Royals

[Sparko]

Classic Yost tonight. Tied in the 8th, bring in the guy who has difficulty throwing strikes. Walk two. Lose lead. Bottom of the 8th, last effective win opportunity, leave Maldinado, Gore and Hamilton in place against a guy with a mid-5 ERA. 1-2-3. Face Greene in the 9th. Has as many saves as the Royals have wins. Yost is a situational dipshit.

[jfish26]

That said, he's sort of stuck with a fire on his hands and only gasoline, kerosene and Jet B at his disposal.

[Sparko]

There is some truth to that. But man, the bottom three have to go. The Mendosa Line is well to the North

[NewtonHawk11]

Hate to be on pace guy but....

Soler has played in every game. On pace for 43 HR. 115 RBIs. That’s really good.

[Leawood]

This bullpen is David Beaty-esk.

[Cascadia]

Bubba finally gets his big league chance

[jfish26]

Certainly the best-case scenario is something like Lorenzo Cain's path...terrific athlete, janky development due to bad competition and some injuries, becomes an established major leaguer in his late 20s into early 30s.

[Sparko]

It is time for sure. Some pointless parts of the roster need to go. I want some pitching development too.

[NewtonHawk11]

Remaining games should have a lineup of this...

C - Maldonaldo
1B - Dozier
2B - Lopez
SS - Mondesi
3B - Cuthbert
LF - Gordon
CF - Starling
RF - Whit
DH - Soler

Gore seems to have been the cut. Good. He's brough 0 value. Hamilton will be gone as well. Gordon might be traded. If that's the case, then Phillips will come up and play LF.

[pdub]

It'll be a sad day when Alex Gordon is traded but if you can get something, you do it.
Then it'll just be Saalvy hanging on.

[Leawood]

They should convert Salvy to first base like the Reds did with Johnny Bench.

[NewtonHawk11]

They should convert Salvy to first base like the Reds did with Johnny Bench.

I think that will happen really soon. Although this year has been nice for Salvy to take a year off from catching 140 games.

I wouldn't be surprised if Salvy plays 2020 behind the plate, then either Melendez or Rivero come up and take the starting job behind the plate. Both of those guys are in High A right now. Melendez is the better overall player, so my guess is it'd be him.

I mean, a lot of things can happen. But the Royals are set to be pretty good come 2022-2023ish.

Singer, Jackson, Kowar and Bubic in the rotation.
Lee and Matias in OF
Pratto, Lopez, Mondesi and Dozier in the IF
Melendez behind the plate.

The Royals have a lot of talent in the system that are 20-22. They will contribute before we know it and they will be around for a while. Very similar to the start of the run in 2011.

[jfish26]

They should convert Salvy to first base like the Reds did with Johnny Bench.

Except that - and no one likes to talk about this - Salvy does not hit nearly well enough to justify the move (or a move to DH). If he's not catching, he's a negative-value guy (performance-wise).

[jfish26]

It'll be a sad day when Alex Gordon is traded but if you can get something, you do it.
Then it'll just be Saalvy hanging on.

Gordon is a 10-5 guy so controls his own destiny. He has certainly played well enough this year that, should he want to return on something like a $4 million contract, he'd be welcome. And I do think he's a terrific guy to have around as young guys start coming up.

[CrimsonNBlue]

They should convert Salvy to first base like the Reds did with Johnny Bench.

Except that - and no one likes to talk about this - Salvy does not hit nearly well enough to justify the move (or a move to DH). If he's not catching, he's a negative-value guy (performance-wise).

Got-damn. Happy Friday!

[Leawood]

jfish, I'm not certain you can compare his hitting as a first base man vs. catcher. And his DH sporadic numbers, I think, should not be a factor. First base gives him the right amount of being engaged without overly taxing his body. The Phillies and Expos (I think) did that with Pete Rose to extend his career.

[jfish26]

I don't think Sal's shortcomings at the plate are attributable to the wear and tear of catching. He simply has no plate discipline. I don't think it's reasonable to expect that to get better simply by moving away from behind the plate.

[Sparko]

Salvy was on target to break the career HIDP record without a year off. He does so many things well, and then there's that plate discipline elephant in the play-off race.

[jfish26]

...and of course, the beautiful irony is that his very best moment as a Royal happened not just in spite of, but because of that elephant!

[NewtonHawk11]

Bubba wearing #11 and batting 7th tonight. Ahead of Lopez and Maldonaldo.