13 Comments

Thanks for your great column. We really appreciate it. Could you perhaps comment on TV and radio options (for those in the KC area) for Royals games this season? We are former Google Fiber subscribers but many of the alternative TV services don't seem to carry Rally Sports. Is there any possibility that the channel could become more widely available? It's really hard to watch the Royals on TV now, as far as we can tell. And the radio broadcasts, at least from our location in midtown, have a very poor audio quality. Are there alternative stations that have clearer sound?

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Hi Don, thanks for reading! Yeah, Bally (really Sinclair, the parent company) makes it awfully tough if you don't have cable or apparently DirecTV Stream. And radio, if you struggle to pick it up in midtown, I'd recommend getting an audio subscription on MLB.com. It's something like $20 for the year. Or if you have T-Mobile, they've got a deal for free MLB.tv this year (which wouldn't give you the Royals because of ridiculous blackout rules) and you get the audio portion free with that.

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Thanks!

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Thanks David - So is there a number of wins this year that signify a “win” for the team? Just better than last year? Also, I was shocked to see Singer as in the running for the last spot in the rotation with Lynch. Now, its not necessarily on topic here….but maybe just being used to light a fire under him?

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It’s a good question. To me, if you’re not making the playoffs, the wins don’t ultimately matter much. If they win 74 games again, but they’re dragged down early by guys who have no part in the future and then prospects come up and look good, you feel better about it. But by the same token, if they win 84 games on the strength of a big year from Carlos Santana and Zack Greinke or whatever, that doesn’t do much to move the needle for the future. I think it’s unlikely they’re improving without the young guys being a part of it, so that’s probably not truly something we’ll have to think about, but my point is context will matter a lot in the end. Still, a five game improvement with guys like Witt and the young pitching leading the way would probably be pretty well received.

And yeah, I like that Singer isn’t just inserted into the rotation but I also don’t know that it means much. It’s been tough to get guys innings. It might just be about readiness. It might not be, of course, but I’ll wait to read into much until the rosters drop to 26 on May 2.

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“And the Orioles exist, so good for them.” Thanks for the *early* morning laugh.

*It just feels early the day after a KU national championship*

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I agree with you on most everything, especially the Dodgers juggernaut and the Padres and Mets' issues. One thing you might want to change on your predictions: there are 12 playoff teams this year and no wild card.

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There are 12 playoff teams and three wild cards. That's why I have WC1, 2 and 3.

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Got it, thanks. My mistake. I thought the term Wild Card had been retired along with the one-game wild card format.

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The one-game format is gone, but the playoff format is that there is a Wild Card round of three games. The 1 and 2 seeds don't play in it, so 3 plays 6 and 4 plays 5. Then 1 plays the winner of 3/6 and 2 plays the winner of 4/5. I think eventually they'll re-seed, but apparently that isn't the case right now.

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Predictions are a fun time in Baseball preseasons. Almost never do they come true and the more outlandish the better. So in the spirit of that and a great song by the band "Sparks" I Predict!

1. Zack Greinke loses Cy Young title to Kris Bubic by 1 vote

2. Salvador Perez leads the team in stolen bases

3. The Royals trade Carlos Santana to the Cardinals for Albert Pujols so he can close out his career in front of local friends and family

4. Brady Singer gives up pitching and switches to Outfield

5. Adalberto Mondesi will be the first Major Leaguer to win the Quad Crown. Leader in HR's, BA, RBI and Steals!

6. The Royals sweep the World Series over the Padres!

This is Really how I feel. Boy this Jack and Coke is tasting real good!

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Let's be real, how much Coke is actually in that haha!

Love it all, but I think number three is pretty unrealistic. I'd think they could get Dylan Carlson in that deal as well. Just seems like a light return for Santana.

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You can't have the same players every year and expect to improve. The offense is terrible. They strikeout too much and don't walk enough. The young pitchers need more minor league time. They aren't ready. As for the DH situation. This one I could never figure out. You have of the leagues best catchers but he getting older. He will not have the year he had last year. Gallagher is a backup. I say bring up Melendez and use him along with Perez. Switch them between catcher and dh. You'd have both bats in the lineup at the same time. Perez would get the most time behind the plate maybe 100 games and Melendez the rest. Perez needs the rest and Melendez could learn the mlb game slowly. I think he's almost as good as Perez defensively and better offensively. You'd have the best of both worlds. They both get to catch and both get to hit. I'd trade mondesi. He will never be healthy. He strikes out more than anyone on the team and also walks the least. We have a ton of good offensive and defensive options on the infield. Drop Santana. He's done. We also have several first base options. Take a chance on the young guys. I doubt they will be any worse than what we have

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