24 Comments

Signed up for Bally Sports + to finally watch a game. I thought the roll out was for "Cord Cutters" in the local area. I found out its not. You can only sign up if you have cable and only if that cable company has Bally Sports.

Listened to the game and its great the youngsters are showing their promise. I can take their struggles and success better than the line up of old veterans, "other than Greinke". He still puts a smile to my face.

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Huh, I thought the new app was for local people as well. I don't know a ton about it, but that stinks.

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So the only way to watch the Royals on Bally Sports+ is if you can already watch the Royals on Bally Sports. Lol.

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Yep. Spent 2 days working on setting it up. In text on their own web it site said you could access with Amazon stick. You can, just not without an approved cable provider. That is those who offer Bally in the first place.

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That kind of bush league crap needs to go away immediately if not sooner. Combine that with a mostly inept pitching staff and you get...well, you get the 2022 Royals. I'm sure that the organization will blame Bally, conveniently forgetting that no one forced them to do business with Bally in the first place.

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This seems to be their business plan, and it doesn't make sense to me. I guess I'll just keep sailing the high seas......

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If they change out Pratto for Dozier, then yesterday's lineup is the one I want to see for the rest of the season

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They really ought to be shopping Dozier. I don't think they are, but they should be. And with that, I don't think it's the worst thing for him to be playing.

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I was glad to see some success for Isbel again. I kind of understand why he's been getting less playing time, if they would play him every day for a month or two I really think his production would improve. If they can move Beni, Whit, and MAT, the youth movement would really be on and we could get a good read on what these young guys could do. Greinke is simply amazing the way he can be so effective. Great writing as usual David.

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Yeah, I definitely think Isbel is someone who needs every day at bats and not just as the strong side of a platoon even. I hope they trade Taylor to open up time for both him and Olivares every day, no matter who is on the mound.

Thanks so much for reading!

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Couldn't agree more! They need to find out exactly what they have in Isbel and Olivaras, and the sooner the better.

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You know its been a long year when we are celebrating two runs in a game. A win is a win however!

You think they are shopping Pratto? It makes sense if they are waiting to bring him up till after the trade deadline. They moved on from Santana….I’ve just got to think they will be from O’hearn here as well but I’ve just got to think everyone knows the clock is ticking, both for the front office and for Witt Jr being around. I know you’ve mentioned they are going to do something…..seems like that is what they are saving Pratto for. I just have a hard time thinking they can run it back next year without some bigger changes. You can’t say….ok we lost 100 games….we are bringing everyone back next year (pitching included) and it will be better because they have more experience. The front office is going to have to bring in someone big and then say, Witt Jr, Melendez, Vinny will be improved and Salvy will be healthy. The sales job is going to have to be different next year I think and wondering if you hear they are positioning for that.

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I don't think anyone is celebrating two runs in a game, but they are celebrating that it was one run more than they allowed.

Regarding Pratto, I honestly don't know the answer to that. I think it's certainly possible that they are. He is their biggest trade piece of the young group. Well, he and Melendez, but I just don't think they're going to move Melendez after he's come up and shown a plan at the plate (though he is slumping now). And we know they're not trading Bobby. So yeah, I could see it. Some sort of package including Pratto and a young pitcher for someone more established but with some team control would make sense to me.

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You writing about Sherman’s comments on 610 tomorrow?

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I'll mention something about it tomorrow on Royals Review. There's not much to mention other than that they weren't overly effusive of Dayton Moore, in my opinion.

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A win yesterday and no loss today, things are looking up! As much as I love having him, we need to move AB ASAP so we can open up some more outfield time.

The young Royals should be getting almost all the non-Salvy/Whit/Zack playing time.

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They do need to move him ASAP, but also return is actually important with him, which is what makes his trade different than Santana's. As much as it's important to open up the playing time, he's one of the better bats on the market. They can't just make a trade tomorrow and expect to get the best possible deal. A Benny deal won't alter the franchise or anything but it should bring back a player with real value and they need to extract as much as possible. To me, that's more important than an extra 21 games to play both young outfielders at once or whatever it would end up being.

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The next 30 days will be telling. Benny, Lopez, Dozier, Taylor and Merrifield should be in conversations. I suspect the first 2 will be the most talked about. Greinke will get asked about but I suspect the Royals want him around the young pitchers. Bullpen will get inquiries too, but only see the retreads getting traded.

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AB will get moved. That’s about the only thing I’m confident about though. They aren’t exactly transactional…..and have a history of being extremely loyal and loving defense (Taylor and Merrifield). The one piece I’m curious to see though is that the heat has been turned up on the front office where they may feel forced to do something out of the norm. Which is great……and we’ll never know if that’s why they did/do x, y, or z….but that’s what I’m hoping for at this point. The situation forcing the hand into aborting the status quo.

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Think Zack will be interested in being the first player/coach in a few decades? :)

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I agree, but from the other team's view, you also want to get AB into your lineup ASAP to help you win the most games possible. I'm pretty sure you brought that up at some point as well.

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Sure. It’s a delicate dance.

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It's sort of like the dirty strip club question:

Do we want the quickest deal that's good, or do we want the best deal that's quick?

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Bringing up Vinnie and MJ and BWJ - all of it is a very nice start towards returning to respectability. But it's only a start. There's so much more that needs to happen, and so many questions remain…

Can Isbel and/or Olivares become legit MLB starting outfielders? Can Nicky get back to anywhere near what he did last year? Can the Royals create or obtain a legit MLB 3rd baseman, assuming they're not going to put BWJ over there? Can they.get their pitching development together the way they have apparently done with the hitting development? Have they finally outgrown the Mondesi fantasy?

Will Cal be going away sooner than later? Is Michael Massey the real deal? Will guys like Lacy and Kudrna and Mozzicato be more willing to throw strikes than the class of 2018? (And if so, will they be able to throw quality strikes consistently?) Will ANYBODY from the class of '18 prove to be more than just a borderline #5 starter? Can Dayton and JJ figure out a way to get anything at all for Whit and Perez? And if so will they really be "more transactional" as Dayton has publicly claimed?

If the answers to most of those questions turn out to be "no," then is John Sherman the kind of owner who's willing to do what needs to be done regarding the front office and the pitching coaches/scouts/developers?

Trading Santana was of course the right move but also a no-brainer. Ditto for trading Benintendi, which absolutely HAS to happen before the deadline. (Unless - and this is extremely unlikely - The Royals are able to extend him for another three or four years.) My guess is that we'll have many of these answers before next spring training starts. At the same time we'll continue to be frustrated by the answers that we don't have.

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