Velasquez isn’t coming back unless he puts on a show. Which is fine, You can’t believe how unbelievably grateful I am that the FO is looking at things honestly. Waters, Velasquez, Pratto, we are done here. Unless they go and make them change their mind. It big league baseball. That lists moves to MJ, Garcia, and Loftin next. Not to say they won’t be on a big league team somewhere, but this is the make or break year with KC for those guys in my eyes as far as being actual starters.
It’s just nice this is a big league club again. Personally, I think they fall back a few games this year but I’ll gladly be entertained all summer and root for better. My fear is what you wrote about maybe a month ago. I’m not sure this wasn’t the offseason to do something a little dumb money wise. Easy for me to say. And I don’t love the options. But if you miss the playoffs by a game or two when Santander was in play. Man, that’s a tough one. They have all season to find a guy, so who knows what will happen. But missing my a game or two is maybe the worst case scenario (its not, injury is).
Case in point to being a big league club. Stripling would have been our big signing 5 years ago. He’s a great addition on a minor league deal. He has a better career era than Brady Singer. I’m not saying he’s going to get back to that or great or anything. I’m just saying he’s a legit major league pitcher when healthy, on a minor league deal, and versatile if need innings. It’s a great pickup.
I think there's a difference between Velazquez struggling for three months last year and guys like Waters and Pratto being generally unimpressive for years. But I also agree that he has to earn his way back to the team and gets no benefit of the doubt. But overall, your point is absolutely true. It's kind of highlighted in the pitching staff comparison. Jordan Lyles was the #2 starter in 2023 (really the 3, but Singer and the WBC stuff and all that). It's a different organization.
Would you give up something light for Canario to avoid losing out on waivers? I’d like to see him get at least a chance if we have an available spot on the 26 man. Not sure if Weimer or Blanco have options but probably don’t want to lose either of them.
Both do have options and I'd probably give something to get him. I half wondered if they had a deal in place already, so the DFA was just a formality. Guess we'll see soon.
You see Blanco on this team right? I guess, I get the sense people think they might move on from him but I absolutely think they value his baserunning late in games. They’ve had that guy or tried to have that guy for years. Is it as valuable than they think? Maybe not, but I just don’t see anyway Blanco isn’t on this roster if healthy. He’s in to steal a base late. No questions asked.
I think as the team is currently constructed, yeah, he's on the team. But they don't trust him defensively, so as valuable as he is to steal a bag, I don't think they see that as a must-have on a team if there's someone who can do more.
I think the Nelly stuff is really interesting. And you're right, he sure is the forgotten man, isn't he? Any thoughts on what typically causes hard hit and barrel rates to drop so significantly? Those seem like big dips to me which makes me think nagging injury. But maybe it was a change in approach that didn't work. I looked at his Omaha numbers from last year and the power didn't really spike back up, but the plate discipline did, way up. Probably just the difference between AAA and ML pitching, but could point to a much less aggressive approach to driving the ball. He just turned 26. Could there still be something there? Makes me think of a Paul DeJong type minus the defense which isn't great, but also not nothing. I mean he did hit 17 HRs in 179 major league plate appearances in 2023 with a .586 SLG...
I think the change in approach is probably what did it, just off the top of my head. I mean he was so forgotten that I didn't even think to put some video side by side and just see if I noticed anything. It could also be that he was simply pitched differently. Again, I'd need to dig a little more, but maybe pitchers figured out where he couldn't crush the fastball. It's that or there's definitely the potential for an injury that we didn't know about.
Maybe it’s still coming, and the general lack of trades this offseason is pretty interesting. I’m still going to be pretty surprised if they don’t deal a Lynch, Herenandez, Long, Zerpa, or someone of that nature this spring yet. The depth is great, but someone is still going to need something going into the season yet. I just still think even if it’s a small one, some trades are still going to happen but the last few people in this bullpen.
There'll probably be movement. I don't think Lynch gets dealt though. They really liked what he brought to the bullpen. With the bullpen now having heat, Lynch and Schreiber are a really interesting right/left combo to get grounders.
See I find that interesting being it took them so long to move him to the pen. They also didn’t trust him in the playoffs as I don’t think he even saw a hitter. Which is all fine. You have a pretty cheap lefty you think can get outs you absolutely keep him. I just think man, if you can get a team to see a little more than what is there for a lefty it’s a good time coming off his performance. It all goes back to what you mentioned earlier being at a spot organizationally. If someone puts out a good enough offer. You move him and you’re fine. If not, you’re fine too. Different org.
There wasn't really a spot for him in the playoffs. The Yankees are so right-handed and the starters gave innings. He's clearly not in the top four or five there and the playoffs are more about those top four or five. I don't think there's really that much to it.
I think the "they really liked what he brought to the bullpen" statement is interesting. They didn't trust him enough to throw one pitch in the playoffs after 20+ innings w/o allowing a run. Maybe that was more about opportunity, but I read it as they didn't really trust him yet. Personally, I absolutely think he deserves a shot in the pen on this team and that he'll get one, but I'm just not convinced the Royals believe in him. Yet.
yeah, but as a FO you should absolutely be saying they really liked what he brought to the bullpen. You want other teams to like what he can bring to a bullpen as well. I’m about as high as you can be on this bullpen. Which honestly scares the hell out of me. I’ve seen enough bullpens to know I’m an idiot for thinking that. But if Harvey is healthy, with Estévez and Erceg. Man, the others will fall into place. I’m not HDH high on them, but I’m a rung below that. Which….again…makes me think I’m missing something.
Just mentioned above that the situations didn't really work out in the playoffs. The Yankees were a bad matchup and they didn't need length from relievers. I'm just saying they liked the different look he provided.
I'm hoping that KC works Cags out in OF beyond the spotlight of the big league camp. He definitely has the arm to play OF and we have seen many hitters who are not adept in the field. However, working him out in the back fields takes any pressure off.
Agreed on Stratton - he seems to be the odd man out in this year's pen, let alone the budget reduction. The problem with anyone who puts up great numbers in ST is people will conclude that it is Arizona and unsustainable. Every year has a star of ST who doesn't do anything in the regular season.
The challenge system with ABS is another hyped story that will be not much when the games begin. Minor leagues have been using it for years - easy to administer and the players make decisions quickly.
I really doubt that we'll see Cags in right during a spring game either way.
As for Stratton, I will say that a pitcher putting up numbers is a lot more noteworthy than a hitter. It's a hitter's league. If Stratton is striking guys out and putting up zeroes, it's not meaningless.
I disagree that the ABS won't be much when the games begin. They're going to get calls right. That's huge. People won't notice it much because it'll just be part of the game, but it's pretty big.
Man, I just don't see any room for Velázquez on this roster. MJ is starting in left, Isbel is starting in center. That means there's one starting outfield spot and four bench spots. Renfroe is getting paid, so I think he gets the starting spot. One of the bench spots goes to Fermin, one needs to go to an infielder (my money is on Biggio), and one needs to go to someone who can play center, probably Wiemer. That means it's a battle for the final spot between Nelly and Blanco, neither can play defense but Blanco can run and he had a better wRC+ last year, too.
Maybe if they're convinced Maikel can play center but then you'd need someone at third, and Biggio isn't going to be at third against lefties. So then I think you'd have to pick Loftin over Nelly.
I don't see a spot either right now, but I do wonder if they can salary dump a guy like Renfroe on a team like the Marlins getting heat for not spending. I have heard NOTHING on that front, but that was where my brain went with Velazquez. Honestly, I wanted to write about it more because I legitimately forgot he existed for awhile.
It’s nice that Nelly is a fun upside idea, not a “If Nelson comes back and hits 30 HRs THEN the Royals can compete.”
Also thanks for answering my question. I agree its MJ, but if Vinnie hits 30 bombs the they definitely make it to the deadline in contention to add one more solid bat. Fun to think about.
Scanned through some of last years games last night to knock the dust off the MLB app. Kind of forgot about the next to last series of the season against the Nationals, Royals swept to get themselves in solid contention for a wildcard spot. The last game of the series had been tied at 3 since the third inning reminding of that nasty hitting drought.
The 9th inning was a bad news bears roster of smallball:
MJ subs for Renfroe and walks to start inning. Blanco runs for MJ and steals 2nd. Massey walks. Isbel subs for DeJong and gets down a sac bunt against flamethrower Kyle Finnegan (still on market). Frazier subs for Hampson and singles to left, Blanco and Massey score. Frazier steals 2nd! Pham out. Bobby walks. Perez singles to right and Frazier scores. Yuli gets 3rd out. Erceg comes in for third straight game and Nats go down 1-2-3. KC wins 7-4
I hope to hell we don't have to see a lot of this to limp along til the trade deadline, but these kids got guts. Gotta love it
Velasquez isn’t coming back unless he puts on a show. Which is fine, You can’t believe how unbelievably grateful I am that the FO is looking at things honestly. Waters, Velasquez, Pratto, we are done here. Unless they go and make them change their mind. It big league baseball. That lists moves to MJ, Garcia, and Loftin next. Not to say they won’t be on a big league team somewhere, but this is the make or break year with KC for those guys in my eyes as far as being actual starters.
It’s just nice this is a big league club again. Personally, I think they fall back a few games this year but I’ll gladly be entertained all summer and root for better. My fear is what you wrote about maybe a month ago. I’m not sure this wasn’t the offseason to do something a little dumb money wise. Easy for me to say. And I don’t love the options. But if you miss the playoffs by a game or two when Santander was in play. Man, that’s a tough one. They have all season to find a guy, so who knows what will happen. But missing my a game or two is maybe the worst case scenario (its not, injury is).
Case in point to being a big league club. Stripling would have been our big signing 5 years ago. He’s a great addition on a minor league deal. He has a better career era than Brady Singer. I’m not saying he’s going to get back to that or great or anything. I’m just saying he’s a legit major league pitcher when healthy, on a minor league deal, and versatile if need innings. It’s a great pickup.
I think there's a difference between Velazquez struggling for three months last year and guys like Waters and Pratto being generally unimpressive for years. But I also agree that he has to earn his way back to the team and gets no benefit of the doubt. But overall, your point is absolutely true. It's kind of highlighted in the pitching staff comparison. Jordan Lyles was the #2 starter in 2023 (really the 3, but Singer and the WBC stuff and all that). It's a different organization.
Reminded me i was lobbying to bring on Greinke as a reliever in '24, what a difference a year makes
Would you give up something light for Canario to avoid losing out on waivers? I’d like to see him get at least a chance if we have an available spot on the 26 man. Not sure if Weimer or Blanco have options but probably don’t want to lose either of them.
Both do have options and I'd probably give something to get him. I half wondered if they had a deal in place already, so the DFA was just a formality. Guess we'll see soon.
You see Blanco on this team right? I guess, I get the sense people think they might move on from him but I absolutely think they value his baserunning late in games. They’ve had that guy or tried to have that guy for years. Is it as valuable than they think? Maybe not, but I just don’t see anyway Blanco isn’t on this roster if healthy. He’s in to steal a base late. No questions asked.
I think as the team is currently constructed, yeah, he's on the team. But they don't trust him defensively, so as valuable as he is to steal a bag, I don't think they see that as a must-have on a team if there's someone who can do more.
I kind of view Blanco as this generation's Terrance Gore, although, if I remember correctly, Gore could actually play defense adequately enough.
Gore didn’t play the field too much. He was there to run the bases and that’s it.
1 tool. Much like Alternative Rock radio in the 90's.
I think the Nelly stuff is really interesting. And you're right, he sure is the forgotten man, isn't he? Any thoughts on what typically causes hard hit and barrel rates to drop so significantly? Those seem like big dips to me which makes me think nagging injury. But maybe it was a change in approach that didn't work. I looked at his Omaha numbers from last year and the power didn't really spike back up, but the plate discipline did, way up. Probably just the difference between AAA and ML pitching, but could point to a much less aggressive approach to driving the ball. He just turned 26. Could there still be something there? Makes me think of a Paul DeJong type minus the defense which isn't great, but also not nothing. I mean he did hit 17 HRs in 179 major league plate appearances in 2023 with a .586 SLG...
I think the change in approach is probably what did it, just off the top of my head. I mean he was so forgotten that I didn't even think to put some video side by side and just see if I noticed anything. It could also be that he was simply pitched differently. Again, I'd need to dig a little more, but maybe pitchers figured out where he couldn't crush the fastball. It's that or there's definitely the potential for an injury that we didn't know about.
Maybe it’s still coming, and the general lack of trades this offseason is pretty interesting. I’m still going to be pretty surprised if they don’t deal a Lynch, Herenandez, Long, Zerpa, or someone of that nature this spring yet. The depth is great, but someone is still going to need something going into the season yet. I just still think even if it’s a small one, some trades are still going to happen but the last few people in this bullpen.
There'll probably be movement. I don't think Lynch gets dealt though. They really liked what he brought to the bullpen. With the bullpen now having heat, Lynch and Schreiber are a really interesting right/left combo to get grounders.
See I find that interesting being it took them so long to move him to the pen. They also didn’t trust him in the playoffs as I don’t think he even saw a hitter. Which is all fine. You have a pretty cheap lefty you think can get outs you absolutely keep him. I just think man, if you can get a team to see a little more than what is there for a lefty it’s a good time coming off his performance. It all goes back to what you mentioned earlier being at a spot organizationally. If someone puts out a good enough offer. You move him and you’re fine. If not, you’re fine too. Different org.
There wasn't really a spot for him in the playoffs. The Yankees are so right-handed and the starters gave innings. He's clearly not in the top four or five there and the playoffs are more about those top four or five. I don't think there's really that much to it.
I think the "they really liked what he brought to the bullpen" statement is interesting. They didn't trust him enough to throw one pitch in the playoffs after 20+ innings w/o allowing a run. Maybe that was more about opportunity, but I read it as they didn't really trust him yet. Personally, I absolutely think he deserves a shot in the pen on this team and that he'll get one, but I'm just not convinced the Royals believe in him. Yet.
yeah, but as a FO you should absolutely be saying they really liked what he brought to the bullpen. You want other teams to like what he can bring to a bullpen as well. I’m about as high as you can be on this bullpen. Which honestly scares the hell out of me. I’ve seen enough bullpens to know I’m an idiot for thinking that. But if Harvey is healthy, with Estévez and Erceg. Man, the others will fall into place. I’m not HDH high on them, but I’m a rung below that. Which….again…makes me think I’m missing something.
Just mentioned above that the situations didn't really work out in the playoffs. The Yankees were a bad matchup and they didn't need length from relievers. I'm just saying they liked the different look he provided.
I'm hoping that KC works Cags out in OF beyond the spotlight of the big league camp. He definitely has the arm to play OF and we have seen many hitters who are not adept in the field. However, working him out in the back fields takes any pressure off.
Agreed on Stratton - he seems to be the odd man out in this year's pen, let alone the budget reduction. The problem with anyone who puts up great numbers in ST is people will conclude that it is Arizona and unsustainable. Every year has a star of ST who doesn't do anything in the regular season.
The challenge system with ABS is another hyped story that will be not much when the games begin. Minor leagues have been using it for years - easy to administer and the players make decisions quickly.
I really doubt that we'll see Cags in right during a spring game either way.
As for Stratton, I will say that a pitcher putting up numbers is a lot more noteworthy than a hitter. It's a hitter's league. If Stratton is striking guys out and putting up zeroes, it's not meaningless.
I disagree that the ABS won't be much when the games begin. They're going to get calls right. That's huge. People won't notice it much because it'll just be part of the game, but it's pretty big.
IS ABS IN PLAY THIS YEAR?
Not this year.
"It isn’t something they’re considering using in 2025, but if it goes well this spring, we could see it in regular season games as soon as 2026"
For crying out lout MLB. Why does it take you guys so long. It should have been used 3 years ago.
At least we are a year closer I guess.
Man, I just don't see any room for Velázquez on this roster. MJ is starting in left, Isbel is starting in center. That means there's one starting outfield spot and four bench spots. Renfroe is getting paid, so I think he gets the starting spot. One of the bench spots goes to Fermin, one needs to go to an infielder (my money is on Biggio), and one needs to go to someone who can play center, probably Wiemer. That means it's a battle for the final spot between Nelly and Blanco, neither can play defense but Blanco can run and he had a better wRC+ last year, too.
Maybe if they're convinced Maikel can play center but then you'd need someone at third, and Biggio isn't going to be at third against lefties. So then I think you'd have to pick Loftin over Nelly.
I don't see a spot either right now, but I do wonder if they can salary dump a guy like Renfroe on a team like the Marlins getting heat for not spending. I have heard NOTHING on that front, but that was where my brain went with Velazquez. Honestly, I wanted to write about it more because I legitimately forgot he existed for awhile.
It’s nice that Nelly is a fun upside idea, not a “If Nelson comes back and hits 30 HRs THEN the Royals can compete.”
Also thanks for answering my question. I agree its MJ, but if Vinnie hits 30 bombs the they definitely make it to the deadline in contention to add one more solid bat. Fun to think about.
Yeah, for sure. 2025 Nelly is hitting fourth or fifth on the 2019 Royals, and that's a very sad state of affairs.
Scanned through some of last years games last night to knock the dust off the MLB app. Kind of forgot about the next to last series of the season against the Nationals, Royals swept to get themselves in solid contention for a wildcard spot. The last game of the series had been tied at 3 since the third inning reminding of that nasty hitting drought.
The 9th inning was a bad news bears roster of smallball:
MJ subs for Renfroe and walks to start inning. Blanco runs for MJ and steals 2nd. Massey walks. Isbel subs for DeJong and gets down a sac bunt against flamethrower Kyle Finnegan (still on market). Frazier subs for Hampson and singles to left, Blanco and Massey score. Frazier steals 2nd! Pham out. Bobby walks. Perez singles to right and Frazier scores. Yuli gets 3rd out. Erceg comes in for third straight game and Nats go down 1-2-3. KC wins 7-4
I hope to hell we don't have to see a lot of this to limp along til the trade deadline, but these kids got guts. Gotta love it