00:00but I do want to highlight your 16th best team in baseball.
00:03The Kansas City Royals, man, it just seems like nationally
00:06they get slept on a little bit more than they should.
00:09And a huge piece of that remedy came a couple of weeks ago.
00:14The World Baseball Classic was a huge two-week stretch
00:18for the Kansas City Royals.
00:19Salvador Perez being the captain of that WBC champion Venezuela team.
00:24Michael Garcia being the MVP of the World Baseball Classic.
00:28Bobby Witt Jr. showing out the way he did defensively.
00:32There were so many other pieces.
00:33Caglione and Vinny Pasquantino with Team Italy.
00:36Seth Lugo spinning his way to, I think, a win in pool play.
00:39He might have struggled a little bit in the knockout round,
00:41if I remember correctly.
00:42But, you know, man, there were so many positive things
00:46for Kansas City that came out of the World Baseball Classic.
00:48And it seems like they're just going to ride that mojo
00:51into the regular season.
00:52Yeah, I mean, if we look back at the 2023 World Baseball Classic,
00:56does anybody remember some top-end performances
01:00that just blended straight into the MLB season
01:03and it was incredible?
01:05Probably off the top of your head, it's hard to remember.
01:08I think for a reason.
01:09And another thing that came out of the World Baseball Classic,
01:12Salvador Perez and Team Venezuela won.
01:14MVP Michael Garcia, another Royal.
01:16Salvador Perez also came out and said,
01:18I would be fine retiring.
01:20I don't love that going into the season.
01:22Now, I think Salvador Perez is a legend.
01:24I've loved watching his career.
01:27What type of season do we get from Salvador Perez
01:29where you feel like he's accomplished everything?
01:31And now he's, how old is he?
01:3436 years old playing catcher?
01:37Don't love that.
01:38Now, at the top of the lineup, I love Vinny.
01:41I love Bobby Witt.
01:42Obviously, I think he's the third best player.
01:44Overall in baseball goes Otani, Judge, Bobby Witt.
01:47There you go.
01:48There's a spoiler for tomorrow's top 100.
01:49Real quick, hitter-wise,
01:51hitter-wise, Soto's a better hitter than Bobby Witt Jr.,
01:54but player-wise, Bobby Witt's a better player than Soto.
01:56Correct.
01:57Correct.
01:57Yes.
01:58I would probably rank Juan Soto fourth, and I did.
02:01Then the rest, it's like Cags could break out.
02:04Carter Jensen could break out.
02:06Again, these are two guys where I got to see it.
02:08You know, Jonathan India,
02:10we talk in our Discord all the time.
02:12I don't even think Royals fans are that high on him.
02:14Isaac Collins, we'll see, broke out as like a 27, 28-year-old,
02:18and it was kind of a relative breakout.
02:20He's just more kind of a well-rounded player.
02:22Let's see if he can replicate that.
02:24And then Kyle Isabel is pretty much just in there for his defense.
02:28I think it's easy to forget that this Royals offense finished 20th in OPS,
02:33and an argument could be, well, they're moving the fences in.
02:37Well, if that helps the offense, great.
02:39It probably will.
02:40But will that hurt the pitching staff?
02:42Because Cole Reagans, I love.
02:44I think he's one of the most talented pitchers in baseball.
02:45I think he's going to shove this year, but projections for him are kind of
02:50all over the place because he is returning from some major arm injuries.
02:55Michael Waka is as solid as they come.
02:57Seth Lugo, I said it when he signed the extension.
03:01I was like, I'm not a big fan.
03:02I think this stuff is regressing.
03:03And he showed that.
03:05You're a hater.
03:06Yeah.
03:07I mean, it's been true.
03:09It's been true throughout.
03:10Listen, as someone that has been historically a Chad innings eater respecter,
03:15you don't love spin machine, Lugo.
03:17And that's a little weird and contradictory.
03:20I love Seth Lugo when he was putting up an ERA in the mid threes.
03:23But then I'm like, all right, as he ages, I'm not going to like it.
03:26And that's exactly what has happened.
03:28And then Bubich, tons of talent, has to stay on the field.
03:32And I think when people picture Bubich, they're like, oh, the 2-8 ERA that he was putting together
03:38in 70 innings, that's just going to be extrapolated over 170.
03:42And then he's automatically going to be an ace.
03:44Like, I need to see that.
03:47I need to see that to believe it.
03:49And then Cameron, again, all the underlying metrics say he should pitch to around a 4 ERA.
03:54And he's a fastball changeup guy.
03:56I think he's talented.
03:57Does he pitch to a 3-9 ERA and be a pretty solid pitcher?
04:00I think so.
04:02They don't have a ton of depth.
04:04I really like their bullpen, though.
04:06I think their bullpen is actually what's getting slept on.
04:10Like, everyone wants to talk about the offense.
04:11People want to talk about the rotation.
04:13I think the bullpen is what's being slept on.
04:16Estevez, it's funny.
04:16I think he's like the third best reliever in here.
04:19But he's their closer.
04:20Love Urseg.
04:21Love Matt Strom.
04:22I think Schreiber is really solid, too.
04:24So it's a good team.
04:26It's just, I have a lot of questions.
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