Royals Review: FanShots

Predicting the 2009 Royals

royalsreview — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:26:50 -0000

Predicting the 2009 Royals

This piece predicts the Royals will sign Rafael Furcal, Paul LoDuca and Bobby Abreu this off-season.

And trade Mark Teahen.

Royals hire Seitzer, Gibbons as coaches

BabyBlues — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:10:31 -0000

Royals hire Seitzer, Gibbons as coaches

Those that suggested Seitzer got thier wish as he will take over as batting coach. Gibbons, former Toronto manager will be the bench coach, and appearently Rusty Kuntz decided that he couldn't stay away and will be back on the mic for 2009.

Royals Finalize Coaching Staff

Royals Nation — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:07:20 -0000

Royals Finalize Coaching Staff

Kevin Seitzer has been named hitting coach and John Gibbons - the former Blue Jays manager - has been named bench coach for 2009. Former 3B coach Luis Silverio will serve in Player Development. Rusty Kuntz returns as 1B coach and Dave Owen becomes the new 3B coach.

Discuss!

Ticket Prices Up in 2009

306008 — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 03:35:02 -0000

Ticket Prices Up in 2009

Is it fair to raise ticket prices for us fans?

Glass has made a big profit the last couple seasons. Maybe he should eat a $1 per seat for most of the seats to keep the prices low. I know that tickets are already low compared to the rest of the league, but so is our talent level.

Cortes toasted in AFL debut

gordonrules — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:23:01 -0000

Cortes toasted in AFL debut

1.2 innings pitched, 7 hits, 5 runs (all earned), 1 bb, 5so and 2 hrs allowed. Current ERA is 27...WOW. Well I guess it can't get much worse for Dan.

OT: Rany on Fivethirtyeight.com

DarthYoshi — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:03:00 -0000

OT: Rany on Fivethirtyeight.com

Rany has written another guest column at fivethirtyeight, which is run by BP's own Nate Silver. He muses on the possibility of Bin Laden acting as another October surprise (as he was, of sorts, in 2004).

Worth a read. You may have to scroll down a bit to get to the post with Rany's column.

Adam PacMan Jones is DESTROYING OUR NATIONAL INNOCENCE

royalsreview — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:12:06 -0000

Adam PacMan Jones is DESTROYING OUR NATIONAL INNOCENCE

At least half the people I've seen on ESPN this afternoon sound as if they want him dead.

A nation is shaken.

JoePo Interview

royalsreview — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:25:52 -0000

JoePo Interview

Joe Po interview at MLBinterviews.com...

Quirk and Cockrell to KC?

RoyalsRetro — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:13:17 -0000

Quirk and Cockrell to KC?

We all know that hitting coaches and other assistant coaches can potentially add 10-15 wins a year to a team. Jamie Quirk, a former Royal and wingman to crab aficianado George Brett, has helped lead a team to the World Series as a bench coach with the Rockies. Alan Cockrell, a KCK native, helped the Rox lead the league in OBA in 2007 as hitting instructor.

Could we see one or both of these men hired in Kansas City to replace Mike Barnett and Luis Silverio? If hired, should we already begin printing "Royals: 2009 AL Central Division Champion" t-shirts?

Prince Fielder a Royal?

Home Run Tony Cogan — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 03:02:31 -0000

Prince Fielder a Royal?

Interesting post on Prince Fielder and where he may land. In the comments section there are several comments about a Greinke for Fielder swap. Initially I thought it sounded good but I think we could do much, much better.

I also saw that J.J. Hardy is a possible trade candidate. What does everyone think, would Greinke+Teahen+prospect land Fielder + Hardy? My feeling is that it might take more or depend on who the prospect is, but I don't think I'm great at judging trades. I don't know about Fielder - career 130 OPS+ and .370 OBP is pretty good, but I'm not sure about is defense (fielding pct. below ML avg, I couldn't find zone ratings).

Would someone like Hochevar or Davies bring back one of the two, if a prospect was thrown in? Thoughts?

$90 Million - Unheard of?

Home Run Tony Cogan — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 02:52:07 -0000

$90 Million - Unheard of?

Most of the way down the first page, Heyman mentions the Brewers' payroll going to an "unheard of" $90 million with the Sabathia acquisition earlier this year.

Just to piggyback off of the earlier fanpost regarding what the Royals payroll should be, I think it's interesting that a comparable team is considered to be out of it's comfort zone with a $90 million payroll. My take is that, while it may take close to $100 million for the current Royals team to really be a contender next year, it's unrealistic.

The real problem (as many have pointed out numerous times) is the sins of the past that have left a mostly-barren major league team and upper-minor leagues. I think, from time to time, when the situation is right, that a team like the Royals could go to $100 million on occasion in order to get "that last piece", but a sustained payroll above $80 million is probably very unrealistic given our demographics. Thoughts?

RAMRAM

BabyBlues — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:48:33 -0000

RAMRAM

It's been pointed out on the board that Ramon has in many ways been better then Soria this season. If we are for putting Soria in the rotation, what about RamRam? Keep Soria as closer and place Ramerez in the rotation? What says the board?

ManRam

eboston — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:58:35 -0000

ManRam

If he would sign with the Royals how would you react? (Was mentioned on MLBTR chat)

My Friend, the Cardinals Fan, says the dumbest things

eboston — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:25:25 -0000

My Friend, the Cardinals Fan, says the dumbest things

Friend: "Kyle Lohse is a solid #2 starter"
Me: "Yeah, for that team (St. Louis)"
Friend: "No for any team" How do you have a conversation with someone who has no real interest in baseball?

Gordon vs. Zimmerman vs. Braun

devil_fingers — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:14:25 -0000

Gordon vs. Zimmerman vs. Braun

Interesting article comparing the "big three" third basemen from the 2005 draft: Alex Gordon, Ryan Zimmerman, and Ryan Braun. While nominally a fantasy article, that doesn't really come in until the end, and the comparisons as far as how each player was handled and their possible futures are interesting.

While I do think there is something to the notion that the popularity of fantasy baseball has negatively effected baseball fan loyalty or whatever, I think articles like this show that fantasy ball also can increase fan intelligence, since it shows the interest that somewhat serious fantasy players have in projecting players in general -- which, in a period in which the development of young players is paramount (especially for small market teams like the Royals) should be of interest to any more-than-casual fans.

Of note in this article:

-- Makes a good point that Braun was handled the most "sensibly" in the minors. I think that Royals fans should keep in mind that Gordon only had one year in the minors, and that was AA. I'm not basing this on anything, but I wonder if it wouldn't be helpful to think of at least the first half of Gordon's 2007 as his AAA time, and the second half of 2007 plus the first half of 2008 as his rookie year. It wouldn't help in terms of service time, but it might increase the level of patience fans have with young Alex.

-- Given the universal hype for him pre-2007, Gordon has been the biggest disappointment so far (although he doesn't make much of the fact, particularly from a "real baseball" standpoint, that Gordon so far remaining at third base is one big plus he has versus Braun), but also notes that he is making important improvements this year. Would have been better if he had looked at Gordon's left-right splits (as did our own NHZ earlier this season, which show that, in fact, Gordon's abilities versus RHP improved markedly from 2007 to 2008. Indeed, what's really holding him back is his struggles against lefties. I do think he got better against them the last few weeks of the season. We'll see next year.

-- He sees Gordon as continuing to improve, but probably not breaking out until 2010. I'm not sure I agree with that, but discuss amongst yourselves.

Chat with Trey Hillman

Royal Kingdom — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:56:21 -0000

Chat with Trey Hillman

Want to know how Trey feels about LOOGYs? Want to know how Trey feels about platoon splits? Want to know why Trey can't decide on facial hair vs. clean shaven?

Ask Him....

Kenny Williams: the Royals are the AL Central team to watch next season.

royalsreview — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 23:34:14 -0000

Kenny Williams: the Royals are the AL Central team to watch next season.

-As reported by defrocked ex-BBTNer Harold Reynolds during Game Four of the Rays-Sox series.

Just wondering: If the Royals are unwilling to trade right-hander Zack Grienke except for a monster...

RoyalsRetro — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:29:37 -0000

Just wondering: If the Royals are unwilling to trade right-hander Zack Grienke except for a monster package, then why don't they sign him to a contract extension? Grienke, who turns 25 on Oct. 21, is a free agent after 2010. The Rangers made a big offer for him before the July 31 non-waiver deadline, and the Braves have maintained steady interest. The Royals continue to say that they will move Grienke only if they are overwhelmed.

Wonder what that "big offer" was.

Ken Rosenthal

[Joe] Torre's older brother played with the Braves. One of the turning points in his life came in...

devil_fingers — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:57:08 -0000

[Joe] Torre's older brother played with the Braves. One of the turning points in his life came in 1955, when [Joe] visited the Braves' clubhouse and met one of his idols, Warren Spahn. 'Boy, are you fat,' said Spahn tactfully. He was fat, but he had been kind of hoping people wouldn't notice. The scouts had been noticing. Torre began to work on his weight, and emerged as a prospect.

--Bill James, The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, 375. James ranks Joe Torre as the 11th greatest catcher of all-time, and the best player in the majors in 1971.

[What this is]

Jose Guillen Just Wins Awards

devil_fingers — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 19:51:05 -0000

Jose Guillen Just Wins Awards

The Hardball Times gives our boy JoGui their prestigious Joe Carter Award, saying this:

'Jose Guillen drove in 97 runs in his 598 at-bats this season. However, only having walked 23 times, he had a meager .264/.300/.438 line.'

Add this to Tom Tango's recognition of Guillen's 2008 achievements as well as the KC press's constant reminder of his 'good run production', and I'm sure Dayton Moore will ribbing Joe Posnanski for his foolish criticism of the signing all winter.

THT does give AL Rookie of the year to Evan Longoria over Avilanche, but, in their words, 'it is pretty close'.