Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast - Effectively Wild Episode 559: Andy McCullough is Too Busy To Bask

Episode Date: October 20, 2014

Ben and Sam talk to Kansas City Star Royals beat writer Andy McCullough about the World Series and covering the Royals.

Excuse me, do you know the way to Kansas City? Excuse me, do you know the way to Kansas City? Excuse me, do you know the way to Kansas City? Good morning and welcome to episode 559 of Effectively Wild, the daily podcast from Baseball Perspectives, brought to you by The Play Index at BaseballReference.com. I'm Sam Miller with Ben Lindberg of Grantland. Hi, Ben. Hello. And we have a guest today. Our guest is Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star. Hi, Andy.

Hey, guys. How's it going? of the Kansas City Star. Hi, Andy. Hey, guys. How's it going? It's good. You know, the time that we had you on, episode 252, is a top two show in podcast history for me, in this podcast history, not in all podcast history. And it turned out that was the boring job, that going to Kansas City is what you really needed to spice up your life, as it turned out. Absolutely, yeah. I think I was way too one-dimensional back then. It was all about Alex all the time. Now I've got a panoply of people to write about. I don't know. You missed out on a chance to cover every move on the Captain's Farewell Tour. I think you missed out. I think you made the wrong move. There were thousands of stories written about Derek Jeter,

and I read at least three of them. So it was great. Yeah. All right, so we're having you on because you cover the Royals, and the Royals are in the World Series, which is unexpected. And so I'll start by just asking you this. I know what Pocota thinks of this World Series. I know what their odds are for each team in the World Series. And I'll tell you that there are some things that Pocota doesn't know. What Pocota

does know is it knows the starting lineups for every game. It knows the starting pitcher for every game. It knows who's at home and who's at the road. It knows the offensive and defensive and base running stats for each of those offensive and defensive players. And it knows like four of the relievers, the top four relievers basically in each team. So I want to know, since I have Pocota, I don't need you to necessarily tell me those things, but what are the factors that are going to sway this World Series that Pakoda doesn't know about? What is Pakoda blind to, and what will be significant? Well, I mean, I don't know. I think, you know, like it's a clichéd thing to say that the Royals are built to play in October. But it is somewhat accurate. I mean,

I think it was especially clear the difference in how comfortable they were playing their style of baseball at this time of year against the Angels. I think against the Orioles, the Orioles were a little more comfortable. They just didn't make plays. And that was, you know, so it's hard to explain, but they just don't really mind playing a two-to-one game. They don't really get down if they don't get a guy on base for three or four innings. Now, they're running into a team that obviously plays in a pretty similar manner and has a pretty similar sort of ethos. So, you know, in that way, you know, in that way,

there's not much of an advantage. But that was kind of the one thing that I think has been written about a lot and talked about a lot, but I really do feel it's true. And then just in terms of, you know, the different factors, I mean, I don't know how Pakoda can really quantify for how effective the Royals' bullpen can be when maximized the way it was. Like, I think, like, especially in Game 1 against Baltimore, where, you know, Kelvin Herrera threw two innings and Wade Davis threw two innings.

You know, just that they have the ability to really effectively, you know, shut a game down that late. But I don't know. I mean, Pakoda likely knows more than me, except when it comes to Kiela Karuwe. So I don't know. I mean, Pocota likely knows more than me, except when it comes to Kiela Karuwe, so I don't know. That's a good line. We've seen the Royals playing, other than, of course, the wildcard game,

we've seen the Royals playing almost exclusively from ahead. It feels like sometimes they're tied, but if they're not tied, they're winning. So does this team look a lot different when they're kind of down by two in the seventh inning and you're thinking, well, geez, where the heck are they going to get the offense from? Why is Tim Collins in for the second inning? Are we seeing a kind of a sort of very best-case scenario for the Royals in that sense?

Absolutely, yeah. I mean, I think absolutely. You have seen what they look like when everything clicks. Not everything, but when most things click in their favor and they get to sort of use their formula. And when they use their formula, they're really, really tough to beat just because the defense is so strong and the back end of the bullpen is just ferocious. But again, there's a lot of situations, especially in those last two games against Baltimore, where they were putting

guys on base in the latter innings and not scoring, not getting big hits, not coming through. And those are the sort of things that you focus on when you're losing as opposed to when you're winning. When you're winning, everyone writes about how great your bullpen is. When you're losing, they remind you that the offense is not great. And then that's why I feel like, you know, I've said this kind of since, you know, really since September, that the Royals match up well against everyone because they don't match up well against anyone. They're the same.

Like, they can't hit anyone, and they can pitch against everyone. So there's no real, like, I just don't buy into, you know, some teams will shut their running game down a little bit more, okay, but you know what, their running game is a bit overrated anyway because, you know, it's not like they scored a ton of runs this year, you know, running people out of the gym. You know, they're a pretty mediocre offense. They're a pretty tremendous team to run prevention. So they kind of they're you know i don't know if they're

a swiss army knight but they can kind of like really play well or play they play the same against everyone is what i'm saying it's like they're neutral uh... and uh... one one other thing that you mentioned in there that uh... people have forgotten you said because you were this was like three minutes ago but when you were talking about wade davis pitching pitching two innings and Herrera pitching two innings, Holland hasn't pitched two innings or even more than one inning in I think it's now been, what, 26 months.

Is there concern about what it would look like if they went to him? Is there any anxiety about whether he can handle it? Is that ruled out or are we going to get – because that's my favorite moment in the postseason is when the closer comes in for two innings. It's bar none my favorite moment. Are we going to get – because that's my favorite moment in the postseason is when the closer comes in for two innings. It's bar none my favorite moment. Are we going to get to see Holland pitch, too? I mean, I would just say no because that would take a unique situation for the team to do it.

Like, it wouldn't happen on the road. You know, he's not going to – you know, Yost is not going to use him in a tie game on the road. So he would have had to have blown a lead to pitch a second inning. And at home, you know, it would have involved a crazy extra inning game. And they played a bunch of crazy extra inning games. And Holland's only thrown one inning at a time because, you know, he's come in usually in the ninth or whatever way Davis finishes his fifth. And, you know, he's pitched.

So I don't – I think there's definitely some – there's definitely some trepidation, at least outside the organization, about how he looked in September when he had kind of a cranky arm. I guess the official thing was the tight triceps. And that's kind of the biggest knock against him is just fear about his injury potential because of the size and everything. But I just think it would take a really unique scenario to see him used in multiple innings. And they've played enough unique games this year that they haven't even really considered it that much.

So I don't think it's going to happen. So you made a minor Yost joke in the course of that answer. But fewer jokes are being made at Yost's expense these days than in any previous time, I would think. And I want you to walk us through how Ned Yost became an internet darling. And I know that you have written a bit about the origin story of the new aggressive Ned Yost, but maybe some people haven't read what you wrote. So tell us how this happened.

Yeah, I mean, it's basically, you know, they played a game in September that a lot of people will remember because Aaron Crowe gave up a grand slam to Daniel Maba. And afterwards, Ned Yost lamented the fact that they were one out away from Kelvin Herrera, who was their seventh-inning guy, and it was in the sixth inning when they gave up the hit. And he noticed and kind of said, man, it's a shame.

You know, they're really close to getting the ball to Kelvin Herrera. And there was a lot of fur, I think, among fans. And we mentioned, I guess, in the page of the Star that the rules of baseball did not prevent him from using Kelvin Herrera in that spot. And the next day, pretty much, Dave Island, the pitching coach, there was two weeks left in the season at this point, and Dave Island, the pitching coach, kind of spoke with Ned. And I don't think he was the only person to speak with Ned,

but he was one of the major voices who just said, look, we need to be more aggressive with how we use these guys. We're coming down to the end here. I mean, this is how we did it with the Yankees in 2009, when we used our setup guys, and we weren't afraid to take chances, you know, to take chances with them, to take risks with them. And, you know, we have to be more aggressive.

We have these weapons. And to Yost's credit, I mean, he listened, you know. And not only that, but the next night, I think it was the next night, I could be just making this way too convenient, but I'm almost positive it was the next night. You know, they used Herrera and Davis kind of, you know, Herrera pitched in the sixth inning in a jam and Davis pitched in the seventh inning in a jam, and it didn't work.

They actually lost the game. And to Yo's credit, he didn't immediately backslide and stop, you know, go back to sort of the rigid formula. But he bought into, you know, being more aggressive, being a little more creative, being less rigid. And I think that's been huge for them. You know, that's been huge for them down the stretch and here in these playoffs because, you know, it's just when he uses these relievers, you know,

and gets as much out of them, it's really not fair. And that was something, you know, a couple of folks with the Orioles mentioned to me, you know, kind of in the aftermath of the series. And it's just, you know, Ned took a lot of heat, I think, for the Crow game, and deservedly, because, you know, it was a ridiculous premise, I think, that, you know, he was bummed out that, like, he couldn't get to Herrera because they couldn't get one more out. But, you know, he has shown a willingness to adapt this year that I think he

hadn't shown in years past, and that's commendable. You know, you can't, I mean, not all managers are going to be perfect, and you have to give him credit for listening to the people around him when they give advice. And the other Yost move that fascinates me and that I love is replacing Aoki with Dyson, which Sam and I talked about last week. Seems like something that not many managers would do because you're pinch running for a pretty

good runner and replacing a pretty good defender on defense and also moving your starting center fielder over to a corner how did that arrangement come about i know it's it's become almost automatic at this point but it wasn't always and was there ever any sort of ego issue involved? I mean, did Aoki resent being taken out for Dyson? Did Kane resent moving over to right? I know it happened to some extent last year, too. But how did this come about? And has there ever been any ruffled feathers over this sort of unorthodox move? No, I think, you know, I think Aoki sort of, you know, had a lot of respect, I guess, for whatever Yost's wishes were. I mean, you know, he didn't really push back there too much.

I think Kane, you know, doesn't really seem to mind all that much. He doesn't have, I mean, he wants to be the center fielder. You know, he'd like to be the center fielder. He would like to be, you know, he doesn't mind being the three hitter. I know he loves being the leadoff hitter, but that's kind of every baseball player. I think they understand this is the way that it makes the most sense. And the theory basically, and I guess it's Rusty Koontz who's the one who's kind of been the most vociferous about it, but the thought is just that their defense is that much better when they put

Kane out and right, because Kane is obviously a tremendous center fielder, maybe the best in baseball, but he's a better right fielder also than Dyson, and Dyson's a pretty good center fielder, so when they put Kane in right, they somehow become incrementally better

than they would be otherwise. I don't know, Aoki is, he, I guess he's a good fielder. He's a creative fielder. I know that much. He's comedically a great fielder, if you're looking to laugh. I don't know if he's actually a great right fielder. I think he's okay. He's pretty decent. So yeah, they've been doing it since early in the year, and the thought has just been the outfield gets that much better

when they use Kane out there at right, even though he is a better center fielder than Dyson. He's also a better right fielder than Dyson, and Dyson's a pretty good center fielder. It's a convoluted thing, but it's like an incremental edge that they feel like they have. I've been working on the series preview for this series today, and I've talked myself into a position that might be wholly without merit.

And you can talk me out of it, although it's still going to appear in the series preview, regardless of whether you change my mind. I know that we all laugh at the bunts and make fun of the bunts, and we think that he sure bunts a lot. And yet he didn't actually bunt that much. Ned Yost didn't actually bunt that much in the regular season. He bunted less than all the Sabre Darling managers or at least a lot of the Sabre Darling managers in the AL

like Francona and Madden and Showalter. And so I've decided that I actually think that the bunts, while individually are perhaps questionable and while I might not like the bunts, all of them specifically, that the fact that he is all of a sudden become a bunt freak in the postseason actually is a very good indicator for him as a manager because it shows that he is not stuck to his regular season mentality that he gets to October he realizes it's October he realizes it's a different game and he starts

managing radically differently without kind of being afraid of changing his style or asking his his guys to to act slightly differently and that it's uh... uh... it shows if nothing else a very very good characteristic for media as opposed to his manager uh... is that acceptable i could be yeah i mean i a yeah, sure. You can tell yourself that. Can I tell paying customers that?

Well, I don't know. I mean, I guess that's the burden on you for that. I think that's somewhat, it's a reasonable sort of thought process. I don't know if that's exactly what it is. I do think that Ned's bunting proclivities are somewhat overblown. I don't remember bunting really being an issue until the middle of September. It kind of just cropped up.

It happened once in a game, and I remember thinking, man, I haven't gotten irrational Twitter stuff for people complaining about a bunt in a long time. When was the last time this happened? Because they really weren't a bunt-cra crazy team. They have become

one more so in the postseason. And I don't know where that's... Sometimes those calls come from the bench. A lot of times guys are bunting on their own. Like, you know, Escobar almost always bunts on his own. Now, the bench is allowed to tell him, hey, you can swing. But, you know,

the general thought process, especially when you're a team like the Royals who are often playing just for one run is, you know, if you've got a guy on first base, you've got to get him over, you know, some way. And so you can, you know, you're allowed to, you know, if you swing, you better get him over. You better advance him in some form or fashion. And they don't, you know, so sometimes, you know, guys will end up bunting. And it's certainly not the Sabre-friendly way.

It's certainly not the, you know, really probably the best mathematical way if you're trying to, you know, hit a three-run home run. But I think this team realizes they're not going to hit a three-run home run. And so, you know, they need to, you know, manufacture runs for lack of a, you know, less cliched term. And they've also found that it does benefit them to put pressure on the opposing defenses because, you know, they just, that if you put the ball in place, you know, good things can happen.

You know, this team is really clichéd, I'm thinking now as I talk about them. They are really built strictly from 1973, and it's wonderful. But, I mean, they do rely on a lot of that stuff because they don't hit home runs and I think a lot of the challenge of this season was them sort of just figuring out how to optimize their offensive skills if the sort of offensive skills they expected like Eric Hoffman being a 30 home run guy Billy Butler being an 800 OPS guy you know all those sort of things when those didn't come to pass they sort of had to you, reconfigure what their offensive identity was going to be, and they found it just in time. You mentioned that Lorenzo Cain, you know, would prefer to bat leadoff.

Ned Yost has an extremely consistent lineup. I think the next game's going to be the 18th day in a row with the same lineup, and as I recall, when I checked, no team in baseball used any single lineup 18 times at all, all year. Um, does he, uh, do you get the feeling that the players, um, like wishes dictate that at all? I mean, is this, uh, is this like a clubhouse sort of a thing? Um, uh, is it appreciated? Cause I, I wasn't even really thinking about, you know, Lorenzo Kane being happy or not being happy about Lorenzo Cain being happy or not being happy or any of these guys being happy or not being happy but do you get the sense that they appreciate the continuity

is that part of the reason that he does this I think so I think one of you know Ned tends to stick with guys even when they're struggling you know when Eric Hosmer was miserable like all of May and June he batted like second or third every day.

The reason was because Ned didn't want him to feel like... I think this is a little overblown because I feel these guys are professionals and they should be able to handle being moved in the lineup. Ned's position was, if Hosmer goes 0-4, I don't want him coming to the ballpark next day not sure where he's batting. It's a reasonable position. I's it's decent for younger players but you know again when you're trying to win every day like this team was you know it's sometimes a little maddening to have to listen to um but yeah i mean i think yost he doesn't like he doesn't like messing with his

lineup you know you could probably figure out ways to make this more of an optimal thing but they've been winning and so he doesn't change it. When things are going well, he does not like changing things. He doesn't like breaking things. What's that phrase? What's that cliche? We need more cliches on this podcast. He doesn't like

fixing things that aren't broken. There you go. I think Rob Neier had it. It was about the enemy, the plan, and having a plan. Yes. Yeah. Let's just take this podcast one question at a time. And so, yeah, I mean, I think that's the general thought process there.

It's just, you know, it's been working. The players appreciate continuity. They like knowing where they're going to be hitting every day. You know, does Salvador Perez want to bat seventh? Probably not. Does Billy Butler want to bat fifth? Probably not. You know, they probably feel like they'd like to be higher in order. But, you know, it's a team's in the World Series, so you're not going to hear guys complaining. So one of the things that I've been trying to talk myself into while writing my series preview is that the Royals are a little bit better offensively than we thought coming into the

playoffs and not because of eight games of pretty good production but because of their lack of production or their underperformance during the regular season and I've been looking at some 2015 projections for various teams and if you look at, for instance, the Giants lineup, seven out of nine or seven out of eight guys in their lineup are projected to do worse next year than they did this year, which is the case for a lot of playoff teams because you don't make the playoffs unless your guys stay healthy and produce fairly well. But with the Royals, it's sort of the opposite, like six of the members of their regular lineup are projected to be better next year than they were this year. So are you buying that? And it's, you know, it's Hosmer and

it's Moustakis and it's Perez and it's Butler. Not that he will be there next year, but most of the members of the lineup hit worse than a projection system would say that they should have, and they were like a bottom third offense in baseball. Are they better than that, do you think? They have more talent, I think, than a bottom third offense in baseball, but they didn't actualize that talent for much of the year. I mean, I think people look at Hosmer and think this guy could be a superstar. This guy could be, if not a superstar, then an all-star, you know, first baseman who has 25 to 30 homers and has an 850 OPS or whatever,

a gold glove defense. And I think he hit, you know, like nine homers and had a, you know, below average OPS plus. So, you know, yeah, they have the talent there. The problem was they couldn't really, you know, show it. You know, I don't know. I don't know what to make of what's talking at this point. You know, like, he's had a nice postseason.

He also, you know, was one of the worst third basemen in baseball offensively this year. So, you know, it's hard to really, you know, feel like there's much reason for optimism, especially with how much he struggled last year. You know, so, yeah, they absolutely have talent, and they've shown flashes of it. I mean, Hosmer looks like a monster at times. Kane has really come alive and, you know, really is running well

and hitting well and just, you know, is using sort of all his gifts, I guess, in sort of the best way possible. And they still haven't gotten, you know, had a huge game from Billy Butler, you know, like where he's hit two home runs or something like that. You know, Alex Gordon's had some big hits, but hasn't, you know, been really all that consistent. So yeah, I mean, there's such, there's definitely more talent there. I think just the thing from my perspective from watching them all year is no one's really been consistent all year. They've all been up and down for so long. And so you don't really know who's going to be, you know, who's going to be there for them every day. And that's kind of, I think, what dogged them during the regular season.

So are you having a good time? On this podcast? Sure. What about in the days before this podcast? Sometimes, yeah. Sometimes it's more stress than I would like. But, yeah, I mean, I covered a lot of bad Mets teams and a lot of, you know, four to two Mets losses where John Neese, you know, pitched like six and a third innings and gave up three runs and took the loss, and there's really not much to write about. So this is not terrible, you know? You basically covered a team all year where sometimes you were literally the only writer

traveling with them, right? There would be two, myself and Dick Cagle from ob.com. And all of a sudden now it's like you're back in New York. There's like hundreds of people. Do you find, I mean, is it harder to do your job now? Are you basking in the celebrity of being the hipster who was on to this team first? I don't know if I'm really ever capable of basking in the celebrity of being the uh the hipster who was onto this team first uh i don't know if i'm really ever capable of basking in anything um you've seen me you know up close i'm not much of a basker yeah you're pretty unbaskable i'm i don't i'm not yeah i have low bass qualities

um but uh yeah i mean it's i guess it's my job is certainly more difficult in that there's more people around and there's more people around and there's more waiting around, and I can't really be as efficient with getting the information that I need, which is a lot of times in a one-on-one scenario, which is harder to find during playoffs. But I worked in New York for five years, so I'm familiar with kind of how you wait these things out.

five years. So I'm familiar with kind of how you wait these things out and, you know, just kind of, you know, I'm familiar, it feels actually like more like home. I guess it's the past month or so, you know, working a room like this as compared to how it did, you know, for the previous five or six months. So, and, you know, I feel comfortable enough that I have relationships with all the people involved that, you know, if I need a minute of extra time, you know, I'll be able to get it. So it's been more work, but not necessarily that much tougher, I guess. Are you, do you think that, like, are the Royals, I don't know how to put this, but are the Royals all going to love you now because you went through this with them? I mean, like, is this going to be like 25 years from now? Do you think there's going to be this like kind of shared experience that they're always going to now think of you as like one of their favorite riders because you were there during that incredible season?

Or does that not happen like at all? I don't think that happens much at all. I mean, I don't know. I think there is absolutely like a shared experience. But, you know, like, as I've had to explain to like Wade Davis, like when he's pouring a beer on my head, you know, like in the clubhouse, like, dude, like I'm not on the team. Like, can you stop, please? I need to work. And he's like, oh, I'm sorry, man. Like, you know, talk to you later. Like, thanks, Wade. You know, it's just, there's, there's a, there's a shared experience in it.

But it's just so different. I mean, it's just, it's hard to explain. Like, I don't know if ballplayers, sometimes ballplayers, you know, just see you as the enemy just because you're, you know, necessarily writing critical things. I mean, there's been a couple times, you know, during these playoffs when, you know, people, you know, on the team have been upset with stuff I've written because, you know, I don't know. I mean, that's just kind of how the job works is you write about things

that sometimes necessarily, you know, the team doesn't want you writing about. And that's kind of what the beat guy does more so than, you know, the national folks who are kind of may have a different audience and they're, you know, providing sometimes the bigger picture stuff. And, you know, the national folks who are kind of may have a different audience and they're, you know, providing sometimes the bigger picture stuff. And, you know, from my perspective, you know, I'm I'm I've written a lot of this stuff already. I've written the, you know, about Lorenzo Cain. I've written about, you know, Billy Butler's situation. I've, you know, I've done sort of, you know, the James Shields stuff. So, you know, there's I'm doing more of the, you know, more specific stuff. And sometimes that gets you into territory that upsets the

people involved. And so it's just weird. I don't know. It's such a weird job. There's really, yeah, it's just a hard thing to explain, I guess, the relationship there. But it's fine. It's been a good couple weeks. If you were better at basking, I think the Royals would like you more.

They're basking. Probably, yeah. They're basking right now. They're enjoying their moment, and they shouldn't. Christ, they waited 30 years. Yeah, are they, when the adrenaline wears off, not that it really ever has this month for them, I guess, but when it does, are they a tired team?

Are they a beat-up team? Because you look at the way that they've been used ned yost doesn't give people days off unless they are like on crutches and you've got james shields has thrown the most pitches of anyone in baseball and your donovan tura has exceeded his previous innings high by like 50 and and he left his last game with a semi-injury and wasn't throwing as hard and and you know Perez has played I don't know 150 more innings or something behind the plate than the next closest guy so it's and Infante hasn't had a shoulder for the second half so how has this team held up well and I mean is the is having five days off or whatever they've had now, is that disproportionately beneficial to them? Yeah, I think it absolutely helps them, the layoff. I

mean, you know, I would say, just as an opening caveat, that I'm sure every team at this time of year is pretty beat up. Just the sheer attrition of what you have to go through to get here, you know, it's rare that guys are feeling particularly good. So I don't think the Giants have much of an advantage there. But, I mean, yeah, absolutely Perez, I think. Perez just took a nosedive in the second half offensively. And I just, I don't know, it just seems like from talking to scouts and people watching him every day and just watching him on a pass,

I think he's just worn out. And you can tell that it's affecting him at the plate and just has been, you know, swinging at almost everything. You know, Infante, he was throwing a little bit better in games three and four, but his throwing has been an issue because he has a lot of soreness in the front of his right shoulder. I would suspect, you know, that would be in need of some sort of clean-out in the offseason.

I think Shields is pretty beat up, but that's just, I think, from being 32 and putting all this stress on him. I think Ventura's alright. I don't know. He kind of tends to get a little tight every now and then. He's had a couple of these little flare-ups. But for the most part, they're pretty healthy.

Alex Gordon's in really good shape. Osborne's in really good shape. Butler is in pretty good shape. So they're, I think, in about as good condition as you can be for playing baseball in the World Series, if that makes sense. Mm-hmm. And your boy, the man of mystery, Danny Duffy. Many people wondering why he isn't starting. He is not starting again. So we know that there are mechanical issues going on here. So what exactly is your understanding of his status and is he available out of the bullpen?

And how can he be available out of the bullpen if he's so screwed up that he can't start? Well, my understanding, I guess, is that, you know, he is available out of the bullpen. They prefer him. You know, they feel like he could pitch in high leverage, but I don't think they'll go to him in a six-inning spot. I think they prefer Jason Frazier or Brandon Finnegan, as they've shown. I think he looked so sort of messed up in his last two starts, the last start especially in Chicago, that they were just concerned about, you know,

how he was throwing. It's a really, it's a strange one. You know, I wouldn't be shocked if there was, you know, we kind of, in a couple weeks, the actual answer came out that all made a ton of sense, but, you know, all parties involved say he's healthy, you know, he says his arm feels good, you know, and Danny is, I mean, Danny is really – this is an awkward spot for him, I think, because I'm sure he knows how well he pitched this year, but I think he's such a team-oriented guy that this could be an issue, and it's really only been an issue in the pages of the Kansas City Star because we're trying to figure out what the heck's going on with them.

But Danny has said multiple times he feels great, he feels ready to contribute in whatever way they need. He's not going to complain. He told me if I don't pitch another inning in this and we win the World Series, I do not care at all. And those are the quote-unquote right things for a young guy to be saying in this spot because it's awkward. You know, it's awkward.

And, you know, Shelby Miller was in a similar spot last year. Michael Walker was in it. And I think it's just a thing that happens to younger guys at this time of year when, you know, either, you know, they physically are just, they're not at 100% just in terms of, you know, he's never pitched in October before. You know, he's never been this far in a season. And while, you know, neither really is Jeremy Guthrie or Jason Vargas,

they physically are, you know, just in a better spot because they've been through more big league season. There's more trust there, I think, and that they know. You know, the team, you know, Danny kind of said it. He said, look, I mean, I went out and threw one pitch, you know, against the Yankees and had to come off the mound. Like, I can't, you know, if I do that again to this team in the playoffs, like, you know, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself, you know.

And so I think, you know, obviously the specter of kind of what happened in September is moving over this, and that's what kind of makes it so strange that you can't really get an exact answer of what's going on. But, you know, I don't know. I mean, they also haven't lost a game yet, so there's not that much room to complain about it, you know, I don't know. I mean, they also haven't lost a game. So there's not that much room to complain about it. You know what I mean? And I don't want to get too in-depth into offseason stuff.

We should just enjoy this series while we still have baseball. But I am curious. Your colleague Sam Mellinger reported that the Royals are raking in something like a million a game in profit for these postseason home games, and you figure that they will get a sizable attendance boost, I would think, coming off the back of this season and with their attendance not being great last season. So are they going to invest all of that back into this team?

Are they going to try to bring this team exactly as it is now back next year, do you think? Or will they be okay with letting guys go and not preserving this group? Well, I think they're much more inclined now to retain both Wade Davis and Greg Holland than they might have been two months ago, because I think $15 million is a lot to spend on two one-inning relievers, which is what they're going to do for next year. I don't know if this changes the calculus all that much with Billy Butler. I think he was pretty unlikely to come back for 2015. I'm sure his option will be declined because it doesn't make sense to pay him

$12.5 million with the way he's performed these last couple of years. But, you know, he's maybe a little more likely to return now if he's willing to take a team-friendly deal. I know the front office has been seeking to get a little more flexible on their roster and not have, you know, that DH spot covered every day by, you know, a full-time DH, essentially. day by a full-time VH, essentially. And then as far as them reinvesting, I mean, they have to give a lot of guys on their roster raises next year through arbitration. They've got a ton of guys who are coming back who are going to be first-year eligible or second-year eligible and in line to make real money for the first time. Duffy, Kane, Dyson, Osmer's going to get a bump.

The Stockets will get a bump. Gordon's always going to go up a little bit. Dyson, Osmer's going to get a bump, the Stockists will get a bump, you know, Gordon Sauer's going to go up a little bit. So, you know, I don't think, I think there's, maybe they'll make a slightly more competitive offer for James Shields, although I don't suspect, you know, they'll really be that serious of a contender for his services just because the market should be pretty robust for him.

And, you know, it's funny to me, I guess, because a lot of fans are asking, you know, will they spend more? You know, are we going to be more competitive for free agents? And I'm just sort of thinking like, well, you just saw them like Sweet the Angels. Do you want them to go get Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson? Because, like, that's what free agents

are right now. Free agents aren't, you know, the sort of players they were maybe 10, 15 years ago when you could get a guy in his prime or close to his prime and get it at a contract that made some sense. Right now, you're going to be paying

too much money for guys whose best days are likely past them. I think in the current business model of the way things are in baseball, where so few super talented players even get free agency, the Royals' way of doing things and kind of being cheaper makes a lot of sense. Because look at their two free agent deals this year.

Jason Vargas has worked out pretty well, but he's not a Cy Young winner. And Omar Infante had the worst season of his career, pretty much. So, I mean, these are the type of players you're going to be getting, where even if you get the best-case scenario, like you got from Jason Vargas, you got 183 innings of, you know, set a.387 ball, which is pretty good, but it's not, you know, it's not anything to write home about, I think. So, I don't know. I mean, I think they'll be more likely to spend more,

but I would be shocked if they're spending like $120 billion next year. I would also be shocked if they're spending $120 billion next year. Did I say billion, or did I just stutter? Oh, maybe I didn't hear it. You probably said million. I probably did. I don't know. But I don't know why it's been $120 billion.

All right. Andy McCullough is quite seriously, he might be the best beat writer in the business. It's very good that just as Lorenzo Cain and Wade Davis are getting their moments this October, Andy McCullough will as well. You can follow him at McCulloughStar on Twitter. Or it might be easier just to go go search for this article which is up

right now it's called how gerard dyson went from a fiftieth round pick to the backbone of a world series team that's actually not what it's called that's what he tweeted it as i don't know what it's called uh... but it's called like dyson is the engine that could or something like that which isn't bad gerard dyson is the royals engine who could uh... and it's a great great piece all of his uh... andy's pieces are great his game stories are great but this is uh... and it's a great great peace all of his uh... in these pieces are great as game stories are great but there's a great one is a great way to start and i his twitter account is at the bottom of it so thanks andy uh... and uh... everybody please support our sponsor

uh... the play index of baseball reference uh... get a subscription a one-year subscription to play index use the promo code bp uh... to get for a special rate of thirty dollars and we'll be back tomorrow to talk more about the world series