Would love any and all of that. I just have a hard time seeing the Royals going out and throwing the money around it would take to bring in a pitcher AND Swanson. The way they get to where they want to be next year is pitching….and that’s always tricky. I remember last year when we thought we had all these pitchers coming up Hernandez, Kowar, Cox, etc. etc. And while they still may only Singer has improved while Lynch has shown improvement. Bubic is the same pitcher in my eyes….it just looks better after a terrible start.
I’d love, love, love Gallen…..and then sign a Bassit or Clevinger. They make a trade AND sign a guy. All in. I’ve seen Cleveland, TB, and the A’s win way more games than they should just by having pitching. And while we talk about this 18 class…which is still a success…woof they haven’t had anyone come up after that class and knocking on the door. We don’t know if Clevinger or Bassit would even sign here….but its fun to dream. If they can spend a little money AND make a trade that doesn’t include Witt or Melendez. Just do it. They can’t start poorly next year…that I feel pretty good about assuming no FO changes this offseason. I should probably check my expectations though here. Lol
I would look to move either Pratto or Pasquantino as Salvy ages he will need to DH more often and that presents a log jam. I like Cleavinger as a free agent signing. IMO they need to start transitioning Hernandez to the bullpen as he has the kind of arm for late innings and let him air it out. I would include Staumont in a trade with one of the 1B as I think he needs a change of scenery. The biggest move that needs to be made is revamping of the pitching development throughout the system. My 2 cents worth.
-- Not sure I would make trades for pitching, though a free-agent signing or two would be fine. My reasoning is we may have just what we need here once we "upgrade" the coaching staff. I know that is a gamble, but trades are too, and they come at a cost. A couple years ago all the talk was about the great young pitchers coming up. Do we already have what we need and just need to coach them up?
-- Mostly agree with your thoughts on position players. I think Witt and MJ are definitely here to stay, with Pratto and Pasquantino probable, too. I like Isbel, but is he an everyday player, or OF #4? Really want to see Olivares and Massey more, as well as Eaton. If Eaton hits, there are several positions to fit him in, ala Whitt Merrifield. There are also some guys in the minors that might stick with a good spring training next year. Besides Garcia you have Clay Dungan, Brewer Hicklin, and the newly-acquired Drew Waters and Samad Taylor. There are even a few intriguing guys at NW Arkansas, like Nick Loftin, Logan Porter, Tucker Bradley and Tyler Gentry.
Correa wants $300 million. He's not that type of player, certainly not for a Royals team that needs to budget. I still maintain that if Correa signs a $250-$300 million deal, the fans of the team that signs him will hate Correa within a couple of seasons. His actual contributions, which are really good, are too subtle for the average fan. They'll see a guy hitting .260 and driving in 80-something runs and wonder why he's making $30 million per season. And when he ages, his defense will no longer be plus and his bat can't carry that contract.
Really nice, thoughtful stuff here David. Thank you! I think the fact that you were even willing to seriously consider an article about the Royals contending next year is a good illustration of how much more (cautiously) optimistic we all are now then we were as recently as four weeks ago.
Obviously the Baby Royals have a lot to do with that. But I also think there's a sort of unspoken assumption that "of course" Eldred will be gone and the entire pitching development/coaching staff will be upgraded a la the hitting staff. While naturally I'd love to see that, I don't think that's an assumption that can safely be taken for granted.
"There are questions in the outfield, partially stemming from whether or not Michael A. Taylor is around. If he is, you feel fine about center. And I think you can cobble together a corner outfield mix with what they have, but we’re looking at certainty here and there isn’t any."
----
This is why you hold onto him. If you think the team is going to contend next year, why would you dump your starting CF?
There's another corner outfield free agent to be, and he'd cost less than Judge. Don't know if the Royals would be in on him, but I think you know him. His name is Benintendi.
While we're all enthusiastic about the young bats, Soren with an observation today that provides some great perspective: if you include Zobrist the 2015 Royals had six guys in the starting lineup with an OPS above .800.
The current roster? Zero guys with an OPS above .800. There's still a WHOLE LOT of work to be done, and not just on the pitching side....
Looking in from the outside, I'd guess that with all the new ways of measuring ballplayers' performances (spin rates, launch angles and all the rest) and analyzing those numbers, MLB teams probably develop a "book" on opposing players faster than ever before, maybe even starting with minor league data.
David, how long do you think that process is taking these days? Is it a certain number of days in the big leagues? A certain number of PA's or IP?
Do you think it varies with whether or not a young player is deemed to be good enough to be "worthy" of taking the trouble to put a book together on him?
Your article comes at a good time because I've been wondering about a lot of this. Is there a Royals player currently on the roster who's capable of consistently hitting above .300, walking 100 times, getting 100 RBI or 30 HR (outside of Salvy repeating his 2021 performance)? Is there anyone in the rotation capable of consistently winning 15 games or being a #1 or #2 starter? And is Melendez really going to be a long-term lead-off hitter? I'm just not seeing any of that... yet.
I like the OPS and wRC+ comparisons (WS team and now): I think it gives a great perspective. As a season-ticket holder, my mood has changed drastically (for the better) in the last couple of weeks!
Some what off topic but to contend in 23 they need to win more games(duh) but if you look at this years team they are 21 games under - all they needed to do was to win 2-3 more games a month over the last 4-5 months in order to be in the playoff hunt. I am sure we all can find a couple of games each month where the outcome was more a result of the Royals losing than the other team winning.
I believe that the 2023 roster will be mostly the same as the final roster of 2022.
I was hoping the Royals could have swung a trade at the deadline to acquire SP Gavin Stone out of the Dodgers system. Been following this guy all year. KC may have missed their window of opportunity though, as he's been lights-out and other teams and evaluators are taking notice. He'll be rocketing up the prospect lists soon.
Would love any and all of that. I just have a hard time seeing the Royals going out and throwing the money around it would take to bring in a pitcher AND Swanson. The way they get to where they want to be next year is pitching….and that’s always tricky. I remember last year when we thought we had all these pitchers coming up Hernandez, Kowar, Cox, etc. etc. And while they still may only Singer has improved while Lynch has shown improvement. Bubic is the same pitcher in my eyes….it just looks better after a terrible start.
I’d love, love, love Gallen…..and then sign a Bassit or Clevinger. They make a trade AND sign a guy. All in. I’ve seen Cleveland, TB, and the A’s win way more games than they should just by having pitching. And while we talk about this 18 class…which is still a success…woof they haven’t had anyone come up after that class and knocking on the door. We don’t know if Clevinger or Bassit would even sign here….but its fun to dream. If they can spend a little money AND make a trade that doesn’t include Witt or Melendez. Just do it. They can’t start poorly next year…that I feel pretty good about assuming no FO changes this offseason. I should probably check my expectations though here. Lol
I would look to move either Pratto or Pasquantino as Salvy ages he will need to DH more often and that presents a log jam. I like Cleavinger as a free agent signing. IMO they need to start transitioning Hernandez to the bullpen as he has the kind of arm for late innings and let him air it out. I would include Staumont in a trade with one of the 1B as I think he needs a change of scenery. The biggest move that needs to be made is revamping of the pitching development throughout the system. My 2 cents worth.
Did someone say Mondesi?
Sound thoughts, David. A couple of mine:
-- Not sure I would make trades for pitching, though a free-agent signing or two would be fine. My reasoning is we may have just what we need here once we "upgrade" the coaching staff. I know that is a gamble, but trades are too, and they come at a cost. A couple years ago all the talk was about the great young pitchers coming up. Do we already have what we need and just need to coach them up?
-- Mostly agree with your thoughts on position players. I think Witt and MJ are definitely here to stay, with Pratto and Pasquantino probable, too. I like Isbel, but is he an everyday player, or OF #4? Really want to see Olivares and Massey more, as well as Eaton. If Eaton hits, there are several positions to fit him in, ala Whitt Merrifield. There are also some guys in the minors that might stick with a good spring training next year. Besides Garcia you have Clay Dungan, Brewer Hicklin, and the newly-acquired Drew Waters and Samad Taylor. There are even a few intriguing guys at NW Arkansas, like Nick Loftin, Logan Porter, Tucker Bradley and Tyler Gentry.
Correa wants $300 million. He's not that type of player, certainly not for a Royals team that needs to budget. I still maintain that if Correa signs a $250-$300 million deal, the fans of the team that signs him will hate Correa within a couple of seasons. His actual contributions, which are really good, are too subtle for the average fan. They'll see a guy hitting .260 and driving in 80-something runs and wonder why he's making $30 million per season. And when he ages, his defense will no longer be plus and his bat can't carry that contract.
Really nice, thoughtful stuff here David. Thank you! I think the fact that you were even willing to seriously consider an article about the Royals contending next year is a good illustration of how much more (cautiously) optimistic we all are now then we were as recently as four weeks ago.
Obviously the Baby Royals have a lot to do with that. But I also think there's a sort of unspoken assumption that "of course" Eldred will be gone and the entire pitching development/coaching staff will be upgraded a la the hitting staff. While naturally I'd love to see that, I don't think that's an assumption that can safely be taken for granted.
"There are questions in the outfield, partially stemming from whether or not Michael A. Taylor is around. If he is, you feel fine about center. And I think you can cobble together a corner outfield mix with what they have, but we’re looking at certainty here and there isn’t any."
----
This is why you hold onto him. If you think the team is going to contend next year, why would you dump your starting CF?
There's another corner outfield free agent to be, and he'd cost less than Judge. Don't know if the Royals would be in on him, but I think you know him. His name is Benintendi.
While we're all enthusiastic about the young bats, Soren with an observation today that provides some great perspective: if you include Zobrist the 2015 Royals had six guys in the starting lineup with an OPS above .800.
The current roster? Zero guys with an OPS above .800. There's still a WHOLE LOT of work to be done, and not just on the pitching side....
Looking in from the outside, I'd guess that with all the new ways of measuring ballplayers' performances (spin rates, launch angles and all the rest) and analyzing those numbers, MLB teams probably develop a "book" on opposing players faster than ever before, maybe even starting with minor league data.
David, how long do you think that process is taking these days? Is it a certain number of days in the big leagues? A certain number of PA's or IP?
Do you think it varies with whether or not a young player is deemed to be good enough to be "worthy" of taking the trouble to put a book together on him?
Your article comes at a good time because I've been wondering about a lot of this. Is there a Royals player currently on the roster who's capable of consistently hitting above .300, walking 100 times, getting 100 RBI or 30 HR (outside of Salvy repeating his 2021 performance)? Is there anyone in the rotation capable of consistently winning 15 games or being a #1 or #2 starter? And is Melendez really going to be a long-term lead-off hitter? I'm just not seeing any of that... yet.
First post...long time reader.
I like the OPS and wRC+ comparisons (WS team and now): I think it gives a great perspective. As a season-ticket holder, my mood has changed drastically (for the better) in the last couple of weeks!
Some what off topic but to contend in 23 they need to win more games(duh) but if you look at this years team they are 21 games under - all they needed to do was to win 2-3 more games a month over the last 4-5 months in order to be in the playoff hunt. I am sure we all can find a couple of games each month where the outcome was more a result of the Royals losing than the other team winning.
I believe that the 2023 roster will be mostly the same as the final roster of 2022.
I was hoping the Royals could have swung a trade at the deadline to acquire SP Gavin Stone out of the Dodgers system. Been following this guy all year. KC may have missed their window of opportunity though, as he's been lights-out and other teams and evaluators are taking notice. He'll be rocketing up the prospect lists soon.