OT: any Royals fans left?

[mgbreeze]

My holy hell the bullpen sucks. It would be hard to be this bad even if a pitcher was trying to rig games. Gonna be a long season. There are some fun pieces to watch on this team, but I think from now on I should just stop watching at the end of the 5th.

 

[Sodakred]

They are good every twenty years or so. Just wait until about 2035. As for this year maybe even Bubba is good enough.

 

[ridge222]

Basically the whole bullpen has a negative WAR. Only Kennedy and Diekman have a positive WAR and those are only .2 and .1.

Amazing to think how good the pen was in their run and how horrible it is now.

 

[mel mains]

Doesn’t help how foolish the GM was when he decided to not trade soon-to-be veteran free agents. Oh but Moose now owns the single season franchise HR record!!

 

[Jost Van Dyke]

They are good every twenty years or so. Just wait until about 2035. As for this year maybe even Bubba is good enough.

They may need Bubba, Billy Hamilton had to be carted off the field today. Very sad time to be a Royals fan

However, I will gladly endure these tough times after experiencing their 2 WS runs. That was some fun stuff that I wouldn’t trade for the world.

 

[Bill_Callahan2.0_rivals121792]

right here. go royals.

 

[nwualum_rivals330058]

I was in Kansas City and went to the Royals game last Tuesday night. They didn’t win that one, and haven’t won since. Look how many of their core players are now doing well for other teams. Management just doesn’t care. The only good thing about going to a game there now is they have great popcorn. Conversely, I was in St. Louis on Saturday and Sunday and they had over 44,000 people each game to see the Cardinals. That franchise is willing to invest money to keep their core players.

 

[kaz36_rivals189319]

If their bullpen was worth a crap they would probably be 9-3 instead of 2-10. It’s pathetic.

 

[Cornicator]

I was in Kansas City and went to the Royals game last Tuesday night. They didn’t win that one, and haven’t won since. Look how many of their core players are now doing well for other teams. Management just doesn’t care. The only good thing about going to a game there now is they have great popcorn. Conversely, I was in St. Louis on Saturday and Sunday and they had over 44,000 people each game to see the Cardinals. That franchise is willing to invest money to keep their core players.

The Royals have a good nucleus of position players. And with Soler and Mondesi both starting to hit, they have a viable lineup. Hell Whit Merrifeld is going to lead the league in hits again and win the batting title. The Royals aren't in this position because they let Hosmer, Moose, and Cain move on.

The Royals are in this position because they've signed the worst bullpen in baseball. I don't understand what the hell Moore was thinking. His mantra since he arrived in KC was always "BULLPEN ARMS FIRST."

The only thing I can think of is they are trying to earn the #1 pick..

 

[mgbreeze]

Cornicator and Kaz are right on. Decent lineup, great defense and the worst bullpen I can remember. I'm sure they'd like to pick high again, but I think Moore has been repeatedly trying to sign cheap also-ran veterans in the bullpen that he prays can put up decent numbers so he can flip them for prospects. And I can't remember a single time it has worked out for him recently. There's gonna be a riot if they keep sending Boxberger out there.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan_rivals19671]

Resigning that one guy who's name I won't mention that went to college at Nebraska was the first in a long line of bad choices since their run....

 

[iclone]

Brad Boxberger should be paid to throw in the home run derby at the all-star game every year. He has the perfect stuff for it, and everyone would be entertained.

 

[Husker4real_rivals373787]

The Royals problems have nothing to do with letting their free agents go - it is their approach to building their bullpen. They continue to sign aging veterans on the downside of their career hoping to see a repeat of the Chris Young and Madsen signings.

Their rotation has a solid young core. They have a decent line-up. Their bullpen has blown 8 leads during this 10 game losing streak.

 

[GJMagic41]

St. Louis will welcome any Royals fans with open arms.

 

[HUSKERFAN66]

Royals have the MOST unique business plan that seems to work. Win it all every 20 years or so, go cheap and trade your best up and comers, still fill the seats and make $$.

The every 20 years or so sounds familiar. We're due. GBR.

 

[kaz36_rivals189319]

Cornicator and Kaz are right on. Decent lineup, great defense and the worst bullpen I can remember. I'm sure they'd like to pick high again, but I think Moore has been repeatedly trying to sign cheap also-ran veterans in the bullpen that he prays can put up decent numbers so he can flip them for prospects. And I can't remember a single time it has worked out for him recently. There's gonna be a riot if they keep sending Boxberger out there.

This years bullpen is starting to make guys like Burch Smith, Brandon Maurer, Blaine Boyer and Justin Grimm look like all stars. Hell, I wish they could have resigned Drew Butera so they could run him out there a few times a year again.

 

[Baxter48_rivals204143]

Sadly yeah I'm still a royals fan

 

[Husker4real_rivals373787]

When was the last time the Royals traded a young “up and comer”?

They traded Wil Myers - but considering it brought them Wade Davis and 2 World Series I’d say it was worth it.

The Royals biggest problem has been their failures in the draft. Eric Hosmer in 2008 was the last first round pick to really work out. Bubba Starling is just the most notable first round bust. There are a lot.

 

[otismotis08]

I'm an admitted fair-weather Royals fan. If they're not doing well... meh.

I was a die-hard baseball enthusiast until the 1994 strike. Up until that time, I would read the box scores every morning, knew starting lineups for almost all teams, tracked batting averages, RBIs, HR leaders, etc. It's never been the same, even when the Royals won the series a few years ago.

 

[cubsker_rivals142943]

When was the last time the Royals traded a young “up and comer”?

They traded Wil Myers - but considering it brought them Wade Davis and 2 World Series I’d say it was worth it.

The Royals biggest problem has been their failures in the draft. Eric Hosmer in 2008 was the last first round pick to really work out. Bubba Starling is just the most notable first round bust. There are a lot.

They hit on Manaea who I think they dealt for Zobrist iirc. Looks like Dozier may work out ok. Positive reviews so far on their picks last year with Singer, Kowar, and Lynch.

Rooting like hell for Zimmer. Crazy story, he was throwing 60 MPH a year ago.

 

[mgbreeze]

When was the last time the Royals traded a young “up and comer”?

I was also going to mention Manaea as a bad trade, but the last time was probably the trade of Matt Strahm for 3 piles of dog crap from the Padres. They basically gave him away for nothing. When the Padres put one over on you, it's time to be embarrassed.

 

[cubsker_rivals142943]

I didn't have that much of a problem with that trade. KC was taking their last crack at it with Moose, Hoz, etc. in '17 when they made that trade for 3 big league pitchers.

 

[Husker4real_rivals373787]

I forgot about Strahm. He was hurt at the time and has not really done anything for SD yet, but admittedly the return for him was beyond disastrous. But, that was not a salary dump - it was an honest, but failed attempt to make the playoffs in 2017.

Trading Manaea was worth it. They don’t win the WS without Zobrist. But again - not a trade to jettison a player about to get paid.

 

[kaz36_rivals189319]

They traded Wil Myers - but considering it brought them Wade Davis and 2 World Series I’d say it was worth it.

He wasn’t on the World Series championship team, but I say that James Shields also had a huge impact on the pitching staff also. I think he taught them how to pitch with an attitude and it carried over to their WS championship season.

 

[cubsker_rivals142943]

Myers has been disappointing. Seemed like a bad trade at the time, but it turned out as good as possible

 

[jedihusker]

He wasn’t on the World Series championship team, but I say that James Shields also had a huge impact on the pitching staff also. I think he taught them how to pitch with an attitude and it carried over to their WS championship season.

I think getting rid of Dave Eiland is also a big part of it. Wade Davis came to the Royals as a middling at best starter/long reliever, and became one of the best closers in the game, and I have to think Eiland was a big part of that; as well as a number of other excellent relievers the Royals had in his time.

 

[HUSKERFAN66]

Honestly, I don't pay attention until the playoffs/pennant races. Yes I might look to see the standings, but the season is SO long that individual games aren't taken too seriously.

 

[kaz36_rivals189319]

Hopefully the Royals have a big enough lead that not even the bullpen can blow this one.

 

[kaz36_rivals189319]

I don’t know how the hell Boxberger still has a job. He friggin sucks. Blew another one tonight.

 

[9and4_rivals188421]

#blownsavebyboxberger
It's a thing.

 

[Cornicator]

Dayton Moore should be held accountable for this bullpen.

Dozier, Soler, O'hearn, and Mondesi are all starting to transform into Major League hitters. Gordon is finally healthy and Whit is probably the most underrated hitter in baseball. The starting rotation will be well above Major League average when Duffy returns.

But this bullpen is absolute Dogshit. The team is 5-11, and theyve had a lead in the 7th inning or later in 9 of those losses.

 

[Husker4real_rivals373787]

Dayton Moore should be held accountable for this bullpen.

Dozier, Soler, O'hearn, and Mondesi are all starting to transform into Major League hitters. Gordon is finally healthy and Whit is probably the most underrated hitter in baseball. The starting rotation will be well above Major League average when Duffy returns.

But this bullpen is absolute Dogshit. The team is 5-11, and theyve had a lead in the 7th inning or later in 9 of those losses.

Agreed. The rotation and starting line-up have the makings of a pretty solid team; there are a lot of players there that I am interested in watching.

But man, that bullpen has just wrecked them. They’ve been tied or had the lead in the 7th inning or later in 7 of the 11 losses. A few years ago that meant 7 wins.

 

[kaz36_rivals189319]

Laughing

 

[cubsker_rivals142943]

Why the hell didn't gore pinch run in the 9th for owings?

 

[mgbreeze]

I'm convinced that Boxberger has to be tipping pitches. He's the closest thing to an automatic blown save that I've ever seen. And that's saying a lot after two years of watching Brandon Maurer.

 

[MOHUSKER]

Just pisses me off, 20-30 million in the pen would make this team competitive in the Central this year

 

[WoodRiverJennings]

Gordon will cool off soon and the Royals will return to sucking enough to not have to rely on a bad closer/pen to lose.

 

[mgbreeze]

Yeah, well, the entire Central sucks so Gordon cooling off doesn't really mean jack.