Friday Notes

The All-Star Game brought so much hope to Kansas City. Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez drove in all four runs for the American League and maybe it was time for the Royals to go on one of their runs we’ve gotten so used to over the last few seasons. They promptly went 2-4 to open the second half, with the last game of that stretch looking like the biggest thud of the bunch. So now the Royals are 47-47, which is the same record as the Tigers had through 94 games last year. You might recall the Tigers ended up selling. I’ll get to that in a minute. So now the Royals are at a crossroads. But hey, they went to the White House yesterday because of that big tournament they won last year, so it’s not all bad.

• This looks like it’ll be an ongoing topic over the next week and a half (unless they just get trounced the rest of the home stand), but the Royals decision isn’t very easy as to what they should do. Watching them play, it’s fairly easy to see and believe that this team isn’t good enough to do much damage this year. As we’ve discussed, it isn’t entirely their fault. All those injuries would be tough for any team to overcome. But looking at their record, they’re not an insurmountable distance from a playoff spot and they do have the pieces to upgrade to maybe make a run. At the same time, they also have some pending free agents who could be valuable in a trade. With the trade market still in flux, the Royals can afford to wait. They play six games at home before they hit the road again. This weekend, they take on a good team in the Rangers and then next week, they play a bad team in the Angels. If they don’t go at least .500 over these next six games, the decision is easy. Trade Volquez, trade Hochevar and trade Morales. I really believe they could get back some pieces that could help them next year or soon thereafter. If they do go .500, I’d personally still sell because that would put them at 50-50 (the same record they had in 2014, by the way), but not especially close to a playoff spot with stronger competition than the American League had two years ago. But I’d at least understand why they didn’t sell. One thing is for certain, I wouldn’t entertain trading a key piece to next year’s team unless the haul was insane.
• If you want to look at the team positively, you can see that a couple tweaks to the team, along with Lorenzo Cain coming back soon enough, could be enough to help them at least get back into the race. When Chris Young, Kris Medlen, Dillon Gee or Brian Flynn start, the Royals are 8-17. When anyone else pitches, they’re 39-30. One is a 52-win pace while the other is a 92-win pace. No, it isn’t as simple as just fixing that spot in the rotation, but putting a simply average pitcher in that fifth spot would be a huge help. They also need an offensive piece as well, preferably one who plays right field. I’m not sure exactly who those two upgrades would be, but if they can find those, that would give the Royals some hope. Of course, I do think it will take 90 wins to get to the second Wild Card this season, which means the Royals will have to go 43-25 the rest of the way. That’s daunting, but it’s certainly not impossible with a couple additions. I’m not sure I believe this optimistic view is the accurate view, but it makes some sense.
• Let’s talk a little more about Cheslor Cuthbert. He’s starting to get his due for how good he’s been as a replacement for Mike Moustakas. He’s hitting .298/.328/.456 on the season, but it goes deeper than that. He sees more pitches than most Royals hitter per plate appearance, so he’s one of the few actually helping to get starting pitchers out of the game. He’s also been solid defensively. No, he isn’t as good as Moustakas at manning third, but he’s most definitely getting the job done. Since Moose went down for the season and Cuthbert came up, all he’s done is hit .311/.344/.480. He’s slow and he’s not a very good baserunner because he doesn’t seem to realize he’s slow, but he’s become one important piece of keeping this team even close to the playoff race. He’s a big leaguer for sure, and one who I think has a higher upside than most people would believe. He’s just really impressed me, and gives the Royals plenty of options for next season, which we’ve already discussed.
• I’ll just say it. I’d trade Wade Davis for the right return, and I’d do it right now. I know. That’s sacrilege, but I don’t care. If the Royals would put Davis on the market, you could make an argument that he’d be worth the biggest haul of any reliever on the market. Aroldis Chapman is a free agent after the year. His teammate, Andrew Miller, has an extra year of control and is a lefty, so I could see him commanding a bit more, but even so, Davis would bring back a ton as one of the game’s best closers who is still under control through next season. What could he bring back? That I don’t know, but the Padres got back a starter who has a 1.54 ERA with a ridiculously high strikeout rate and a ridiculously low walk rate in 87.2 career minor league innings for Fernando Rodney. If you’re worried about next year’s bullpen, I get that, but I think the Royals could re-sign Greg Holland (and I still think they will). Plus, they already have Kelvin Herrera and a couple prospects in the minors who could come up and help the bullpen next season. Additionally, they could always re-sign Luke Hochevar and still utilize Joakim Soria, as much as he makes some of you cringe. I’m not saying I would trade Davis. I’m saying it wouldn’t be the worst idea for the right return.
• I’m wondering how long it will be before Raul Mondesi is playing second base for the Royals. He hasn’t been anything special offensively since being promoted to Triple-A, but he does have way more extra base hits than you probably realize. Plus, last night, he played second base for the first time in Omaha. Add in that Whit Merrifield has come way back down to earth and I just think Mondesi’s time might be coming sooner than it’s probably deserved. The Royals have never been shy to promote him, so I’m just wondering if that trend will continue.