*** Official 2014 AL Champion Royals Off-season Repository ***

[Anyong Bluth]

So, I didn't see a thread started, and all the others are pretty maxed out to the point where a fresh thread would be needed soon either way.

Time to share the run up to ST & and another memorable year in the making!

[kcchiefsus]

I'm quite curious if any of our minor league hitters will rebound from the horrendous year they all had last year. They pretty much have to unless we want to be in some trouble in the not too distant future. We have a certain window for certain and I hope we are able to choose the right moment to sell off whatever pieces we have to rebuild the minors. I just don't want to see this team return to crap after finally tasting success. The minor league system needs to do better at developing these players.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

I really cannot believe fans ever bring this up, as if it's a good point. It's a terrible point: successful franchises are predicated on spending money correctly. Without exception. Even the Yankees are subject to that. Every dollar we waste is a dollar we could've utilized elsewhere, so of course it matters.

That said I don't know if we made wise or foolish acquisitions. Nobody does as of today.

That simply isn't true. Glass can raise or lower the payroll as he sees fit. There have been plenty of years where he could and should have spent 50% more than he did. This offseason, there are posters complaining that we overpaid the players we got.

Who cares if we overpaid them? We got them. If we had paid them less, we weren't going to use that money to sign another player. It simply would have been the same roster with a smaller payroll.

I simply don't buy the idea that the extra $10M spent this season was borrowed from future seasons. There is nothing in the past that would suggest this to be the case.

[Infidel Goat]

I still have a lingering suspicion that we move one of HDH to trim the payroll. With no glaring holes, I'd guess we are now looking for prospects that would be ready in a year or so in return. Just my hunch as a lifelong Royal fan.

[siberian khatru]

Can Edinson Volquez Duplicate His 2014 Success?

Some highlights:

So if we are to say what was the biggest driver behind Volquez’s renaissance last season, the main theory likely comes down to his improved mechanics, which allowed him to repeat his delivery, throw more strikes, display better command, and be more effective with his curveball. He also changed his pitch mix to focus more on his sinker and curve, without backing away from his changeup too often.

If his mechanics truly were out of whack before last season, and if that was the cause of his success, then it seems safe to say he could at least replicate his 2014 numbers to some extent. I think some regression is inevitable no matter what, but it’s not impossible for him to be an above average pitcher again next year. Dave Eiland is basically a wizard, the Royals have a great defense behind him, and Kauffman Stadium should be beneficial.

...

It’s true that Eiland could help Volquez, but the Pirates’ coaching staff is one of the best in the league at helping pitchers find more success, so I don’t know how much more the Royals can do in that department, other than trying to make sure his delivery is consistent. But even that may not be enough.

The Royals do have a great defense, but much of their value is in the outfield. Good outfield defense is still a good thing for groundball pitchers, but the infield defense is a bit more important, and the Royals are not quite as elite in that department. They’re still very good, to be sure, but I don’t think they’ll help Volquez as much as the Pirates and their shifting did. His BABIP will almost certainly increase.

As for the stadium, PNC Park is much more of a pitchers’ park than the K, both overall, and in the dinger department. Volquez had a home run per fly ball rate of 9.1% in 2014, and that was with a home park that ranked 29th in baseball in home run park factors, according to FanGraphs, and 28th according to ESPN. That dinger rate will likely increase next year.

There’s also the bit about Volquez moving to the American League, where he’ll be facing 9 batters instead of 8 batters and a pitcher holding a bat. Making that transition is likely going to hurt his peripherals, which could very easily result in worse results.

Plus, Volquez had a lot of success with Russell Martin catching him last year, and Martin is one of the best receiving catchers in the game. Salvador Perez is arguably one of the best overall catchers in the league, but framing is probably the weakest part of his game. Volquez may not get as many extra strikes without Martin behind the plate.

I love that Volquez has been able to maintain his fastball velocity, and he should be able to eat some innings at the back-end of the Royals rotation. I can absolutely see a scenario in which this deal works out for the Royals, with Volquez slotting in nicely to the 4th spot in the rotation. But color me skeptical of this deal being a huge success. I’m not sure what color skeptical is, maybe beige? Taupe? I digress.

There are so many red flags in his profile that indicate those innings may not even be league average. There’s still some value in getting innings out of a starter, but it’s always better if those innings are good innings. I really want to be wrong about this, and perhaps the changes we saw in 2014 will carry over. Even if he does stick with those changes, though, there’s no guarantee that he’ll be able to produce the same results in a more difficult league. I’m hoping he can at least be an adequate fifth starter, but the massive downside potential cannot be ignored. The Royals simply have to try and hold off that downside for two more years.

[RockChalk]

Originally Posted by cabletech94

ready for spring training........

You can switch to Royals 100% around 3:15pm (CT) on Sunday.

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by RockChalk

You can switch to Royals 100% around 3:15pm (CT) on Sunday.

I wore my Royals American League Champion t-shirt to work today. I am ready now.

[Sure-Oz]

@Rotoworld_BB: Matt Kemp trade held up due to hip arthritis - Matt Kemp | LA http://dlvr.it/7sGcb6

[Hootie]

I'm pretty impressed with the Royals offseason, I must say.

I'm also impressed with David Glass and I'm happy our payroll will exceed $100M.

Nothing wrong with adding complimentary pieces to an AL Champion

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by bsroyals54

Hopefully Moustakas will figure out his BA, that would be a massive upgrade to our order, Esky hit more than .50 over what he did in 2013 this year and it yielded excellent results

Moose won't figure anything out. He is what he is. It's laughable, that all of our fans and the Royals FO think of him as an integral player moving forward. He is never going to be a legit major league starter. The sample size is there, the eye test is there. The Royals are banking on the fact that he was good in about a 15 game stretch in the playoffs, thinking that he has "figured it out". He hasn't figured shit out. Players always go through 15 game stretches where they are hot, because Moose did it in the playoffs means nothing. Needs going into this year was

1. RF (which COULD have been done cheaply with a platoon with Dyson. I realize you could platoon Rios, but they won't do it based on the amt of money they spent on him

2. 3B
3. SP
4. DH....waay down the list because you can use a rotating DH based on match ups and not really lose much.

To me, based on the wins you are accomplishing by paying all of these guys, it's money spent horribly. All three of these guys could flop. All of them. And I don't put this on Glass, Glass has been great, especially for the last 3-4 years. He's ponied up man.

[Hootie]

I think Moose could very easily be a .230/.320/.450 guy

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by BWillie

Moose won't figure anything out. He is what he is. It's laughable, that all of our fans and the Royals FO think of him as an integral player moving forward. He is never going to be a legit major league starter. The sample size is there, the eye test is there. The Royals are banking on the fact that he was good in about a 15 game stretch in the playoffs, thinking that he has "figured it out". He hasn't figured shit out. Players always go through 15 game stretches where they are hot, because Moose did it in the playoffs means nothing. Needs going into this year was

1. RF (which COULD have been done cheaply with a platoon with Dyson. I realize you could platoon Rios, but they won't do it based on the amt of money they spent on him

2. 3B
3. SP
4. DH....waay down the list because you can use a rotating DH based on match ups and not really lose much.

To me, based on the wins you are accomplishing by paying all of these guys, it's money spent horribly. All three of these guys could flop. All of them. And I don't put this on Glass, Glass has been great, especially for the last 3-4 years. He's ponied up man.

For many players, it would be appropriate to give up on him now, but Moose's minor league pedigree is too good to do that now. He needs to fail at least one more time before we declare him to be a bust and cut or trade him off.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by alnorth

For many players, it would be appropriate to give up on him now, but Moose's minor league pedigree is too good to do that now. He needs to fail at least one more time before we declare him to be a bust and cut or trade him off.

The only reason I don't hate Moose more is because he's cheap. If he starts getting up to the 3-4M range, you cut ties with him, immediately. But I never envision him to be better than a 1.5 to negative 1.5 WAR player. He had a good WAR three seasons ago, but he gets more credit than he's due defensively because of Escobar's range and they weren't properly accounting for things like that, and the shift in WAR at that time.

[ShowtimeSBMVP]

#Royals have signed former Braves RHP Kris Medlen. Had TJ surgery last March. Was 15-12 with 3.11 ERA in 2013. Was 10-1, 1.97 in 2012

— Jeffrey Flanagan (@jflanagankc) December 18, 2014

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by ChiefsandO'sfan

#Royals have signed former Braves RHP Kris Medlen. Had TJ surgery last March. Was 15-12 with 3.11 ERA in 2013. Was 10-1, 1.97 in 2012

— Jeffrey Flanagan (@jflanagankc) December 18, 2014

That's awesome.

[Hootie]

Welp. That's awesome