport/league.