I think this year says more about the value of steals than anything...
the only guy stealing less is esky. cain and dyson are stealing as much, maybe a little more. it's clearly an escobar issue, not a change in philosophy.
.634 steals per game this year as a team.
.944 last year.
Seems like a change to me.
i went through this yesterday or the day before. pretty much 100% of the difference is explained by dyson getting less game time, aoki not being here and esky not stealing as frequently (or as successfully). very minor effects of gordon not running as much and then getting hurt. i suppose you could add in gore not being called up yet to the list of minor effects.
the meat of the data is that this year the royals have three guys that throughout their careers have stolen bases frequently and at high rates of success (not including rios, because he's way older than when he stole frequently). of those three, dyson and cain are stealing as much or maybe slightly more often. only escobar is stealing dramatically less frequently. and when he does try to steal, he hasn't been very successful (career cs w. royals before this year - 15%, this year - 33%). obviously getting caught twice as much (despite attempting to steal about half as often, so presumably picking easier opportunities) is indicative of an issue with his ability to steal, not a change in philosophy.