Royals 1992 and beyond

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In an unexpected move today the Kansas City Royals announced that they have parted ways with GM Herk Robinson. Robinson was 82-80 in his only season with the Royals, he took over when John Schuerholtz left the club for the greener pastures of the Atlanta Braves. Schuerholtz was very successful as the Royals GM, bringing home a World Championship in 1985.

Robinson, who oversaw a tumultuous campaign in KC, hired a Hal McRae as the teams manager. McRae was key to many Royals victories in his playing days in the 70's and early to mid 80's. McRae finished the season with a 66-58 record, however, that was behind staff ace, Bret Saberhagen. Which is where the Herk Robinson story really begins.

Turn the clock back to December 11, 1991, Herk Robinson was just finishing off a deal that was to set the Royals up for the foreseeable future. He had sent Saberhagen and Bill Pecota to the NY Mets in exchange for Gregg Jefferies, Kevin McReynolds and Keith Miller. The actual results of this trade will play out over time, however, it appears as though the result for Robinson has now proven quite detrimental.

According to a probe from MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent's office, Robinson's dealings with the New York Mets GM Gerry Hunsicker were "questionable at best". It appears as though Robinson's family has ties to the ownership of the Mets and, he himself would stand to profit from the success of the Mets organization. While this trade may have been on the up and up and seems to be fair enough, no one can be certain that the trade was done in all fairness and in the best interest of both teams.

MLB has asked the Royals to accept Robinsons resignation effective immediately. It is unclear at this time who the Royals will assign as the teams next GM, however, expect owner Ewing Kauffman to play a large role in the search. Kauffman, whose health has been failing in the past few years has been the only owner of the Royals and is no doubt embarrassed by this "black eye" for his beloved Royals.

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In what could be a HUGE cost cutting measure, the Detroit Tigers will be reunited with Kirk Gibson, but it came at a cost.

In return they haves sent slugger Cecil Fielder to the Pirates, Fielder has accounted for 95 homers over the past two seasons and will be a big addition to the Pirates lineup alone with Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla.

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Monday, February 3, 1992

Today the Royals announced Guy Lasher as the teams newest GM. Lasher appears to be a relative unknown and can really only be described as a "longtime, passionate" Royals fan.

Lasher, a middle aged man from central Missouri, was exuberant as he was introduced to the media. It appears as though his greatest attribute in the GM search was that of his friendship with owner Ewing Kauffman. Many media outlets have reported the hiring as a farce and give Lasher very little chance for success.

Time will tell, as pitchers and catchers are set to report in the next couple of weeks.

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Here is a closer look at the roster that Lasher is being asked to work with

Kevin Appier-developing ace coming off an impressive 13 win season while posting a 3.42 era
Tom "Flash" Gordon-impressive curveball, however, inability to develop a third pitch, sees him best suited for bullpen. Only 2 years removed from impressive 17 win rookie season
Mark Gubicza-lone remnant of the 85 world champion team, managed only 9 wins, due in large part to era of 5.68, will need to rebound in 92 to help out staff
Hipolito Pichardo-rookie starter with a high ceiling, not a known commodity
Rick Reed-onetime Pirate, never given much of a chance, will certainly get the opportunity to win the 4th or 5th starter spot this season
Mike Boddicker-Longtime Oriole and more recently of the Red Sox went 12-12 for KC last season looking to be the Royals 3rd or 4th starter.
Luis Aquino-bounced between the rotation and the bullpen last year going 8-4 in the process, should be first option for setup after Gordon.
Jeff Montgomery-One of the best closers in baseball saved 33 last season, expect more of the same from Monty.
Neal Heaton, Mike Magnante, Rusty Meacham, Joel Johnston, Mark Davis and Curt Young-will all be given full opportunity to make the team this Spring

Mike "Spanky" Macfarlane-formed the Rh hitting option of the royals platoon catching system utilized by skipper Hal McRae
Brent Mayne-LH hitting option of platoon, more of a obp kind of guy than Macfarlane
George Brett-not much more to say here, move to 1B has not stopped his hitting ability, only 164 hits from the magical number 3000
Wally Joyner-newcomer from the California Angels, his addition likely moves Brett to DH, solid glove as well as anise bat contributed 21 homers and 96 rbis while batting .301 last year in Anaheim
Keith Miller-acquired in the "sketchy" trade with the Mets, Miller should be opening day 2B for years to come
Gregg Jefferies-also a strong candidate to start at 3B for years to come, expect lots of hits and high obp from Gregg
Rico Rossy, David Howard and Curt Wilkerson-will battle out the SS job, runner up most likely to end up with the utility infield position
Kevin McReynolds-disappointed last season in NY, after 2 strong seasons. Hoping to provide some needed pop in the Royals lineup
Jeff Conine-rookie that the club has high expectations for, should have opportunity to mature behind established McReynolds.
Brian McRae-native of the KC area, also son of manager, starting to mature as a solid everyday leadoff hitter and CF fro the Royals
Jim Eisenreich-well traveled RF that just keeps getting the job done, Royals hope his veteran presence will provide the stability to allow this team of rookies and newcomers to gel nicely, he knows how to play Royal baseball and Hal McRae will be asking a lot of him in a leadership capacity
Chris Gwynn and Kevin Koslofski-will most likely split time between AAA and the majors as the clubs best 4th or 5th OF

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The 1991 Royals drew 1,800,000 fans, which plays a small role in ownership only making $3.9 million in additional funds available to bring in any FA's. Currently the payroll is at 18,738,200 which places them in the middle of the pack in rank among other clubs.

Expect the team to be fairly quiet in the chase of the remaining FA's only shopping for an additional starter and a possible upgrade at SS. By February there are few upgrades available at any position, however, the Royals SS options are pretty bleak at this point, (where is Buddy Biancalana when you need him)

Tim Wakefield-former infielder that has learned a knuckleball in hopes of catching on with someone
Pedro Astacio-young talent from Dominican with a very high ceiling, fielding some pretty high offers, probably too rich for our blood

Manny Alexander, Rafael Bournigal and Omar Vizquel- Lasher has been rumored to be in contact with each of their agents in hopes of improving the mediocre logjam that currently exists
Rico Brogna-has caught the attention of many scouts, including the Royals, expect the club to try to bring him in as a future option at 1B

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Well one week into his new position and GM Lasher has very little to show for his efforts, this has all come as a shock to the organization, so I am not sure what should be expected anyway.

Thus far the club has made 6 offers to FA's, however, all are of the minor league sort.

Starter
Pat Hentgen, Tim Wakefield
Reliever
Al Leiter
SS
Manny Alexander and Omar Vizquel
1B
Rico Brogna

just a few short days until pitchers and catchers report

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Well as Valentine's Day rolls around major leaguers around the country are scurrying about headed to Florida and Arizona. This activity, and perhaps, fear of being left off a roster brought all of the players into the Royals camp

Omar Vizquel-after 3 years of development in Seattle, he should step right in at SS for the Royals
Manny Alexander-also accepted and will be allowed to develop in the minors
Rico Brogna-young prototypical 1B has a wonderful opportunity to be the Royals 1B of the future
Pat Hentgen-made a few starts for the Jays last season, has the size and arm to be a workhorse in the future
Al Leiter-brother of MLer Mark Leiter, has been used as a reliever North of the border, Royals hope to shape him into a starter
Tim Wakefield-interesting experiment with a knuckleball, interesting to see if he can contribute at the ML level

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The Royals are off to a torrid start at 9-1

Brett, McReynolds and Jefferies are all batting over .400
while Jeff Conine and Rico Rossy are both below .091, looks like Conine could be headed back to AAA and Rossy is losing his grip on the utility role

Pitching has been solid, with no clear cut 5th starter, although it appears as though Reed is losing his grip on it with an era over 10 in 2 starts
Out in the pen, Neal Heaton and Luis Aquino have been solid and Flash Gordon has earned a win in both of Reed's starts.

Also of note, the injury bug has been avoided

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Spoke too soon on the injury bug, Neal Heaton will open the season on the 15 day DL

Well the remainder of the spring schedule was not quite as kind to the Royals. Brett, Jefferies, McReynolds and Joyner all had solid springs while Conine did bounce back, was it enough to earn a trip North with the big club. Rico Rossy nor Curtis Wilkerson stepped up as the best answer for the utility role.

On the hill Appier was not scored upon in 3 starts and Mike Boddicker looked like the much younger version of himself. Rick Reed and Hipolito Pichardo may both earn a trip to AAA, while Wakefield and Hentgen may both be in the rotation along with Appier, Gubicza and Boddicker.

THe club finished 16-8 behind only the A's who were 17-7 behind the bash Brothers of McGwire and Canseco.

Predictions forthcoming
btw how do you take and post a screenshot from the game

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http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...1&d=1328013402

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WOW, well as I played out my first game and prepared to report to you on it


The Game has crashed, I tried this 2 more times and well 2 more crashes