Kansas City Baseball Vault

So after a pretty quiet offseason, the Royals started to make a few moves. In the last week, the big move was trading longtime Royal Jarrod Dyson to Seattle for right-handed pitcher Nathan Karns.

As a fan, it's a tough move because Dyson has been in the organization so long and has had so many big moments as a Royal, but deep down, it makes some sense, as the Royals trade from surplus to fill a need.

We looked at where the Royals are now with Karns in the fold, how Dyson's production may be covered, and how the Royals may approach their pitching staff now with a (likely) set five-man rotation.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to [email protected]. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

The Royals were a little busier over the last week, reportedly signing pitchers Bobby Parnell and Jonathan Sanchez - yes, that Jonathan Sanchez - to minor league deals. Then they traded a minor league pitcher for catcher-turned-outfielder-slash-likely DH Peter O'Brien.

We talked about how likely any of these moves are to impact the 2017 Royals, spending a lot of time on the O'Brien acquisition and the slight shift in philosophy it signals. Or does it? With O'Brien in the fold and Jorge Soler acquired last month, the Royals have added to whiff-heavy power hitters to the lineup.

And they may not be done yet. We checked out a couple of other potential moves that may still happen this offseason.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to [email protected]. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

While the hot stove cools off for the holidays, the baseball world seems preoccupied with Hall of Fame ballots.

So we discussed our views on baseball's Hall of Fame and who on this year's ballot deserves to make it and how we'd vote.

In our second segment, we pivoted to discuss the Royals Hall of Fame and which players on the current roster (and a few players from recent clubs) could make it into the Royals Hall of Fame. 

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to [email protected]. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

The rumor mill has stopped churning out tidbits for now, so Jeff and Mike made a wishlist of three relievers each who they'd like to see the Royals go after this offseason. 

We weighed some pros and cons for each and wondered if the payroll freed up by the Wade Davis trade would allow Kansas City to go after some of them.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to [email protected]. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

It was hinted and suggested and assumed, and then it was finalized. Wade Davis was traded for Jorge Soler. 

We discussed the way the market developed, the implications of the move, Soler's potential, Davis's history, and where it leaves the Royals.

Then we continued to talk about some Jarrod Dyson rumors and his sneaky value.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to [email protected]. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

Baseball avoided another work stoppage and agreed to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, and while it's not dramatically different, there are notable differences from the system you may have gotten used to over the past five years of the current agreement.

So we covered those details and ins and outs, and related them to what the Royals may do as they prepare for 2017 and beyond.

For more from BP KC, check out David Lesky's thoughts. Craig Goldstein also has a deep look at the details on Baseball Prospectus.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to [email protected]. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

Due to the holiday, we took this week off from a live recording, but we dug through the Vault and found a fun interview we did back in 2012 on the old Royalman Report. We're sharing our chat with Gar Ryness, the Batting Stance Guy - a fun discussion about baseball and fandom and goofing around with the game of baseball.

You can follow the Batting Stance Guy on Twitter at @BattingStanceG.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to [email protected]. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Since Kendrys Morales signed with Toronto, we talked about how the Royals might fill the DH spot and if they can find the same production by rotating the players they have now...or if they need to go to the market to find a DH.

We also talked about some prospect rankings, Dayton Moore's first round picks, and looked at his acquisition of Ervin Santana in 2012 as the first "buy" move towards contention, and the context of his previous November trades. 

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to [email protected]. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

Disclaimer: We ended up talking a bit about the Election, so if you want to skip right to the baseball, jump to the 45 minute mark. We didn't exactly hold back, so if you're oversaturated with it, feel free to skip this week.

The Royals made some decisions on mutual options and other contract situations this week and we discussed who might return, and, in light of Greg Holland's recent workout, we lumped him in with some of the newly-determined free agents. 

We also talked about some of the players who'll be free agents after 2017 who might get traded this offseason (but probably only one and probably not even that).

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to [email protected].

The 2016 baseball season is over. The Royals have handed over their crown. 

So now, it's time to look at the offseason.

First, we talked about the evolution of bullpens and if we think the usage of Andrew Miller, Aroldis Chapman, et al signal a new approach to watch for in 2017, or if it's only good for the playoffs. We considered if the Royals might be an aggressive bullpen team or not and what pieces may need to be in place for that to happen.

In our second segment, we talked about general ideas the Royals may look at this offseason and how active they may be. We also talked about a few ideas for the new CBA (which should come up in the next few weeks)

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to [email protected]. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.