clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Royals Review Mailbag for January 8

Where we steal Sam Mellinger's bit.

By Max Rieper
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Its five degrees outside and spring training is still weeks away. Let's try to warm up with some HOT TAKES. Here is your January 8 Royals Review mailbag.

Do you think it would have been brilliant or a mistake

For Ned to go HDH for 3 innings each in game 7 rather than use any member of the rotation at all?

by cmkeller on Jan 8, 2015

It would have been interesting, that's for sure. I think asking each of HDH to go three innings would have made them far less effective. I remember the story of when the Royals first asked Wade Davis to move to the pen, they wanted him to go two innings at a time in the minor leagues. Davis said he preferred to go one, so he could really let 'er rip. I think if you ask each of them to go three innings, they'll have to pace themselves a bit more. And if they get knocked around a bit, they may not even be able to last all three innings, which leaves you throwing out Brandon Finnegan or Jason Frasor for the late innings, although perhaps that's preferable to Jeremy Guthrie.

I think Ned probably played it about right in Game Seven. We just weren't good enough to beat Madison Bumgarner.

Dayton Moore has probably earned a lifetime pass from the Glass family. Dayton Moore will always be the guy that saved the Royals franchise, that took them from being a laughingstock to a pennant-winner. I don't see how they ever fire him, obsession with winning or not.

I think Dayton Moore built up quite a bit of goodwill with fans, but that could be squandered pretty quickly if they win 75 games each of the next two seasons. Ask Rockies fans how they feel about Dan O'Dowd.

Directors of Grit and Moxie!

Getz's official title is "Baseball Operations Assistant/Player Development" so I assume he'll be assisting Dayton Moore and Assistant General Manager Scott Sharp and learning how to be a front office exec. I'm sure we'll see him at spring training teaching guys how to bunt.

I don't really know if Kendall is still employed with the Royals in any capacity. He's not listed on their front office page. He was a "special assignment coach" in spring training of 2012, but I haven't heard about him working for them since. His dad is a former Royals coach, so it seems like a natural transition considering his grittiness, but who knows, maybe he's attempting a comeback at playing.

Finnegan will almost certainly be a starting pitcher, as he should be. The Royals have aggressively built up a "Super Pen" leaving little room for Finnegan even if were to be used as a reliever. But with his stuff and his pedigree, he'd be far more valuable as a starting pitcher.

But we have to see if he can get professional hitters out as a starting pitcher. My guess is he begins in Northwest Arkansas in the rotation and spends at least two months there. The fact the Royals signed starting pitcher Kris Medlen, who should be ready by June or so, probably lessens the chances they'll call Finnegan up mid-season. It wouldn't surprise me if Finnegan spends nearly all of the season in the minors until September.

I suppose fair. The timetable is for Zimmer to slowly build his arm back up in spring training with game action hopefully by April, but expect delays, so my guess is he won't get into action until May or June. I'd assume he starts out at AA Northwest Arkansas where he made four starts in 2013, and could move up quickly to Omaha if he fares well, with maybe a cup of coffee in September. I get the impression the Royals have wanted to be very aggressive promoting Zimmer, but the injuries have put the kibosh on that. If he's healthy, and that's a big "if", he could move quickly. He's still just 23, but the clock is ticking.

I don't want to point fingers, but it was you.

Booze. Netflix. Reading back on classic Royals Review posts.

Who would you rather fight:

One horse-sized duck or one hundred duck-sized horses?

by TheScootness on Jan 8, 2015 | 11:17 AM
This is important stuff. Regular-sized ducks are terrifying, I can only imagine a horse-sized duck in my nightmares.

How often do you eat Korean food?

by Scott McKinney on Jan 8, 2015 | 10:31 AM

Not very often to be honest. My mom is Korean and lives in town, but typically only cooks Korean food on holidays and such. We have friends that own Sobahn, a Korean restaurant in town (free plug!) and we've been a few times. My wife doesn't really know how to cook any Korean food though, so its mostly just the holidays. I did enjoy some nice Korean ribs and mandu (dumplings) at New Year's though.

The new "Star Wars" movie, hands down. Lens flair aside, I'm a fan of what little J.J. Abrams I've seen, and I especially like there seems to be a greater reliance on "lived-in", realistic-looking special effects rather than cartoonish CGI. To be honest, I'm not super-excited they've brought back many of the original cast like Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford (I prefer to remember swashbuckling "never tell me the odds" Han Solo, not "old man, settled down with Princess Leia" Han Solo), but I trust the story will be an upgrade over the recent prequels. My oldest son is really into Star Wars now, so it will be a real treat to get to enjoy these new movies with him.

As far as "grown-up" movies, I'd like to get out to "Inherent Vice."

Well that wasn't so bad. Maybe we'll make this a regular thing until Sam Mellinger sues me for stealing his bit.

More From Royals Review