The Royals won their first World Series contest on this date in 1985 thanks to a complete game from Bret Saberhagen. Kansas City would go on to win the ’85 World Series, but they haven’t returned to the postseason since. Here’s the latest from their division…
- If Zack Greinke isn't a fit in Kansas City, the Royals should go all-in to sign free agent right-hander Anibal Sanchez, Rany Jazayerli writes. Edwin Jackson could be another worthwhile free agent target, but GM Dayton Moore should avoid Kyle Lohse, in Jazayerli's view.
- I previewed the Royals’ offseason earlier in the month.
- The Twins announced the hiring of three coaches, including longtime MLB catcher Terry Steinbach. Steinbach will become the team's bench coach and catching instructor, Tom Brunansky has been named the hitting coach, and Bobby Cuellar has been named bullpen coach.
- The Tigers announced the hiring of Scott Bream as their pro scouting director. Bream spent the past two seasons as a scout and special assistant with the Padres after spending more than a decade with the Tigers from 1999-2010.
- I compiled some more Tigers-related notes from this morning.
Other than the Rays and Padres, the Royals are the last team I would expect to have any interest in Greinke. Unless of course he is willing to forego tens of millions of dollars.
Well it sure beats the hell out of trotting Hochevar out there every 5th day
IMO Luke Hochevar is a capable 5th starter. Being the #1 overall pick makes him look much worse than he actually is. Career 4.28 xFIP
Yeah, he does get a bad wrap! He would be a starter on my team though 🙁
oh benny!
There comes a point when the difference between actual ERA and xFIP becomes too much… one can’t hang on to “promise” forever. The bottom line is that Luke Hochever is not a good pitcher.
I dont believe there is any more upside in Hochevar but if you look beyond the ERA (not just xFIP) he can be a serviceable arm in either league.
I think Hochevar is worth hanging onto just because he can eat innings. Once the Royals decide it is their year to sign them maybe they can cut him. Rays and Nats completely turned it around in 1 year, but before then they just kept stacking up the high draft picks. No need to rush your high value young arms up to the majors when you are not competing yet. Especially since the Royals know they won’t be able to afford any of them once they hit free market.
greinke was not interested in extending there the first time around why would he now?
the Royals are pretty close to contention, and really just need a couple legitimate arms in the front of their rotation to be dangerous in the AL Central.
I wouldnt go that far. Maybe 2 legitimate starters and an Eric Hosmer rebound away from being on the cusp of contention. This team won 72 games in a very poor division.
Although im not taking into consideration another full year of Moustakas, Perez, etc and players returning from injury.
Very poor division with the team that is representing the American League in the World Series!! The Royals have good, young talent but I think they are still a few years away
I can get on board with that. This year was trying for them. Soria went down early, Mouse and Hos struggled (sophomore slump, so its to be expected), the rotation was awful, but the bullpen was great, Francouer, was well, Francouer (always tantalizing, but never delivering), Melky’s offense departed and they never found someone to replace that, and Sanchez was a complete disappointment (although Guthrie looked fantastic after the trade).
If Hos and Mouse rebound and produce like they have shown they could, a couple legitimate arms, Lorenzo Cain not getting injured, and Wil Myers finally arriving, things could look very good in Kansas City, especially considering the AL Central is the weakest division in the AL.
Actually, informed KC fans don’t want anything to do with Greinke. But it doesn’t surprise me that Rany does.
He actually signed an extension once with the Royals. A four-year deal for around $38 million in 2009.
That extension was why the Brewers were willing to give up four players for him, two who are now starters in KC (Escobar and Cain) and a pitcher with good potential (Odorizzi).
Somehow I have a hard time believing any of these coaches can help Drew Butera.
Rany is a funny guy:
The Orioles have a good defense. The Indians don’t.
The Orioles had improved defense after the all star break
If Showalter starts marching Reimold, Betemit, Flaherty, and so on out there again I am not so sure I would call that good defense.
As for the Indians, I thought their D was pretty good, their pitching was not.
Also, the Royals could sign the lowest ranker SP free agent and it would still improve the Royal rotation. So in other words, I would consider Lohse or anyone else for that matter.
In all honesty, maybe the Royals should try and trade Billy Butler and see if it can improve their pitching. I always felt the Mariners should have gotten Bulter instead of Montero, but that’s just me.
PS I think the Royal defense has a chance to be pretty good defensively, they just need to work on their overall fundementals of baseball. That is their weakest link, besides their rotation.
Sorry but why would any good free agent want to sign with Kansas City?
Tons of young talent and a fan base that will come when they win. Plus low pressure market.
KC doesn’t have the market to have a high payroll. It is 2nd smallest market with a baseball team. They really don’t have the ability to get a $20M aav free agent in greinke. They should pay model themselves after the rays, and they have the perfect division where they can compete, without any powerhouse teams. There is also the fact that it is Kansas City, I know if I signed a contract I wouldn’t choose KC, especially with other teams out there, because there are so many more interesting cities.
You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. Hilarious post though. Thanks for the laugh.
Where exactly did I go off the rails?
2nd smallest market with an mlb team
Sure they ‘could’ afford greinke in theory, but it would basically mean that they can’t afford the rest of the team the way it is.
KC is not a big market, It is actually half the size of detroit, 60% size minnesota, etc. If they want to have a significant run of competitiveness, then they need to take a similiar path to the rays.
KC is also near the bottom in attendance.
So Detroit isn’t a powerhouse team?
No
Detroit has a good chance of winning the world series, but right now AL Central is the easiest division to win right now. Detroit won the division with 88 wins, the lowest in MLB, and that was aided in part by the fact that they spent alot of time facing 3 90 loss teams in their division. Also prior to last year the last time they made it to the playoffs was 2006, as the wildcard. During that time we have seen the Indians, Twins, Indians, and White Sox also win the division.
I like how people see the word “Kansas” in a city name and automatically assume that is means flat land and wheat fields. Maybe you didn’t hear all of the overwhelmingly postive responses about Kansas City from players, former players, local fans, visiting fans and MLB journalists after the All-Star break this past season. Do us a favor and do a little research before you start bashing a city.
Didn’t bash the city, just comparatively there are alot of US cities I like alot better. Like it or not, there is alot of things that teams can hype up about their city to attract free agents, and KC has alot less of those than most of the other cities.
Royales may as well continue to hold on until they know whether Duffy and Montgomery are what they seem to be
Duffy, in my opinion, will turn out to be a #3 if we are lucky. Montgomery, however, seems to either have lost what made him a hot prospect, or just never was really one to begin with.