I’m sure I speak for all Kansas City Royals fans when I ask that you consider this young and upcoming team this year. I respect that you currently do not like the offers that you have received by other clubs at this time and will sit out until something to your liking comes your way.

Roy Oswalt announced he'll wait on signing with a team on Thursday hopefully this helps KC's chances Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-US PRESSWIRE

 At this stage of your career it’s hard to fault you for wanting to chase a championship having fallen short in previous attempts with the Houston Astros and most recently the Philadelphia Phillies. Sure the Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals are built to win now with their current rosters, but anything can happen in the game of baseball as you well know.

The Red Sox, Rangers and Cardinals are solid options for someone in your current position, but why not the Royals? I don’t need to remind you that since 1985 the club has had minimal success, however, have you seen the parts of this roster?  Your spot in the pitching rotation is assured and you could have any of the first three spots that you desire.

I think you’d fit in well with Luke Hochevar, Bruce Chen, Jonathan Sanchez and Felipe Paulino who currently project to be the team’s first four starters. You’re known for working deep into ballgames, but should the need arise, how about this bullpen bridge that can get you the win with Greg Holland, Jonathan Broxton and all-star closer Joakim Soria to nail it down?

Since you’re coming from the National League I’m sure you’ve got some concerns about run support and how the Royals lineup could help you out in that regard. Let me introduce you to the team’s starting lineup: Alex Gordon in left, Johnny Giavotella at second, Billy Butler at DH, Eric Hosmer at first, Jeff Francoeur in right, Mike Moustakas at third, Salvador Perez behind the plate, Lorenzo Cain in center, and Alcides Escobar at short.  That’ll be up to Ned Yost and not myself, but it gives you an idea of what to expect.

Sure you may think that fans aren’t passionate in the Kansas City market with all the losing that takes place, but after last season we cannot wait to kick off 2012. Also we’ve got a little event coming in July know as the All-Star Game, which hasn’t been in town since the 1973 season. So, these are a handful of considerations for you and for a one or two-year contract that you might be seeking.

Let me also point out that Kauffman Stadium is very pitcher-friendly with its dimensions. In addition, road trips to Comerica Park in Detroit and Target Field in Minneapolis are on the schedule multiple times within the division. We also feel that with you on board it would counter the Tigers lineup and help KC contend in the division or the wildcard.

I hope that you have all the necessary information that you may need in considering Kansas City for your 2012 pitching destination. The fan base would really enjoy having you on this staff as the team tries to change the culture.

Sincerely,

Royals fans

Alex Gordon got a one-year deal but most fans want to see him locked up photo credit to Charlie Riedel (AP)

First let’s look at our company in the AL Central.  The Detroit Tigers are owned by pizza mogul Mike Ilitch, who has done a good job in recent seasons of spending money to help them compete in and out of the division, i.e. the Prince Fielder signing.

Jerry Reinsdorf, who has done the same with the Chicago White Sox, will spend the money if he needs to. Reinsdorf’s spending along with Kenny Williams assembling a complete roster helped the team to a World Series title in 2005 in addition to having a little luck on their side, which you need no doubt to win.

Minnesota has Jim Pohlad, who took over for his father Carl when he passed away in 2009.  The Twins have the luxury of a new stadium, but before that, GM Terry Ryan built a team from a good farm system that was perfect during their run in the Central.

Lastly, the Cleveland Indians have Larry Dolan who owns another team that has been down in the dumps, but they, like KC, are starting to compete. Chris Antonetti took over for Mark Shapiro in the 2010 offseason and has made them competitive.

Sensing a theme here? Spend the right amount of money, hire the right GM to make good moves and have a farm system that can produce players or have trade pieces. This brings me back to the article and Mr. Glass who has been in my opinion the rightful punching bag.

Like most Royals fans the death of Mr. and Mrs. Kauffman led to a weird period in the franchise’s history.  The team was run by the board and it wasn’t until 2000 that the Glass family took ownership. So from 1993-2000 the team didn’t have an owner and had Herk Robinson and Allard Baird as GM’s.

Flash forward to the present where Dayton Moore has rebuilt the farm system, made trades to help the team and signed free agents that seem to fit the team. While all has been great from the standpoint that the club might be ready to compete for the division, one has to think why the purse strings can’t be loosened a little bit more.

Roy Oswalt is still on the market and with that being the black hole in this roster, it makes sense to make the move.  Even on a national level Steve Berthiaume of ESPN’s Baseball Tonight tweeted what we’ve written about on Kings of Kauffman this offseason that it would be a wise move.

No one likes to be called cheap in any walk of life especially if you’ve got a fortune from running a successful business. He says that you’re willing to do what it takes to win, (I will give him credit for putting money into international scouting and spending on draft picks) which will be tested outside of free agency with contract situations like Alex Gordon on several fan’s minds (Gordon did get arbitration).

But how about the other young players on the roster? I have no problem with seeing the payroll rise that way since you’d be winning with guys who the franchise raised through the system (homegrown players-that’s something that has happened little during the Robinson and Baird years) and win here.

Mr. Glass, I’m sure you’re a good guy and thanks for stepping in to own the team.  As a fan base we’re fragile and don’t want this opportunity to slip through our fingers with how long it’s been since Kansas City has been a winner. GMDM, just tell Mr. Glass that we need a little more money for a one-year deal to get Oswalt, which would better the team’s chances at ending “the drought” eating at all of us who bleed blue.

Thanks for visiting Kings of Kauffman.

Stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed and follow Mike Vamosi on Twitter to be notified each time he posts a story.

Dayton Moore, apparently just standing around, not signing Edwin Jackson or Roy Oswalt. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE

In a way, I’m surprised that there hasn’t been more said about this, but Dayton Moore made a statement to Bob Dutton about the current starting pitching market.

Moore was forthright in admitting that he may have misjudged the free agent market early on. As he told Dutton:

“I guess if we had known all along that Edwin Jackson or Oswalt were going to take one-year deals maybe we would have done things a little differently or thought things through a little differently. But I don’t think so.”

The reason behind Moore’s skepticism is a desire to keep the path open for the young pitchers in the system to be called up when they’re ready. Danny Duffy is already up and the hope is that Mike Montgomery puts it together in spring or early on in Omaha and earns his promotion as well.

Through it all, Moore has stuck to his guns.

The question has come up though – why didn’t Moore sign Roy Oswalt? Why not Edwin Jackson? Jackson only signed a one year deal with Washington and Oswalt’s rumored deal (when he finally settles on a team) shouldn’t be any bigger than one year and seven million dollars. Outrage! What is this guy doing? Is he openly sabotaging the team’s chances?

It’s clear that the Royals need outside help or vast improvement from the current crew. They traded for Jonathan Sanchez on the hopes that he returns to his 2010 form when he struck out 9.5 batters per nine innings and held batters under seven base hits per nine. At the end of November, they worked out a deal to keep Bruce Chen after a pair of solid seasons in the Royals rotation. Moore cited Chen’s consistency as a reason to hustle to get a deal done.

Now, he’s being ripped for the move because “he should have just signed Oswalt or Jackson”.

Let’s review. The Royals signed Chen at the end of November, coming to the agreement on November 23.

At that time, C.J. Wilson and Mark Buehrle had yet to sign and were outside of the Royals price range. Oswalt was said to be waiting for those two pitchers to come off the market, thus lowering the number of impact starters out there and hopefully adding value. This was two weeks after the Royals had signed Chen. Since, yes, Oswalt has lowered his demands and went from being open to a one-year deal  (though not until a month after the Royals and Chen agreed to their deal). Now it’s understood by most reporters that all he’ll get is a one year deal, but he’s being patient and picky.

"Yeah, just one year, but I don't know where yet." Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-US PRESSWIRE

Part of the huffing and puffing suggests that the Royals hadn’t even expressed any interest. When a former Cy Young candidate and a pitcher with solid control and good strikeout numbers through the years is on the market, a team that needs a big starter for a potential shot at contention had better go after the guy. A common question out there (by some, not all) is “why didn’t the Royals go after Oswalt?”

Let’s rewind ourselves to November 11th. On that date, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reported that the Royals were meeting with Bob Garber in Milwaukee.

So what?

Bob Garber is the agent to one Roy Oswalt.

In other words, two weeks before signing Bruce Chen, the Royals inquired about Oswalt. Now, I don’t know the nature or breadth of those discussions. As Levi Payton suggests, it may have just been due diligence, just on the off chance that Oswalt was ready to go to a smaller market team with a lot of energy and a lot of hope.

At that time, as noted above, Oswalt was waiting out the big money southpaws so maybe the Royals came away with the impression that they’d have to overpay to secure his services. Maybe Oswalt wasn’t ready to sign at all with anybody. Maybe he flatly told the Royals “no”. We don’t know because neither side is telling us, but at that point the Royals shifted to going after Chen. It’s not an outrageous guess that they may have went after Oswalt, were rebuffed and went to their secondary plan.

But wait, why not Edwin Jackson? Why not give him a one year deal before the Chen agreement?

Edwin Jackson cashed in and hopes to next year as well. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

For one, at the time (late November) even the Yankees thought Jackson’s price was too high according to reporting by Jon Heyman. Some figures in early January had Jackson seeking a five year deal for $12 to $15 million a season. It wasn’t until recently that Jackson was reported to be open to a one-year deal, even spurning three year offers from the Orioles and Pirates to sign in Washington. Those deals were said to be around $10 million a season over three years. Washington will pay him $11 million. My hunch is that Jackson saw Washington as a great fit for a) the money b) the goal of a one year deal (which allows him to re-enter the market next year) and c) a chance to fit in with a sleeper contender. Pitching alongside Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmerman is probably more attractive than being mixed in with Luke Hochevar and Jonathan Sanchez.

The sense I’m getting from some Royals fans on Twitter and Facebook is that the Royals sat on their hands entirely*. However, given the market at the time of the Chen agreement, there’s no indication that the Royals would have been able to sign either Oswalt or Jackson, and waiting may have left them out of the Chen sweepstakes too.

*Then there’s the group that would have complained if the Royals could have signed Oswalt, citing his back and age while bemoaning the fact that he was blocking Montgomery. Moore can’t win no matter what he does, sometimes.

Then there’s the evaluation that 2012 might not quite be the year for the Royals. A lot of things would have to fall right for a one-year deal (if one could have been reached at the time) to impact the team enough to push them past Detroit (who, it should be said, won the division by 15 games in 2011). It’s arguable if any pitcher can make up that big of a difference when other factors are similar. The Tigers have a good set of hitters, a good bullpen and strong starters.

Even if there’s no regression from Alex Gordon or Jeff Francoeur or Eric Hosmer (dread that sophomore slump), is it going to be enough? And could one pitcher – like a 34-year-old with back issues or a 29-year-old who’s bounced around the league his entire career – be enough to overtake the Tigers? Unlikely, though it would improve the odds, and I’d have been in favor of a move.

Add it up and it’s easy to see how Moore’s decision-making led him to pursue Chen and leave Oswalt and Jackson for the rest of the league. At the time, the investment was outside of the Royals range and the pitchers’ availability or willingness to come to Kansas City is questionable as well. Dayton Moore can’t sign a player for the Royals if they don’t want to be a Royal. That leaves him in the position to where he has to make the best move he can at the time under the conditions.

The Royals missed out on Edwin Jackson. The Royals are likely to miss out on Roy Oswalt. Or, more likely, they never had a shot, so did they really “miss out”?

Thanks for visiting Kings of Kauffman. You can stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed.

Roy Oswalt will likely play in a different uniform this year. Why shouldn't he play in Royal blue? (Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE)

Is there anyone in Royals-land who doesn’t know the team needs a couple of top notch starting pitchers?  Most of us assume the Royals will be competitive in 2012, but the boys in blue probably won’t contend for a title, primarily because of their lack of quality starting pitching.  The Royals hitting and fielding is comparable to the best clubs in the American League, but their pitching just doesn’t measure up – yet.  So, Royals fans will just have to wait until the young and talented arms on the farm mature and join the big league club in another year or two before we can order our tickets to the playoffs.

But as a long suffering Royals fan I feel compelled to ask – why do we have to wait?

There is just one difference-making pitcher still on the free agent market who could immediately impact the Royals and meet several critical needs. The Royals need a pitcher who won’t block the path of their young arms, a pitcher with a proven track record of success and leadership, a pitcher who is affordable.  Roy Oswalt is all of these things.  He’s only seeking a one-year deal (to prove he’s recovered from his back problems, so he’s highly motivated to put up some great numbers) and most likely he’ll sign a much more lucrative contract with another team by the time our high potential young hurlers reach the bigs, he’s been a number one pitcher on a staff that included Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens, and at a one-year commitment of $10 million for a definitive #1 starter (it’s been reported that this is the amount he’s seeking) – that’s about as affordable as you’re going to get.

For comparison purposes, Boston’s Daisuke Matsuzaka, Philadelphia’s Joe Blanton, and Minnesota’s Joe Nathan all earned over $10 million last year.  Who would you rather have?

Before any of the recent rumors regarding Oswalt’s 2012 destination began swirling, the Tigers made him an offer of $10 million per year.  But yet, he didn’t sign with them.  This could mean there’s something intangible, something more than money that he’s seeking.

Several reports have indicated that Oswalt wants to play nearer to his home in Mississippi, although I haven’t seen any quotes to that effect, and it may just be an excuse to explain why he hasn’t already signed with the Tigers or Red Sox.  If this was true, I don’t understand why he hasn’t already returned to the Astros.  They could certainly use him and no team would be more geographically appealing to him.  However, the Astros haven’t even entered into the equation, except within the musings of their hopeful fan base.

Most recent reports persistently indicate that Oswalt wants to play for the Cardinals or the Rangers.  With every day that passes, these possibilities seem less and less likely.  The Cardinals haven’t made a sufficient offer (probably because they already have good starting pitchers) and the Rangers stated they would need to move someone out of their rotation to make room for Oswalt (which they don’t want to do), and Roy doesn’t want to be a reliever (and no one in their right mind would pay $10 million for a bullpen swing man anyway), so these possibilities appear to be incompatible.

After the Cardinals and Rangers, the next most likely suitors for Oswalt are reported to be the Reds and Phillies.  But last Saturday, Ken Rosenthal tweeted that the Reds weren’t actively pursing Oswalt, but merely “kicked the tires” to determine if he was planning to stick with his $10 million asking price.

Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports has indicated the Phillies had an interest in Oswalt, but they haven’t been aggressive in seeking starting pitchers because, well, with Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels on their team, they don’t need to.

The only other team widely reported to be in the mix for Oswalt is the Red Sox, and their General Manager Ben Cherington recently stated “We’re going to keep looking for ways to improve the team, including the pitching staff, but I wouldn’t expect any major changes between now and the report date.”

So what is Oswalt looking for and is there another team he could potentially sign with?  He wants to start, he wants an opportunity to prove he’s healthy, he’s accustomed to being the ace of the staff and this is a role he’d like to assume again.  Can you think of a team that could help him to fulfill these wishes?  I can – the Royals.

It was already reported on Kings of Kauffman by the venerable Michael Engel, that Oswalt would not be signing with the Royals.  However, to be fair, this post was written when we were all certain Oswalt was on the verge of finalizing a contract with the Cardinals.  With every day that passes, the door cracks open a little farther for other teams such as the Royals to step up to the plate.

Can the Royals afford Oswalt?  Baseball Reference estimates the Royals 2012 opening day payroll to be $70.5 million.  That’s just 3 spots from the bottom of the American League payroll rankings, above only the Oakland A’s who are going through a fire sale, and the brilliantly managed Tampa Bay Rays who lead the league in cleverly conceived club friendly contracts.  If Dayton Moore thought we were one or two players away from contending, I’m absolutely certain the Glass family would cough up another $10 million.  Don’t you think Roy Oswalt in a blue uniform would put ticket and concession buying fans in the seats at Kauffman stadium and generate more revenue for the team?  You know it would.  I’m convinced that if Royal-Nation caught wind of an exciting development that could breathe life into our playoff hopes, there would be a Chief’s style traffic jam at the corner of 435 & I-70, 81 times this Summer.

One of the factors when considering Oswalt must be to determine whether he is healthy enough to play.  Oswalt landed on the disabled list last year with a back strain that has apparently prevented some teams, such as the Yankees, from bidding on him.  However, a closer examination reveals that Oswalt has experienced back problems for years and it’s never really affected his performance (in 2010, his ERA was 2.76), and he aggravated his back in 2011 not by pitching, but by running to first base – something he wouldn’t be doing in a Royals uniform.

Last season, between the day Oswalt strained his back on April 15 and the day he admitted he was experiencing pain and went on the DL ten weeks later on June 24, his ERA was 4.75.  Do you know the ERA for the Royals starting pitchers in 2011?  It was 4.73.  While pitching in so much pain that he had to be placed on the DL, Roy Oswalt’s ERA was the equal of the Royals 2011 pitching staff.  (Not counting spot starters, or starters demoted to Omaha.  I think my calculator would have exploded if I had attempted to determine the starting ERA including Sean O’Sullivan and Vin Mazzaro.)  That’s the absolute worst performance Oswalt is capable of delivering.  Everything else is upside for a team like Kansas City.

So Dayton Moore, riddle me this – Who could fulfill our need to lead our lackluster pitching staff, not block the path of our developing young studs, and do this at a club friendly price?  The answer is Roy Oswalt.  Oswalt might not want to play for the Royals, but I don’t think we should assume this.  Why wouldn’t he consider a team that he knows is going to provide him with run support, in a pitcher friendly ball park, against soft AL Central competition, in an environment that is going to be fun this year?  Maybe Dayton Moore should give Steve Berthiaume of ESPN a call and see what he thinks?

As fans, we’re left with the question, why not Roy Oswalt?  It’s a question that’s worthy of discussion and begs to be answered.  However, there’s only one way to find out if Roy Oswalt would consider playing for the Royals.  Dayton Moore needs to ask him.

Thanks for visiting Kings of Kauffman. You can stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed.  You can also send your questions to our mailbag at KoKMailbag@gmail.com and follow Alan Barrington on Twitter to be notified each time he posts a story.

Roy Oswalt will not be a Royal; Photo Credit: Daniel Shirey-US PRESSWIRE

If you’ve read one Royals article this offseason – on Kings of Kauffman or elsewhere – you couldn’t have missed the “biggest weakness is starting pitching” mention. It’s in every single one.

And for good reason – the Royals starting pitching was rough last year and without a significant acquisition, the rotation from the end of 2011 will return intact in 2012 (as long as you substitute Jonathan Sanchez for Jeff Francis). There may be surprises in spring training who ascend to the starting rotation, and injuries are always possible with a pitching staff, but we’re probably looking at the same group as last year (though with the benefit of not having to start the year with Kyle Davies, and Sean O’Sullivan and Vin Mazzaro probably aren’t going to make any starts any time soon).

I’ve been in favor of the Royals making a big splash in free agency to acquire a starter for this year, going so far as to say that the Royals should sign both Mark Buehrle and Roy Oswalt. It was a long shot. Buehrle wasn’t on the market for long, signing with Miami for three years and $48 million.

Oswalt, however, is still technically on the market. Some reports had Oswalt agreeing to a deal with the Cardinals last night, but team officials and other reports have suggested that that’s not the case but that both sides might be close. Retirement has been mentioned as an option, too.

(more…)

The 2012 season cannot start soon enough.

There’s still plenty of offseason to go though, and even though all Royals fans would rather be watching Eric Hosmer‘s first swings of the new year, there’s still plenty of news with the team to talk about. So let’s get to it.

As always if you want to join in on the fun, drop us a line at KoKMailbag@gmail.com, or shoot a tweet to @KingsofKauffman. Now, on to the emails: (more…)

Roy Oswalt - from Wikimedia Commons

Now that Mark Buehrle, C.J. Wilson and Yu Darvish are off the market, available front-line starters are becoming scarce.

There are options, but they involve trades which would cost more than the Royals are seemingly willing to give up, prospect-wise. Gio Gonzalez was the hot topic during the winter meetings, but the Royals didn’t want to part with Wil Myers. That the A’s were reportedly asking about Mike Stanton from the Marlins suggests that Myers would just be part of a much larger package. James Shields would command a similar price, and the Padres have already received a haul of young talent from the Reds for Mat Latos.

The Royals, some think, need a top starting pitcher to have a winning 2012.

Now, after some flirtations with one such pitcher, the time is right to go after Roy Oswalt.

(more…)

That started the floods gates (with reason) of Royals fans and bloggers alike with hearts all a-flutter that maybe, just maybe, Dayton Moore was actually going to take a run at the veteran right-hander. Then, a little later on Tuesday, the second bomb dropped, and it was reported that the Royals had interest in Mark Buehrle.

Now, the true level of interest could be nothing more than Dayton Moore doing his due diligence, and doing what every responsible GM should, and just testing the waters of a couple veteran pitchers that would both be sure upgrades to a under-talented starting rotation. (more…)

We here at Kings of Kauffman and virtually every other person that covers/blogs about the Royals has been telling you that the Royals would need to and likely would add a starting pitcher in some fashion. Well with the Sanchez deal, the Royals have now done that. But, the deal caught some of us off-guard (and by some of us I mean all of us). But it caught me off-guard in a good way. As I detailed in my previous post, the Royals were able to acquire Sanchez without giving up a single prospect.

Translation: they still have the flexibility to use coveted prospects in the system to acquire an impact arm. James Shields anyone? 

(more…)

Roy Oswalt - from Wikimedia Commons

According to reports, two of the best free agent starting pitching options available are possible targets of the Royals. Jim Bowden tweeted that Kansas City was among thirteen teams considering Mark Buehrle, while Jerry Crasnick has suggested the Royals are potential suitors for Roy Oswalt.

Crasnick also reported that the Royals were meeting with Bob Garber, Oswalt’s agent.

Let’s play a game and say that the Royals sign either or, even more interesting, both pitchers this winter. What would be the ramifications?

(more…)

• Royals vs. the Word (Series) – Ryan Wood
• Youth in Revolt: The 2011 Kansas City Royals (June) - Ethan Evans
• Speaking to the Old School Folks - Gage Matthews
• Free Agent Watch: Roy Oswalt - Kevin Scobee
• Five reasons towards 2012 Royal failure - Mitch Hall
• Making a Pitch: Part II (James Shields Edition) - Brett Christie
• So It Goes: Another Baseball Season Passes - Michael Engel
• Negative Space - Ryan Wood
• Ryan Lefebvre – Gone - Michael Engel
• Youth in Revolt: The 2011 Kansas City Royals (July) - Ethan Evans

At first glance a right hander going into his age-34 season, coming off an injury plagued 139 inning campaign, would be a cause for concern for teams in search of much needed (or just wanted) rotation help. Those injuries coupled with the always possible “will he or won’t he?” questions that surround Oswalt retiring, make him an almost surefire option for a competitive veteran-team overpay, or a return to the state of Texas where Midas Nolan Ryan can work his magic and will him to a Cy Young type season. In what would be a normal offseason in Kansas City, those would be the storylines

Not this season however. (more…)

The game nearly didn’t happen, as a huge system of storms went across northeast Kansas and northwest Missouri, dumping heavy rain over everything. However, after a 90 minute delay, the field was ready for baseball.
(more…)