The Royals

[SabiNation]

On paper, the Tigers win 100, no question.  However, they seem to underachieve lately.  It's definitely not their coach's fault.  I still think that KC can compete with them and maybe compete for the wildcard(s) spot(s).

The problem is their defense.  Could be the worst ever.


dirks?/kelly?/young???                jackson                     boesch       



                           peralta       santiago?/raburn?/inge???   
             
cabrera                                                                             prince

 
                                               avila

                     ^^^^^
1) This is very nicely done.

2) I personally don't think Fielder can produce for them any more than what they lost with the injury to Victor Martinez...probably a few more HR's and higher Slugging %, but probably around the same RBI's with a lower BA and OBP than V-Mart.  So imho, they're much like the team they were a year ago...beatable except every 5th day (when Verlander pitches)

3) Their pitching staff is very mediocre outside of Verlander.  Rest of the (projected) rotation is made up of Doug Fister, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello and Jacob Turner.  All of them have shown flashes of nice production, but otherwise are a handful of 4th or 5th starters on a championship caliber ballclub. 

Not at all saying that the Royals are any better than the Tigers are, just implying that I believe the Tigers are beatable. Really looking forward to seeing if the Royals can play with them this year.

[Kat Kid]

If Doug Fister is a glorified 4/5, then what does that make:  Danny Duffy, Jonathan Sanchez, oscar Chen, Luke Hochaver, and...........?

[SabiNation]

I'd say Sanchez and Hochevar are 3's on championship clubs... (Sanchez definitely is considering he was the Giant's third starter in 2010 when they won the World Series)

Chen, Duffy and Paulino are 5's.

Not at all saying that the Royals are any better than the Tigers are, just implying that I believe the Tigers are beatable.

[Kat Kid]

I'd say Sanchez and Hochevar are 3's on championship clubs... (Sanchez definitely is considering he was the Giant's third starter in 2010 when they won the World Series)

Chen, Duffy and Paulino are 5's.

Not at all saying that the Royals are any better than the Tigers are, just implying that I believe the Tigers are beatable.

I mean I guess you could argue Jonathan Sanchez was the number 3 starter on the Giants in 2010.

The rotation at the beginning of the year was this:

Opening day:  Lincecum
2:  Zito
3:  Cain
4:  Sanchez
5:  Wellmeyer

In the playoffs they tried to pitch Lincecum twice-three times every series.  Madison Bumgarner was clearly a better pitcher in the playoffs as was Cain and Lincecum.

So, I'm not sure in which world Sanchez was a "3."  Just because Barry Zito was left off the playoff roster, doesn't mean Sanchez is automatically better.

As for Hoch?  He pitched 198 innings of 4.68 ERA 1.28 WHIP.  League average ERA was 3.94.  Even giving him the benefit of playing in the AL, plus some means he was at best league average.  And he is what a #1?  I mean gmafb.

The other "#3's" in the AL Central:

White Sox:  Phil Humber (Hoch's best peggy po comparo) 163 IP/ 3.75 ERA / 1.17 WHIP
Indians:      Justin Masterson 216 IP / 3.21 ERA / 1.27 WHIP
Tigers:        Max  Scherzer   195 IP / 4.43 ERA / 1.34 WHIP
Twins:        Scott Baker         134 IP / 3.14 ERA / 1.17 WHIP
Royals:      Luke Hochevar   198 IP / 4.68 ERA / 1.28 WHIP

The Indians probably have 4 maybe 5 pitchers on their staff better than Luke Hochevar.  Think about that.

[nicname]

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/20267/al-central-showdown-position-rankings

The link is to a positional rankings blog post from Schoenfield with quote of the staff rankings below.  We all know that the key to KC's success will be the emergence of KC's young arms.  Can someone step up and become that true 1-line or 2-line starter.  KC will be able to hold leads, and they will be able to score runs, we all know that as well.  I like the Sanchez pick-up and I like not running out and trying to overpay for another FA starter in the offseason.  There is still a valuable farm system, and still opportunities to pick up an arm should we need one in case of a pennant race.

No. 1 starter
1. Justin Verlander, Tigers
2. John Danks, White Sox
3. Justin Masterson, Indians
4. Luke Hochevar, Royals
5. Carl Pavano, Twins

Masterson was better than Danks in 2011, and I do believe his improvement was real. He absolutely crushes right-handers -- they slugged an anemic .259 off him. Danks had two bad months but has the longer track record of success. Even in his "off year" he had a higher strikeout rate and lower walk rate than Masterson. If you want to argue about Hochevar versus Pavano, be my guest.

No. 2 starter
1. Doug Fister, Tigers
2. Ubaldo Jimenez, Indians
3. Gavin Floyd, White Sox
4. Francisco Liriano, Twins
5. Jonathan Sanchez, Royals

Yes, sign me up for the Doug Fister bandwagon club. Jimenez's fastball velocity was down a couple miles per hour last season but the positives are that his strikeout and walk rates were identical to 2010; he'll be better. Floyd isn't flashy but he's now made 30-plus starts four years in a row, and he'll become a very rich man when he becomes a free agent after this season. Sanchez won't have the luxury of pitching in San Francisco (and to eight-man NL lineups).

No. 3 starter
1. Max Scherzer, Tigers
2. Scott Baker, Twins
3. Philip Humber, White Sox
4. oscar Chen, Royals
5. Josh Tomlin, Indians

I could be underrating Baker, who was excellent last season, but only once in his career has he made 30 starts in a season. Tomlin's fans will disagree with this ranking, but he's a finesse guy who relies on the best control in baseball (21 walks in 26 starts). He's the kind of guy you root for, but the league seemed to figure him out as the season progressed.

No. 4 starter
1. Felipe Paulino, Royals
2. Rick Porcello, Tigers
3. Jake Peavy, White Sox
4. Derek Lowe, Indians
5. Nick Blackburn, Twins

Scouts still love Porcello's arm and I know he's just 23, but he's made 89 big league starts and shown no signs of getting better. His WHIP has increased each season and his strikeout rate remains one of the lowest in baseball. Paulino has an electric arm -- he averaged 95 mph on his fastball -- and is getting better. How could the Rockies give up on him after just 14 innings? How could the Astros trade him for Clint Barmes? Anyway, kudos to the Royals for buying low on the guy who may turn into their best starter. Peavy can't stay healthy. Lowe has led his league in starts three out of the past four seasons, but I'm not sure that's a good thing anymore. Blackburn is a poor man's Lowe, and I don't mean that in a good way.

No. 5 starter
1. Chris Sale, White Sox
2. Jacob Turner, Tigers
3. Aaron Crow/Danny Duffy, Royals
4. Fausto Carmona/David Huff/Jeanmar Gomez, Indians
5. Brian Duensing/Jason Marquis, Twins

Welcome to the AL Central crapshoot. Turner and Sale have the most upside, but one is a rookie and the other is converting from relief. Crow will also be given a shot at the rotation, but his difficulties against left-handed batters (.311 average allowed) don't bode well for that transition. Even if the artist formerly known as Carmona gets a visa, what do you have? A guy with a 5.01 ERA over the past four seasons. Duensing is another typical Twins pitcher, which means he at least throws strikes. His first full season in the rotation didn't go well, so of course the Twins brought in Marquis, yet another guy who doesn't strike anybody out.

Closer
1. Jose Valverde, Tigers
2. Joakim Soria, Royals
3. Matt Thornton, White Sox
4. Chris Perez, Indians
5. Matt Capps, Twins

Four good relievers plus Matt Capps. I do admit I'm a little perplexed by Perez, however. In 2009, he struck out 10.7 batters per nine innings. In 2010, that figure fell to 8.7 but he posted a pretty 1.71 ERA. In 2011, it was all the way down to 5.9, but without much improvement in his control. Perez blew only four saves but he did lose seven games. He survived thanks to a low .240 average on balls in play. He's an extreme fly-ball pitcher but didn't serve up many home runs. Bottom line: I'd be nervous.

Bullpen
1. Indians -- Vinnie Pestano, Rafael Perez, Tony Sipp, Joe Smith, Nick Hagadone
2. Royals -- Jonathan Broxton, Greg Holland, Louis Coleman, Tim Collins, Jose Mijares
3. Tigers -- Joaquin Benoit, Octavio Dotel, Phil Coke, Daniel Schlereth, Al Alburquerque
4. White Sox -- Jesse Crain, Jason Frasor, Will Ohman, Addison Reed, Dylan Axelrod
5. Twins -- Glen Perkins, Alex Burnett, Anthony Swarzak, Kyle Waldrop, Lester Oliveros

If you're starting to think I'm not high on the Twins for this season, you would be correct.

[bigDcat]

The Royals have enough this year to compete in the Central.  You gotta figure the Prince signing puts Detroit out in front of the others though.  The question is will KC ever spend enough to keep all these young studs they have.  The key isn't Glass loosening the purse strings, it's getting butts in the seats so he will be able to spend more.  The Twins didn't spend crap until they got  the new stadium and starting selling out the majority of their games.

Tigers win 100 games.  Royals could win 85 maybe.

Random question:
What's the deal with the Royals TV contract? It seemed like every 6th or 7th game wasn't aired on tv last year. I don't watch the royals that often but it seems odd that their network wouldn't show some of the games last year. Is this because they don't have a very good tv contract? Why I ask is because a number of teams have recently signed big tv contracts (Texas, LA, Boston) that have allowed their clubs to spend more money than they used too. Maybe the Royals could be helped out by this.


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[j-von]

The Royals have enough this year to compete in the Central.  You gotta figure the Prince signing puts Detroit out in front of the others though.  The question is will KC ever spend enough to keep all these young studs they have.  The key isn't Glass loosening the purse strings, it's getting butts in the seats so he will be able to spend more.  The Twins didn't spend crap until they got  the new stadium and starting selling out the majority of their games.

I wanted to look into the attendance history between the two teams so I'll share the links I found in case anybody else is interested.

Royals History
Twins History
Filling in the last few years

It's strange that I think of KC as a good baseball town, but there has been consistently shitty attendance numbers even back when they were good.  The year they won the world series it looks like there was still an average of 10k open seats per game.

[nicname]

Between Duffy, Montgomery, Crow, Lamb, Will Smith, Arquelles, Dwyer, not to mention the bullpen talent the Royals should have enough talent to be able to develop at least two or three of these guys into real quality MLB starters, hopefully at least one real front line guy.  If development wains or they are in a bind for quality at anytime the availability is there for quality trade pieces without gutting the farm.  It is a good situation. 

[Dub]

The Royals have enough this year to compete in the Central.  You gotta figure the Prince signing puts Detroit out in front of the others though.  The question is will KC ever spend enough to keep all these young studs they have.  The key isn't Glass loosening the purse strings, it's getting butts in the seats so he will be able to spend more.  The Twins didn't spend crap until they got  the new stadium and starting selling out the majority of their games.

Tigers win 100 games.  Royals could win 85 maybe.

Random question:
What's the deal with the Royals TV contract? It seemed like every 6th or 7th game wasn't aired on tv last year. I don't watch the royals that often but it seems odd that their network wouldn't show some of the games last year. Is this because they don't have a very good tv contract? Why I ask is because a number of teams have recently signed big tv contracts (Texas, LA, Boston) that have allowed their clubs to spend more money than they used too. Maybe the Royals could be helped out by this.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

FSN only signed them for like 110-120 games or something last year.  It was even less I believe the year before.  Probably just use statistics and realize what amount of games they can make the most money.  Hopefully this year is better cause it's really annoying when you finally have free time during the day and want to watch and they are not on.

[steve dave]

78 wins

[Rage Against the McKee]

78 wins

I think they will get 80.

[bigDcat]

The Royals have enough this year to compete in the Central.  You gotta figure the Prince signing puts Detroit out in front of the others though.  The question is will KC ever spend enough to keep all these young studs they have.  The key isn't Glass loosening the purse strings, it's getting butts in the seats so he will be able to spend more.  The Twins didn't spend crap until they got  the new stadium and starting selling out the majority of their games.

Tigers win 100 games.  Royals could win 85 maybe.

Random question:
What's the deal with the Royals TV contract? It seemed like every 6th or 7th game wasn't aired on tv last year. I don't watch the royals that often but it seems odd that their network wouldn't show some of the games last year. Is this because they don't have a very good tv contract? Why I ask is because a number of teams have recently signed big tv contracts (Texas, LA, Boston) that have allowed their clubs to spend more money than they used too. Maybe the Royals could be helped out by this.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

FSN only signed them for like 110-120 games or something last year.  It was even less I believe the year before.  Probably just use statistics and realize what amount of games they can make the most money.  Hopefully this year is better cause it's really annoying when you finally have free time during the day and want to watch and they are not on.

Seems very small timey


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[Cartierfor3]

The Royals have enough this year to compete in the Central.  You gotta figure the Prince signing puts Detroit out in front of the others though.  The question is will KC ever spend enough to keep all these young studs they have.  The key isn't Glass loosening the purse strings, it's getting butts in the seats so he will be able to spend more.  The Twins didn't spend crap until they got  the new stadium and starting selling out the majority of their games.

Tigers win 100 games.  Royals could win 85 maybe.

Random question:
What's the deal with the Royals TV contract? It seemed like every 6th or 7th game wasn't aired on tv last year. I don't watch the royals that often but it seems odd that their network wouldn't show some of the games last year. Is this because they don't have a very good tv contract? Why I ask is because a number of teams have recently signed big tv contracts (Texas, LA, Boston) that have allowed their clubs to spend more money than they used too. Maybe the Royals could be helped out by this.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

FSN only signed them for like 110-120 games or something last year.  It was even less I believe the year before.  Probably just use statistics and realize what amount of games they can make the most money.  Hopefully this year is better cause it's really annoying when you finally have free time during the day and want to watch and they are not on.

Seems very small timey


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Its 140.  Probably 10 of the ones not on TV were in September, and the network has an option on them.  Pretty standard MLB contract.

[SuperG]

I saw Fister pitch a CG in Seattle last year... he's go the stuff, but just like Hoch... it's about consistency.

[BigCat]

I saw Fister pitch a CG in Seattle last year... he's go the stuff, but just like Hoch... it's about consistency.

Mods, please ban 'SuperG' (whoever that is) for violating handshake-Orioles-kicking-the-tar-out-of-Royals-MLB.TV (with premium, including spring training and minor league package) policy. If he can't pony up and be held to his word then he is clearly not fit for this board.


OT: how did a Royals thread reach 38 pages in just eight years?

[AppleJack]

This is just absurd  KU fans butthurt over Aaron Crow tweet

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=281&f=2054&t=8739997

[AppleJack]

 

Robert Ford ? @raford3 Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
#Royals just announced a "Major Announcement Regarding Contact Status of Royals Player" at 3:30 CT. Alex Gordon extension? Stay tuned

[WillieWatanabe]

Perez. 5 yr, 3 options.

[AppleJack]

Perez. 5 yr, 3 options.

great deal but lol @ major announcement.

he can be great though.

[WillieWatanabe]

Perez. 5 yr, 3 options.

great deal but lol @ major announcement.

he can be great though.

yeah, a bit of a tease. but will take.

[Kat Kid]

Here is my unofficial list of the best catchers in baseball 25 years of age or younger listed best to worst:

1.  Alex Avila
2.  Carlos Santana
3.  Jesus Montero* 
4.  Buster Posey
5.  Wilson Ramos
6.  Salvador Perez
7.  Devin Mesoraco
8.  Ryan Lavarnway*

*Probably aren't catchers
 

[jtksu]

Curious how long Posey will be a catcher.

[Kat Kid]

Curious how long Posey will be a catcher.

Probably as long as Mauer is/was.

[Dugout DickStone]

The Royals have enough this year to compete in the Central.  You gotta figure the Prince signing puts Detroit out in front of the others though.  The question is will KC ever spend enough to keep all these young studs they have.  The key isn't Glass loosening the purse strings, it's getting butts in the seats so he will be able to spend more.  The Twins didn't spend crap until they got  the new stadium and starting selling out the majority of their games.

I wanted to look into the attendance history between the two teams so I'll share the links I found in case anybody else is interested.

Royals History
Twins History
Filling in the last few years

It's strange that I think of KC as a good baseball town, but there has been consistently shitty attendance numbers even back when they were good.  The year they won the world series it looks like there was still an average of 10k open seats per game.

Glass is making $20-30 million a year on the Royals.  He doesn't need more attendance to afford good players.  He can afford a much bigger payroll.  He won't though as long as there are idiots willing to go support an absentee owner and his nickle and dime roster.

[Cartierfor3]

The Royals have enough this year to compete in the Central.  You gotta figure the Prince signing puts Detroit out in front of the others though.  The question is will KC ever spend enough to keep all these young studs they have.  The key isn't Glass loosening the purse strings, it's getting butts in the seats so he will be able to spend more.  The Twins didn't spend crap until they got  the new stadium and starting selling out the majority of their games.

I wanted to look into the attendance history between the two teams so I'll share the links I found in case anybody else is interested.

Royals History
Twins History
Filling in the last few years

It's strange that I think of KC as a good baseball town, but there has been consistently shitty attendance numbers even back when they were good.  The year they won the world series it looks like there was still an average of 10k open seats per game.

Glass is making $20-30 million a year on the Royals.  He doesn't need more attendance to afford good players.  He can afford a much bigger payroll.  He won't though as long as there are idiots willing to go support an absentee owner and his nickle and dime roster.

I love the Royals.  Even when they are bad I  am going to hit 8-10 games a year.

Gotta support the team.