The Royals

[sys]

what happened?

nothing.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/kansas-city-royals-billy-butler-and-first-base-coach-rusty-kuntz-exchange-words?ymd=20140511&content_id=75086328&vkey=news_mlb

['taterblast]

dumpster fire status: confirmed

[sys]

esky (alcides=alces)!

[sys]

hayes over kotteras and maxwell over bonifacio are completely mystifying.  it's not that bonifacio and kotteras are badasses.  it's that hayes and maxwell are so rough ridin' useless.

[sys]

guthrie is also rough ridin' useless.

[bones129]

hayes over kotteras and maxwell over bonifacio are completely mystifying.  it's not that bonifacio and kotteras are badasses.  it's that hayes and maxwell are so rough ridin' useless.

One word:  Dayton.

[sys]

gio!

[bones129]

GIO!!

[sys]

gio moose.

[k-state87]

Johnny G knocked the crap out of that Parmesan Pellet.

[bones129]

Nice to get The Good Wade again today.

[Cartierfor3]

hayes over kotteras and maxwell over bonifacio are completely mystifying.  it's not that bonifacio and kotteras are badasses.  it's that hayes and maxwell are so rough ridin' useless.

oh goodness yes.

guthrie is also rough ridin' useless.

agreed. It was like they doubled down on him being not Jonathan Sanchez and we're stuck with him for years

[k-state87]

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/11/mike-moustakas-could-be-demoted-on-tuesday/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs

Mike Moustakas could be demoted on Tuesday

Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas sat on the bench in Sunday afternoon’s series finale against the Mariners. He watched as his team scored nine runs without him. His replacement, Danny Valencia, went 2-for-4 out of the cleanup spot.

That could become a more frequent occurrence. Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star reports that the Royals will decide on Tuesday if they will demote Moustakas to Triple-A Omaha. It’s one of several scenarios in which the club would get another reliever onto the roster.

Moustakas, 25, was once a can’t-miss prospect taken in the first round (second overall) in the 2007 draft — immediately after the Rays selected David Price — but this is now his fourth season without any progress made at the plate. He sits with a .147/.215/.321 slash line and has very little projectability left. In fact, Moustakas could be a change-of-scenery candidate as he becomes eligible for arbitration for the first time after the season and will become progressively more expensive through the 2017 season before he is eligible for free agency.

[jtksu]

hayes over kotteras and maxwell over bonifacio are completely mystifying.  it's not that bonifacio and kotteras are badasses.  it's that hayes and maxwell are so rough ridin' useless.

One word:  Dayton.

Interesting note- Hayes has played every position but pitcher and CF in professional ball.   So he could be an emergency spot utility guy late in a game.  Also, the dude hit 17 bombs in 81 games in Omaha last year.   But yeah, still pissed we let Bonifacio go. 

[nicname]

Very satisfying day as both a Gio supporter and someone who despises the Royals' seeming aversion to power in the offense. 16 singles the other day for six runs, and seven on two bombs today. Rally killers my ass.

[bones129]

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/11/mike-moustakas-could-be-demoted-on-tuesday/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs

Mike Moustakas could be demoted on Tuesday

Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas sat on the bench in Sunday afternoon’s series finale against the Mariners. He watched as his team scored nine runs without him. His replacement, Danny Valencia, went 2-for-4 out of the cleanup spot.

That could become a more frequent occurrence. Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star reports that the Royals will decide on Tuesday if they will demote Moustakas to Triple-A Omaha. It’s one of several scenarios in which the club would get another reliever onto the roster.

Moustakas, 25, was once a can’t-miss prospect taken in the first round (second overall) in the 2007 draft — immediately after the Rays selected David Price — but this is now his fourth season without any progress made at the plate. He sits with a .147/.215/.321 slash line and has very little projectability left. In fact, Moustakas could be a change-of-scenery candidate as he becomes eligible for arbitration for the first time after the season and will become progressively more expensive through the 2017 season before he is eligible for free agency.

Interesting if true. Moose has yet to completely prove himself. Personally, I like the guy, but he's just not getting it done.

[ksupamplemousse]

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/11/mike-moustakas-could-be-demoted-on-tuesday/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs

Mike Moustakas could be demoted on Tuesday

Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas sat on the bench in Sunday afternoon’s series finale against the Mariners. He watched as his team scored nine runs without him. His replacement, Danny Valencia, went 2-for-4 out of the cleanup spot.

That could become a more frequent occurrence. Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star reports that the Royals will decide on Tuesday if they will demote Moustakas to Triple-A Omaha. It’s one of several scenarios in which the club would get another reliever onto the roster.

Moustakas, 25, was once a can’t-miss prospect taken in the first round (second overall) in the 2007 draft — immediately after the Rays selected David Price — but this is now his fourth season without any progress made at the plate. He sits with a .147/.215/.321 slash line and has very little projectability left. In fact, Moustakas could be a change-of-scenery candidate as he becomes eligible for arbitration for the first time after the season and will become progressively more expensive through the 2017 season before he is eligible for free agency.

Interesting if true. Moose has yet to completely prove himself. Personally, I like the guy, but he's just not getting it done.

Completely prove he doesn't belong? I'm pretty sure he's proved that crap like Will Hunting on a rough ridin' chalkboard.

[nicname]

Moose has yet to completely prove himself. Personally, I like the guy, but he's just not getting it done.

Completely prove he doesn't belong? I'm pretty sure he's proved that crap like Will Hunting on a rough ridin' chalkboard.

The Royals' contrasting treatment of Moose and Gio by the Royals is alarming. Sure, Moose was the second overall pick, while Gio was a second rounder, but it just shows the emotional "give my guy a chance" problems that have plagued them. See other examples like Getz, Frenchy.

[bones129]

Whatever is your opinion, Moose needs to step it up. And pretty soon.

[ksupamplemousse]

Moose has yet to completely prove himself. Personally, I like the guy, but he's just not getting it done.

Completely prove he doesn't belong? I'm pretty sure he's proved that crap like Will Hunting on a rough ridin' chalkboard.

The Royals' contrasting treatment of Moose and Gio by the Royals is alarming. Sure, Moose was the second overall pick, while Gio was a second rounder, but it just shows the emotional "give my guy a chance" problems that have plagued them. See other examples like Getz, Frenchy.

The Royals do seem to be more interested in proving that they were right on a player, than proving that they want to win. Pretty shitty if you happen to be a fan of this putrid franchise.

[Dugout DickStone]

Whatever is your opinion, Moose needs to step it up. And pretty soon.

Moose has proven he can't hit int he big leagues.  Not sure what more can be said.  He is done and won't be on this roster by the ASB

[mocat]

we have to have somebody else be the team leader in HRs before we can axe him

[bones129]

http://www.kansascity.com/2014/05/12/5019285/its-time-for-mike-moustakas-to.html

[jtksu]

Whatever is your opinion, Moose needs to step it up. And pretty soon.

Moose has proven he can't hit int he big leagues.  Not sure what more can be said.  He is done and won't be on this roster by the ASB

By the age of 23, if you can't hit, you can't hit.

[mocat]

honest to goodness Moose talk, Tuesday, the afternoon of May the 13th:

The raw data right now:

109 at-bats, 16 hits, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 10 walks, 22 strikeouts

.147/.215/.321, OPS = .536, OWAR = -0.4

Those are horrendous numbers as we all know. What I want to do is look at where we would all be comfortable with his numbers.

Among all qualified 3rd basement in MLB (23 players), Moustakas is #23 in BA, #23 in OBP, #20 in SLG, #23 in OPS, and #21 in WAR.

What if Moustakas had, let's say, 10 more hits at this point in the season. His numbers would look nearly identical to Detroit's Nick Castellanos (26 for 110, .236/.263/.400, 4 HRs, 19 RBI, -0.1 WAR).  Those are pretty sad numbers also. How upset is Detroit with Castellanos? I don't know. They're in first place so nobody probably GAF. Would KC fans accept those numbers? Would we have a better record? (-0.4 WAR to -0.1 WAR is not much of a difference)

I guess my point is that Moose has obviously been unbelievably bad so far this season. And the Royals are still 18-19, right in the middle of a bunch of other .500 teams.

Do we have any reason to believe Moose will get better? Let's look at 2013, month by month:

Apr: .195/.276/.299, 1 HR, 5 RBI
May: .171/.229/.316, 3 HR, 7 RBI
June: .274/.307/.357, 1 HR, 3 RBI
July: .267/.337/.493, 4 HR, 9 RBI
Aug: .301/.338/.397, 1 HR, 10 RBI
Sept: .195/.239/.333, 2 HR, 8 RBI

So far his April and May are pretty comparable with last year. His best slugging month was July, coinciding with the Royals coming out of the All Star break on fire.

Questions:
1. how much does Moose sucking hurt the Royals right now?
2. if given the chance, would Moose improve in the middle of the season like he did last year?
3. if he had identical numbers for the rest of the season that he did last year, would that be acceptable?
4. does platooning Valencia and Giavotella get us to at least 12 HRs and 42 RBI (Moose's production last year)?
5. does Moose's defense factor into keeping him up here or not?
6. Moose's ceiling has obviously dropped considerably. what are the minimum numbers you would accept from him for a full season?