Chapter 1: What issues are the Royals currently facing?
Around here we show up for one another. We want the same for our health insurance. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City gets that because they're from here too. It's coverage from folks who know these roads and care enough to walk them with you. That's the benefit of blue.
You are listening live to the program. Your teams, your town, your program. High fly, left field, driving back Collins, all the way back, all the way back to the wall, leaping up. He can't get it. It is gone. He goes oppo, and he's put the Red Sox on top, opposite field into the bullpen for a two-run shot.
B-b-b-b-b-basketball, give me, give me, give me the ball because I'm gonna dunk it! Outside Castle, tries a three and hits it! Back-to-back threes for San Antonio, they're only down seven. SGA drives inside the arc, pulls back, jumper, good for SGA! SGA, 30 points in game two as the Thunder lead by seven. Inbound to SGA, gets it in the front court with 22 seconds to go to Caruso.
Explodes to the rack, and that's the dagger. OKC by nine. The two-time MVP bounces back with a 30-point game, and the Thunder bounce back. The Western Conference Finals are even at a game apiece. And now, starting to sense a trend, Soren Petro.
Right you are, Kay. Right you are. Petro on the program on Sports Radio 810 WHB. Thank you for joining us here on a... Not bad. I'll take it. It's gray. The only thing. We don't have any sunshine, but the temperature can't beat it. Beautiful spring day here in Kansas City. We have a lot to get to. I sound like you. You're not good. You know. That's what I felt like. What was it?
What's the line in Anchorman where he's like, you know... I'm Ron Burgundy? That's what it is. I'm Ron Burgundy? These are the Royals? Yes. I guess we'll chat. If you want to talk about the boys in blue, it's always a topic here on the program. I'm running from that now. 9133-810-810. You can hit me up on the Twitter, at Soren Petro, S-O-R-E-N. P-E-T-R-O, if you are so inclined, the Royals...
Slide continues. They've now been swept at the hands of the Boston Red Sox, and I think it's official. I think the question now becomes about the team. Is this a better team that's just underperforming, or are they just bad? Did we just completely overestimate what this ball club is? I mean, to me, that's the conversation now. Yes.
At 20 and 30, 50 games in and you're 10 below 500, even on the wild card, where are they at on the wild card now? The wild card is at four and a half games. That's not that far out. There's no doubt when a sub-500 team is holding down the Texas Rangers at 24 and 25, you're like, whoa, I mean, nobody's taking... The likelihood that...
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Chapter 2: How has the team's performance changed recently?
Of all the teams that are in front of you.
Yeah, which are six.
That none of them are going to start playing better baseball and that you're going to actually be able to get to 500 and be the wild card is highly unlikely. I suppose it's possible. But why, under any circumstances now, would you look at this ball club and say this is a team that can get back to 500?
There really isn't any. It'd be one thing if they were playing better baseball and just around 500 baseball based on the run differential and have just had some poor luck. But they're Pythagorean. Their expected one loss record is 22-28. Even that's six games under. And so they're playing just a little bit. The results are only a little bit worse than the way they've actually played.
You combine that with the fact that if this team was the other direction, if they were 30 and 20, or 28-22 or whatever, you'd be wondering, okay, they're in first place, or they're this, they're in the wild card spot, but man, the injuries are creeping up. Can this team hang on to the positives that have happened? Can they hang on to the, they've got some wins in the bank, can they hold on?
This certainly isn't a team that you'd be thinking, can they make a comeback?
The Army days, the Royals have been above .500. One? One. Three and two. Do you have any days they've been 500 or better? One? They had to have been two. They were three and two, so they were over one.
Had to have been more than one. Do the math. They were three and two. Okay, so they were four.
Three. Three. The bare minimum. Oh, yeah. At least three games. I should look back and maybe you are right with the four because, let's see, on March 30th, they were two and two. there are, what, 31 days in March? So actually, you're going to be right with four days. Because March 30th, they were 2-2. April 1st, they moved to 3-2. April 2nd, they fell to 3-3. So four days.
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Chapter 3: What are the implications of the Royals' current standings?
You know, when they went from 7-18 to 19-21 at the 40-game mark, we were thinking, which is the real Royals? The first part or the good part? And the idea was maybe it was a bit hopeful that it was the better part, but also because that was the more recent part. That was the direction they were traveling to. So we thought, well, they're not going to win.
Would that have been 12 of 14 or whatever it was? But they're better than what they're showing, what they showed earlier. No, no. When we look back at the season right now, we're looking back and going, how the hell did they win 12 of, I guess it was 12 of 15. How did they pull that off? That looks like the anomaly, not the first part.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't know. What would you point to at this point? I mean, Salvador Perez hits a home run. Like we said, he kind of does that every five or six games. He pokes a home run. You know, I just ā I don't ā the bullpen is a giant problem. The reinforcements coming from Omaha are not good. They're not an answer. They have not performed at all. And I just ā I'm not sure where ā
where the improvement is going to come from.
Yeah, I think the easiest thing to point at is the continued difference between their ability to get guys on base and their ability to get guys home. Even with the last couple days have maybe moved that a little bit, but the idea that they're kind of in the middle of the pack in all the hitting categories, yet they can't score runs. And that's something that you really can't do much with.
But at some point, it becomes not something that is just that's baseball or random chance or small sample size and eventually it evens out. At some point, it's not just a set of numbers. There's a reason for it. Early on, you can just say random chance or small sample size. You start getting close to the halfway point of the season, and you still can't turn hits into runs.
There's a tangible reason for it, and that's something that I don't know how you even attack that.
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Chapter 4: Is the Royals' management making the right decisions?
I suppose it could be in Kansas City, but if you're Chris Bubich, I don't think ā unless he gets back and still makes 30 starts, which I think is highly unlikely ā But I think more likely is 20 starts. And if that's the case, then he's going to be a one-year guy. Nobody's going to give him multiple years. He's not going to want to sign what you would offer in a multiple-year deal.
In fact, by the end of the year, he may be back to the bullpen. If they had other starters, I think they'd be talking about him going to the bullpen. But, you know, I just don't. I think the questions that need to be answered is, I think this team has taken off the table the idea of do we push for this year? Well, they've answered that, no. The question is, do you push for 27?
And I don't know why you would. If it's not good enough now, why is this core going to be good enough next year?
Right. And where do you put it? At 28? I mean, it is unfortunate that that may be the better call in the long term.
I think if it's not next year, it doesn't matter when it is. Then it just becomes about assembling as much talent as possible wherever you can find it. Yeah. And I will say this. I think part of the paralysis of the Royals organization under Dayton Moore and the times that they weren't winning was this constant effort to get better right away.
Who was the guy that Dayton Moore acquired that was years away that would ultimately come up and make an impact for the Royals? The Zach Greinke trade of acquiring all guys that were knocking on the door... was maybe the worst thing that could have happened to the long-term success of the Kansas City Royals.
It was a tremendous success for building a team that could compete and win a championship. They got the shortstop, a guy who was great on the bases and pesky with the bat, at least hard to strike out in Alcides Escobar. They got... Center fielder?
Center fielder who would play for at least a year at an MVP caliber level, but they got a great defensive center fielder who could also produce offensively, who had some time in the big leagues, and they were able to finish off his development and turn the corner. And then they got a starter. Who was the... Was that Jake Oterizzi? Yeah. Did he come over? I think that's a great deal.
Who they spun into the James Shields trade, right?
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Chapter 5: How does player performance impact team strategy?
They've done that for you. I think it's important for them to make the right decision on where they go from here. And to maximize the talent if they do indeed sell off pieces at the deadline, which I think would probably be pertinent. I mean...
The only thing that you could say would be what about is how many years of Bobby Witt Jr. 's prime do you want to be spending rebuilding? But that may not be a question. You even have a solution.
I've heard that. Jeff Passan said it on Monday. Sam McDowell said the same thing Tuesday. I... You have to make good decisions for the organization. The more I've sat and chewed on that, that sounds great. Well, we don't want to waste Bobby Wood Jr. Oh, so you're going to press the good trade, good signing button. Like normally, we'd just wing it and take our chances and maybe we'd suck.
But because we have Bobby Wood Jr., we're going to make good trades. You know, it's kind of like the, oh, it's an important time. Now I'm really going to try to hit. I mean, when no one's on base and it's 0-0, I just kind of half-ass it. But now we've got first and third, I'm really going to try.
But I don't understand how, you know, to me, if you look at it and say, well, we've got to maximize the time we have with Bobby Wood Jr., It's the name on the front. As great a player as Bobby Wood Jr. is, it's about building the best baseball team with Royals on the front. It is not about building the best team as long as one guy has wit on the back of his uniform. That's not it.
And so if your decisions are going to be like, well, listen... They want to give us this number four prospect in all of baseball, but he's in high A. And we can't wait two years because that's two years further into Bobby Witts. So we're going to take this other guy who's 150 instead. Wrong.
Yeah. And this season is a result of them trying to win this year. And it... They're not going to be able, maybe in a situation, it looks like they are, where the idea, well, let's be competitive next year and the year after that, that might not be possible. So if that's not possible, you've already, it's a sunk cost to a degree.
Those this year and next year and the year after that of Bobby Woods Jr. 's career may be a sunk cost. How do you be better in four years from now?
I have never... And I have no problem rooting for a team that says, okay, we're going to tear it up and we're going to start from scratch. But I want to be clear, I am not saying that everything must go. I'm just saying that as you arrive at the deadline, you need to be clear about what you are. And if somebody comes and offers you something good for Michael Waka, you need to listen.
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Chapter 6: What should the Royals focus on for future success?
We haven't had a chance to do much of that. We will play There Can Be Only One and Stuff the Chumps coming up next hour. Blair Kirkhoff in the four. David Leske in the five. We'll take your phone calls. Chiefs, Royals, Sporting, Missouri, K-State, KU. Always a topic here in the program. 9-1-3-3, 8-10, 8-10. Off and running here on a Thursday.
It's gone south, and it doesn't look like it's coming back. The Kansas City Royals swept at the hands of the Boston Red Sox. Not a good scene for the boys in blue. And very quickly, the season is going down the tubes before we've even reached Memorial Day. Unfortunately, we as Royals fans are familiar with this kind of feel. But much more disappointing this year because there were high hopes.
Yep. Ooh, 6-3? Yeah, 6-3 might get it done. It's a pipe dream now. Four and five would ā I think I'd take four and five right now if I was thinking about this year.
At 10 under, you're talking about, like, even if they start playing better baseball, you're starting to look at, like, July. Yeah. I mean, 500 by the trade deadline? You can get hot, but I don't know why you would think this team would get hot.
Yeah, that's the problem. It's not just where they are. It's what the direction, when you look at the roster, if everyone was healthy and pitching or playing well or playing decently, they were just getting some bad luck. You'd have some hope. But they're not, and they aren't.
They've disappointed, and now they're hurt. Yes. So it's a problem. 9133-810-810. Let's go to the phones. Tom, you're in the program. What's going on, Tom?
Well, you know, because I'm such an internal optimist about this season, you know, my question now is not what do we do, it's who do we do what with. And, you know, you look at Buvich, you look at Reagans, yeah, they could bring value, they're young pitchers, but neither one of them can play an entire season. and they both have elbow problems. So how much realistic value are we willing to get?
I myself would be fine if J.J. and Q or whomever decided to talk about moving Witt. The problem, because he just would bring so much value, the problem is Kansas City historically has this thing where they don't move their quote-unquote Kansas City guy. They did it with Brett after they won an 85 World Series game. They did it with Mike Sweeney. Now they're doing it with Salvador Perez.
I probably would have traded Salvador Perez four or five years ago while we had a lot of good value for him. So I don't think they're going to trade Witt. I think it might be a good idea to discuss. I think they're going to go try to move Bubich and Reagans. I just don't know how much real value we're going to get out of those guys.
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Chapter 7: How do injuries affect the Royals' season outlook?
Now he's going to be healthy. Now he's going to start 30 games every year for the next five years, and this is going to be great. I'm going to tell you, the deal that they signed with him where they basically guaranteed him money over the next three years, right, over his arbitration years. They didn't buy any free agent years. They just guaranteed money.
If you're a player and you sign that deal, why would you sign that deal? Like, to me, that's a deal that you offer, and when he says yes, you go, oh, hold on, hold on, let me think about this. That's a guy who went, yeah, I'm probably going to be hurt, and if I'm hurt, I'm not going to get squat and arbitration, and so I better take this guaranteed money right now.
Like, I don't know who Reagan's agent is. I guarantee it's not Scott Boras. Because Scott Boris would never allow that to happen. He'd be like, no, no, no, we're going to roll the dice. One, Scott Boris doesn't always look out for his client. He looks out for what generates him the most notoriety and gets him more clients.
And that's signing because everybody in true American fashion believes that we're all going to be A-Rod. So sure, Boris will get me the A-Rod deal because that's who I am. I'm not going to be Ray Sanchez, who he screwed, or Mike Moustakas, who he screwed. I'm going to be A-Rod. I'm going to get that deal. This was a deal that was made by an agent who said, look, you're a ticking time bomb.
Let's guarantee you some money. And so, you know, I don't think the player feels like he's going to be healthy. Yeah. That's a good point. I mean, if you had an opportunity to move him, you should have moved him. You know, like every one of these players, because if it's like, well, you know, chemistry is so important. You got to have a great clubhouse. Do you have a great clubhouse now?
Oh, yeah, we love our players. They're great. Well, you suck. So it means nothing. Don't tell me about how great the clubhouse is because you're 20 and 30. So I don't care. They all should be commodities. That includes Bobby Witt Jr. And every decision that is made about every single player on the Royals roster should be one that's based upon the math.
And the math is Chris Bubich has never been healthy and Cole Reagans has never been healthy. So if you get value for them, you need to way lower your value on those players. I mean, that's what the whole war stat is about, right? Like, well, you know, when he plays, yeah, when he plays. Well, when he pitches, yes, when he pitches.
That's part of what your availability is a big part of your ability, and the availability of both those guys is not good. So if you were offered tangible assets for them in the offseason, they should have been moved.
If the Royals brain trust and said, look, here's a way to work this, we'll offer him this. If he says yes, let's move him. Not just that they would even be surprised by it. I think the scenario you brought up is like, whoa, he said yes?
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Chapter 8: What do fans want to see from the Royals moving forward?
If you look at their, I mean, we all know their past draft picks. Sean Gamble from last year, it's too early, but he's hitting like 110 right now. You got Blake Mitchell, Gavin Cross, Frank Mazzucato, A.C. Lacey, Brady Singer kind of worked out. I mean, who was the last international prospect they really signed outside of Salvador Perez who's made it to the league?
Mikel Garcia.
I mean, I live in Atlanta. Oh, yeah, Garcia, you're right.
And all the draft picks that you mentioned. You mentioned Josh Hammond, and Josh Hammond is not hitting, but Sean Gamble is, who was the next pick that was taken. So he is hitting. And most of the names you mentioned are all when Dayton Moore was in charge. Since J.J.
Piccolo has taken over, and really the last two years since Brian Bridges has been brought in, there is elite talent, but it's far away. I mean, your points are all valid, but the guy who wrote the check for it is not here anymore.
OK, yeah. Well, fair point. I didn't. But did they really change? And sorry, I'm not picking stuff up. Did they really change out scouting department that much when you look at it? I mean, that's a harder one to judge.
I mean, I don't you know, I can't tell you that. I honestly know.
I just feel like we're not developing guys. We're not. You know, outside of Bobby Witt and a few of these guys from the past, it just seems like guys are getting worse as they go through our system.
I think that's completely fair, JT. But I think the person who's responsible has already been fired. Okay. Yeah, fair point.
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