Royals owner David Glass wants his team’s starting rotation to improve in 2013, and he’s prepared to spend if that’s what it takes to upgrade the Kansas City pitching staff. Glass told Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star that the starting rotation will get better in 2013.
“What I’ve always said is when we get to the point where we’re competitive,” Glass said, “we’ll do what we have to do to improve our position. Yes, we’ll do what we need to do. We are committed to improving our starting pitching.
Glass said the Royals will contend if they can upgrade their rotation. The bullpen and position players “stack it up against anybody” in the American League Central in Glass’ estimation. The owner indicated a willingness to operate at a loss from a financial standpoint if necessary.
Royals starters have combined for a 4.98 ERA (26th in MLB) in 833 2/3 innings (28th in MLB). Jeremy Guthrie hits free agency this offseason, but Bruce Chen, Luke Hochevar, Luis Mendoza, Will Smith, Felipe Paulino, Danny Duffy and Jake Odorizzi are among Kansas City's internal options for 2013. Glass has yet to create a list off offseason targets with general manager Dayton Moore, Dutton reports.
Greinke
Odorizzi
Duffy
Solid veteran #4 type
Chen
Instead of Greinke the Royals need to save @$60 million and sign Lohse.
Should Mike Montgomery be on that list of internal options? Did they give up on him or is he not projected to be up by then?
He was sent down to AA after doing pretty bad in AAA this season and has actually pitched worse there. He’s probably done.
Well, I don’t know if he’s done. He certainly isn’t in line for a rotation spot but the guy’s 23 and throws lefty. He’ll hang around.
Im 20 and a lefty but that doesnt mean I can pitch in the majors
If you could throw in the upper 80’s+ some team would be willing to try to teach you how to pitch.
He got shelled in AA too. Until he figures out how to make the baseball go where he wants it to (eg somewhere in the vicinity of home plate) he won’t sniff the majors.
He’s got 3 more years left on his minor league contract. He’ll hang around.
Done? Lmao. Nope.
They need to bring in at least 2 quality arms this offseason, cut Hochevar and use his money towards bringing Guthrie back on top of those two arms. With Odorizzi and some combo of Mendoza and Smith, that’d be a major step up from where the team was at the beginning of this season. Duffy and Paulino are both coming back from Tommy John, and judging by how slowly they’ve brought back Lamb from it, we probably won’t see them in the majors till at least the mid season point, so we can’t really rely on them for 2013, more likely 2014.
They should try and bring back Greinke and bring his Milwaukee teammate and Kansas native Marcum. The two of them at the top of the rotation eating 400 innings with Paulino, Duffy and Odorizzi as the rest of the projected rotation and Bruce Chen as insurance (with Mark Montgomery in AAA). That way they could project a competitive rotation within their division and if their bats develop well enough, and with a couple of shrewd moves for their bullpen, Kansas could reach the postseason next year.
You just wonder if Marcum’s arm is okay. Personally I like the guy and the way he pitches.
Marcum is from Excelsior Springs, MO. About 30 miles from the Kansas border. But I agree, I would love to have to have him here.
MIKE Montgomery has been horrible. Right now he’s pretty much a long-shot for ever making the big league club, frankly. Forget about him and be pleasantly surprised if you hear his name again.
Duffy and Paulino will not be back to the Royals until the All-Star break at the earliest
Why would the Royals need to add anything to their bullpen? Their bullpen is the LEAST of their problems.
(Also, the Royals are not from Kansas.)
If the Royals are serious about pitching look to Tampa. You could bring
in James Shields who is no Grienke, but is under team control another
few years at a lot less than other big name starting pitchers. And based
on this article (28th in MLB in innings from Starters) James Shields
could REALLY help there. He has thrown at least 200 innings the last 6
years. Also look into Jeff Niemann as a possibility!
Kyle Lohse is 33 and has been an utterly mediocre pitcher his entire career until 2011. The Royals will not rebuild this rotation in the free agent market, the arms just aren’t there and the ones that are (Greinke) will take 5 years $100m. If we start giving #1 for #3s just to say we’ve done something, we’re in trouble. We need to try to parlay some of our young talent (yes, including Wil Myers) into a 25ish proven starter with multiple years of team control. Not saying we should completely ignore the FA market, but its pretty bare this offseason after Greinke and the two or three that are still solid (Jackson, Marcum, etc) are going to get stupid money. I’d rather try to score enough runs to be competitive with Hoch (don’t like it, but it’s going to happen whether I want it to or not), Odorizzi, Guthrie, Mendoza and Chen with Duffy and Paulino waiting in the wings than spend 5 years $60m on Anibal Sanchez. Not ideal, but at least it’s only a one-year mistake.
I don’t really have an opinion on Lohse for the Royals or anything, but the guy has pitched 175+ innings in 8 of his 12 seasons. In his 5 seasons with STL he’s pitched to a 3.89 ERA. He had a few okay seasons with the Twins, as well.
Lohse’s career ERA+ is 97. That’s the definition of medicore. Not terrible, but not good either. He has pitched really well the last couple of years, but pitchers don’t just become awesome at 33.
Where did you get “awesome” from what I wrote?
Dice-K? No, I’m actually serious.
no thanks, maybe try trading for Jon Lester
2013 will be Odorizzi, Chen, and Smith. Also Guthrie if he is resigned, which I think they will since he has done quite well for them. Hochevar and Mendoza will be bullpenned, released, or traded.
Duffy or Paulino will be starting in place of Smith if either comes back after surgery.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Edwin Jackson in the other spot. Greinke would be welcome back, but I doubt that happens.
Zach wheeler for Myers OR Starling?
I would only want to give up one of those guys for a true proven ace. Wheeler looks great, but still needs to prove he can pitch at the MLB level.
I’d give up Starling in a second for Wheeler. Not liking what I’m hearing about Starling in the minors.
Curious, what have you heard about Starling? I’ve heard nothing but glowing reports on how well he’s hit, played defense, willing to take a walk, etc.
His swing is UGLY and scouting reports have not been “glowing,”
especially for a #6 draft pick. There’s certainly time for improvement
since he’s in Rookie league ball, but I really don’t think he’s got much
of a shot to be a star (“super” or otherwise) at the MLB level.
k, he’s the 2nd best prospect in the Appy League(which is far from hitter’s league). The guy played baseball 2 months a year and is only now getting to play baseball full time for the first time in his life. The guy has a slash line .275/.371/.485, sixth in the league in OPS, again, for a kid who baseball took a back seat in HS to football (while also playing basketball). Yeah this guy sucks, LMAO
I never said he “sucks.” Where did you get that? And who decided he was the “2nd best prospect” in the Appalachian League?
I also said “there’s certainly time for improvement” — looks like we agree more than you think we do.
Listen, I’m the biggest Royals fan out there. I would give my right testicle for a playoffs berth. But I’ve been let down too many times by media morons who told me 199X’s team or 200X’s team had a shot to be competitive. So I try my best not to lie to myself.
Starling has a longshot to become a star. Most prospects are like that. However, I feel that he has a long-shot to even be an average MLB player. It’s unfortunate, but he has a LOT of stuff to improve before he gets to the MLB.
Here you go; here’s a pretty positive scouting report on Starling that just came out today…you will like this: baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=18495
Trading Myers alone is not going to get you a “proven ace.” Trading Myers + Starling is not going to get you one either.
Good to see the Royals addressing a need that has been around for as long as I can remember. Hopefully they actually follow through and aquire someone who still has some gas left in the tank.
Glass is blowing smoke.
I’m interested to see if the royals are going to be willing to trade some of their young hitting to acquire young pitching. I don’t see them spending the big bucks to add Greinke/Peavy…etc. Maybe a Marcum/Lohse guy , but if they want to add a guy like Delgado or AJ Griffin types, they are gonna have to cough up some bats.
Glass will operate at a loss with Royals? Yeah right. Glass isn’t the biggest scumbag among the owners but he’s up there.
RA Dickey would be a perfect fit in KC…
what prospects do u think he would/should bring back in a trade ?
what prospects do u think RA would/should bring back in a trade ? Sandy Alderson should be on the phone calling GM’s with offers now
Love the opinions here, but one thing you need to take into account – Royals fans are not very sophisticated as a rule and trading away players like Myers and Starling would cause a major uproar. They don’t seem to understand that to get something you have to give something up. Oh, sure, we gave up Greinke and emptied the Brewers’ farm system…but for Royals fans to do the same thing in reverse would make heads explode.
This smacks of a Glass public relations prank to steer the fan base to false hope so we will buy off season tickets. I won’t do it next spring. I won’t believe it til I see it.