jsolo

Interesting top 11 from Kevin Goldstein, with some surprises this year. I guess it's time to take Bonifacio seriously as a prospect. That's Sickels and Goldstein now who are high on him.

Good article from Mellinger and a topic I've been meaning to write up for a while. There was/is a lot of debate about KC bringing up prospects in anticipation of a competitive 2012. However many feel 2013 is the first realistic year the Royals can compete. What's lost in this argument at times, and what Mellinger brings up, is the marketing aspect of these decisions. Baseball, after all, is a business. The promotions of various prospects and relative late season success seemed to cause a jump in attendance. Here's the thing... A sustained jump in attendance can be directly correlated to the size of the payroll. Having a full year (2012) of young, exciting prospects could lead to enough ticket sales to afford better FAs in 2013 (or contract extensions). Clearly, it doesn't mean a team should rush prospects just to increase attendance. And ultimately, winning is going to be more important for long-term attendance gains. But it is something to think about, especially in borderline cases of when a player should be called up.

I'm assuming he goes on to talk about some kind of deception in his delivery, but I'm not a BP subscriber. Schaum mentioned something about closing his back to his opponent. Anyone have any idea what else Goldstein had to say?

What's interesting is it sounds like Carl's got a major league repertoire. Fastball 91-94 and can touch 95. Change-up and curveball that he can throw for strikes. He says it's all just coming together for him now. I'd like to hear what a scout says about his stuff, but superficially, it seems he's the real deal. Now he just needs to earn his promotions quickly due to his age. Regardless, I'll be keeping an eye on this intriguing pitcher.

1) Hosmer's triple slash prediction for this year: 275/350/475 2) Cole dropping to KC in the draft Both would be fantastic I think... and surprisingly optimistic coming from Law.

Suppan!

Seems like this is basically what was expected in our discussions of a theoretical Rangers trade.

Dierkes suggest the Royals might be interested in Blanton based on their prior interest in Millwood. If the Phils pick up some (maybe half) of the salary, I actually think this a decent idea. Blanton is roughly a 2.0 WAR pitcher. More importantly, his xFIP has been around 4.00 the last two years. I think that bodes well for his performance at the K, which should suppress his HR totals somewhat compared to the HR friendly Citizens Bank Park. In other words, you would expect his ERA/FIP to be closer to his xFIP at the K. That would make him a good deal if the Royals don't have to pay a decent chunk of his $8.5 million/yr over 2 years. As always, the devil is in the details - in this case, the salary component.

As retweeted by Keith Law. What's the latest on this guy? I seem to remember a few people really liking him on this site.

Per Ken Rosenthal on Twitter, the Royals are interested in the former White Sox prospect. He's similar to Maier but appears to be a slightly better fielder in CF and a marginally better hitter - though neither one hits for any power. Anderson is going into his age 27 season and could be a cheap CF option worth a gamble.

Maybe there's a Seattle reject Dayton can grab who actually might be a reasonable gamble.

I don't know a thing about his defense, but I think this is the sort of guy the Royals should take a chance on. Maybe they'll take TPJ and Luis Hernandez for him. More realistically, who would you give up for Dukes if you were the Royals? Bannister perhaps?

Don't look now, but after a very rough start, Rowdy appears to have adjusted to High A. (See link for tonight's Hochevar-esqe performance.) His overall numbers appear decent, but it's especially impressive if you take into account how bad he was at the start of the season. Could we see him in AA this year? In other news, former top Royals pitching prospect Carlos Rosa also appears to be getting over his bout with suckitude he's been fighting for the last several weeks. His peripherals are starting to round out to a respectable level after a few disastrous weeks. I'd like see Rosa, Hayes (and Kila) as regulars at the major league level very soon. Finally, trade Olivo NOW! Buck is pretty much done with his rehab, B. Pena has proven himself capable of the backup catcher role, and with his recent power surge, Olivo will never have a higher trade value. Do it for the children.

It's about damn time. Now there's only about 5 more players to go. And KILA NOW.

Glavine has reportedly been released by the Braves. Will DM continue his lust for ex-Braves and sign the venerable pitcher as a Royal?

Just a temporary move - makes a little more sense now. June 6th is the next time the Royals need a 5th starter.

So I won't get overly frustrated with the way the Royals are playing right now, I need to dispel some anger by suggesting what moves I would make as GM. The link is to the 40 man roster for reference. DFA: Ponson - worthy gamble but it's run its course HoRam - I thought he could be a serviceable reliever. I was wrong. Send down until performance improves: Aviles - I think his swing will improve but he's hurting the big league team in the process of figuring out the adjustments. Send him down for now or DL him. Call ups: Kila - Mashing again. Has nothing left to prove. He can platoon with Jacobs to start out with. Rosa - Had one really bad outing recently but otherwise peripherals look fine. He could really help out the pen. Activate: Bale - should be ready to go soon. When he's healthy, he's good.

Okay, so ERA is a somewhat flawed statistic, but KC does also lead the majors in WHIP at 1.19, are 5th in walks allowed, and 4th in strikeouts. Those are very encouraging numbers.

From Rotoworld: Brian Bannister was removed after pitching two perfect innings for Triple-A Omaha on Sunday. Indications are that the Royals will start Horacio Ramirez on Wednesday, but pulling Bannister after two innings gives them an alternative to the left-hander. Bannister has a 3.46 ERA after three starts for Omaha.

He wants this to be the show for hardcore Royals fans and expects people like us to call in. I expect NYRoyal to be a special guest within the first month.

This excerpt from the Star's Royals camp notebook made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside: Here’s a stat gem from Bill James’ latest work, The Bill James Gold Mine 2009: All-Star closer Joakim Soria led all major-league relievers last season with 36 one-two-three innings. As a comparison, Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez, now with the Mets, had just 22 one-two-three innings while setting a record with 62 saves. Phillies closer Brad Lidge had just 25 one-two-three innings while going 41 for 41 in save opportunities