Thanks for the deep dive and I agree with a lot of what you said l (that “this is for Opening Day not who gets the most reps” particularly resonated). I did notice you left off Lovelady and Hernandez who are both out of options. Do you think they will be playing in another org by Opening Day?
I’m hearing that for Hernández at least, he is likely to get another option. I went back and forth on Lovelady. He threw just 4 innings last year, so he needs to have a massive (and healthy) spring. He seems like the kind of guy the Royals keep until the bitter end of camp to try to get through waivers.
Thanks for the clarification! If that's the case, that probably puts less pressure on Royals to keep Hernandez in Majors. Really curious to see how he does with new staff. The stuff is electric but the command is an issue.
And I get it about Lovelady. There's some potential there but yeah, he needs to have a really big Spring to make a push. I'm curious if things have changed after they have acquired so many lefties.
It would be nice if Garcia just forced his way into the picture, either out of camp or early in the season. Not sure the Royals realize it, but prospects are allowed to hit the ground running and be great from the start. It happens on other teams. BWJ and Vinnie P. gave me hope that it can still happen in KC. (Sort of.) We'll see how aggressive they are with him. Gotta be a middle ground between the rush job they pulled with Mondesi and the way they dragged their heels on Vinnie.
Just asking for your gut feeling. I know you can't predict the future. At least, I assume you can't. Do you see either Isbel or Waters being the long-term answer in CF? I feel like both could potentially be good enough in the right lineup, but not sure I see either of them ever joining the ranks of great KC CFs like AO, Wilson, and Cain.
If I could predict the future, I don’t think I’d be writing about the Royals. :) I’m higher on Waters than Isabel at this point. Just see more upside there. But neither are in that Otis/Wilson/Beltrán/Cain echelon. Those are some special players.
I'm convinced that they see MJ as the regular LF and think they will carry Fermin as reserve catcher. Probably won't carry 3 reserve infielders and I still think there is a chance Lopez is traded with Garcia waiting in the wings and Drury able to play SS in a limited capacity. Eaton has a lot of defensive versatility which makes him almost certainly a lock for the 26 man. My thoughts and I live in Surprise in the winter and will take in lots of workouts.
Mr. B, despite his defensive shortcomings, I maintain that Dozier could become at least a serviceable occasional DH/Pinch-hitter/Reserve IF-OF should he learn to deal with his kryptonite, the slider.
I would lock him into a batting cage and force-feed that pitch to him until he learns when to either lay off it completely, or at least try to take it the other way.
I appreciate the limited Dozier optimism. I don’t see it happening. And for him to be the third-highest paid player on the team with a limited budget, I need a bit more. That’s why the Royals will give him another opportunity. With what will probably be the same underwhelming results.
Thanks for the deep dive and I agree with a lot of what you said l (that “this is for Opening Day not who gets the most reps” particularly resonated). I did notice you left off Lovelady and Hernandez who are both out of options. Do you think they will be playing in another org by Opening Day?
I’m hearing that for Hernández at least, he is likely to get another option. I went back and forth on Lovelady. He threw just 4 innings last year, so he needs to have a massive (and healthy) spring. He seems like the kind of guy the Royals keep until the bitter end of camp to try to get through waivers.
Thanks for the clarification! If that's the case, that probably puts less pressure on Royals to keep Hernandez in Majors. Really curious to see how he does with new staff. The stuff is electric but the command is an issue.
And I get it about Lovelady. There's some potential there but yeah, he needs to have a really big Spring to make a push. I'm curious if things have changed after they have acquired so many lefties.
And now I’m speculating he’s the odd man out when Greinke needs to get added to the 40-man!
It would be nice if Garcia just forced his way into the picture, either out of camp or early in the season. Not sure the Royals realize it, but prospects are allowed to hit the ground running and be great from the start. It happens on other teams. BWJ and Vinnie P. gave me hope that it can still happen in KC. (Sort of.) We'll see how aggressive they are with him. Gotta be a middle ground between the rush job they pulled with Mondesi and the way they dragged their heels on Vinnie.
Just asking for your gut feeling. I know you can't predict the future. At least, I assume you can't. Do you see either Isbel or Waters being the long-term answer in CF? I feel like both could potentially be good enough in the right lineup, but not sure I see either of them ever joining the ranks of great KC CFs like AO, Wilson, and Cain.
If I could predict the future, I don’t think I’d be writing about the Royals. :) I’m higher on Waters than Isabel at this point. Just see more upside there. But neither are in that Otis/Wilson/Beltrán/Cain echelon. Those are some special players.
I'm convinced that they see MJ as the regular LF and think they will carry Fermin as reserve catcher. Probably won't carry 3 reserve infielders and I still think there is a chance Lopez is traded with Garcia waiting in the wings and Drury able to play SS in a limited capacity. Eaton has a lot of defensive versatility which makes him almost certainly a lock for the 26 man. My thoughts and I live in Surprise in the winter and will take in lots of workouts.
I have a couple of drafts of this article with three catchers. There was quite an internal struggle on my part.
With you on Eaton and the reserve infielders but I’m thinking a couple of NRIs make the team.
Mr. B, despite his defensive shortcomings, I maintain that Dozier could become at least a serviceable occasional DH/Pinch-hitter/Reserve IF-OF should he learn to deal with his kryptonite, the slider.
I would lock him into a batting cage and force-feed that pitch to him until he learns when to either lay off it completely, or at least try to take it the other way.
I appreciate the limited Dozier optimism. I don’t see it happening. And for him to be the third-highest paid player on the team with a limited budget, I need a bit more. That’s why the Royals will give him another opportunity. With what will probably be the same underwhelming results.
I would not be surprised to see Comargo win the 3B job this spring. He has had some success in the bigs.