This already has the makings of becoming one of GMDM and Ned's patented bone-headed roster decisions that has absolutely zero reasoning behind it.

I am a fan of each of them, but that doesn't make these things any less infuriating each time they happen.. especially when they happen on a continuous-basis.

Sometimes, they’ve been defendable. This is not.

They need to “find out” on Hunter Dozier this year. That means he needs everyday ABs.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I was trying to get Ned to commit to announcing Homer Bailey as his starter Wednesday:<br> <br>Ned: &quot;It&#39;ll be in the notes when the time is right.&quot;<br><br>Me: &quot;Well, he&#39;s here.&quot;<br><br>Ned: &quot;How do you know he’s here?&quot;<br><br>Me: “I saw him.”<br><br>Ned: &quot;Maybe it was a look-alike Homer Bailey.”</p>&mdash; Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/FlannyMLB/status/1112387446191390720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2019</a></blockquote>
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LMAO

Why are Owings & Duda on this team? Please go away.

Owings has that Gretzy Grit. Idk why Duda is here

Owings I understand, he’s a year removed from being a decent hitter and can play all over... Duda hasn’t been a league average player in along time, Andy O’Hearn has the same skill set. I’d rather have Frank the tank out there.

Duda is here so we can trade his ass away again!

Planning to go to a game in Omaha. Need some advice on some members who actually have gone to the game there.

Deciding if I should get a Diamond Club or Club tickets. What is the difference? Any perks to either one?

Hahah we are gonna get no hit by the worst pitcher in the AL

no hitter over! way to go alex!

shut out over!! way to go alex!!

ROFL

Ever since beating Oakland in the wild card game, Ned has been unleashed

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I have no words to describe this week. All I can do is thank the countless number of people who have gotten me here. For years, I thought today would never be possible. But… <a href="https://t.co/stD0F1d7p1">https://t.co/stD0F1d7p1</a></p>&mdash; Kyle Zimmer (@kylezimmer11) <a href="https://twitter.com/kylezimmer11/status/1112507302031044608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Any updates on possible draft picks? I’m hoping there are two can’t miss prospects out there.

Far and away my favorite moment of the weekend was the matchup between Burr and Hamilton. The guys on radio had some fun with that.

Good weekend any time you win a series, but the pitching's gonna screw us hard.

Any chance we move Lovelady up quick? Him, Zimmer and Kennedy wouldn't be horrible IMO.

Last year his WAR was negative, the year before it was less than 1 and the year before that it was 1.5. There is no reason he should be on this team.

A dream scenario for me is that by September Lovelady, Staumont, and Zimmer shore up the bullpen to close out games.

Granted, this would require Staumont to find the damn strikezone.

Oregon State C Adley Rutschman has separated himself as the best prospect but there is question about whether a team will take him first overall because C play less and have higher injury risk than other position players. In addition to having elite upside defensively, Rutschman has been the top college hitter this year.

Cal 1B Andrew Vaughn has emerged as my personal favorite. He has been a consistent force in college, putting up career numbers that rival/exceed those of recent college superstar bats like Kris Bryant. He has the ability to hit for a high average, with good plate discipline and OBP skills, and plus power. He’s likely limited to 1B as a pro, which might cause the Royals to pass on him.

There are several elite high school prospects jockeying for position at the top, too. Bobby Witt Jr has fallen down rankings a bit due to questions about his hit tool but is still in the mix. CJ Abrams is another name I’ve seen connected to KC. He’s a speedy SS with developing power.

The Orioles have an all-new front office, so it’s hard to predict where they will go.

A bit cold yesterday, but sunny and no wind. Nobody at the game yesterday. Royals have new promos for $5beer and cheaper concessions, the staff practically jumps at you to help answer questions.

Sad our fans abandoned the franchise. Gotta win a WS to draw

The Royals have a spot on their 40 man roster which will likely go to Homer Bailey who is scheduled to start Wednesday's game. But, the Royals will have to move someone off the 25 man roster. I've narrowed it down to two; either Barlow or McCarthy could be optioned to Omaha. Any other possibilities?

I wish we lived closer. We’d go all the time. Win or lose, we love the ball park atmosphere. Especially, my kids. We’d probably have some sort of season package.

Don't think that is exactly fair. It's cold, early in the season and team is tanking on purpose.

Tanking on purpose? I wish they were tanking on purpose and go the route that Houston and Chicago Cubs went, but this isn't that. You don't sign losers like Hamilton, Duda, and Owings if you're tanking on purpose. You trade away Merrifield if you're truly buying into a tank and rebuild.

Dude, you want the worst record in baseball...you sign duda, hamilton and Owings. They aren't trying to win this year. They and the Orioles are going to be 1/2 again this year for the top pick. They're going to trade off anything of value at the deadline.

My guess is Barlow. But who knows. They've done a few unexpected things lately, so they could surprise. McCarthy is definitely an "up/down" to Omaha candidate this year if he can't take the next step and build off last year. I've been disappointed with what I've seen of him thus far. Part of me is just ready to get Ynoa, Lovelady and maybe Newberry and Staumont up and see if the higher quality arms can rise to the occasion. That creates 40 man issues that I'm super doubtful we're ready to address this early.

I'm not sure what they have that has any value.

True. Most of this trash is here just to get us to the all star break - I think after that you shed all the corpses and start to see some guys like Lopez, Staumont, Lovelady etc.. I think merrifield is a bridge player for us between waves... but the point is that the future of the team is in Wilmington.

I don't think Moore has the cajones to trade Merrifield, but we'll see.

I love the idea of Lovelady and Ynoa making it before the end of the year. I doubt we'll see them any time soon. I think the Royals are hoping guys like Boxberger, Diekman, and Peralta have a good first half so they can be moved at the deadline. Even Homer Bailey or Duffy could be gone mid year if they have good first halfs. And, if we want to live in fantasy land, we can hope that Ian Kennedy has a great first half in the bullpen and someone will take him and his salary off the Royals hands.

Kennedy as a semi-lockdown back-end arm or closer is really the only possible way we unload that contract. It's a decent strategy, if that's part of the thinking. Of course, we would get nothing more than a lottery ticket in return if we're intent on unloading most of the salary (which we should be). Not sure how many teams will bite on that.

You absolutely do add some veterans if you’re in tank/rebuild mode, with an eye on flipping them at the deadline.

The key is not blocking any young players who are MLB ready. Duda does that, Owings does that, if they’re taking ABs away from O’Hearn or Dozier.

They would trade Merrifield if someone pushed forward the right offer, but I don’t believe it came. With the way teams now hoard prospects, it is going to get harder for teams to justify trading players with lots of control just because the window is still several years off.

The lack of success of recent tankers like the White Sox also offers a cautionary tale. What they got for a player very similar to Merrifield has not really impressed.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Per sources, the Royals have discussed the Brandon Finnegan and Dan Straily situations, but it&#39;s not likely anything will go further than that. They are at 39 on the 40-man roster and that final spot likely goes to Homer Bailey.</p>&mdash; Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/FlannyMLB/status/1112727100165947393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Bring back Finnegan!!

It’s just great out there. We were behind the 1B dugout when Zimmer came off, really nice ovation. He exhaled very noticeably when he hit the steps.

Boston Red Sox 2019 opening day salary = $225 million.

KC Royals 2019 opening day salary = $100 million.

https://www.royalsreview.com/2019/4/...from-last-year

Meh on Finnegan’s return.

He didn’t do a good job staying in shape after his initial debut, he chafed at being relegated to the pen, and his stuff regressed.

He also trash talked the Royals on the way out, then fell flat on his face.

If he’s willing to apologize and accept being a bullpen guy, cool. Would have to show some change to get this front office believing again, though.

This FO usually doesn't take criticism from its players too well. Crow was gone the instant he was remotely critical of the FO (same with players on the shitty teams pre-2013). I'd be a bit surprised if Finny was brought back after getting a lot more critical than Crow was after he was traded - especially since he's let his physical condition slide immediately after the 2014 playoffs.

I believe José Mijares was in the same boat as well in 2012. He was mysteriously released out of nowhere in August with a 2.56 ERA to that point. Maybe it wasn’t for publicly saying anything, but I remember that one being a shocker at the time with no other sensible explanation other than “he was an asshole”.

I was trying to remember who that was! If I recall correctly it was later reported that Mijares' attitude about the org was impacting Esky and the Royals wanted to remove that toxic behavior in the locker room ASAP.

Please no.

Duncan, if the Royals get off to a hot start over the next couple of weeks.

Why not sign Keuchel or Kimbrel? They could still trade them right? Would there be a negative?

Not sure either is willing to take a one year deal, but if you can get Glass to approve an extra $20 million in payroll, sure you do it.

Royals are winning the division this year, I don't know why they wouldn't sign these two dickweeds.

Royals traded for Susac.

Jesus, WHY?

Susac...the final piece of the puzzle.
Excellent.

Homer Bailey the starter tomorrow

Obviously for his skills with the bat.

Someone start up a GDT!! This game is for sole possession of first place

First blown save of the year. #yostedagain #whenwillheretire

Over/Under 1.5 games above .500 at any point again this season?

WTF must Mondesi be slugging right now? Bonafide superstar.

If it happens, it will be in the next couple games. I don't think the bullpen is going to allow it to happen long-term.

May god help us all.

And we haven't even gotten into the 4th and 5th starters. Who knows what kind of mess that will be.

Our third starter is coming off 3-years in a row of having a 6.1 ERA or higher.

That's cool. That's really cool.

We have some good bullpen arms, but Ned won’t use some of them and the others are still in the minors.

Similar to our closer....

Ned sounds pissed.

Hey Bailey did win a game last year!

I agree. I’d have to go under.

Justin Morneau is ripping Yost because he pulled O Hearn in the ninth

Not a Royals thing but it has a little Royals flavor and I love when athletes get pissed and go off.

With the Padres up 2-0 and hitting Grienke pretty good, they get the first two hitters on in the 2nd and proceed to let the pitcher swing away. Grienke is visibly pissed at the obvious insult. Since then he’s K’d 10 of 12 outs and hit 2 HR’s driving in 4. Man, I love that crazy ****er sometimes.

10,024

Tomorrow's day game is going to make you jizz your pants.

Royals new general manager focused on attracting new fans

https://www.readingeagle.com/sports/...cting-new-fans

absolutely pathetic... our young star plays his heart out, and the worst free agent signing in royals' history, banished to the bullpen, cannot record outs vs. 2 batters he was ahead of 0-2 in the count.

This bullpen is going to lose 60+ games by itself.

This will be something we gave to get used to.

Although I wish it would work out, I think Kennedy's best impact on this team in 2019 will be as a middle reliever. I'm not sure his repertoire will play well in one inning, shut-down situations. Same with Boxberger. Power arms need to anchor the back of the pen. I'd even be cool if they kept Peralta as the closer for now. As much as he makes you bite your nails, he seems to wiggle out of situations.

Hopefully Ned doesn't go full Yost and hands late inning duties over to Zimmer. Would be an awesome story arc if he ended up being our next lights out closer.

One of the things that made the '14-'15 pens so dominant was the differential between the junk-baller starting pitchers and the hard throwing late inning relievers.

Kennedy in middle relief makes sense.

I'll take the over..........

Now you're talking about attendance? I brought this up a few years ago and was damn near banned from the thread.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">To make room for Homer Bailey on the 25-man roster, the Royals have DFAd right-hander Chris Ellis.</p>&mdash; Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/FlannyMLB/status/1113450325820747777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2019</a></blockquote>
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This homer bailey shit is going to turn out terribly. Also Kennedy as a closer is ****ing dumb.

Hey PB, when is the last time you were at the K?