Year Two of the Matt Quatraro tenure. Time to take a step up this year. Active in free agency and trades this offseason. A new look pitching rotation and bullpen. Will the young players take the leap up offensively? Bobby Witt extension? New stadium? Will Vinny recover from injury? Salvy taking aim at the Royals record book? Will Cole Ragans turn into the best Royals starting pitcher since Greinke 1.0?
Free Agents/Trades Acquisitions
Seth Lugo, SP
Michael Wacha, SP
Kyle Wright, SP
Hunter Renfroe, OF/DH
Will Smith, RP
Chris Stratton, RP
Nick Anderson, RP
Adam Frazier, 2B
Garrett Hampson, INF/OF
Matt Sauer, RP [Reply]
Originally Posted by poolboy:
sorry but Massey has back issues and hasnt done jack squat in the bigs
I love him too but lets be honest here...we needed big league insurance in the infield
Oh, what big league insurance did we get that's better than Massey? Over the last 69 games of 2023 Massey had a .700 OPS and .241 BABIP. Seems to me that he was just extremely unlucky, but still produced well enough for a 2B. [Reply]
Originally Posted by GabyKeepsMeWarm:
Biggest jump I'm able to find is the Atlanta Braves from 90 to 91. 29 game jump in wins from 65 to 94 wins and a World Series appearance in one year.
This is what Gemini (googles AI) told me
Arizona Diamondbacks (1999): +35 wins (65 in 1998 to 100 in 1999)
Baltimore Orioles (1989): +33 wins (54 in 1988 to 87 in 1989)
Baltimore Orioles (2022): +31 wins (52 in 2021 to 83 in 2022)
Tampa Bay Rays (2008): +31 wins (66 in 2007 to 97 in 2008)
San Francisco Giants (1993): +31 wins (72 in 1992 to 103 in 1993) [Reply]
Originally Posted by GabyKeepsMeWarm:
Biggest jump I'm able to find is the Atlanta Braves from 90 to 91. 29 game jump in wins from 65 to 94 wins and a World Series appearance in one year.
If my memory serves the Braves AND the Twins went from worst to first that year and met in the World Series.
It was a long time ago so I could be wrong about that. [Reply]
Originally Posted by dlphg9:
This is what Gemini (googles AI) told me
Arizona Diamondbacks (1999): +35 wins (65 in 1998 to 100 in 1999)
Baltimore Orioles (1989): +33 wins (54 in 1988 to 87 in 1989)
Baltimore Orioles (2022): +31 wins (52 in 2021 to 83 in 2022)
Tampa Bay Rays (2008): +31 wins (66 in 2007 to 97 in 2008)
San Francisco Giants (1993): +31 wins (72 in 1992 to 103 in 1993)
There we go. Nice find. Kinda knew I was wrong about that Braves team.
So there is a precedent of going 30+ more in wins from one season to the next. But I'll stand by my previous comment of the Royals going from 56 to 90... It's possible, though quite unlikely as that is a lot of history to overcome in one season.
Would love to see it though! Gotta think 90 wins gets you a playoff spot and likely wins the Central. Though winning the division doesn't mean much anymore. [Reply]
Im just worried about Massey and his back...maybe the Royals thought so too and signed two utility guys just in case...or maybe its a coincidence [Reply]
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho:
Massey is a pretty awesome defender, and offers a lot more pop and upside than Frazier. It should be a nice upgrade.
Not sure how they’ll shake out the roster, but a Loftin demotion seems likely (which is weird since he’s their 3 hitter against lefties).
Hampton offers them some OF insurance for Isbel in cF, so short of just releasing Frazier I don’t see an alternative.
Drew Waters is crushing it in Omaha and would you say he's a better defender than Isabel? [Reply]
Originally Posted by BWillie:
I would bet you and ungodly amt of money that we don't win 90 games. Just an absurd amt of money.
Yeah i'd like to get in on that with you. I mean this is cool and all and 10-6 is better than 6-10 but people are really taking a 16 game sample size and running wild with it. The Royals have a shot to be a little more competitive than we thought but finishing .500 or better is still much more pie in the sky than it is realistic. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Why Not?:
Yeah i'd like to get in on that with you. I mean this is cool and all and 10-6 is better than 6-10 but people are really taking a 16 game sample size and running wild with it. The Royals have a shot to be a little more competitive than we thought but finishing .500 or better is still much more pie in the sky than it is realistic.
It's penbrook vs BWillie bet. Tread carefully on that one. [Reply]
Just talked to Salvador Perez. MRI this morning revealed a grade one groin strain. He says there’s no pain. Just a little tightness/pinch. He hopes to play tomorrow. He went straight to Matt Quatraro’s office when he arrived and lobbied to play tonight. He lost that battle.
