Daily Clips
February 8, 2018
LOCAL
First for Royals is solving 1B issue for '18
Cuthbert, No. 3 prospect Dozier are among club's options
February 7, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Royals sign reliever who once retired from baseball to minor-league contract
February 7, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
In a sluggish baseball market, here’s how the demand for one player can crater
February 7, 2018By Rustin Dodd/KC Star
For Royals, the annual PECOTA projections are more dire than usual
February 7, 2018By Pete Grathoff/KC Star
Walz Tetrick debuts unique billboard campaign for Royals' 50th anniversary
February 7, 2018By Leslie Collins/Kansas City Business Journal
Why players need spring training; then and now
February 6, 2018By Lee Judge/LeeJudgeKC.wordpress.com
MINORS
Royals to Kick Off 2018 vs. Kernersville Bulldogs
Royals to Begin 2017 Season with Exhibition against Kernersville
February 7, 2018Burlington Royals
NATIONAL
Sources: MLBPA preparing to conduct spring training camps for free agents
February 7, 2018By Tim Brown/Yahoo! Sports
MLB TRANSACTIONS
February 8, 2018 •.CBSSports.com
LOCAL
First for Royals is solving 1B issue for '18
Cuthbert, No. 3 prospect Dozier are among club's options
February 7, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Who's on first?
As the Royals embark on Spring Training next week (pitchers and catchers report on Tuesday), the 2018 club has numerous questions that need to be answered, and the most notable is: Who is the mystery man that will play first base?
When the Royals recently dealt Brandon Moss to the A's, they subsequently traded their only experienced first baseman on the 40-man roster. Of course, this has led to much speculation that the Royals still are very much in the Eric Hosmer sweepstakes.
But if Hosmer signs elsewhere, who are the Royals left with at a position the organization always has regarded as highly significant?
Royals general manager Dayton Moore said at the team's recent Fan Fest that they have options. There is third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert, who has played first base in Spring Training and also played there six times at the big league level in 2017.
But if Cuthbert were to move to first base, the Royals then would have a hole at third base (assuming they will not sign free agent Mike Moustakas).
Another option at first base, Moore said, would be prospect Hunter Dozier, who was drafted as a shortstop in 2013, then moved to third base. Dozier also has played corner outfield. Dozier, ranked as the club's No. 3 prospect by MLB Pipeline, has played 12 games in the Minors at first base.
"Hunter Dozier is athletic enough and has good enough hands to play first base," Moore said.
Dozier, though, was ravaged by injuries in 2017 and played only 33 games total in the Minors. The Royals remain high on his future, however.
"He has been developing at a good pace," Moore said. "He's not that far away."
There aren't many other options at first base, other than Samir Duenez, a 21-year-old who is the club's No. 13 prospect.
The Royals also could tap into the free-agent market for someone like Logan Morrison, a 30-year-old Kansas City native who had a career year in 2017 with 38 home runs for the Rays.
But signing Morrison, who made $2.5 million in 2017 and likely would be due for a big raise, could be problematic for the Royals in terms of payroll: The club's primary free-agent focus this offseason has been Hosmer, and even signing him would require dramatic payroll slashing to accommodate.
Would the Royals be comfortable slashing $7-8 million in payroll to land Morrison, who has accumulated an OPS over .800 just twice in his eight-year career?
"The economics of our situation is a reality," Moore said. "Whatever we add we will have to compensate for in terms of payroll. That's where we are."
Stay tuned. An answer likely is coming soon.
Royals sign reliever who once retired from baseball to minor-league contract
February 7, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
The Royals announced Wednesday afternoon that they signed right-handed relief pitcher Blaine Boyer to a minor-league contract with an invite to major-league spring training.
Boyer, 36, pitched in 32 games with the Red Sox last season, posting a 4.35 ERA over 41 1/3 innings.
A journeyman, Boyer has not spent more than one season with a team since playing for the Diamondbacks from 2009-10.
He retired from baseball in 2012 and took a job at a brokerage firm. But he reached out to Royals general manager Dayton Moore, who knew Boyer from their shared time in the Braves’ organization, ahead of the 2013 season. He asked for a job, according to a report by MassLive.com, and was given a chance despite not pitching in the majors since 2011. Boyer appeared in 13 games at Class AAA Omaha and was released.
Boyer eventually found some success at the major-league level with the Twins in 2015, following stints in Japan and San Diego. Despite a 3-6 record, Boyer recorded a 2.49 ERA in 68 games (65 innings). He was unable to replicate that with Milwaukee, where he appeared in 61 games and had a 3.95 ERA.
Boyer owns a career 4.19 ERA. Batters have hit .275 against him through 11 seasons. Picked in the third round of the 2000 draft out of Walton High School in Marietta, Ga., by the Braves, Boyer pitched in Atlanta from 2005-09 before being traded to the Cardinals.
In a sluggish baseball market, here’s how the demand for one player can crater
February 7, 2018By Rustin Dodd/KC Star
In less than a week, the Royals’ pitchers and catchers will report to spring training, and Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas remain free agents.
This is not a sentence I expected to type in 2018.
In a short interview with The Star on Tuesday, Royals general manager Dayton Moore reiterated that his club was still pursuing Hosmer. Yet the market for Moustakas appears to be a mystery.
The Royals have mostly remained on the sidelines, in part because of their status as a rebuilding club, in part because they prefer Hosmer to be part of that rebuilding plan. Moustakas is 29 years old and will likely be productive for the next three to four seasons. It’s harder to see him as a safe bet in the long term, when the Royals expect to be competitive again.
Here’s something, though, that becomes more startling the closer you look. There really are so few options for Moustakas at this point, at least among the usual suspects. And the search offers an interesting window into the market. Let’s take a look, starting with last year’s playoff teams.
The Houston Astros? No, they have Alex Bregman. The Dodgers have Justin Turner. The Chicago Cubs are set with Kris Bryant. The Yankees — well, wait a minute, here, more on them in a moment.
The Boston Red Sox appear to have a long-term answer in former top prospect Rafael Devers. The Washington Nationals have an MVP candidate in Anthony Rendon. Same with the Cleveland Indians and Jose Ramirez. The Colorado Rockies have one of the best players in the world in Nolan Arenado. The Arizona Diamondbacks have Jake Lamb, a 26-year-old who has batted .248/.345/.498 with 59 homers across his last two seasons and is just entering his arbitration years. (Moustakas hit .272/.314/.521 with 38 homers last season.)
That leaves the Minnesota Twins, who have some combination of Miguel Sano and Eduardo Escobar and limited financial means.
OK, but what about teams that are on the cusp of contention or at least trying? Well, that’s where the problem continues.
The Los Angeles Angels were thought to be a likely destination but they signed former Reds shortstop Zack Cozart. The San Francisco Giants traded for Evan Longoria. The Mets just signed Todd Frazier to a two-year, $17 million deal.
(Remember, MLB Trade Rumors estimated that Moustakas could command a five-year, $85 million deal this winter.)
Moving along, the Texas Rangers have an aging but still productive Adrian Beltre on their roster. They’re also building more toward the future with the Astros and Angels in their division. The Seattle Mariners have Kyle Seager, who is in the middle of a seven-year, $100 million deal. The St. Louis Cardinals could be a fit, but they have Jedd Gyorko, who hit .272/.341/.472 with 20 homers in 125 games last season while recording 3.6 wins above replacement. The Milwaukee Brewers have Travis Shaw, who batted .273/.349/.513 with 31 homers and still hasn’t reached arbitration. Cheap production.
That’s 17 teams. And now we’ve started to reach a collection of teams that are not necessarily trying to compete.
Among them: The Tigers, White Sox, Rays, Athletics, Braves, Marlins, Pirates, Reds and Padres. All are in some stages of a rebuild.
So are the Phillies, though they did add first baseman Carlos Santana. Their payroll is still very low. Then there are the Toronto Blue Jays (who have Josh Donaldson for another season) and Baltimore Orioles (who have Manny Machado and Tim Beckham on the left side of the diamond). Both teams appear on the decline, though perhaps not quite tearing it down yet.
And now we’ve reached the Royals, who are rebuilding, loathe to add salary, and if they do, remain more interested in Hosmer.
That’s all 30 teams.
Here, then, is the story of one player, a player expected to be among the most coveted on the market, and you can see the difficulties of this offseason.
So what happens for Moustakas? Well, perhaps he can hope the Yankees become interested, even on a one-year deal. His skillset would be suited for Yankee Stadium, where he could potentially eclipse 40 homers. But New York has been consistent in its desire to remain under the luxury tax.
If not the Yankees, Moustakas could have to hope that one of those rebuilding teams decides to open up the pocketbook.
Most teams would benefit from having Mike Moustakas in their lineup. That’s clear. But with so many rebuilding teams hesitant to spend, the market has folded. Is there a team out there interested in giving Moustakas the kind of contract he expected when the offseason began? That’s less clear.
For Royals, the annual PECOTA projections are more dire than usual
February 7, 2018By Pete Grathoff/KC Star
Is this the year that PECOTA gets it right with the Royals?
If so, the Royals could be looking at the No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft.
Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA projection forecasts a 66-96 finish for the Royals this year, and that would tie them with the Miami Marlins for the worst record in baseball. While Baseball Prospectus is famous* for being wildly off the mark with Royals’ projections, this year it might get a mulligan.
*Around Kansas City, at least
With so many free agents remaining unsigned, it’s going to be a tough job making an accurate forecast for any person or any organization.
Still, the track record for Royals’ predictions from Baseball Prospectus has, um, not been good. Over the previous five seasons, the predictions have been off by an average of 11 wins a season. That’s 11 wins fewer than the Royals ended up with.
Last year, the Royals were picked to win 71 games and finish last in the AL Central. Instead, they won 80 games and were third in the division. That was remarkably similar to the 2016 preseason forecast, which saw the Royals winning 76 games and finishing last in the division. They won 81 games, good for third place.
The granddaddy of all misses came in 2015, when PECOTA’s projection for the then-defending American League champion Royals was a 72-win season. Instead, the Royals won the Central with a 95-67 record, beat the Mets in the World Series and had a heck of a fun parade.
PECOTA saw the Royals finishing 79-83 in 2014. Instead, they won 89 games and took the World Series to a seventh game.
In 2013, the projections saw a 76-win season for the Royals, but they went 86-76.
On Wednesday, Baseball Prospectus’ Rob Mains wrote about preseason projections with the headline, “Flu-Like Symptoms: Why PECOTA Hates Your Favorite Team.” Looking back at the preseason predictions, which began in 2003, Baseball Prospectus has missed on the low side of wins the most with the Cardinals, Angels, Braves, Rangers and Royals.
How was it so badly off the mark the previous five seasons on the Royals?
Mains wrote: “... the Royals, who had a below-average offense in four of the five seasons (all but 2015) that PECOTA aimed low. And, like the Orioles, they’ve had a rotation that doesn’t inspire confidence. And, like the O’s, they’ve had shutdown bullpens.”
Walz Tetrick debuts unique billboard campaign for Royals' 50th anniversary
February 7, 2018By Leslie Collins/Kansas City Business Journal
In its new billboard campaign, Walz Tetrick Advertising is linking the past and the present to celebrate the Kansas City Royals' 50th anniversary.
What makes this campaign particularly unique is that the billboards will sport a different look at night. The technology developed by a North Hollywood, Calif., company has never before been used on an outdoor billboard, Walz Tetrick Creative Director Jeff Chase told the Kansas City Business Journal.
GP Color Imaging Group developed a printing technique that interacts differently with black lights. Instead of an image turning lighter with the black lights, the image instead absorbs the light and turns black. Walz Tetrick used the special printing technique to create dramatic effects on the 50th anniversary billboards.
"What happens when the sun goes down and the black lights come on is everything that's white will go to black and then type that was invisible during the day comes to life at night," he said. "It's dramatically different."
Once the Mission agency landed on the theme of showcasing the past and the present on the same billboard, the team had to figure out how to make it look spectacular, he said. It discovered GP Color's technology through Outfront Media, a New York-based vendor.
Walz Tetrick installed the first billboard campaign Monday at Westport Road and Southwest Trafficway, the same location where it installed the "Salvy Splash" in 2016. It wasn't uncommon to see Royals fans pull over and stand in front of the billboard for a photo. Walz Tetrick hopes the same phenomenon happens with the latest installment.
During the day, the billboard along Westport Road features Royals legend George Brett and current all-star Salvador Pérez swinging at a ball. Between them is the 50th season logo. At night, however, the player's forms and the logo become outlined. The words "Salvy" and "Brett" also appear above the players in bold letters, and the white billboard turns to black.
The second billboard, which will be installed at Interstate 35 and Cambridge Circle, will feature the World Series trophies from 1985 and 2015 and the 50th season logo. When the sun goes down, however, the phrase "Crown Town" will appear, and the logo and trophies will become outlines. In March, another billboard will be installed at Westport Road and Southwest Trafficway facing the opposite direction.
Walz Tetrick also created a Super Bowl ad for the Royals that aired in the Kansas City market before Sunday's game. It capitalized on the idea of uniting the past and present, but then looking toward the future.
"It's really an ode, a testament to the relationship between the community, the fans and the team spanning 50 years," he said. "It's really an emotional retrospective."
It's only fitting that the commercial is narrated by actor Paul Rudd — one of the team's biggest fans. Not only can he be spotted at Royals games, he also jokingly invited everyone to his mom's house in 2014 to celebrate the Royals' winning the American League Championship Series, which sent the Royals to the World Series.
Why players need spring training; then and now
February 6, 2018By Lee Judge/LeeJudgeKC.wordpress.com
n February 13 – seven days from now – Royals pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to spring training; on February 18 the full squad reports.
According to a story in last Saturday’s Kansas City Star, at least one player’s agent – Brodie Van Wagenen – thinks a players’ boycott of spring training is possible. More recent stories quote the Players Association as saying reports of a boycott are false.
Either way, players need spring training, but for many of those players the reason they need it has changed.
It’s hard to improve beyond the level of your competition
Back when Seattle Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto was still pitching in the big leagues and living in the Kansas City area, he and I sometimes worked out together. Occasionally, Jerry would ask me to step into the box and give him a batter to work with. Pitchers say the hitters will tell them when they throw a bad pitch, but I wasn’t good enough to make Jerry pay for making a mistake. He could make me look stupid on a pitch that might get crushed in the big leagues. Jerry needed to face better competition to find out where he stood and what adjustments he needed to make.