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South of the Border with the Royals

By Clark Fosler | January 7, 2009 | Royals Authority

With the leagues in Latin America winding down, I thought it would be a good time to see how members of the Royals' organization fared this winter. The competition in these leagues can be intense on day and pretty 'low minor leaguish' the next, but it is worth remembering that Mike Aviles had a big winter in Venezuela last year that carried over into AAA and then the majors. Speaking of Aviles, he along with the three other middle infielders on the Royals' roster, all played this winter. Mike was in Puerto Rico for 29 games where he continued to rake to the tune of a 321/379/491/870 batting line with 10 walks. We all know that Aviles' batting average of balls in play was abnormally high last year, so the ability to draw some walks will serve him well in 2009. His probable double play partner, Alberto Callaspo has spent...

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Initial Thoughts of MLB Network

By Alan Smodic | January 6, 2009 | MVN Outsider

Much like DirecTV's MLB Extra Innings package, the MLB Network is more baseball than one can handle. -- programwitch/Flickr.com

On January 1, Major League Baseball followed in the footsteps of the NFL and NHL by unveiling its own channel -- the MLB Network.If you don't already know what this exactly is, MLBNetwork.com's about page helps:MLB Network stands for Major League Baseball Network, which means access to more baseball than America's ever seen! This new 24-hour network delves into the world of baseball, going far beyond the field. Fans can tune in at any time for fresh perspectives, current news, the latest trade rumors, pre and post-game banter, highlights and more.Again, if you've seen the NFL or NHL networks, just picture those and think baseball. I wasn't sure if I'd receive the channel (I get the NFL network, but not the NHL), so I was surprised to see it coming in through my satellite. Obviously, I checked it out.I was impressed with my first viewing. The first show I saw...

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Value Wins and The Royals

By Craig Brown | January 6, 2009 | Royals Authority

Have you visited Fangraphs lately? If you haven't, you're really missing out. Apart from assembling some of the brightest statistical minds on the internets to dissect the numbers that we know and love, they have been forging new territory with their series on Win Values.It's fairly complicated to go into in this space (they're on part seven of their explanation) but let me try to see if I can streamline an explanation. During the season, a team of replacement-level players (think of dudes better than Tony Pena, Jr.) will win 48 games. If we assume each team will win a minimum of 48 games, that leaves roughly 1,000 wins up for grabs. That's why teams spend money. They are looking to secure as many of those wins as possible. What they've done at Fangraphs is put a value on those wins. By taking into account last year's free agent market,...

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The Royals Are Stuck With Jose Guillen

By Clark Fosler | December 31, 2008 | Royals Authority

Throughout the off-season, there have been some rumblings about the Royals attempting to move Jose Guillen. Certainly it was an option worth exploring, but was unlikely to meet with any success at the winter meetings in Las Vegas. Since then, the price of outfield bats has seemed to plummet. This is a market that still offers Bobby Abreu, Pat Burrell, Milton Bradley (although rumors are that he is about to sign with Cubs) and Garret Anderson. My guess is that a team could nab the first three for just a few million more than what the Royals are paying Guillen and likely get Anderson for less. The high end teams can still go after Adam Dunn and let's not forget that a team that likes to gamble AND make deals with the devil could still go out and pursue Manny Ramirez. Plus, if you want to execute a swap of bad salaries, the Royals...

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Shopping on a budget

By The Southpaw | December 30, 2008 | The Southpaw

So then, laying aside fantasies about sneaking in and grabbing Manny, and taking JP at his word on the budget (which, if we assume it's $85 million he has about $4 to play with unless he sheds someone) and avoiding the silly doom & gloom notion that we're not going to make ANY moves the rest of the off-season, why not let's look around the league and see if we see some obvious targets to acquire. These players are in three groups: 1. young players which the current team may be willing to deal because of positional crowding; 2. unheralded free agents; 3. Minor league guys who are non-prospects and blocked with their current team, both free agents and guys you'd have to make a trade for. For the sake of length, I'll make each group a separate column.Young up-and-comers1. Chin Lung Hu, SS, Dodgers - Now that the Dodgers...

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Spending The Glass Family Krugerrands

By Craig Brown | December 30, 2008 | Royals Authority

Via The Griddle comes word that the Royals have signed 17 year old South African pitcher, Dylan Lindsay to a contract. The Times of South Africa says it's a seven-year deal. The scouting report on the teenager from Gauteng was summed up thusly:Scout Mike Randell, who signed up the teenager from Brakpan in October this year, said it was the pitcher and all rounder's "good arm and speed" that had impressed him.He won't begin his career in the Royals organization until 2010 after he finishes school, but could find himself in Arizona this spring as a pitcher on the South African national team competing in the World Baseball Classic. The WBC doesn't really do anything for me although it is "competitive" baseball roughly three weeks before the start of the season, but with a young Royals prospect involved, there's reason to watch. I'm sure we'll have to tune in early...

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Holiday Cheer

By Craig Brown | December 23, 2008 | Royals Authority

This was supposed to be a happy entry, but then I learned the Yankees grabbed Teixeira. Bah, humbug. Not to be a downer, but this has been a disappointing off season. The Yankees are outspending everyone, then going to City Hall to ask for more handouts for their publicly funded stadium which has left not much of anything for everyone else. I was looking at their seating chart... If you were to buy two tickets behind the dugout, say 20 rows back for the season, that would run you $52,650. Wow.Not that the Royals were in the running for Teixeira, and I've always been a proponent of baseball's free market, but now that the Yankees have the four highest paid players in baseball (A-Rod, Jeter, Sabathia and now Teixeira) I'm wondering about rethinking my position. There's more interesting fallout: Since the Yankees have now signed three Type A free agents,...

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LOOGY-less in KC

By Craig Brown | December 17, 2008 | Royals Authority

First the bad news: The Royals are out of the Furcal Sweepstakes. "At the end of the day, it probably wasn't going to work financially with what we'd already done and what they were seeking." You know my feelings on this, so let's just move on...The Royals announced they reached an agreement with John Bale on Tuesday. He was a non-tender, so was a free agent. The Royals like him enough they signed him to a major league contract.Here's a quick stab at what the bullpen will look like come April 1. Obviously, a ton can happen between now and then, but this is just for fun anyway.CloserJoakim SoriaSet-UpKyle FarnsworthRon MahaySpot ReliefJohn BaleJimmy GobbleHoracio RamirezRobinson TejedaDoug WaechterWhen you look at this, the realization sinks in that this is most likely the actual bullpen. Think about it... Soria, Mahay and Farnsworth are absolute locks. They just resigned Bale to a major...

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Initial Thoughts of MLB Network

By Alan Smodic | January 6, 2009 | MVN Outsider

Much like DirecTV's MLB Extra Innings package, the MLB Network is more baseball than one can handle. -- programwitch/Flickr.com

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When the team you root for is at the bottom

By Patrick Patterson | November 13, 2008 | MVN Outsider

When a team is flying high, the ranks of their fans swell to epic proportions. (See also 1990's Dallas Cowboys.) The new fans that arrive are often derided by the long time fans as "bandwagoners." These long time fans are the ones who suffered through the down times, and can truly taste the joy of the winning seasons. There are some teams that do not know what it is like to have a true down cycle such as NCAA's University of Kentucky Wildcats in basketball (One losing season in the last several generations.) Other teams such as the Detroit Lions or Kansas City Royals (One world series appearance) don't have the history of up times to have acquired a bandwagon. When a team that has a history of domination, such as the Oakland Raiders falls on hard times, it takes its toll on the fan base. The Raider Nation is...Read more

Read more | 5 Comments | Tags: Chicago Cubs, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Royals, Kentucky, MLB, NCAA, NCAA Basketball, NFL, Oakland Athletics, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, University of Kentucky Wildcats

Being the GM: 2009 Kansas City Royals

By Evan | October 13, 2008 | MVN Outsider

This series is predicated on educated guesses, past history of the team/general manager, rumors that have been out there for a while, and actions that I feel could be taken. This exercise is me playing GM to inspire conversation and a new way of approaching things. Moves that I complete as previous GMs of teams will carry over here. Trades only include principal, significant players. Dayton Moore is not happy. The general manager of the Kansas City Royals has decreed that it is time to contend. "We're at a point now where you will never, ever hear me say again that we have young players who are improving. You will never, ever hear me say again that we are rebuilding. That stuff is over. I'm sick of all that." The Royals squeaked past the Detroit Tigers to finish fourth in the AL Central at 75-87. With the Tigers and Cleveland...Read more

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MLB Power Rankings

By Daniel Rathman | September 22, 2008 | MVN Outsider

The MLB Power Rankings will run on Outsider every Monday night until the conclusion of the regular season.� This is the second-to-last edition of the Rankings; next Monday's edition will be the last.� The final week of the regular season is upon us.� Yeah, already.� Hard to believe, isn't it?� The Halos, Rays, and Cubs are into the playoffs.� The Dodgers and Red Sox are, for all practical purposes, in.� Two of the Mets, Phillies, and Brewers will make it, as will either the White Sox or Twins.� All the other teams will be hitting their La-Z-Boys when the final outs of their games are recorded on Sunday.� Here's how the league stacks up in the penultimate edition of the Power Rankings. Note: some of the statistics and records below are through SATURDAY's games. 1.� Los Angeles Angels, 95-59 With the AL West division locked up and home-field advantage essentially...Read more

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