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]
Keith Law was on Petro last week talking about how bad this draft is. I’m paraphrasing but KL basically said this may be the worst draft he can remember- dearth of top-end talent and not much depth. [Reply]
Originally Posted by louie aguiar:
Keith Law was on Petro last week talking about how bad this draft is. I’m paraphrasing but KL basically said this may be the worst draft he can remember- dearth of top-end talent and not much depth.
Keith Law is a jagoff. But he’s probably right this year. [Reply]
Originally Posted by GabyKeepsMeWarm:
Not dismissing you, but I’d like some evidence of that. MLBPA is the most powerful union in the world, so they basically get whatever they want, so I could certainly see it happening. It just doesn’t make any sense. How does a lottery benefit the MLBPA?
The Royals are literally their dream scenario. Bad team spends because they can't wait around as they keep getting screwed in the lottery and can't count on it. Royals maybe make the playoffs with players anyone could have acquired and it sends the message every team should spend to do the same thing as if it's just that easy. In theory that will drive demand and raise the average contract meaning players get more money, which is a one of the biggest goals of the MLPA. [Reply]
I can't seem to find an answer on this, but I have reason to believe this is the first guy since 2000 the royals have drafted in the first three rounds with true 80 raw power. I think moose was 70? I'm glad we at least entertain the idea that power hitters will be just fine hitting at the K and we don't have to avoid them. [Reply]
Originally Posted by GabyKeepsMeWarm:
Not dismissing you, but I’d like some evidence of that. MLBPA is the most powerful union in the world, so they basically get whatever they want, so I could certainly see it happening. It just doesn’t make any sense. How does a lottery benefit the MLBPA?
Because the MLBPA was frustrated with teams like the early 2010s Houston Astros and late 2010s Baltimore Orioles that were carrying low payrolls and not spending money on free agents and benefitting from it with top five picks in the MLB Draft.
There's a lot of talk about tanking and how to fix it. This, according to sources, was part of the MLBPA's proposal today -- similar to what it has proposed in the past. The league's counter has been simple: the top four picks are subject to a lottery with no other adjustments. pic.twitter.com/Ikz41Wk36h