Happy New Year David! I’m not all that sure that a few of these are even bold takes to be honest. I can see BWJ being in top 3. I can see Singer succeeding in the bullpen….However, it’s a bolder take to have him back in the rotation in 25. And I can definitely see one of Lugo or Wacha not working out. The boldest take is the farm system. Is it a little underrated? Probably. But I don’t really think you can go from bottom third to top third without some new blood if that makes sense. It’s like anything, typically not every single guy is going to take a step. Some will, some won’t, but that’s what makes it a hot take I suppose. Hoping that one comes true the most maybe!
Maybe not all that bold, but the fact that the Royals simply don't place players in that top three makes it bold enough for me! Plus, players on sub-.500 teams who aren't Trout or Ohtani traditionally just don't get top-three MVP votes.
My theory on the system is that the talent is probably more like 17-20, but it's ranked more like 22-28ish. It's sort of the same story about how much the big league team will improve. They won 56 games, but advanced metrics said that was 8-10 wins light, so it's sort of similar for a starting point. I've just talked to too many people, many of whom don't have a dog in the fight, who really like what the Royals are doing developmentally (and one who doesn't see it, but he's notoriously negative so grains of salt and all that) to not think there's a breakthrough at some point.
Yeah I hope so. It’s nice to have some actual pitchers in with Lugo and Wacha….but really they have to be placeholders for people to step up in the farm system. That’s the next step in line here. They bought themselves some time. Figure it out fellas!
I'm really excited for Sandlin to get back out there. The reports on him were incredible. I also think Blake Wolters has some serious helium this year.
Those are certainly bold (except for a the Wacha/Lugo one. Like the Singer idea, but if you want to be bold, how about this: once he moves to the bullpen, he will throw 30% change ups.
David, I agree with most of your predictions. Velazquez reminds me of Bo Jackson at the start of his career where he could not hit breaking stuff. Hopefully, the Royals hitting coaches can work with him to shorten his stroke just enough to hit breaking pitches. He is strong enough he can hit homers with a shortened stroke!
Happy New Year David! I’m not all that sure that a few of these are even bold takes to be honest. I can see BWJ being in top 3. I can see Singer succeeding in the bullpen….However, it’s a bolder take to have him back in the rotation in 25. And I can definitely see one of Lugo or Wacha not working out. The boldest take is the farm system. Is it a little underrated? Probably. But I don’t really think you can go from bottom third to top third without some new blood if that makes sense. It’s like anything, typically not every single guy is going to take a step. Some will, some won’t, but that’s what makes it a hot take I suppose. Hoping that one comes true the most maybe!
Maybe not all that bold, but the fact that the Royals simply don't place players in that top three makes it bold enough for me! Plus, players on sub-.500 teams who aren't Trout or Ohtani traditionally just don't get top-three MVP votes.
My theory on the system is that the talent is probably more like 17-20, but it's ranked more like 22-28ish. It's sort of the same story about how much the big league team will improve. They won 56 games, but advanced metrics said that was 8-10 wins light, so it's sort of similar for a starting point. I've just talked to too many people, many of whom don't have a dog in the fight, who really like what the Royals are doing developmentally (and one who doesn't see it, but he's notoriously negative so grains of salt and all that) to not think there's a breakthrough at some point.
Yeah I hope so. It’s nice to have some actual pitchers in with Lugo and Wacha….but really they have to be placeholders for people to step up in the farm system. That’s the next step in line here. They bought themselves some time. Figure it out fellas!
I'm really excited for Sandlin to get back out there. The reports on him were incredible. I also think Blake Wolters has some serious helium this year.
Those are certainly bold (except for a the Wacha/Lugo one. Like the Singer idea, but if you want to be bold, how about this: once he moves to the bullpen, he will throw 30% change ups.
The extra changeups are for my make believe article haha.
David, I agree with most of your predictions. Velazquez reminds me of Bo Jackson at the start of his career where he could not hit breaking stuff. Hopefully, the Royals hitting coaches can work with him to shorten his stroke just enough to hit breaking pitches. He is strong enough he can hit homers with a shortened stroke!
I like the predictions, David.