Just tell me Gathright wont be back next year.

Tell me that at least.

It sure seems like his time in KC might be done. He seems to have all the tools, except for one...hitting.

It wouldn't surprise me if he were traded in the offseason. He's been disappointing here, but he still has one major tool and has flashed potential at times to get on base at a good clip...some team might want to take him on as a project. I doubt we'd get anything great in return....but if we could get anything for him I think that'd be pretty good....he is at best our 4th OF...

Kila with another HR tonight. That's 7 in 12 games since his promotion. His line is now .386/.500/.863 (1.363 OPS) with 7 HRs, 10 BB and 11 Ks in 12 games. That's a pretty decent start.

About 26 hours until the deadline to sign the draft picks. I guess it's rumored that Melville's deal is done but they won't announce it until the last minute to avoid it influencing other contracts. As for Hosmer, I haven't heard anything for a long time other than it will probably come down to the last hours like Moustakas last year.

I really think they HAVE to get both signed for the future of the club, and to send a message that the Royals are no longer going to be cheap.

Both first-round talents, Melville and Hosmer, got signed. KC's minor league system should get pushed into or close to the Top 10 with back-to-back unbelievable drafts...according to those who judge those things anyways. The lower minors for KC is looking unreal stacked...but the players at that level are always unknown quantities until they hit AA and do well (or fail).

So far through 5 games, it looks like they will swap every game or so between CF and DH, although they started Orlando in RF the first couple of games. He is tearing it up so far though, .381 - 3 doubles 1 triple and 2 HRs 1 for 2 in SB.



Great sign hopefully they both pan out.

Nice article from Jim Callis of Baseball America about the BoSox spending over ten million in this year's draft, making them the first to do so and making the most money ever spent during the draft.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/?p=463

Only one problem...as Rany Jazayerli points out. The BoSox didn't even spend the most money in the draft this year? Anyone want to take a crazy guess on which team outspent the BoSox this year in the draft??

http://www.ranyontheroyals.com/

Ugh!

On a positive note: Kaaihue is still raking (see you next week sir), and Hosmer went 1-3 with a 2B, RBI and BB in his first professional game with the Chukars.

Hosmer can't play because of Alvarez

Boras is an A-Hole.

Nice win over the A's tonight they should sweep the series

Billy Butler is on a nice streak

Is it bad that I would rather listen to the Royals on the radio

Than the Chiefs?

Man, I've completely stopped posting here for some reason. Gotta get back on it.

Royals playing pretty well in September, one game behind Detroit for 4th place. 71 wins so far, an improved win total for the third year in a row. I don't think .500 is an unreasonable expectation heading into next year..we have some nice arms and hopefully some hitters can continue to develop. Gordon's improve plate discipline is a great sign....Butler has been up and down...he's great against lefties but just awful against righties. Hopefully he can make an adjustment next year..and hopefully either Shealy or Ka'aihue can emerge as a legit 1B next year..............

There is reason for some legitimate optimism finally...but DM still has work to do.

Haha same old Koop, you never waver.

You don't think things are getting better??? I think we've been getting better for three years now...but it takes a long time to go from a 56 win team with no farm system whatsoever to a contender with a small payroll.

What is your opinion on Greinke? Trade him, sign him long term, or go to arbitration?

I would agree. I think they sorta need to stop signing weird stop gap free agents though and either go big and young or don't go at all. IMO.

PS: I didn't watch many games this season, what is your assessment on Alex Gordon's progression?

Try to sign him to a reasonable extension. Put some club options after 3-4 guaranteed years. He's pretty close to a legit ace right now and he's 24 years old. No reason why he shouldn't get even better next year. Good control, lot of strikeouts, great mechanics/extremely durable........I say sign him UNLESS a team just absolutely blows us away with an offer...which I don't think is happening. Unless some team is willing to offer four really good prospects, including a couple ready to be good players at the MLB level immediately...then keep him here.

I'm very high on Gordon. He got off to a hot start..then struggled for a while..and then in the 2nd half has been for real. .912 OPS in the 2nd half of the season with a .400 OBP. That's outstanding and it's not a fluke. He's improved against LHPs lately and his pitch recognition/plate discipline is off the charts right now. Such a dramatic increase in plate discipline is usually a good indicator that a big power surge is coming..which could take him from a 18-20 HR guy to a 30 HR guy easily. He improved his OPS over 60 points from last year so far and has been really good in the 2nd half...a .850+ OPS with 25 HRs is what I expect from him next year...and with his vastly improved plate discipline and the willingness to make adjustments this year..I see no reason why it shouldn't happen. He's 24 years old, no reason he can't live up to all the hype he had when drafted.

No, I agree with you, I just found it funny that you've been saying the same thing as long as this thread's been around.




It looks to me like he has changed his stance significantly since he came off the DL. Seems more closed, and is bending at the waist more vs. standing upright. Don't know if that is the difference or not, just an observation.

Unrelated...Mike Barnett canned at the end of the year? I don't know how they can keep him.

Yeah, I have been saying progress is being made for a couple years now..and I believe it's true. It has been slow progress, but it's better than the alternative.

I don't get to watch all the games....so I wouldn't know if Gordon's stance has changed....tough to tell from the radio. Even before his injury though..his plate discipline has been extremely good for a few months now..that's the best sign.

Mike Barnett is gone. I have word from someone with actual inside sources that Barnett knows it and is just finishing out the year. The favorite to replace him is Gary Denbo, most recently the hitting coach with the Blue Jays. He was the hitting coach in the Yankees minor league system when Hillman was managing there and when Hillman was managing the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan. I'd say there's about an 80% chance or better than Denbo is hired pretty quickly after the season ends and Barnett is let go. I don't think hitting coaches have a ton of impact....but a LOT more hitters got worse under Barnett than got better.....a change is justified.

God we're playing well. Gil with an amazing year after the first month..Greinke's climbing the ranks in the AL....Davies seems to have found something..the offense is coming together well...few young players actually starting to fulfill some potential perhaps, moreso next year hopefully. By god..with a good offseason..we might be able to expect a winning season next year. Maybe........

Mike Barnett has been released...or not offered a contract to return....not exactly sure what his contract situation is/was. Either way, he is out, I THINK it is official...or it will be very soon.

Also, look for Billy Butler to be traded this offseason. I'd say there's about an 80% chance of him being moved as the organization has gotten a LOT higher on Ka'aihue this year....

Just think, if things had gone slightly different, the Royals could have Evan Longoria and David Price.

OUCH.

You could say that about a ton of players. I'm happy with the direction of our organization, we've gotten better three years in a row, our farm system, especially in the low minors, is really becoming quite good........I can live with having Mike Moustakas over David Price. We'll see in ten years which player has the better career.

What about Longoria versus Hochevar?

The Royals never had a shot, based on draft order, at Price.

But they passed on Longoria.

I think Gordon was drafted the year before, and believed they have everything they need in their 3B.

Baseball drafting doesnt work that way. If you have the top pick, you take the top talent.

Oh I'm not so sure it explicitly doesn't work that way, the Sox have been need drafting for years. Yeah, I know they've also been drafting pretty low for years but I think it's still the same. If KC thought they liked someone over Longoria after looking at all the situations (which was probably the case) they went elsewhere.

So? Every team passed on Albert Pujols multiple times. Players drafted after other players end up being better in every single draft in the history of MLB. Sure, I wish we had Longoria, but I'm not gonna get worried about every single player we passed up that becomes a good player. Again...our lower minors is becoming very impressive, our MLB team has improved three years in a row and could actually sniff an above .500 year next year...our pitching rotation has some legit talent..including one of the best young arms in the game potentially. I'm not worried about one guy who we could've drafted....and Hochever is gonna be a solid pitcher, his numbers show he was ridiculously unlucky last year....he'll be a pretty good pitcher...his GB rate leads me to believe he can be similar to a Derek Lowe type.

Pujols was an unkown. Was Longoria? I dont know, but I doubt he was, considering he was taken third. Yeah, it happens all the time, but I just wonder what DM would have done in that draft versus AB. Maybe he does the same thing, I dont know.

Obviously Longoria and Pujols had different circumstances, but he is just one example. You can literally name infinity situations where a player was passed and whatever....just not worth getting worked up about. If we had drafted a guy who couldn't get out of AA ball his entire career instead of Longoria...then I might get mad about it, but I have every reason to believe Hochevar will be a fine starting pitcher for us. We obviously can't make the exact right pick every single time, but we could've done a LOT worse with that pick.


DM's drafts have clearly been miles ahead of what Baird ever did. According to baseballamerica.com, we had the 2nd best draft in baseball this year...we spent the most money in our draft this year in baseball.....two first round talents this year with Hosmer and Melville, Moustakas was a great pick last year and had a great first season as a pro....not much to complain about with DM in charge...we're improving from top to bottom...

The example I've heard multiple times is in 2000 when the Royals took Mike Stodolka 4th overall, and the Phillies took Chase Utley with the 15th pick. There are like 3 players taken before Utley that I recognize their names.

The baseball draft is such a crapshoot, you just gotta hope the Royals hit more often than they miss, which hasn't happened in a while.

Here's their first round pick since they took Damon in 1992



2001 Jonathon Griffin, rhp 9
2000 Michael Stodolka, lhp 4
1999 Kyle Snyder, rhp 7
1999 Mike MacDougal 25
1999 Mike Paradis, rhp 13
1998 Jeff Austin, p 4
1998 Matt Burch, p 30
1997 Dan Reichert, rhp 7
1996 Dermal Brown, of 14
1995 Juan LeBron, of 19
1994 Matt Smith, 1b 16
1993 Jeff Granger, lhp 5
1992 Michael Tucker, ss 10
1992 Jim Pittsley, rhp 17
1992 Sherard Clinkscales, rhp 31
1992 Johnny Damon


Who (other than Royals fans) have heard of any of these guys other than Tucker, MacDougal, and maybe Snyder.
They definitely have sucked at drafting for a while, but these last 5 years have been much better, at least in the sense that they have reached the majors and have contributed.

2008 Eric Hosmer, 1B 3
2007 Michael Moustakas, SS 2
2006 Luke Hochevar, RHP 1
2005 Alex Gordon, 3b 2
2004 Billy Butler, 3b 14
2002 Zack Greinke, rhp

If they continue to draft the best player available rather than the best player that fills a need that they can sign, the team is headed in the right direction. Allard Baird being forced to draft college seniors and give them the minimum signing bonus all those years have really taken a toll on the talent. DM I think has the ability to spend the cash for the top tier talent now. If you're still reading wow!

Not sure what my point was but I've typed to much to delete it now.

A couple interesting articles regarding Matt Holliday and the possibility of the Royals trading for him.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writ...coop/index.html

This winter will be Holliday season
The Rockies have begun talking to teams about superstar outfielder Matt Holliday and are very likely to trade him this winter after determining they won't be able to sign him to a long-term contract when his current deal expires after next season. Some surprising small-market teams are said to be involved despite the great likelihood that they would have Holliday for only a year.

Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd has nothing but kind words for Holliday, and he's said to be willing to give Holliday a five-year deal. But Holliday knows that a year from now he can shoot for the same $200 million, 10-year target that Teixeira's aiming for.

O'Dowd has told colleagues that he'd love to keep Holliday but is resigned to being realistic about this. Thus he is said to be determined to find his best deal for the 28-year-old outfielder. While O'Dowd is open to different packages depending on the trading partner, he'd like to acquire a young pitcher who could become a No. 2-type starter as part of the package.

I wouldn't get any hopes up about Holliday...the Rockies would probably want Greinke and two more mid-level (or higher) prospects...at least in the beginning of discussions with all the teams. I can't imagine DM would be willing to meet that price unless it was guaranteed that Holliday would sign an extension here..and given that Holliday is a Boras client..that's about as impossible as it gets. Holliday is 99.9% guaranteed to test the FA market......so I don't think we'll be very active in Holliday trade talks.

I agree, but just being mentioned as a possibility is encouraging.

Yup, our front office has CLEARLY had a lot more to work with in matters such as these. A lot of people don't realize that we were the highest bidders last offseason for Hiroki Kuroda and that we had a huge offer on the table for Torii Hunter....spending way more money in Latin America, aggressive in Japan, adding minor league teams............tough to call Glass a cheap owner right now. Hopefully it stays this way for a while.....

Apparently, we nearly traded for Mike Jacobs last week...but the minor league pitcher we were going to send them had a medical issue. I'll post the link when I can find it...forgot where I saw it. It could just be a rumor. With Kila, Shealy, and Butler all in the 1B/DH discussions....the move would be questionable depending on the pitcher we were giving up. Jacobs has good power, but his OBP sucks.

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/baseball/story/741667.html


The link to the Jacobs to KC rumored deal that might be dead....or perhaps not if DM will sweeten the pot, which I doubt.




Another rumor involves Teahen to the Indians for either Ben Fransisco, Franklin Gutierrez, or 24 year old minor league OF Trevor Crowe. All three would options would be less expensive than Teahen...with Gutierrez having the most upside. I think acquiring Fransisco or Gutierrez would be a good deal...Crowe looks pretty average. The most important aspect is that all three would likely be the opening day CF next year if acquired..meaning DDJ would shift to LF (he is a sub-par defensive CF) and also hinting that Joey Gathright has run out of chances in terms of being a starter. Also important to note that according to Dutton (the reporter for the KC Star who covers the Royals), it is confirmed by sources from both teams that a deal is in the works. Teahen would likely shift back to 3B for Cleveland...they have given up on Andy Marte.

http://www.kansascity.com/385/story/859354.html

meh...whatever

Teahen seems like a nice guy and all, but I think he probably needs to go to another team at this point. He's just kinda in a rut or something here in KC.

I remember last year I think, KC was trying to acquire Gutierrez in a trade, and I've paid more attention to him since then. I'm not that impressed with him, but he's still young and could develop. It does seem like there is potential with him but I'd like Francisco more.

You rooting for the Rays Koop? It's frightening to think that a team with $41M payroll is this close to winning it all. If they do, I hope Glass is in a coma or something so he doesnt' think "see, it can be done, CUT PAYROLL!"

Yeah...Teahen is a great team guy...and though disappointing to us b/c of him being a part of the Beltran trade...it's not like he completely sucks. He'll probably get better once he gets traded and realizes that he needs to start picking it up a bit before he becomes a 4th OF for the rest of his career.

Yeah...Gutierrez was mentioned a lot when we were shopping Octavio Dotel at the deadline in 2007. Gutierrez is supposed to have the most upside (by far) of the three possibilities...and his defense is supposedly outstanding. Good raw power...if we were only giving up Teahen, I think he'd be a pretty good guy to take a chance on..worst case would be we end up with another Mark Teahen type player...underachieving, but still servicable. If I had to guess, I'd say it's most likely we do acquire Gutierrez...

Yeah, I'm rooting for the Rays. As for Glass.....he won't be cutting out any budget anytime soon....DM pretty much demanded before he took the job that Glass had to give him whatever money he wanted (within reason). If Glass started going back to his cheap ways, DM would probably start looking for another job. From all reports..Glass is extremely happy with everything DM has done and is committed to keeping payroll at a decent level..though it obviously won't be big or anything.

Teahen trade talks denied by Dayton Moore

#1 rule of being a hardcore Royals fan. Never listen to Dayton Moore.






A deal may or may not happen, but I'd be willing to bet huge money that talks have taken place. I HIGHLY doubt sources from BOTH TEAMS are both making up the same stories, with all the exact same details.

According to mlbtraderumors.com it was Carlos Rosa, and the Marlins were concerned about his shoulder soreness in August.

LINK

Yup......DM is apparently still pursuing Jacobs. Not sure whether he's trying to ease Florida's concern over Rosa's injury or is shopping other minor league arms....

Mike Jacobs = Kansas City Royal




Royals trade RP Leo Nunez for 1B/DH Mike Jacobs. I think this is a pretty good deal. Jacobs OBP is a concern, but can't argue with good power while playing in a tough HR park. I like the deal not because Jacobs is a great hitter..he's okay, but I am not a Leo Nunez fan..so I think we got pretty good value on him. He has good stuff, but he's so skinny he will simply never stay healthy..and we have plenty of guys who can step up and be a part of our bullpen..and DM has CLEARLY shown the ability to build a bullpen out of guys nobody has ever heard of. For what we gave up..I think Mike Jacobs is a pretty damn good return. Creates a lot of competition at the 1B/DH spots...look for Billy Butler to be traded for a starting pitcher later in the offseason. It better be a damn good pitcher or prospect..or I don't think I'll like that deal too much..DM seems to massively undervalue Butler.

Not only is he skinny, he had a very taxing motion, and will undoubtedly break down even sooner because of it. I like the trade, but it does seem to cause an even bigger "logjam" at first base and is also another left-handed bat in the lineup. This makes me think the Teahen deal might be closer than we're being led to believe. And/or they will now start shopping Butler/Kaaiahue/Shealy/Gload.

Overall, I'm pleased with the trade. God knows we need some power, even still. But, Gordon- Guillen- Jacobs 3-4-5 seems like it could work.

Now trade Butler for a pitcher better than Nunez and DM is really earning that money.

The general consensus is that Butler will be traded for a #3 type starting pitcher....similar to the Delmon Young deal last year. We'll see what happens..a lot depends on whether DM thinks Davies truly found something last year (his last 10+ starts were pretty good) or whether he remains at best a back end of the rotation guy. Greinke and Meche are dependable..Hochevar was extremely unlucky last year and should be fine.....which Kyle Davies shows up next year is a huge question.

Im not sure how I feel about this trade. For the Royals acquiring Jacobs seems redundant. They already have Shealy, Gload, Butler, and Ka'aihue. Jacobs is probably the best of the bunch at hitting right handed pitching though, but he will also need to be platooned and if hes playing first he'll probably need a defensive sub for him late in games. He has great power but he is overrated due to his poor on base skills.

The thing that saves the trade for me is that Leo Nunez just inst very good and has the same service time as Jacobs even though he is younger. The biggest reason for his great ERA this year is that his HR/9 innings was only 0.5 when coming into the season that was at 1.32. His groundball tendencies haven't seemed to change over this period so he will most likely revert back into a pitcher that gives up more than his fair share of homers and his true talent level is probably an average reliever.

So I guess from a true talent standpoint Id rather have an average first baseman than a average reliever and at this point the Royals need to be trying to acquire as much talent as possible then from there make trades to actually mold that talent into a good team much like what the Rays have done recently. If I were the Royals I would be looking to flip Jacobs to someone else fairly quickly if the right circumstances come up and I am curious to see what Moore does the rest of the offseason with the DH/1B logjam.