David, Tomorrow is Feb. 1st. Let's see your very early opening day lineup tomorrow. We won't hold you to it. I'd just be interested to see if you think Lopez will be there...who the third baseman will be...the outfield arrangement...DH...etc. You have your homework assignment. :)
I think you are spot on with the rotation when the season starts. I'm hoping by the end of the year we find at least 3 quality starters we can move forward with. I do believe this is the area of the team that will see the greatest amount of turnover.
The Keller decision is like a Dozier situation of the mound. We really don't have a future with him. He clogs up a spot on the rotation a future prospect could take. I just wonder if he might be traded at some point before or shortly after opening day. So far management have been clearing space for the young guys. Good play or bad, I have a feeling his days in a Royal uniform are numbered.
This is a totally unscientific and probably optimistic view, but I look at this LARGE group and think that surely the odds favor a couple of guys having best years yet, a couple with breakout years, and a few that are just solid. Between the major league club and AAA, surely this happens. Right? Right? Please....?
David, have you heard anything about Angel Zerpa’s health? I know he was hampered with a knee issue last season - and then I noticed he only pitched one game in Venezuela this winter before the club ended his winter league season.
Emotionally, I'm onboard. And in a year that doesn't offer a ton of interest, it will be fun to see Zach out there battling every start. In terms of cold, hard rational calculation . . . I don't see it. We're not going to win this year (hoping for .500!), Zach is close to the end of his career, I'd love to believe in the idea of older-pitcher-mentoring benefits but I don't see the evidence. So I suspect the 8 mil + could have been better spent taking flyers on a couple cheap free agents. Ultimately, however, it just isn't very important--neither Zach nor the money is going to make or break the Royals in 24/25.
Upon further reflection... Yes this was probably necessary. But can we please keep the lid on the whole narrative of Zack as the all-knowing pitching guru who will be some sort of oracle for the youngish pitchers?
Zack has no idea what it's like to be a young pitcher possessed of only average talent struggling to make it in the big leagues. He's never experienced that. He has absolutely no idea what that feels like or how to deal with it despite the rocky start to his career. With his otherworldly natural ability he had options that most young pitchers can't even grasp. And Zack can't really grasp what it's like to be without those options.
It's the same reason that Ted Williams, quite possibly the greatest hitter of all time, was such an abysmal hitting coach and manager.
Doggone it, now you've got me thinking about the whole pitching situation in general. The draft class of 2018 continues to be a major concern. Yes I know about 2020 but that was a long time ago. Like all excuses it has begun to wear thin.
Even if we arbitrarily subtract 1 year from the ages of all those guys to compensate for 2020 - a questionable procedure at best - none of them are anywhere near 21-year-old phenoms. The new pitching coaches/developers don't need to just be better than their predecessors. They need to be a whole lot better RIGHT NOW. We can't wait another two or three or four years for their changes to "take effect." By then that entire draft class will be in the area of 30 years old and, with the possible exception of Brady Singer, will be a lost cause. It will be time to hit the reset button once again.
It may not be fair but we need to see improvements very very quickly. It could be that the damage done by the previous coaches is irreversible. Or perhaps they didn't have all that much to work with. Whatever the case, we need to find out where things stand right the hell now. I'm running out of patience with "don't worry, they're all so young," and I sincerely hope JJ feels the same way.
They're not really all that young anymore. They're pretty close to the same age as Patrick Mahomes, for whom age doesn't seem to be much of a barrier ever since his MVP season at age 22. I don't expect any of them to be Mahomian but a majority of them need to be significantly better very soon.
I'm on the Zerpa bandwagon... Greinke is great to have around just because he is a total nut, who says and does the most off the wall stuff while still managing to be endearing. I don't buy into the teaching thing either. He's good for thr clubhouse anyway.... There does seem to be a large accumulation of middling talent to sort their way through. AAA Omaha is gonna be good...
David, there is no mention of Asa Lacy here. Is he still years away or has he been written off as a total bust? What are your thoughts on him someday joining the Royal's rotation?
I'm just not that big on bringing greinke back. He pretty much hung on by the skin of his teeth. He's barely a 5 inning pitcher who gives up a lot of hits at this point in his career. A big part of the problem with the team last year was that most of the starters could barely get thru the 5th inning then they would go thru the bullpen. Even if you have a decent bullpen when you bring in 4 or 5 different pitchers there's a good chance one or more of them is going to have a bad night. The more moving parts you have the more problems you're going to have. They need guys that can get into the 7th or 8th inning. Plus I don't like paying a 40 year old pitcher that much money. When I talk about guys getting into the later innings I'm not talking about the guy they signed from Baltimore who they gave 17 million to for 2 years. A guy who threw a lot of innings but had a high ERA and can't strike anyone out. With the shift being banned guys like this are going to get hammered. I don't understand all the money they spent on a bunch of washed up players.
David, Tomorrow is Feb. 1st. Let's see your very early opening day lineup tomorrow. We won't hold you to it. I'd just be interested to see if you think Lopez will be there...who the third baseman will be...the outfield arrangement...DH...etc. You have your homework assignment. :)
I think you are spot on with the rotation when the season starts. I'm hoping by the end of the year we find at least 3 quality starters we can move forward with. I do believe this is the area of the team that will see the greatest amount of turnover.
The Keller decision is like a Dozier situation of the mound. We really don't have a future with him. He clogs up a spot on the rotation a future prospect could take. I just wonder if he might be traded at some point before or shortly after opening day. So far management have been clearing space for the young guys. Good play or bad, I have a feeling his days in a Royal uniform are numbered.
This is a totally unscientific and probably optimistic view, but I look at this LARGE group and think that surely the odds favor a couple of guys having best years yet, a couple with breakout years, and a few that are just solid. Between the major league club and AAA, surely this happens. Right? Right? Please....?
David, have you heard anything about Angel Zerpa’s health? I know he was hampered with a knee issue last season - and then I noticed he only pitched one game in Venezuela this winter before the club ended his winter league season.
Emotionally, I'm onboard. And in a year that doesn't offer a ton of interest, it will be fun to see Zach out there battling every start. In terms of cold, hard rational calculation . . . I don't see it. We're not going to win this year (hoping for .500!), Zach is close to the end of his career, I'd love to believe in the idea of older-pitcher-mentoring benefits but I don't see the evidence. So I suspect the 8 mil + could have been better spent taking flyers on a couple cheap free agents. Ultimately, however, it just isn't very important--neither Zach nor the money is going to make or break the Royals in 24/25.
This was necessary. (SOMEBODY needs to throw all those innings.) But I find it less than thrilling.
Upon further reflection... Yes this was probably necessary. But can we please keep the lid on the whole narrative of Zack as the all-knowing pitching guru who will be some sort of oracle for the youngish pitchers?
Zack has no idea what it's like to be a young pitcher possessed of only average talent struggling to make it in the big leagues. He's never experienced that. He has absolutely no idea what that feels like or how to deal with it despite the rocky start to his career. With his otherworldly natural ability he had options that most young pitchers can't even grasp. And Zack can't really grasp what it's like to be without those options.
It's the same reason that Ted Williams, quite possibly the greatest hitter of all time, was such an abysmal hitting coach and manager.
Doggone it, now you've got me thinking about the whole pitching situation in general. The draft class of 2018 continues to be a major concern. Yes I know about 2020 but that was a long time ago. Like all excuses it has begun to wear thin.
Even if we arbitrarily subtract 1 year from the ages of all those guys to compensate for 2020 - a questionable procedure at best - none of them are anywhere near 21-year-old phenoms. The new pitching coaches/developers don't need to just be better than their predecessors. They need to be a whole lot better RIGHT NOW. We can't wait another two or three or four years for their changes to "take effect." By then that entire draft class will be in the area of 30 years old and, with the possible exception of Brady Singer, will be a lost cause. It will be time to hit the reset button once again.
It may not be fair but we need to see improvements very very quickly. It could be that the damage done by the previous coaches is irreversible. Or perhaps they didn't have all that much to work with. Whatever the case, we need to find out where things stand right the hell now. I'm running out of patience with "don't worry, they're all so young," and I sincerely hope JJ feels the same way.
They're not really all that young anymore. They're pretty close to the same age as Patrick Mahomes, for whom age doesn't seem to be much of a barrier ever since his MVP season at age 22. I don't expect any of them to be Mahomian but a majority of them need to be significantly better very soon.
I'm on the Zerpa bandwagon... Greinke is great to have around just because he is a total nut, who says and does the most off the wall stuff while still managing to be endearing. I don't buy into the teaching thing either. He's good for thr clubhouse anyway.... There does seem to be a large accumulation of middling talent to sort their way through. AAA Omaha is gonna be good...
David, there is no mention of Asa Lacy here. Is he still years away or has he been written off as a total bust? What are your thoughts on him someday joining the Royal's rotation?
I'm just not that big on bringing greinke back. He pretty much hung on by the skin of his teeth. He's barely a 5 inning pitcher who gives up a lot of hits at this point in his career. A big part of the problem with the team last year was that most of the starters could barely get thru the 5th inning then they would go thru the bullpen. Even if you have a decent bullpen when you bring in 4 or 5 different pitchers there's a good chance one or more of them is going to have a bad night. The more moving parts you have the more problems you're going to have. They need guys that can get into the 7th or 8th inning. Plus I don't like paying a 40 year old pitcher that much money. When I talk about guys getting into the later innings I'm not talking about the guy they signed from Baltimore who they gave 17 million to for 2 years. A guy who threw a lot of innings but had a high ERA and can't strike anyone out. With the shift being banned guys like this are going to get hammered. I don't understand all the money they spent on a bunch of washed up players.