Why the 2014 Royals are great for baseball

BBCgalaxee · Oct 15, 2014

I love that this team is smoking and on it's way to the biggest stage!

Why? Is it because I'm a Royals fan? No, it's because their success is great for the game and other teams.

Sure, it's obviously awesome for their fans, no doubt about that. But there is more to it.

Being such a small market team with a miniscule payroll USED TO mean "wait till next year", but no longer as other teams have proven.

They have also proven that once again, big money spending doesn't "buy" championships (look at my Yankees again for that).

The royals success, along with other teams like them, reinforces the idea that ANY team can go toe to toe with the big market clubs on the diamond. Spend wisely, develop talent (PATIENCE!) and find those "diamonds in the rough."

But hopefully something else comes out of it, teams becoming reluctant to do those ridiculous long term $100m plus contracts which seemingly never work out.

As a Yankees fan, I REALLY hope they sit on their hands this off season and let other teams drop disgusting money on over 30 year old players, and instead give their farm system a real chance while signing "quality" players instead of big named guys.

hrbek14 · Oct 15, 2014

Sure, it's a nice feel good story. But let's not go overboard with thinking that the Royals are some great story. If they're anything, they're what's wrong with baseball. They're a middling team (16th in OBP and 17th in OPS) with front-running, fair-weather fans (26th in attendance) that just got hot in the postseason and beat much better teams.

gmsieb · Oct 15, 2014

This years Royals are basically the 2002 Angels. Many times, the hot team wins the world series, not the best team.
Angels weren't the best team in 2002, but with a hot pen, some timely hitting, and speed, they beat the much more talented Yankees
and went on to win the world series. The Royals are hot at the right time and creating their own luck. It is fun to watch and good
for baseball. The fans should enjoy it, this type of streak is hard to come by.

Mighty Bombjack · Oct 15, 2014

2007 Rockies, man. They had eight days between the LCS and the World Series, which cooled them off considerably. I hope the Royals don't suffer the same fate, as I don't need another SF or STL championship.

WaxPax · Oct 16, 2014

BBCgalaxee said:
I love that this team is smoking and on it's way to the biggest stage!

Why? Is it because I'm a Royals fan? No, it's because their success is great for the game and other teams.

Sure, it's obviously awesome for their fans, no doubt about that. But there is more to it.

Being such a small market team with a miniscule payroll USED TO mean "wait till next year", but no longer as other teams have proven.

They have also proven that once again, big money spending doesn't "buy" championships (look at my Yankees again for that).

The royals success, along with other teams like them, reinforces the idea that ANY team can go toe to toe with the big market clubs on the diamond. Spend wisely, develop talent (PATIENCE!) and find those "diamonds in the rough."

But hopefully something else comes out of it, teams becoming reluctant to do those ridiculous long term $100m plus contracts which seemingly never work out.

As a Yankees fan, I REALLY hope they sit on their hands this off season and let other teams drop disgusting money on over 30 year old players, and instead give their farm system a real chance while signing "quality" players instead of big named guys.

Your point is well taken, but after last years WS, everyone was looking at the Redsox model of signing mid level players in FA in lieu of the big signing to field a championship caliber team.

The dynamic changes every year based upon who has recent success. Could we see teams copying the KC model? probably.

After next years WS which ever team wins, their model will used. It could be a free spending team again or another small market team with a modest roster of homegrown talent, or some combination.... Only time will tell.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Freedom Card Board mobile app

u2me57 · Oct 17, 2014

It is a great story and good for baseball.

Super Mario · Oct 17, 2014

I'm very happy for long time Royals fans.

CatdaddysCards · Oct 20, 2014

hrbek14 said:
Sure, it's a nice feel good story. But let's not go overboard with thinking that the [COLOR=[URL=http://www.freedomcardboard.com/forum/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=1]#1[/URL] 41823]Royals are some great story. If they're anything, they're what's wrong with baseball. They're a middling team (16th in OBP and 17th in OPS) with front-running, fair-weather fans (26th in attendance) that just got hot in the postseason and beat much better teams.[/COLOR]

Convenient to forget the top 5 rotation, #1 in defensive metrics, and best bullpen in MLB.

rsmath · Oct 20, 2014

gmsieb said:
This years Royals are basically the 2002 Angels.

and it also appears the 1997 and 2003 Marlins.

I can see at least a mini fire sale coming up in 2015 with apparently a lot of contracts up for some of the key players. For one, I've already seen articles that say the Royals may not be able to ink James Shields to a new contract.

Looks like this is the year for the Royals to win it or it may be awhile before they make it back into a world series.

hive17 · Oct 20, 2014

The secret to the Royals success has been the drafting prowess of Doug Melvin!

CatdaddysCards · Oct 20, 2014

rsmath said:
and it also appears the 1997 and 2003 Marlins.

I can see at least a mini fire sale coming up in 2015 with apparently a lot of contracts up for some of the key players. For one, I've already seen articles that say the Royals may not be able to ink James Shields to a new contract.

Looks like this is the year for the Royals to win it or it may be awhile before they make it back into a world series.

Shields is really the only key player we may potentially lose. If we can't sign him, everyone moves up a slot in the rotation and Finnegan slots in at 5, with Zimmer and Lamb waiting in the minors.

Hosmer and Moustakas are still under team control for 2-3 more years, Gordon has a couple years left on his contract, as does Butler. With Cuthbert doing well in triple A, at 21 yrs old, Butler could easily be traded for a starting pitcher.

The big three in the pen, are still controlled for a couple of years.

Infante still have two years on his contract.

Perez still has 4 years.

Escobar is in his arbitration period. Once he's ready to leave, Mondesi comes up.

I believe Cain still has a couple years of control.

I guess I'm not seeing everyone's pessimism. The next 2-4 years could be repeats of this year, and our farm isn't exactly lacking of great, young players. As a small market team, that's what you hope for. Plus the extra income from the playoffs/World Series could keep shields around. The shields moving on rumors started well before they swept the American League playoffs.

rsmath · Oct 20, 2014

Here's what I based my earlier posting on with info taken from cots contracts for who I feel (as one that doesn't follow the Royals super closely) are the significant Royals that don't have contracts or option years for 2015:

Free agents or potential free agents making $5M or more:

James Shields
Josh Willingham
Luke Hochevar

Contracts expiring after 2014 without any option years listed and who knows if these can become free agents, are still under Royals control and will get a nice raise, or go to arbitration while staying a Royal:

Greg Holland
Eric Hosmer
Norichika Aoki
Mike Moustakas
Lorenzo Cain
Jarrod Dyson
Kelvin Herrera
Yordano Ventura
Danny Duffy

lisu · Oct 20, 2014

I agree - I think that the Royals are a great story - it's like the Rays of a few years ago. I am rooting for my Giants this world series, but I won't be too upset if the Royals end up winning.

CatdaddysCards · Oct 20, 2014

rsmath said:
Here's what I based my earlier posting on with info taken from cots contracts for who I feel (as one that doesn't follow the Royals super closely) are the significant Royals that don't have contracts or option years for 2015:

Free agents or potential free agents making $5M or more:

James Shields
Josh Willingham
Luke Hochevar

Contracts expiring after 2014 without any option years listed and who knows if these can become free agents, are still under Royals control and will get a nice raise, or go to arbitration while staying a Royal:

Greg Holland
Eric Hosmer
Norichika Aoki
Mike Moustakas
Lorenzo Cain
Jarrod Dyson
Kelvin Herrera
Yordano Ventura
Danny Duffy

Shields is the only guy up top, that really matters. Willingham doesn't contribute a whole lot. Should be easy to re-sign, if they choose to go that route. Hochevar is still recovering from TJ. I'd guess we re-sign him, but he isn't a necessary piece.

On the 2nd list of guys, Aoki and Dyson are the only ones who aren't arbitration eligible, I believe. Could be wrong, but I think we still have team control on Holland, Herrera, Cain, Hosmer, Duffy, Ventura, Moustakas. That's my understanding, anyhow, as all are 3 yr or less vets. Most came up at some point in 2011, with the exception of Herrera and Ventura. Not exactly sure where Duffy sits, as he missed a season recovering from TJ.

maxe0213 · Oct 20, 2014

CatdaddysCards said:
Shields is the only guy up top, that really matters. Willingham doesn't contribute a whole lot. Should be easy to re-sign, if they choose to go that route. Hochevar is still recovering from TJ. I'd guess we re-sign him, but he isn't a necessary piece.

On the 2nd list of guys, Aoki and Dyson are the only ones who aren't arbitration eligible, I believe. Could be wrong, but I think we still have team control on Holland, Herrera, Cain, Hosmer, Duffy, Ventura, Moustakas. That's my understanding, anyhow, as all are 3 yr or less vets. Most came up at some point in 2011, with the exception of Herrera and Ventura. Not exactly sure where Duffy sits, as he missed a season recovering from TJ.

I believe a lot of those guys will go through arbitration. Thus salaries will increase by quite a bit as they have played above their typical levels.

The royals are a fantastic story this year and I pray that they beat the Giants. However, there is little chance they bring back Shields unless they win IMO. Plus with all the increases in arbitration the royals have little to no salary to work with.

I doubt they make the playoffs next year. They got hot at the right time. Thats how you win the postseason. Getting hot at the right time, not being the best team.

I expect the White Sox to be much improved next year and you will have the Tigers and Indians solid as well. Royals could end up finishing third or fourth if the players on the team don't continue to play above and beyond their potential. I think we can all tell this royals team is overachieving, but it is great that they are right now.

SINFULONE · Oct 20, 2014

hrbek14 said:
Sure, it's a nice feel good story. But let's not go overboard with thinking that the Royals are some great story. If they're anything, they're what's wrong with baseball. They're a middling team (16th in OBP and 17th in OPS) with front-running, fair-weather fans (26th in attendance) that just got hot in the postseason and beat much better teams.

Exactly, even their own manager was calling out their "fans" the last month of the season for not showing up to the games."Great for baseball", give me a break.

u2me57 · Oct 21, 2014

It should be a great World Series. Go Royals!

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Why the 2014 Royals are great for baseball

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