Thanks David, just not much to comment on today. Nothing happening, don’t expect them to do much, I’m going to grip about inactivity, you are going to tell me there is still time and this is expected. Lol.
Its kind of funny. These last few years I felt like I’ve been lied too about how they think they can compete…they start playing and you realize they aren’t even close. Now, they are at least up front about not competing and it sucks just the same because they aren’t really even trying to get some upside guys you can dream on. Yes, we can dream on the young players but unless every single one of them becomes a lot better all at the same time….its a 90 loss team right now. I’m not sure which one is better for the offseason interestingly enough.
I've got something for tomorrow that I hadn't really considered until a recent conversation that I think you'll find interesting. I'm just going to leave it at that. The truth is that if they had been a little more honest with where they were in recent years, this one might be a little different. But they weren't, and the guy who was in charge was fired for it.
But I'll bite here and say to look at the roster. If Daniel Lynch was available, he'd be a massive upside guy to take a chance on. If another team released Jackson Kowar, he'd be a player most would say "wow, first round pick, great stuff, bad pitching coach, I'd try that." If the entire position player roster was available, there would be a large number of players you'd take a chance on. It's part of why I dislike the Jordan Lyles deal. If you're going to sign mediocre, just ride with your upside guys who you already have.
Oh I agree, ALL the young guys are high upside guys you’d bite on for sure you are totally right. My thinking is along the lines of your’s here. If that’s what this year is….let all these young still high upside guys get accustomed more….ok… but why aren’t we doing that with pretty much all the roster spots? It still goes back to the transactional issues this management team still has in my eyes. If this year is a non compete year….not taking a live arm in the rule 5 draft doesn’t make sense to me. I know those rarely work out but its another spot on the roster you could have a upside guy.
Do you get the sense though that there is too much optimism in Sweeney? I get the sense everyone is like, ok, all these guys are going to take massive leaps now. Sweeney could be great and that still not how it usually works in baseball. I almost get the sense his results are going to have to be so phenomenal to meet expectations at this point. On the offensive side….sophomore slumps are real. I’m a little worried about that with some of these guys. Man, I need to stop being so grinchy!
I think I agree with you a lot more than you may think I do. My thoughts are the same. They made a mistake not taking a shot on an upside guy in the Rule 5. It likely won't hurt them, but also what's the harm? I'd also be signing as many one-year deals for relievers as possible. It builds depth and gives them trade pieces come July. But I also look around and think that it's hard to envision anyone they sign on the free agent market having more upside than guys who opposing scouts have said out loud would be good with better instruction...after they've hired better instruction.
I don't know if there's too much optimism in Sweeney. I guess I'm not sure the alternative. I think they're wrong to put ALL of the blame on the big league coaching staff, but I also know they had to replace the big league coaching staff and they did, so I give them credit. As for sophomore slumps, sure, they're real, but also probably not as common as it might seem watching guys go through them in Kansas City forever. The difference between most of the hitters they have now and guys they've had in the past are that their approach is significantly better because they have the infrastructure in place to teach better approach. There's a lot of volatility when guys just swing at everything. I'd bank on the guys who actually know a ball from a strike to actually continue to improve. I honestly worry about guys like Bobby Witt Jr. I think he'll be very good and maybe even great, but that walk rate is scary low and that's the sort of thing that leads to a bit of a year-to-year rollercoaster.
Idea for a piece I’d be interested in before the season is what your idea of success for Sweeney is this year. Or the new coaching staff in general i guess. I think a resounding success would be to go from 30th to say 22-23rd best staff (or instert whatever category) next year. I just hope people aren’t expecting 30th to 15th or higher if any of that makes sense.
It'd be an interesting exercise, but, as always, it depends on how they get to where they get anyway. So it's all about individuals to me. If they're, say, 21st in ERA, but it's on the back of Ryan Yarbrough and Jordan Lyles, I guess that says something about Sweeney that he got it out of him, but when you make a statement about the development issues being at the big league level, success is showing improvement in the young pitchers. And success may also not necessarily show up in overall numbers. Let's say Lynch starts the year poorly, but from June 1 on, he looks like a legitimate number two starter, that's a positive even if he ends up with like a 4.63 ERA or something. So it gets tough to actually define success.
Lauer and McCann are too good for the Royals to get and Carrasco is out of the question. They like players about 25% worse than league average because they get them cheap. O’ hearn fits that mold so they resigned him. They are about to sign a pitcher about 25% worse than league average to two years.
If they’d trade for Dozier, sure. The problem is that Dozier has negative value.
I like all of these because I hate reading everywhere that they are not going to compete in 2023. Let's give them/us a chance!!
Thanks David, just not much to comment on today. Nothing happening, don’t expect them to do much, I’m going to grip about inactivity, you are going to tell me there is still time and this is expected. Lol.
Its kind of funny. These last few years I felt like I’ve been lied too about how they think they can compete…they start playing and you realize they aren’t even close. Now, they are at least up front about not competing and it sucks just the same because they aren’t really even trying to get some upside guys you can dream on. Yes, we can dream on the young players but unless every single one of them becomes a lot better all at the same time….its a 90 loss team right now. I’m not sure which one is better for the offseason interestingly enough.
I've got something for tomorrow that I hadn't really considered until a recent conversation that I think you'll find interesting. I'm just going to leave it at that. The truth is that if they had been a little more honest with where they were in recent years, this one might be a little different. But they weren't, and the guy who was in charge was fired for it.
But I'll bite here and say to look at the roster. If Daniel Lynch was available, he'd be a massive upside guy to take a chance on. If another team released Jackson Kowar, he'd be a player most would say "wow, first round pick, great stuff, bad pitching coach, I'd try that." If the entire position player roster was available, there would be a large number of players you'd take a chance on. It's part of why I dislike the Jordan Lyles deal. If you're going to sign mediocre, just ride with your upside guys who you already have.
Oh I agree, ALL the young guys are high upside guys you’d bite on for sure you are totally right. My thinking is along the lines of your’s here. If that’s what this year is….let all these young still high upside guys get accustomed more….ok… but why aren’t we doing that with pretty much all the roster spots? It still goes back to the transactional issues this management team still has in my eyes. If this year is a non compete year….not taking a live arm in the rule 5 draft doesn’t make sense to me. I know those rarely work out but its another spot on the roster you could have a upside guy.
Do you get the sense though that there is too much optimism in Sweeney? I get the sense everyone is like, ok, all these guys are going to take massive leaps now. Sweeney could be great and that still not how it usually works in baseball. I almost get the sense his results are going to have to be so phenomenal to meet expectations at this point. On the offensive side….sophomore slumps are real. I’m a little worried about that with some of these guys. Man, I need to stop being so grinchy!
I think I agree with you a lot more than you may think I do. My thoughts are the same. They made a mistake not taking a shot on an upside guy in the Rule 5. It likely won't hurt them, but also what's the harm? I'd also be signing as many one-year deals for relievers as possible. It builds depth and gives them trade pieces come July. But I also look around and think that it's hard to envision anyone they sign on the free agent market having more upside than guys who opposing scouts have said out loud would be good with better instruction...after they've hired better instruction.
I don't know if there's too much optimism in Sweeney. I guess I'm not sure the alternative. I think they're wrong to put ALL of the blame on the big league coaching staff, but I also know they had to replace the big league coaching staff and they did, so I give them credit. As for sophomore slumps, sure, they're real, but also probably not as common as it might seem watching guys go through them in Kansas City forever. The difference between most of the hitters they have now and guys they've had in the past are that their approach is significantly better because they have the infrastructure in place to teach better approach. There's a lot of volatility when guys just swing at everything. I'd bank on the guys who actually know a ball from a strike to actually continue to improve. I honestly worry about guys like Bobby Witt Jr. I think he'll be very good and maybe even great, but that walk rate is scary low and that's the sort of thing that leads to a bit of a year-to-year rollercoaster.
Idea for a piece I’d be interested in before the season is what your idea of success for Sweeney is this year. Or the new coaching staff in general i guess. I think a resounding success would be to go from 30th to say 22-23rd best staff (or instert whatever category) next year. I just hope people aren’t expecting 30th to 15th or higher if any of that makes sense.
It'd be an interesting exercise, but, as always, it depends on how they get to where they get anyway. So it's all about individuals to me. If they're, say, 21st in ERA, but it's on the back of Ryan Yarbrough and Jordan Lyles, I guess that says something about Sweeney that he got it out of him, but when you make a statement about the development issues being at the big league level, success is showing improvement in the young pitchers. And success may also not necessarily show up in overall numbers. Let's say Lynch starts the year poorly, but from June 1 on, he looks like a legitimate number two starter, that's a positive even if he ends up with like a 4.63 ERA or something. So it gets tough to actually define success.
Lauer and McCann are too good for the Royals to get and Carrasco is out of the question. They like players about 25% worse than league average because they get them cheap. O’ hearn fits that mold so they resigned him. They are about to sign a pitcher about 25% worse than league average to two years.