Royals on the verge of acquiring James Shields and Wade Davis from the Rays

[GMackey32]

The Royals invited Willy Tavares to Spring Training. Championship!

I saw that and laughed. Bob Dutton thinks its a depth move for AAA as a hedge against Cain's health

[MissouriCyclone]

idk if i can top that. but i do have joe randa and jeff suppan!

My uncle played against Jeff Suppan in high school. Met him a couple of times and is a great guy.

Also met Jason Kendell. Story has it that his brother was pitching and he shook off Jason like 2 or 3 times. Finally Jason called a timeout, got ****** and beat the hell out of his brother for shaking him off.

[Doc]

1) The royals still have tons of talent in the minors. Its just in the low minors, but will be ready in two to three years and Moose and Hoz and Perez and the others are still under control so your "small window" theory is invalid.
2) Marcum and McCarthey are hurt every year and aren't as good as shields
3) With the amount of money the Royals would have to overpay to get him to even come here would be so much it would cripple the franchise for the future.
4) This team is better right now with Cain in RF and Dyson in CF. With David Lough filling in for both. After talking to some Royals people Francouer is going to have a VERY SHORT leash this year.
5) Yes this move is a win now move, but the Royals haven't made a win now move in two decades
6) Stats guys overvalue prospects. The best minor league system has never won you a World Series. Trading prospects for proven big leaguers is what most teams do to win.
7) Will Myers struck out 140 times last year
8) and to really push the point home, FA pitchers of any >Replacement level pitching only come to KC if you insanely overpay, which is what would have had to happen for Annibel Sanchez who is going to get close to get 15-20 a year now.

How sure are you on number 4? No way I see the Royals dumping Francouer and replacing him with Lough, who didn't hit worth a crap in AAA last year. That would be so unlike the Royals, especially with them in win now mode.

An outfield of Gordon-Dyson-Cain would be great for the fly ball pitchers on the staff.

[thatguy]

Lough didn't exactly not hit in AAA last year

2012

26

Omaha

PCL

AAA

KCR

130

544

491

69

135

19

11

10

69

26

4

25

65

.275

.317

.420

.737

206

12

8

14

6

5

and don't forget it was his third season at AAA. There is absolutely a mental bridge you hit when you have been at the same level for three years because you are blocked.

And Dyson is better offensively than Francouer. Sure Jeff might hit a solo HR down 6 on a weekday game against the White Sox, but Dyson takes walks, and can run. You can put him 9th, and you gain back runs with him and Cain and AGo running down balls in the OF. Its not perfect, but its better than literally having a cheerleader in RF.

[thatguy]

Also if Brett Eibner wasn't a complete and total bust in the 2nd round a couple years ago, this wouldn't be a big deal.

[Doc]

Lough didn't exactly not hit in AAA last year

2012

26

Omaha

PCL

AAA

KCR

130

544

491

69

135

19

11

10

69

26

4

25

65

.275

.317

.420

.737

206

12

8

14

6

5

and don't forget it was his third season at AAA. There is absolutely a mental bridge you hit when you have been at the same level for three years because you are blocked.

And Dyson is better offensively than Francouer. Sure Jeff might hit a solo HR down 6 on a weekday game against the White Sox, but Dyson takes walks, and can run. You can put him 9th, and you gain back runs with him and Cain and AGo running down balls in the OF. Its not perfect, but its better than literally having a cheerleader in RF.

Oh, I'm pretty much on the anyone but Francouer boat, but I doubt Lough hits much better than Francouer or Dyson would. Even if you just look at his AAA numbers in 2010 and 2011, he's still hitting in a really big hitters' league.

[MissouriCyclone]

Per Twitter: Johny Damon said he wants to come back to KC after the Shields/Davis trade.

Discuss.

[Doc]

Per Twitter: Johny Damon said he wants to come back to KC after the Shields/Davis trade.

Discuss.

If he comes back for a minor league deal, I'm all for it. He may be some good RF insurance, although he hasn't played a lot of RF. He's old, but if he shows he hasn't lost much foot speed or bat speed in Spring Training, he's probably worth a spot on the roster.

[GMackey32]

Per Twitter: Johny Damon said he wants to come back to KC after the Shields/Davis trade.

Discuss.

Give him a minor league deal to build depth for when Frenchy fails

[Doc]

The thing about Frenchy is he's probably one of those "team-first" liars who always finds a way to produce in his contract year. I guess he's worth a shot in RF for that reason alone.

[thatguy]

Per Twitter: Johny Damon said he wants to come back to KC after the Shields/Davis trade.

Discuss.

***** he can't be any worse than Francouer. Xavier Nady may be a buy low candidate, but he is more for AAA depth. i still think you can trade Christian Colon or one of the Single A guys + Chen for a Seth Smith or bring back Dejesus from the Cubs. The problem with Johhny Damon is he is a pie thrower. The better move might be to move Ago to right, but then you just re-positioned the two time gold glove winner. If you sign him to a minor league deal with incentives and he wins the job, great, put him in the two hole and let him take a few walks. We haven't seen that in Kauffman for years.

[Doc]

***** he can't be any worse than Francouer. Xavier Nady may be a buy low candidate, but he is more for AAA depth. i still think you can trade Christian Colon or one of the Single A guys + Chen for a Seth Smith or bring back Dejesus from the Cubs. The problem with Johhny Damon is he is a pie thrower. The better move might be to move Ago to right, but then you just re-positioned the two time gold glove winner. If you sign him to a minor league deal with incentives and he wins the job, great, put him in the two hole and let him take a few walks. We haven't seen that in Kauffman for years.

Gordon struggled in right when he was put there. He had a lot of trouble adjusting to the ball off the bat after playing on the other side of the field most of his life.

I would like to see the Royals sign Ryan Sweeney, however I doubt they do that to Francouer. Sweeney has been around awhile, but is still only 28. He never developed any power, but he's still fairly young and I think he's one of those guys that can still break out (by break out, I mean have a couple of above average seasons) in his 28-32 years.

[cybsball20]

Gordon struggled in right when he was put there. He had a lot of trouble adjusting to the ball off the bat after playing on the other side of the field most of his life.

I would like to see the Royals sign Ryan Sweeney, however I doubt they do that to Francouer. Sweeney has been around awhile, but is still only 28. He never developed any power, but he's still fairly young and I think he's one of those guys that can still break out (by break out, I mean have a couple of above average seasons) in his 28-32 years.

Sweeney will never develop home run power but he will hit a crap load of doubles and play gold glove caliber defense at any of the three outfield positions...

[abcguyks]

Sweeney will never develop home run power but he will hit a crap load of doubles and play gold glove caliber defense at any of the three outfield positions...

I'd love to see Ryan in KC as well. His dad and his family lived across the street from us when I was a kid.

[cybsball20]

I'd love to see Ryan in KC as well. His dad and his family lived across the street from us when I was a kid.

I would say there is a very good chance he ends up in Minnesota, but KC could be possible too