Kansas City Baseball Vault

This week, Jeff was out fighting off a nasty cold so Mike flew solo.

There hasn't been much happening yet this offseason, for the Royals or anyone else. But Kansas City did protect some players from the Rule 5 Draft, and they have arbitration decisions due on Friday as you listen to this episode.

Mike discussed the cases of Kelvin Herrera, Nate Karns, Brandon Maurer, and Mike Morin and who, if anyone, could be nontendered. He also discussed why he's not concerned about the Royals leaving Ryan O'Hearn and Frank Schwindel off the 40 man roster and available for Rule 5 selection.

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.

This week, we get resolution on the Dayton Moore/Atlanta saga, plus a quick update on Ned Yost and his frightening fall from a tree.

Then we looked at the key team needs, including a discussion of the potential of players moving positions, the likelihood of re-signing free agents, and maybe even another reunion.

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.

This week, we covered some 2017 Awards and the Royals who received qualifying offers (and reiterated their impact). 

We also looked at what's ahead. The Royals are in transition, with players leaving, new coaches coming in, and some hints at drama behind the scenes. We knew this offseason would have some intrigue, but may there's more than we expected.

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.

With the Astros win in the World Series, the 2017 season has concluded.

That means that Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas and others are officially free agents.

We covered the next steps: the general timeline for the next month, the offseason milestones ahead, and what to keep in mind.

We also discussed some potential landing spots for the key Royals free agents and who might fill in for whoever doesn't return.

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.

This week, a look at Collective Bargaining Agreements! 

Specifically, the qualifying offer. What is it? How is it applied? How does it matter for the Royals?

In this episode, we tell you all about it, plus go through some of the Royals pending free agents and why the Royals would or would not extend the qualifying offer to them 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.

Well, I suppose it's time to hold ourselves accountable. Back during spring training, we predicted some over/under targets for certain players and reviewed them at midseason. With the 2017 season completed, it's time to pay up.

We are very much not perfect and the results show it. Still, we took the time in this episode to discuss some Royals players' seasons, plus our reasoning for our predictions. It's a long episode but it's a long offseason, so there's plenty of time...

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.

One thing we're sure of is that the 2018 Royals will look quite different than what we're used to.

How different? We'll see. The big free agents are likely to go elsewhere, but with an opening in Atlanta, Dayton Moore's name has come up again as a candidate for GM. Would he leave Kansas City? Ned Yost is back for 2018, but is there a manager-in-waiting already in the dugout?

And what if the market is shaken up and Eric Hosmer ends up returning?

We discuss all of these topics as well as a check-in about the postseason, as we gear up for a crazy 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.

This week was pretty simple. In this episode, we say goodbye to the foursome of Alcides Escobar, Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, and Eric Hosmer, sharing our memories of their play, key moments, and what they meant to the last era of Royals baseball.

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 will not go to the postseason. In a week, there will be no more games for Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, Alcides Escobar, and Jason Vargas as teammates.

We took a look at this season, what's left, and the legacy of this Royals run, Dayton Moore, David Glass, and Ned Yost.

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.

Finally.

After nearly three weeks of being stuck at #36, Mike Moustakas did the impossible, dethroning Steve Balboni as the Royals single-season home run record holder. On Wednesday night, just as we started recording, Moose hit home run #37 to set a new Royals record and we were excited.

We discussed the significance of the record, what else to track with Moose the rest of the season (do I hear 40?), and the relief that it has finally been broken. 

And Danny Duffy returned from the disabled list with a strong start at Cleveland. We talked about what to look at in the last week and a half of the season regarding Duffy and the rest of the rotation.

We also covered Alex Gordon's strong September and hoped that it means good things for 2018 and 2019.

Finally, we talked about Mike Minor's season and what the Royals should try to do to retain him this winter. 

Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes and BlogTalkRadio. You can also download this episode here (mp3).

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].