I don't think I'd say he doesn't have much... I'd say he doesn't have enough to make it viable for the Royals to trade him.

They're likely to get more for him at the trade deadline than they would in the offseason, if he's healthy and having a good year. I don't think that will happeneither, but we'll see.

The thread that spawned this discussion reads like an almost-Orioles fan-esque trade scenario... packaging broke dicks/spare parts for good players.

Mozeliak made a mistake in holding on to guys like Adams, Wacha, Wong... flawed products of that farm system who played over their heads initially and spiked their value, but who have fallen back to earth.

At one time, Wacha+Wong would have been almost enough to get Carlos Gonzalez from the Rockies. Now, not so much.


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Eh, Adams sure.

Wacha has been burdened with injuries and Wong has been ****ed around with by an incompetent boob

Can't wait to see Wong finally master that home run stroke of his.

Cain has quite a bit of value to a team expecting to win now. Like the Rangers, Orioles, Mets, Nats, someone like that. But 1/2 the teams probably wouldn't be all that interested in a one-year guy making some good money (8M or so?). He wouldn't bring back a top-25 prospect, altho some teams might overpay.


At any rate he will have more value to us anyway since we expect to compete next year.

Yeah. His appeal would be pretty limited in terms of the number of teams, as it is limited to a team that is motivated to make an over-the-top deal before a window closes. His value to those types of teams would be really high, though.

The Nationals and Mets are probably the two biggest matches for KC. I don't think the Cardinals actually match up well at all.

It's conceivable KC and Washington could make a deal happen with Cain and Wade Davis that improves both teams in 2017.

KC would need to get something like Reynaldo Lopez, Erick Fedde, Austin Voth/AJ Cole and Andrew Stevenson back to make that deal, though. And just not sure Washington is willing to pay that sort of price.

Minor update:

It seems like all the Beltran noise is leaning away from KC... Red Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees and Astros are the currently reported leaders for his services. The reunion would be cool, and I think he still has a few great offensive years left in the tank (especially with consistent rest for his legs).

Pretty quiet for KC in general, which isn't a surprise. Most of Moore's moves have either happened in the first few days after the WS or around the Winter Meetings.

Matt Holliday feels like a Royal to me....whether good or bad....

Verlander's fiancee oh she mad


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sorry Rick but you didn&#39;t get any 1st place votes? you didn&#39;t win. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ByeFelicia?src=hash">#ByeFelicia</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MLB">@MLB</a> keep up with the times and fire those writers</p>&mdash; Kate Upton (@KateUpton) <a href="https://twitter.com/KateUpton/status/799038668589715456">November 16, 2016</a></blockquote>
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http://moejackson.com/wp-content/upl...-trailer-2.gif

Holliday would be an excellent fit for DH. He can still rake and without playing the field, his injury liability goes way down. Put up similar numbers to Cuban Breakfast, while missing about 40 games or so.

Didn't he take less money to go to NY right as KC's window opened? I think he has less than zero interest in coming back here.

That was more money and years than KC was likely offering, at the time, as I recall.


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Astros trade for Brian McCann, sign Josh Reddick -- 4 years/$52 million

More details on Reddick deal. Doesn't seem too bad.

Source: Josh Reddick, Astros agree on 4-year, $52 million deal
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/1...rth-52-million

The Houston Astros and free-agent outfielder Josh Reddick have agreed on a four-year, $52 million contract, a source close to the situation told ESPN's Buster Olney.

The agreement, which is subject to a physical, was first reported by Yahoo! Sports and confirmed by ESPN.

In 155 combined games between the Oakland A's and Los Angeles Dodgers, Reddick hit .281 with 17 doubles, 10 home runs and 37 RBIs, while also providing steady defense in right field.

Reddick got off to a slow start with the Dodgers following an Aug. 1 trade, but he finished batting .258 with two home runs and nine RBIs in 47 games with his new club. He ended up tied for the major league lead with a .400 batting average in September, going 26-for-65 in 20 games for the Dodgers.

According to FanGraphs, Reddick ranked sixth among major league right fielders with six defensive runs saved.

Drew Butera re-signs for 2/$3.8 million

Not that it matters much who your backup is but why are we bringing him back?

Why wouldn't they bring him back? He's solid back there and actually put in a lot of effort to improve at the plate, which he did this year. Not a bad signing.

Because they like/trust his defense and he fits in well with the team, would be my thought.

Also will say this... if they're REALLY pinching every penny and need to cut payroll, they wouldn't be spending several million dollars on a position they could fill for a million or less.

Could be the first sign they're not as poor as DM is positing.


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Is there any way that contract signifies that he'll be catching more and giving Salvy time off or at DH? Or do you think it's more that they won't be pinching pennies as much as they said?

He also had a 0.75 WHIP last season.

And much of the female portion of the fan base sighs in relief.

(As well as some of the men too).

Not so much on the first part (Ned is still going to do his best to Kendall poor Salvador Perez). But I think the second part may be dead on...

(There's some hope tied up in that, too.)


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If we believe the new Drew is the guy who finally hit last year, then yeah the $$ is worth it. He's got many many years of awful hitting before that tho. If I had to guess, the odds seem strong that he'll revert. We'll see

Butera 2016 vs RHP .316/.356/.526
He's our new DH

Other news
Tony Cruz DFA
Tim Collins*free agent
RHP Andrew Edwards, RHP Jake Junis, C Cam Gallagher, 1B Samir Duenez added to 40-man roster

The Cardinals just signed Brett Cecil for 4 years/$30 million, in case you needed a reminder how expensive pitching is.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Already have heard from multiple executives and agents who think Brett Cecil&#39;s four-year, $30.5M deal with St. Louis is a market changer.</p>&mdash; Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/800047297157537792">November 19, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Can only be good for Wade Davis' stock.

Man, Jansen and Chapman are probably both getting $20 million AAV.


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Full no trade for Cecil. What a joke.

I've always thought that too.



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John Sickels' Top 20 Royals prospects for 2017

Butera is still a career .198/.253/.295 hitter. His one and only positive offensive year came last year with very unfavorable peripherals going forward in terms of sustainability. In addition to the fact you don't want to risk Butera and Salvy both getting hurt. IMO, last year will probably be an anamoly from Butera at the plate, but I would love to be wrong.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It&#39;s a blockbuster. Mariners send RHP Taijuan Walker and SS Ketel Marte to D-Backs for Jean Segura, Mitch Haniger and Zac Curtis.</p>&mdash; Bob Dutton (@TNT_Mariners) <a href="https://twitter.com/TNT_Mariners/status/801632031260045312">November 24, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Really like that deal for Arizona.

Not sure Segura is a great fit in Seattle... that huge ballpark will sap some of his offense/power, and he's not a great defender at SS.


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Given that this is the last year that we'll have this core of players, I'm extremely frustrated with the possibility that the Glass' are turning back into misers.

Remains to be seen.

Dayton Moore said the same things this year he has said for each of the past several years, starting in 2013.

Let's get through the Winter Meetings and see some major signings come off the board before we start making judgments about what they're actually doing.

I'm still hopeful they'll end up with a reasonably priced FA to take most of the DH ABs and a few other useful pieces.

Still pining for Matt Holliday (whose market has been surprisingly quiet), Steve Pearce (who has seen some interest), and a few "prove-it" type arms.

It's all right Imma win the Powerball and buy a controlling stake in the ballclub.

just an interesting piece. probably more fluff than anything. but i'd like to get duncan's opinion on this hypothetical trade.

http://www.federalbaseball.com/2016/...ight-look-like

Dayton Moore always plays the "woe is us" card, then turns around and signs Ian Kennedy, Volquez, Morales, Rios and on and on.

Although I'm optimistic, I think he's going to make a legit run at re-signing some of this group. That won't be cheap and maybe that will inhibit our ability to sign FAs. Especially when guys like Brett Cecil are getting $30 million contracts. Any decent established FA is getting at least 10-15 million a year, if not more. Given the last 5 years of evidence, I'd wager any "miser"-ness will be coming from Dayton and not Glass.

That's all fine, but you would think Moore wouldn't want to necessarily paint himself into that corner at the very beginning of the offseason. It won't matter if we sign the guys we need to sign and improve where we need to, but it's just a weird strategy to come out and say that.

That's just in case we get ****ed across the board.

There's that, too. Setting up the excuses early.

He's done this in every offseason since 2013.

If they were really willing to offer those high level prospects, you absolutely take it. Although, if you are saying our window is 2017 and you want to go all in again as the Royals, that throws a wrench into it. I myself wouldn't hesitate doing that trade as I don't like to over-value relievers, especially one with arm issues last year.

I doubt the Nats would have all three of those guys in a deal for a rental reliever, however.

He literally says this every year. We won the flipping World Series last year, and he said it then too. It's just how he plays the game. Look at how they had 100% convinced Mellinger and McCullough that there was no way we were re-signing Gordon. They were writing articles for the Star with 99% confidence that we'd have to find a new LF because Gordon was gone.

"We're giving you the opportunity to join the kc royals but this is all the money we have" could be a thing also at this point.

Best team in baseball the past three years.

I would jump all over it

About one year ago. This is why Mellinger and McCullough were both stunned when Gordon signed in KC. The front office had convinced them it wasn't happening. People were saying Glass is cheap then too. The Royals front office just likes playing the "poor us" card. Maybe they won't sign anyone, but after 4 straight years of playing this game I don't buy it.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I don&#39;t doubt it. Barring a philosophical change from KC, the expected AAV for Gordon does not fit their budget. <a href="https://t.co/IgupyZCBLH">https://t.co/IgupyZCBLH</a></p>&mdash; Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/McCulloughTimes/status/677240725436801026">December 16, 2015</a></blockquote>
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That return is very close to what I proposed earlier in the thread... would love it. I don't think it hurts KC at all in 2016, either, because Lopez is a better option for your last starting spot than anybody you could reasonably acquire, and you free up a bunch of money. Missing Davis at the back end would be tough, but you'd be better in the rotation and could add a quality bullpen piece for half of what Davis is gettin. Paid.

Stevenson is an excellent CF who profiles as a very similar player as Cain, actually. He should be ready to take over full time in 2018 and might be able to give you a boost at midseason 2017 if you need him.

Voth is also a really nice throw-in piece that gives you a good depth piece to the rotation.

If KC completed that deal, and then used the saved Davis money to sign Luke Hochevar and Steave Pearce, or Matt Holliday, I think it improves the team more than keeping Davis and taking a flyer on SP on a budget.


He's not painting himself into a corner. He's setting himself up for negotiations with agents. Just like he has he past several years.


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Should also note I think it's more than the Nationals would be willing to pay... would think one of Stevenson or Lopez, with a preference for Lopez.


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Looks like Volquez is actually going to get a 2 year deal. That's pretty good for him considering the year he had last year.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">sources: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/marlins?src=hash">#marlins</a> close to signing Edinson Volquez to 2 year deal</p>&mdash; clarkspencer (@clarkspencer) <a href="https://twitter.com/clarkspencer/status/803412146113552384">November 29, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Goodluck to him...thx for the WS championship

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Source confirms: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Marlins?src=hash">#Marlins</a>, Volquez in agreement on two-year, $22M contract, pending physical. First reported: <a href="https://twitter.com/clarkspencer">@clarkspencer</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/flasportsbuzz">@flasportsbuzz</a>.</p>&mdash; Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/803417678996193280">November 29, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Appreciate Eddie's contributions. He had some great games on our run. Curious to see what we're going to do moving forward.

The Brewers non-tendered Chris Carter who hit 41 HRs last year. I know he's a big power, low contact guy but he is a shithead as well or something?

That's a lot of power...wonder if the Royals will try to get him.

Beat me to it. He's worth a flier. Weird thing about him is he has no split advantage, either last year or for his career. It's identical. I'd have bet anything he killed LH but that's not the case.

206k last year. Maybe not really fit with what we do. Or our park. But 41 bombs is still impressive. Baltimore should sign him to try and break the all time HR record for a team.

Carter can mash it, but he also strikes out so much. Doesn't seem to fit our profile. It's also interesting that so many teams have given up on him.

@FlannyMLB: As Winter Meetings approach, #Royals will listen to all trade offers, including those on Wade Davis. http://atmlb.com/2gFGJlq

Is there a team who isn't listening?

I'm in Cardinals country & I guess there's a rumor going around that they have inquired about getting LoCain. They heard the Cards are offering Wong, Grichuk & Weaver.

I told him the Royals would easily do that deal. I told him the Cards would be stupid to do that though.


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We know that rumor is false, because it'd have already happened if it was real.

If the trade is something like what Anthony Castrovince proposed the other day (Davis for Reynaldo Lopez, Austin Voth, and Andrew Stevenson) that improves KC overall in 2017, I think it will happen. Only a few teams have the motivation, surplus value and players to make that happen, though.


If the Cardinals or another team are willing to overpay like that for Cain, also makes sense for 2017 while improving you for the future, too.

Grichuk could play RF against righties and CF against lefties, with Dyson playing CF against righties and Dozier or Orlando getting RF starts against lefties.

Wong is the starting 2B and can sit versus lefties.

Weakens your offense at one spot but improves it two others. And also bolsters your SP quite a bit. If the Cardinals want to do a crazy overpay like that, I'll take it.

Here's the question: can you do both deals and make the team better in 2017?

Let's examine.

with the $15 million you're saving in salary swaps, you can go get some bullpen help AND sign a Matt Holliday type bat to DH.

Bullpen becomes:
Herrera
Strahm
FA signing (Hochevar? Holland?)
With good depth

Lineup, have to shuffle more. I'd be tempted to go:

LF - Gordon
RF - Grichuk
1B - Hosmer
DH - Holliday
3b - Moustakas
C - Perez
CF - Dyson
Ss - Escobar
2B - Wong

That's a completely balanced L-R lineup. Grichuk is a lower OBP guy than I'd like hitting 2nd, but it makes more sense than Escobar and should help him see fastballs to hit.

7-8-9 is a bit light, but tons of speed there and the ability to be productive playing small ball.






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I just don't see that lineup as a very good run scoring lineup

I think there's very little chance the Cardinals actually give up that much for one year of Cain, so it's all kind of moot...

But that lineup's success would depend, like any 2017 Royals lineup's success is going to, on bouncebacks from guys like Gordon, Hosmer, Perez, and Moustakas.

I think Holliday is an upgrade from Morales (who is primed for one more great season). Wong would be an upgrade at 2B even with his floor performance. And Grichuk would be another bounceback type who offers a big upgrade in RF.


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Just heard on the radio during an interview with Mike Sweeney that Cuthbert went down to Arizona for fall league and did nothing but work at second base. No batting, he just brought his glove and got in a ton of work at second base. He also said with the stuff Staumont had going in the start he saw, Staumont could absolutely step into the 5th spot of the rotation and produce. So, if Cheslor does indeed move to second (because of concerns with Mondesi's bat) then I think we definitely pick up a bat this winter.

Cuthbert's power should also get better, he was just 23 last year.

Like a case of the clap, Colby Rasmus to the Royals rumors have returned:

http://kingsofkauffman.com/2016/11/3...lby-rasmus-dh/

Yes, no?

I'm no expert, but his greasy head seemed to always do well against us.

Just like Hunter Pence, I'd rather him be on our team than have to face him.

Somebody said we should have signed Rasmus two years ago. I wonder who that was. :hmmm:

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lw...73uyo1_500.gif

that is not really a rumor, it's a blogger suggesting that we do that...

Look, for a song...sure...he is a good bounce back candidate. But I think the money is better used for the bullpen or rotation.

Grace Jones has aged really well.

Per Ken Rosenthal on Twitter:

Just proposals so nothing concrete.

Cuthbert's .731 OPS would have been the 11th-best in the AL last year among 2B with at least 300 ABs. It would be a major improvement from what KC had last year, but he would need to step it up to be a plus bat at 2B.

Cuthbert at 2B could be ugly. Would guess he needs to play deep to improve his range and even then won't be incredibly rangy. His arm is big enough for that to work, assuming he can get to 2B for the turn.


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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sources: MLB and the MLBPA have agreed on a five-year deal.</p>&mdash; Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/804139911129481227">December 1, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Jarrod Dyson > Rasmus or Carter

I really really would HATE to roll with Mondesi next year, but I cannot fathom how in the hell Cuthbert could play 2B. He is super slow, and below avg defensively at 3B (albeit not by much) so I don't know how he would play 2B.

But, 2B is certainly the biggest hole on the team, so if he can do it. That would be fantastic.

And, I'm going to shoot someone if we keep talking about the need to pay some fat guy 15M a year to play DH when we have great internal options. Focus on 2B, OF, hell I'd rather even look for a SS of the future rather than pay some fat guy to play DH when we have Cuthbert/Dozier/Salvy/Hosmer to fill it.

What if it's an older guy in great shape like Carlos Beltran or Matt Holliday? Or a guy like Steve Pearce who can play a bunch of positions?

I don't think they're going to go that high on salary. But $10 million in this market would but a lot of production, especially if it's a guy like one of those two who can play a position or two. They're a guy short in the middle of the order without another signing, even if Moustakas comes back strong.

Cuthbert is a .750 OPS guy. That's below average at DH.

Dozier is an unknown.

Hosmer is going to get, at most, 10 games at DH and probably not even that many.

Perez might get 20. Maybe.

Gordon might get 20 and Cain 25 in a rotation situation.

The offense needs a boost to make them a true threat to win the division/make the playoffs/etc. just rotating guys through seems unlikely to get it done.


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What kind of OPS do you expect out of Cuthbert when he is 28?