A.L. Central Smack 2015

[broncosmitty]

Seriously we will give you guys Pelfrey and Shane "scrappy" Robinson for Price.

And I'm thinking maybe Nolasco and a year supply of hugs to Cincy for Cueto.

I'll be purchasing playoff tickets in bulk!!

Can we have the hugs instead of Pelfry?

Take Leake instead, if we were buying, he's the guy I'd buy.

 

[MiamiVice]

The Royals starting pitching will bite them at some point.. whether it is in the last few months of the season for the division or in the playoffs in a 7 game series.. my bet is its sooner rather than later.

 

[MiamiVice]

I like how Royals fans keep comparing themselves to the Tigers.. even though the Tigers are in 3rd place and should not even be on their mind... its kind of cute.

 

[broncosmitty]

The Royals starting pitching will bite them at some point.. whether it is in the last few months of the season for the division or in the playoffs in a 7 game series.. my bet is its sooner rather than later.

I don't doubt it gets em in the playoffs.

Yost and a bunch of threes isn't a WS combination in my eyes.

But I don't see Minny going crazy enough to strengthen their staff to make enough of a run to take the division. Nor do I think they should. They don't need to. Just get in. Their time isn't now anyway. Any bit of PS would be gravy.

 

[MiamiVice]

3's???? The royals are a bunch of 4's and 5's.....There isn't a single royals starter I would want starting for my team in the playoffs... volquez would be a 4 in a good rotation and he is clearly the best they have.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

"Ventura and Duffy won't get better"

That's a lot of wishcasting if ever there was. Medlen is coming back Monday. There's a trade deadline as well. Chris Young is odd because he has always been an anomaly, but I am assuming he's not really an ace and I don't care what park or defense is in front of him. The odds of the rotation not getting better is pretty low one way or another be it trade or Ventura just regressing to his FIP. Early returns on Duffy's new delivery look ok, but not great despite what his era says.

The guys with a wRC+ of 115 or better include

Moustakas
Hosmer
Cain
Morales

I can give two shits if they don't have dingerz in a park in the low 80's of HR park factor. They just can't be horrifyingly bad ISO wise like last year.

Guys hovering around 100 most of the season include Perez and Escobar- both defensive stalwarts. I say mostly because these two are probably as streaky as anyone besides Hosmer.

Gordon's injury is not season ending, but Dyson has put up 2+ fWAR/150 based on defense and baserunning alone. A 70-90 wRC+ is pure gold from him. Just not Gordon. I hope to see him in right for the playoffs if Rios keeps well... Being Rios.

Basically, the only positions on the field to bitch about come playoffs are 2nd base and right field and their sub 60 wRC+'s.. And I doubt Rios sticks for the party if he doesn't get his shit together; though the past two weeks have been decent.

The BP was used a lot as well last year between HDH, I'll believe regression when I see it given the pen is much deeper this year. As for the rotation, Volquez has a FIP in the mid 3's, that's a #3. Nice to know Vice is still obsessed with the Royals. He just can't handle it, and he'll make a million excuses as to why to knock'em down a peg. Always has, and likely always will.

Home field might mean more to the Royals just because Chris Young in say Yankee stadium is basically suicide, but they aren't really seriously threatened for the time being.

When teams win a World Series with the corpse of Jake Peavy and Tim Hudson, I have to say the arguments about YOU MUST HAVE A GREAT ROTATION fall on deaf ears.

 

[navamind]

"Ventura and Duffy won't get better"

That's a lot of wishcasting if ever there was. Medlen is coming back Monday. There's a trade deadline as well. Chris Young is odd because he has always been an anomaly, but I am assuming he's not really an ace and I don't care what park or defense is in front of him. The odds of the rotation not getting better is pretty low one way or another be it trade or Ventura just regressing to his FIP. Early returns on Duffy's new delivery look ok, but not great despite what his era says.

The guys with a wRC+ of 115 or better include

Moustakas
Hosmer
Cain
Morales

I can give two shits if they don't have dingerz in a park in the low 80's of HR park factor. They just can't be horrifyingly bad ISO wise like last year.

Guys hovering around 100 most of the season include Perez and Escobar- both defensive stalwarts. I say mostly because these two are probably as streaky as anyone besides Hosmer.

Gordon's injury is not season ending, but Dyson has put up 2+ fWAR/150 based on defense and baserunning alone. A 70-90 wRC+ is pure gold from him. Just not Gordon. I hope to see him in right for the playoffs if Rios keeps well... Being Rios.

Basically, the only positions on the field to bitch about come playoffs are 2nd base and right field and their sub 60 wRC+'s.. And I doubt Rios sticks for the party if he doesn't get his shit together; though the past two weeks have been decent.

The BP was used a lot as well last year between HDH, I'll believe regression when I see it given the pen is much deeper this year. As for the rotation, Volquez has a FIP in the mid 3's, that's a #3. Nice to know Vice is still obsessed with the Royals. He just can't handle it, and he'll make a million excuses as to why to knock'em down a peg. Always has, and likely always will.

Home field might mean more to the Royals just because Chris Young in say Yankee stadium is basically suicide, but they aren't really seriously threatened for the time being.

When teams win a World Series with the corpse of Jake Peavy and Tim Hudson, I have to say the arguments about YOU MUST HAVE A GREAT ROTATION fall on deaf ears.

Let's not forget the 2006 Cardinals, who had Chris Carpenter/Jeff Weaver/Jeff Suppan/Jason Marquis/Anthony Reyes.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Let's not forget the 2006 Cardinals, who had Chris Carpenter/Jeff Weaver/Jeff Suppan/Jason Marquis/Anthony Reyes.

That team really should dispel the notion of "going all-in" with ANOTHER wild card now, but I digress. I'd rather see if the Royals can sucker a team to trade away a starter with a Finnegan centered package.

 

[RollingHills]

The Twins are probably not going to get a quality starting pitcher. We have six on the staff (May in bullpen) and Jose Berrios in AAA. We could certainly upgrade, but we do not go get high-paid starters, Ervin Santana being about as high as we will ever go. We are the land of 3-5 starters.

IF we make the playoffs, not having Ervin Santana will hurt. I think Kyle Gibson is for real. Good stuff, not dependable, but a keeper. He could be a wild-card game guy. Hughes and Pelfrey are OK at eating up innings, but will not provide dominant playoff starts. I like Tommy Milone as a change of pace guy. A guy like Mike Leake might be available, we are not hunting for Johnny Cueto types. Too rich.

10 games over .500. 50-40. Wow. Brian Dozier a lead off homer after his all-star homer? Trevor Plouffe a grand slam. Santana a shut-out to start the second half...

I see us getting a bullpen arm and a veteran shortstop if we decide to invest. Santana (Danny) has been worse than awful at the plate. Escobar has been infinitely better and he is a utility guy. A lot of people are saying Dodgers want to part with Jimmy Rollins to open door for Seager. There are tons of arms that throw 95 mph languishing on losing teams, that might be an easy find... heck we could use 2 or 3 new ones. Just do not sell off anything worth keeping.

Our time is yet to come.

 

[navamind]

That team really should dispel the notion of "going all-in" with ANOTHER wild card now, but I digress. I'd rather see if the Royals can sucker a team to trade away a starter with a Finnegan centered package.

Not to mention we've seen plenty of very good/historically good rotations fall short in the postseason. Oakland's Big Three, Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz, Halladay/Lee/Hamels, 98 Astros, 2003 Cubs (Zambrano/Prior/Wood), and Clemens/Oswalt/Pettitte, just to name a few.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

The Twins are probably not going to get a quality starting pitcher. We have six on the staff (May in bullpen) and Jose Berrios in AAA. We could certainly upgrade, but we do not go get high-paid starters, Ervin Santana being about as high as we will ever go. We are the land of 3-5 starters.

IF we make the playoffs, not having Ervin Santana will hurt. I think Kyle Gibson is for real. Good stuff, not dependable, but a keeper. He could be a wild-card game guy. Hughes and Pelfrey are OK at eating up innings, but will not provide dominant playoff starts. I like Tommy Milone as a change of pace guy. A guy like Mike Leake might be available, we are not hunting for Johnny Cueto types. Too rich.

10 games over .500. 50-40. Wow. Brian Dozier a lead off homer after his all-star homer? Trevor Plouffe a grand slam. Santana a shut-out to start the second half...

I see us getting a bullpen arm and a veteran shortstop if we decide to invest. Santana (Danny) has been worse than awful at the plate. Escobar has been infinitely better and he is a utility guy. A lot of people are saying Dodgers want to part with Jimmy Rollins to open door for Seager. There are tons of arms that throw 95 mph languishing on losing teams, that might be an easy find... heck we could use 2 or 3 new ones. Just do not sell off anything worth keeping.

Our time is yet to come.

Please God don't get Jimmy Rollins. He's a veteran yeah but not an upgrade talent wise at this point. I about died when I read that the other day.

I saw a Carlos Gomez rumor, would be cool but really not a priority.

The crazy thing for us is that while our offense is far, far from perfect we really only can/need to look at catcher and SS for a upgrade. Idk what's even a SS option maybe Segura? I would LOVE for the Pierzynski rumors to be true. That would be a nice cheap add.

And obviously we badly need bullpen help. We have a lights out closer and about 6 guys that are complete "duck and pray" types and then May who is still getting used to it.

Really thinking swapping May/Pelfrey is a double upgrade. Of course our GM don't see it.

 

[MiamiVice]

"Ventura and Duffy won't get better"

That's a lot of wishcasting if ever there was. Medlen is coming back Monday. There's a trade deadline as well. Chris Young is odd because he has always been an anomaly, but I am assuming he's not really an ace and I don't care what park or defense is in front of him. The odds of the rotation not getting better is pretty low one way or another be it trade or Ventura just regressing to his FIP. Early returns on Duffy's new delivery look ok, but not great despite what his era says.

If you are pinning your hopes on Medlen.. who is a year removed from TJ... Good Luck. Duffy is what he is. A #3 on his best day. Nothing you want starting for you in a playoff series. Ventura should be moved to the bullpen... He can NOT go more than 2 times through the order. For what ever reason teams tee off on the guy by the 5th inning. He isn't a top end mlb starter.. but may be a top end reliever.

I will bet you anything Moustakas BA keeps dropping. Teams figured how to use a shift against him and he can't beat it to save his life the last month. His batting ave dropped from .331 to .296 in 3 weeks.. and he sat a few games out of that too.. Its falling like a rock. He was hitting so far above his career numbers and had a Babip around .360... good luck there too.

We shall see how the rest of the season goes.. but I wouldn't want to bet money on KC's offense or starting rotation to get better... outside of a trade... which KC fans seem to fail to realize.. Your team already has its largest payroll ever... and is due to be in the 150 mil range next year before even resigning free agents or filling vacated roster spots... You are not going to add a bat or a starter with a high salary.. YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT!

 

[MiamiVice]

Here is a question for you moose...

Do you think KC will go into next season with a 140- 150 mil payroll or will they have to trade guys to lower expenses? Who do they move?

The 140-150 mil estimate is for guys under contract and arb raises.. it doesn't account for guys like Holland, Gordon, Young, or Guthrie that are free agents and will have to be replaced.

Basically KC will have to replace 2 starters, a reliever, and their starting LFer and will STILL add about 30 mil to payroll with contract raises that are due, arbitration, even before thinking about free agents...

Can KC operate at $150 mil? Does David Glass take it on the chin for a season? I for one am going to watch with interest. Its do or die time for Dayton Moore.. because odds are if they fail to make another long run, they are going to have to trade major pieces away just to lower payroll to a doable level.

 

[MiamiVice]

I was actually wrong on the last post... Holland is Arb eligible... good luck with that one...
Rios is a free agent too.. so you will have to get a new RFer also...

Ryan Madsen and F Morales are both FA also...

Royals projected payroll next year without resigning free agents is 146 mil... Estimated... Cain and Moustakas are going to get PAID in arb next year so it could be 150 mil+.
Basically the Royals could fill all the FA roster spots in house and still have a 146 mil payroll...

I guess they could trade holland for salary relief and get down to 133 mil... That is without resigning any free agents or bringing in any outside free agents... Do they trade Hosmer? He is gone as soon as he can leave.. him and Boras already have a meeting with the Yankees scheduled for 2018. Maybe they trade Moustakas.. he is a fluke anyways and he is about to get a huge raise... KC's starting rotation is going to be fun to watch next year... Vargas/Volquez/Duffy/Ventura/some scrub signed off the scrap heap.

Yankees/Red Sox/ Giants/Dodgers/Cubs are waiting patently to steal KC's talent.

 

[da55bums]

I don't doubt it gets em in the playoffs.

Yost and a bunch of threes isn't a WS combination in my eyes.

But I don't see Minny going crazy enough to strengthen their staff to make enough of a run to take the division. Nor do I think they should. They don't need to. Just get in. Their time isn't now anyway. Any bit of PS would be gravy.

KC's rotation is the same as last year, Det had 3 Cy Youngers and got booted early. Its obviously not about best rotation. Its about the team who plays together the best in all areas.

 

[MiamiVice]

KC's rotation is NOT the same as last year... you lost 200 innings from a guy named James Shields.

Why do you keep comparing the division leading Royals to the 3rd place Tigers anyways? Don't you have better teams to worry about?

 

[MiamiVice]

KC got beat last year by 1 starting pitcher.... he literally beat you by himself.

 

[da55bums]

Ohhh, Shields sucked in the post season and Edison is matching Shields numbers very well, so same rotation. It not like losing Max and gaining Greene.

Your the one who looks more concerned with the Royals with all of these posts, well since your a "fact" man you already know that.


So 3 seasons ago, DD had an offense and the best SPs in the league all he had to do was spend some money on a couple of young and hungry BP fireballers and they practically walk into the WS and overwhelming favorite.

Then he lets Max and Porcello go to save money/couldn't afford them, replaces them with Simon and Greene (now whoever floats through the 5 hole), yet doesn't fix pen.

Now he is going to let Price go to save money/can't afford him, for whatever two hacks (guessing they will be worse than Price)

So over the 3 years, minors are crap, pen remains crap, now rotation full of crap but at least there is Miggy.

DD made a career bringing Miggy with him to Det, spent a bunch of money and leaving Det with no ring.

The Tigers are the one's that can't seem to afford keeping good players, why be concerned with Royals payroll?

 

[MiamiVice]

Which young hungry BP fireballers where available to sign for said money? You can't trade for guys that other teams don't want to trade... you act like its so easy to just go out and get guys.. first they have to be available... second you have to have what the other team wants...
LOL @ letting Price walk.. if the consensus was the Tiger's were going to resign him you would be mouthing off about how much of a contract he is going to sign and how it would be the worst contract ever...

He let Porcello go? He traded him.. for a guy that made the same amount of money and a reliever that has been great.... so how did he save money off Porcello again?

DD made a career off winning the 2003 WS and making it to the WS in 2006 and 2012.... you really do look like a clown with the gibberish you post.

You literally post stuff without using any actual factual basis... I don't even know how you come up with the crap you post... Seriously... Tiger's can't afford to keep good players? The only major player they let walk was Scherzer... and they offered him 150 mil... Price isn't gone yet.. and the Tigers have plenty to spend to keep him if they want to make an offer...

 

[MiamiVice]

I post in regards to the Royals because they are in first place... you post in regards to the Tigers because you fear them... in the back of your mind are scared of the run they are capable of going on... you expect to have to beat them for the division... and Tigers fans have shown what a clown you are.

I really do wonder if you post stuff just to get a rise out of people or if you really believe what you post.. because if it is the latter... wow.. just wow. Not one actually astute baseball fan would read your comments and think "Man, this guy has a good grasp of the MLB".

If the Tigers resigned Max Scherzer to a 200 mil contract you would be ripping them for how bad the contract is...
If the Tigers had kept Porcello you would be laughing about him and his 5+ era