The Royals took aim at locking down their 40 man roster, purchasing the contracts of three pitchers, claiming one and designating another for assignment. As they massage the roster, they also have some arbitration offers to consider. What will be the fate of Cheslor Cuthbert, Jesse Hahn, and Brian Flynn? Is new claim Conner Greene a good pickup? Hey, who's this Arnaldo Hernandez fella? And did you say Ross Gload? What's he got to do with these guys?(spoiler: nothing but we got distracted for a s...
Nov 29, 2018•1 hr 1 min
The Royals made a couple more moves since our last episode, so we recapped the dearly departed, including some minor league free agents. But with new free agents come new signings, so we discussed the signing of post-hype prospect Michael Ynoa to a minor-league deal. It's low-risk, high-reward, which is right in line with how the Royals should approach the offseason. Once 2019 starts, though, the Royals may show some new flexibility within the pitching staff. Comments from Dayton Moore suggest s...
Nov 15, 2018•1 hr 8 min
The 2018 season is over, and we're now starting to see some transactions and roster decisions being made. For the Royals, their 2019 team is not likely to change that much from the team that ended 2018, but there are definite opportunities to improve the team for next year and beyond. We discussed how active they might be and where they may try to direct their attention. While most of baseball looks at the big names, the Royals will be out of the marquee free agent battle Along with that discuss...
Nov 02, 2018•1 hr 10 min
Every season, amidst the fun and games of spring training, we set some over/under marks for particular players and judge where we think they'll land. This year, our array of predictions were hit and miss, but the journey is half the fun, right? We reviewed the predictions from March, what went right, what went wrong, and what was close. Along with the over/under judgments, we also reviewed some bold predictions from before the 2018 season. Did we miss entirely? Did we nail them? Similar to the R...
Oct 18, 2018•1 hr 21 min
For the fifth time in their history, the Royals have reached 100 losses. That's not good, but we tried to add some perspective to the mark, in light of the Royals decent and much-more-watchable second half of the year. Along with that is the emergence of Whit Merrifield as a consistent and dynamic star, Adalberto Mondesi as a hopeful phenom, and Ryan O'Hearn as a power-hitting giant. We focused mostly on Merrifield's efforts this year and his consistency all season long, but Mondesi and O'Hearn ...
Sep 27, 2018•1 hr 14 min
It's been a difficult year, but the last month hasn't been so bad. A number of Royals have started hitting, including surprises like Ryan O'Hearn, and a couple of pitchers have been great. It makes for a more entertaining second half and an encouraging finish to the season. We discuss Jakob Junis, Adalberto Mondesi, Brad Keller, and O'Hearn as well as the very fun near-perfect game by Jorge Lopez. Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Enge...
Sep 13, 2018•1 hr 11 min
This week we covered the end of Danny Duffy's season and the impact his varied ailments might have on him going forward. We also talked about the shifting perception of his contract and trade value. In other injury news, we expressed disappointment in Jorge Soler's setback during his rehab stint. After a strong start, a flukey injury shut him down and his season is over. We speculated on his role in 2019 and beyond in light of his abbreviated season. And then we covered some odds and ends: Ryan ...
Sep 06, 2018•1 hr 9 min
On Wednesday, the Royals traded Lucas Duda for cash, opening up a roster spot just in time for September call-ups to start showing up. We discussed Duda's storied legacy in Kansas City from Day One to now. With the roster spot, a whole batch of minor leaguers could be called up to the majors, including some names who've been waiting for their shot like Frank Schwindel and Richard Lovelady, but some other players have a shot to come up too. And while Duda has departed, the Royals may have to make...
Aug 30, 2018•1 hr 7 min
Ya know, Luke Hochevar wasn't the all-star we may have hoped for after being the first overall selection in the 2006 draft, but he had his moments in his Royals career. We discussed his recent retirement and the up and down career Hoch experienced with the Royals. We also discussed some of the recent moves, including the release of Blaine Boyer and trade of Terrance Gore, plus the pitching staff adjustments that corresponded with a Danny Duffy DL designation. Finally, we took a glance at the sta...
Aug 16, 2018•1 hr 7 min
Mike Moustakas has been traded, but the world keeps turning. While we say goodbye to Moose, we say hello to Brett Phillips and Jorge Lopez, two former top-100 prospects who are ready for the big leagues right now. Is it the right move? Should the Royals have gotten younger prospects? And anyway, how does it fit with the current crop of Royals prospects? We talked about these things and the fun, new energy on the Royals lately. They're still pretty bad, but they're at least a little more fun. Fol...
Aug 02, 2018•58 min
The All-Star Break was good to the Royals and they came back somewhat rejuvenated in the second half. We discussed their positive week back, and the impact of some good, young starting pitching leading the way. Can it hold up in Yankee Stadium? We also discussed Mike Moustakas and his potential trade suitors. The trade deadline will have passed before our next episode, so we tried to size up the top possible locations, but it's still pretty murky out there. The Royals say they won't just give hi...
Jul 26, 2018•59 min
The Royals limped...crawled...technically made it to the All-Star break and are on pace for a franchise-worst record. There weren't a lot of positives in the first half, but Jeff and Mike made some predictions in March and had to check on the status of those calls at the break. We discussed Jorge Soler, Alex Gordon, Jakob Junis, Mike Moustakas and more, plus a brief look at the Manny Machado trade and how it might impact the Royals over the next couple weeks. Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault...
Jul 19, 2018•1 hr 28 min
The way this season has gone, it's a miracle the Royals get an All Star representative (even if it's in the rules that they do...) but we discussed Sal Perez as this year's sole representative. He gets a sixth appearance in a row, despite a rough stat line. But that's the type of year it's been. And the Royals have also run into injuries, particularly in the pitching staff. We discussed injuries and shuffling among the Royals rotation as they limp into the All Star break. Then we discussed some ...
Jul 12, 2018•1 hr
The Royals have had a terrible June and a miserable 2018, so when it comes to positive news, there isn't a lot to report. The Royals did promote two significant prospects though, sending Khalil Lee to Double-A and Nicky Lopez to Triple-A. We discussed their significance and what might be reasonable expectations. Then we talked about the rough June and what's out there to get excited about. From Brad Keller's emergence to Rosell Herrera's hustle, we pretty much covered the most exciting things la...
Jun 29, 2018•50 min
With the Royals well below .500, the sell-off has started. It started a few weeks ago with Jon Jay, but he's only got a couple of months as a Royal on his resume. Kelvin Herrera, however, has been a Royals since 2006 and now goes to the Washington Nationals. Herrera was such a huge part of the Royals success in 2014 and 2015, and he's one of the more notable relievers in Royals history, so we chose to remember some key moments of his Royals career and our favorite highlights. We also discussed t...
Jun 21, 2018•1 hr 7 min
So your team just got shut out by the Reds. They've scored 23 runs in two weeks. What the heck do you do? Well, you look at a few positives, mostly some good performances from Ian Kennedy, Jason Hammel, and Danny Duffy. We talked about some of those starts, plus we assessed the Mike Moustakas trade market (even though Dayton Moore says they won't trade him just to trade him *wink*), and the imminent return of Jorge Bonifacio. We also discussed the Royals quick signing of a majority of their 2018...
Jun 15, 2018•49 min
The Royals entered the 2018 MLB Draft with more money available than any other team and loaded up on college pitching to pair with a promising group in A ball. To discuss the picks and the Royals' approach, Clint Scoles of Baseball Prospectus Kansas City tracked down Lonnie Goldberg, Director of Scouting for the Kansas City Royals. They discussed how this draft group fits with what the Royals have in the system today, the development of those college pitchers and where they might add some upside...
Jun 08, 2018•22 min
A couple of weeks ago, we had Clint Scoles give us a preview of the Royals draft and now that the picks are all in, he joined us again to talk about the results. It's an unexpected set of picks, but there's talent there. Clint covers the big names, the approach, and what it means for the Royals future. We also discussed Brad Keller, Danny Duffy, a putrid Royals offense, and - unexpectedly - a Jon Jay trade that broke while we were recording. Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff...
Jun 07, 2018•1 hr 16 min
The Royals had some success this week, including some solid pitching performances by Brad Keller, Danny Duffy, and Jason Hammel. We covered some of the recent DL moves and the way it's shifted the pitching staff. We also discussed Jon Jay's successful May, Hunter Dozier's adjustment to the big leagues, and took another look at how trade values may be shifting. In a second segment, we looked at some year by year numbers to see how strikeout, home run, and hit rates have changed over the years. Of...
Jun 01, 2018•1 hr 21 min
After a week off, we got caught up and despite a poor record, we sought out some bright spots through the first two months of the season, including a few emerging bullpen arms, some developing trade value, "hacking" baseball strategy, and the optimism of baseball's annual draft. To help prepare for this year's draft, we brought on Clint Scoles to share his insight into the Royals draft approach, the benefits of their league-leading draft pool, and the potential players who may be available (and ...
May 25, 2018•1 hr 36 min
This week is pretty special. One hundred episodes ago, we joined up with Baseball Prospectus Kansas City, so to commemorate the occasion, we dove into the vault and dug out some info on another notable 100: the 100-loss 2002 Royals. We discussed the plight of that injury-riddled, pitching-starved, manager-changing team and how it fits in with the history of other franchises and their first 100-loss years. From Paul Byrd's crazy win total to Mark Quinn's kung fu fighting, we cover a historic Roya...
May 11, 2018•1 hr 5 min
Over the past week, the Royals went through a stretch that saw them win three out of four games. For this year's team, that's momentous. They've seen a few things settle down as the year has gone on. The bullpen is a little more stable, the starting pitching has been mostly good still, and the offense is slowly waking up. Unless you're Jorge Soler, who is just tearing it up right now. He's on pace for an immense year and has an opportunity to be the breakout star of the 2018 Royals. After his 20...
May 03, 2018•1 hr
The Royals haven't gotten into a groove yet, but help arrived this week, as Sal Perez and Alex Gordon both returned from the DL. That overlapped with a special return from old friend Lorenzo Cain, and, on the subject of returns, Ned Yost may return next year, and the next, and next... We discussed those topics in light of using this season to look for special moments and progress on the field, including a Royals walkrate that's way better than their franchise norm, and the potential, possible, m...
Apr 27, 2018•54 min
The Royals lost every game since our last episode. Some by blowout, some by blown save. Shaky offense, shaky bullpen, and not enough starting pitching. It's rough. Is there help on the way? Well, things can probably only get better, right? There are some players performing in the minor leagues who could help and even Salvador Perez may be closer to returning than we had figured three weeks ago - or even last week! Will a couple of bullpen moves and the return of Salvy be enough to take the Royal...
Apr 19, 2018•58 min
Alex Gordon will miss some time with a torn labrum in his hip, and while he hasn't been hitting this season so far, it still injects more uncertainty into the Royals lineup. Meanwhile, Salvador Perez might be closer than we expected to returning? We discuss the lineup and the impact of these injuries, plus a potential fresh reboot for Gordon when he eventually returns. We also discussed some of the pitching. The Royals have gotten some strong starts, and even some of Danny Duffy's rough ones hav...
Apr 13, 2018•58 min
Despite the weather, the Royals actually managed to get a couple games in during the first week of the MLB season. Now, the results? Not that great. We discussed the meaning of early-season stats - that is, that there isn't much meaning yet - and what stood out from four chilly games. We also talked about the roster moves that lead to the opening day roster and since game 1, including the curious DFA and trade of Miguel Almonte, and the DFA waiving of Kyle Zimmer. Finally, we talked about the Ro...
Apr 05, 2018•1 hr 18 min
That was a long offseason, and finally, after all the contract talks, trades, and other nonsense...the 2018 season begins. Of course, the Royals just learned that they'll be without Salvador Perez after a torn MCL. The initial timeline is 4 to 6 weeks of recovery, so we discussed how the Royals may approach the next month and a half. We also discussed the first lineup, Danny Duffy, and the final moves to make up the opening day roster. Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr ...
Mar 29, 2018•52 min
It's time for our 4th Annual Over/Under Extravaganza And Pancake Luncheon. After covering some of the roster news, Jeff and Mike call out some numbers and discuss whether they think certain Royals will end up over or under that mark. Simple! For instance, Baseball Prospectus projects Alex Gordon to bat .239 this year. Over or under? As in year's past, the Vault also tossed out a couple of bold predictions about the Royals in 2018. Maybe we're just crazy with a couple of these. You can let us kno...
Mar 23, 2018•1 hr 26 min
While the Royals cut down the roster at big league camp, Jorge Bonifacio got suspended and will miss half the season. Bonifacio's suspension impacts playing time for a number of Royals we figure will be on the opening day roster, and we discuss those implications. We also looked at the first cuts in camp and what's next for some key players, including Hunter Dozier's first base adventure, and Bubba Starling's injured oblique. Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJef...
Mar 16, 2018•41 min
The prevailing idea in baseball lately is that when your contending window closes, you carve it up and lose for a few years, but I guess nobody told Dayton Moore that. A week after signing Lucas Duda to a one-year deal, the Royals signed outfielder Jon Jay to a one-year deal as well. And they signed Ricky Nolasco to a minor league deal. And - oh yeah - while we recorded this episode, news broke that they'd reached an agreement with Mike Moustakas as well. So we discussed those moves and how they...
Mar 09, 2018•1 hr 9 min
