My favorite of your many great posts this year! I love this topic! And I agree with most/all of what you have surmised. My guess is that Taylor will not want to come back except as the CF starter until after he goes on the market and no one else will give him that. I also agree that how JJ/Dayton view the importance of reliable CF defense, will determine whether they make an early decision to bring him back for that as a starter, or instead take the risk of losing him to get him later as a great defensive 4th outfielder who can do great in CF. I also agree that the timing of Carlos/Nick Pratto as 1B starter is a little fuzzy to see, as Pratto recently is scuffling a bit with strikeouts, and as no one is likely to take Santana's salary in a trade - so that could be more of a June 1 type of thing. Knowing that Mondesi is likely to only play around 100-110 games does make him interesting for which spot can best help keep him healthy and use his fabulous defensive skills. If the 3 new guys are doing great, then Dozier/Isbel/Olivares/Rivero are the subs, knowing that Matheny likes to have most of the starters play every day, so unless RF is the revolving door spot, there may not be many at bats for this group, making the trips to Omaha for more frequent at bats perhaps a platoon of Isbel and Olivares. I think we are more likely to keep Benny for at least next year, or at least the trade deadline, even if we do not extend, to see if we really believe that one of our new guys is as good as him for our next World Series win.
And, if Rivero has options, perhaps we do keep Cam as a true "someone gets injured emergency only" for days when Salvy and Melendez are C/DH or DH/C or, if losing the DH is not so bad if one of them does get injured during a game, then no Cam. In either event, if there is an injury lasting multiple games, Rivero can come up, but until then is getting regular ABs at Omaha.
I will be surprised if all 2-3 of the prospects come up at the same time. I would imagine the front office will want to "blend them in" so they only have to deal with one adjusting to the majors at a time. 2011 they brought up Hosmer after 26 games and the Moose(55 games) and Salvy was bought up after 91 games
I believe that Bobby Witt Jr. Is going to bring a lot of energy and excitement to both the team and the fans!! If he hits one to the gap, in spacious Kauffman Stadium, look out!! The kid can fly!!!
Are you kidding me, that’s kind of thinking is why the Royals have sucked for so long. Starting infield opening day 2022 should be: 1B Pratto, 2B Lopez, SS Witt Jr, 3B Mondesi, C Melendez, DH Perez, RF Merrifield, LF Benintendi, CF Reynolds (FA from Pirates). This list of players are no longer Royals - Taylor, C. Santana, O Hearn, Dozier, E. Santana, Hahn, Davis, Holland
My favorite of your many great posts this year! I love this topic! And I agree with most/all of what you have surmised. My guess is that Taylor will not want to come back except as the CF starter until after he goes on the market and no one else will give him that. I also agree that how JJ/Dayton view the importance of reliable CF defense, will determine whether they make an early decision to bring him back for that as a starter, or instead take the risk of losing him to get him later as a great defensive 4th outfielder who can do great in CF. I also agree that the timing of Carlos/Nick Pratto as 1B starter is a little fuzzy to see, as Pratto recently is scuffling a bit with strikeouts, and as no one is likely to take Santana's salary in a trade - so that could be more of a June 1 type of thing. Knowing that Mondesi is likely to only play around 100-110 games does make him interesting for which spot can best help keep him healthy and use his fabulous defensive skills. If the 3 new guys are doing great, then Dozier/Isbel/Olivares/Rivero are the subs, knowing that Matheny likes to have most of the starters play every day, so unless RF is the revolving door spot, there may not be many at bats for this group, making the trips to Omaha for more frequent at bats perhaps a platoon of Isbel and Olivares. I think we are more likely to keep Benny for at least next year, or at least the trade deadline, even if we do not extend, to see if we really believe that one of our new guys is as good as him for our next World Series win.
And, if Rivero has options, perhaps we do keep Cam as a true "someone gets injured emergency only" for days when Salvy and Melendez are C/DH or DH/C or, if losing the DH is not so bad if one of them does get injured during a game, then no Cam. In either event, if there is an injury lasting multiple games, Rivero can come up, but until then is getting regular ABs at Omaha.
I will be surprised if all 2-3 of the prospects come up at the same time. I would imagine the front office will want to "blend them in" so they only have to deal with one adjusting to the majors at a time. 2011 they brought up Hosmer after 26 games and the Moose(55 games) and Salvy was bought up after 91 games
It's nice to have too many (potentially) good players.
I believe that Bobby Witt Jr. Is going to bring a lot of energy and excitement to both the team and the fans!! If he hits one to the gap, in spacious Kauffman Stadium, look out!! The kid can fly!!!
Are you kidding me, that’s kind of thinking is why the Royals have sucked for so long. Starting infield opening day 2022 should be: 1B Pratto, 2B Lopez, SS Witt Jr, 3B Mondesi, C Melendez, DH Perez, RF Merrifield, LF Benintendi, CF Reynolds (FA from Pirates). This list of players are no longer Royals - Taylor, C. Santana, O Hearn, Dozier, E. Santana, Hahn, Davis, Holland