Hello again to all my friends. Im glad you came to play -Barney The Great
It has been a long time. But, alas, my smoldering hawt takes have returned.
Since I last graced this blawg with my superior intellect, there have been a number of notable happenings in the Royals universe. The most significant likely being the confirmed departure of Eric Hosmer. Hosmer signing with another club is of note, not simply because it will devoid the club of his talents and abilities, but because it also begins the shift of focus of the Royals front office from a "win now" approach to one of rebuilding for the future. They are no longer concerned with bringing in players in order to win in 2018, but rather using 2018 in such a way so as to evaluate players and possibly give prospects much needed experience with the hopes they can begin winning again in 2020 or so. So what does that mean? Does that mean the Royals will not re-sign Moose? Let us begin our hawt-takery.
Hawt-Take of the day — Moose will not be back with the Royals……unless he signs with them.
Whaaaaat?
Yeah. I know. Exactly. The situation seems as cut and dry as it can be, NO WAY this deal will happen. Yet, there are signs that point to this being a real possibility, and maybe even the odds on landing spot for Moose in the end.
Mike Moustakas is currently sitting in the purgatory that is "unsigned free agent slugger who has yet to be picked up by a team at the beginning of spring training". He has no home and no apparent suitor to change his status any time soon. Dayton Moore has stated that Moose made it clear early on that signing with the Royals was low on Moose's list of priorities. With the loss of Eric Hosmer, Dayton also stated that the time had passed for the Royals to bring back players that might require long term and/or big money contracts. To summarize? Moose wants big bucks and the Royals ain't payin' big bucks for nobodies see?
So that is it right? Over…not hapenin'. Why are we still talking about this?
Its simple. Dayton tells the public only what he wants them to know. He creates perception, which is smart. Quite frankly, if he DIDN'T work the headlines in his favor, we would all think of him as a terrible general manager after all. So is that what this is? Dayton is just trying to find a way to lure Moustakas back in for the right price? Working over ole Scott Boras his agent?? Maybe. Maybe not.
It is probably a mix at the moment. It sounds as though the Royals have made SOMETHING of an offer to Mike Moustakas, but basically admit on the front end that it is probably a crap offer. At the same time, it might be the ONLY offer Moustakas has to work with.
The Royals and Moose might actually be the couple that do not really want to be together anymore, but cannot find anyone else to be with either…..so they just keep shacking up. Picture Dayton Moore and Scott Boras drunk dialing one another each Friday night with the hopes Boras will hook Dayton up with his ex, Moose, one last time. (Hopefully they use protection or we will end up with something looking like a cross between slugger and bullwinkle, but I digress)
Should Moose decide that he wants to play sooner rather than later, his best option will most likely be….well…..his only option. Come back home for cheap. It makes decent business sense for the Royals to pay Moose at least a modest contract simply because he is one of the more prominent members of the Championship club, not to mention the all time Royals single season Home Run king. He makes them money and puts butts in the seats. So while paying for production is counterintuitive to the goals of the team, sometimes business dictates what goes on the field. Moose would theoretically be blocking a younger player from getting experience as well as using up dollars that could be saved down the road (if only it actually worked this way). But, at the same time, he would still be a fan favorite in a Royals uniform. That's worth something.
It makes LESS sense for Moose. He would be coming back to a park that isn't exactly conducive to home runs. On top of that, he would be returning to a team that isn't poised to win in the short term. He wouldn't be signing a one or two year deal with a playoff team in other words. To make matters worse, signing a short term deal just puts him right back out into the free agent market next year or the year after and the crop of free agent third baseman following the 2018 season is a big one. Moose NEEDS to land his deal now or he could be forced into delaying his payday for multiple seasons.
So what does this mean? Hell, who knows. Moose will probably drag this thing out Kendrys Morales style into the regular season when he can have the draft pick compensation removed from him signing a long term deal. The problem is, that may not make any difference. Scott Boras is a shrewd agent, and typically knows how to get top dollar for his players, and I expect Moose will be no exception.
And that is why he absolutely, definitively will for sure be back with the Royals in 2018….maybe…..but it doesn't look good.
