Archives: Podcasts

After two Royals games to start the season, it was time to make some conclusions, small sample size or not. Okay, not really.

But we did talk about some of the hints we saw in the first series of the Royals season and what they might foretell for the Royals bullpen. We also talked about some Eric Hosmer ground ball tendencies, and even addressed the whole Noah Syndergaard/American Woman stuff that popped up after Tuesday’s game.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to KansasCityBaseballVault@gmail.com.

Note: There is one (1) unsavory word uttered in this podcast. Should you be opposed to one bad word, you might skip this one, or jump to about the 10 minute mark to avoid it.

In this bonus episode, we include audio from Omaha Storm Chasers Media Day.

You’ll hear from Brett Eibner, Jose Martinez, Storm Chasers manager Brian Poldberg, and new Storm Chaser Cody Decker.

A big thank you to Clint Scoles for providing the audio. Follow him on Twitter at @ClintScoles.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to KansasCityBaseballVault@gmail.com. If you want to hear more stuff like this, let us know.

And keep checking BPKansasCity.com for podcast updates and Royals analysis.

This week, we looked at a way the Royals might approach the opening day roster, and if that means a decision between Whit Merrifield, Reymond Fuentes, and Terrance Gore – or including all of them.

We also discussed factors in the Royals attendance numbers for 2016 and wondered if they might be able to crack 3 million.

There might have been a TV pitch for a cooking show involving Ned Yost. It got a little foggy for a minute there.

And in our second segment, we talked about the 2015 seasons of Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas and wondered if they are career years, if they can maintain the success, or if they might regress (and what that might look like).

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to KansasCityBaseballVault@gmail.com.

And keep checking BPKansasCity.com for podcast updates and Royals analysis.

Welcome to the Kansas City Baseball Vault!
In this first episode for Baseball Prospectus Kansas City, Jeff Herr and Michael Engel break out some projected stats for key Royals players and discuss whether they’ll perform better than or worse than that line. Those key players: Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez, Lorenzo Cain, Ian Kennedy, and Yordano Ventura.

In the second segment, they both come up with two bold predictions for 2016. You won’t believe what happens next!

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to KansasCityBaseballVault@gmail.com.

“Mapping Emptiness” by Cosmic Analog Ensemble is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

This week, we covered the Royals’ recent cuts to whittle down the number of players in big league camp. We talked about the addition of Dillon Gee to the 40 man roster, the role of Danny Duffy, Christian Colon’s missed opportunity, and – oh – a big opportunity for this podcast.

On Monday, March 21, Baseball Prospectus will be launching a local site catering to the Kansas City Royals fanbase. This new site will combine two you probably follow: Royals Authority and Pine Tar Press. We’ve been invited to join them on this project and have accepted. All BP Kansas City content will be free at BaseballProspectus.com.

This podcast will still be on the same feed you receive it from now, whether that’s iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, or any other podcast app. We’ll still be doing the same kind of show, though we may try a few new things here and there. The only change will be moving under the BP umbrella, which is a nice place to be, I think.

In the second segment of the episode, we broke down the different combinations that might make up the Royals outfield bench. With Jarrod Dyson on the DL, it probably gives Paulo Orlando the opening day nod, but will Travis Snider, Reymond Fuentes, Terrance Gore, or Whit Merrifield back him up? We discuss and come up with the more likely ways it may turn out.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to KansasCityBaseballVault@gmail.com.

As spring training games started up, the Royals started making a little bit of news. And Jeff returned to help host (after his first few weeks adjusting to parenthood).

The Royals signed Salvador Perez to a contract extension, so we talked about the money, the risks, and what it means for the organization.

We also talked briefly about Jarrod Dyson’s oblique injury, Bubba Starling’s rising hope, and we shared some thoughts about Kyle Zimmer’s solid spring debut.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to KansasCityBaseballVault@gmail.com.

The Royals are in camp at spring training. Games are approaching on the calendar. A World Series title defense is about to begin. Pretty awesome, right?

This week, Craig Brown of Royals Authority fame joined Mike to discuss some of the roster decisions ahead, pitching depth, and the contract extensions of Ned Yost and Dayton Moore … and perhaps a future re-working of Salvador Perez’s deal.

You can follow Craig at @royalsauthority on Twitter. Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to KansasCityBaseballVault@gmail.com.

Spring training approaches, so this week Mike invited Hunter Samuels (@huntersamuels on Twitter) on the show to discuss some questions ahead of the players reporting.

The theme was position battles, and featured thoughts on Omar Infante vs. Christian Colon, Drew Butera vs. Tony Cruz, and who will round out the bullpen. In the second segment, the focus shifted to what might play out with right field and the vast number of options on the 40 man roster and free agent market.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to KansasCityBaseballVault@gmail.com.

If you look at the Royals’ financial commitments past 2017, it’s pretty obvious that a lot of guys on the team today won’t be around two years from now.

Many of the contracts on the team will expire after 2017, so we tried to assess the situation and think of what the fate of the bigger likely-to-depart names might be.

Joining Mike this week as guest co-host is Ben Nielsen, formerly of the Walkoff Talk podcast and various KC sports blogs. You can follow him on Twitter at @BenThereBro.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to KansasCityBaseballVault@gmail.com.

(Today’s short music clip: “Achilles” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)

NOTE: Part of the conversation referenced future free agents, comparing current Royals to that crop. Unfortunately, we were going off a list of free agents for the year AFTER this class, which does change the equation a bit, at least so far as comparing potential Royals free agents to other free agents. Cain in particular won’t have as star-studded a cast to contend against when he’s a free agent, and Moustakas won’t have Donaldson or Machado to fend off. To me, the general conclusion is the same – that Moose and Cain are probably most likely to stick and have situations best-suited to find something now if they can – even if the steps to get to that point are slightly different. Thanks to Hunter Samuels for catching our error. The responsible parties have been sacked.

One side effect of following a winning baseball team we’ve discovered is that the “wait until ___ when the prospects arrive” (ah, 2011, we missed you, sort of) isn’t really a thing anymore, so Jeff and Mike have lost track of the fine details of the Royals’ farm system.

Thankfully, there are experts out in the world who can help us catch up. Jim Callis of MLBPipeline.com was kind enough to lend his insight to us and we talked about the Royals depth in the minors, the star power in the system, and how some of the familiar names like Bubba Starling might turn out.

He also shared his thoughts about some of the risers in the system and who the surprises of 2016 might be. We’ve owed you a show about prospects for a while, and this one will help you get caught up along with us. You can follow Jim on Twitter at @jimcallisMLB.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to KansasCityBaseballVault@gmail.com.