caulfield12

It would have been a compelling enough argument to stay with Shields because of his pitching alone: He’s 11-6 with a 3.29 ERA, and he’s long since emerged from a mini-funk to give up just seven earned runs over 36 innings in his last five starts. (It's actually even better now, this article was written a month or so ago...) Now, couple that with the notion that his presence at the top of the rotation has helped lend form and structure and proportion to the rest of what right now is one of the best Royals staffs since the 1980s. But it’s his least tangible trait, to outsiders, anyway, that might be the most irreplaceable. No one exerts more influence in the Royals clubhouse and has altered the chemistry and culture of the room more than Shields since he was acquired on Dec. 9, 2012. No one is more in the ears, and maybe even faces, of young pitchers. Ask Danny Duffy about his breakthrough season, and learning how to harness his emotions, and he’ll quickly point to Shields. And no one is more cognizant of the details of the big picture, from setting a standard in work ethic to advising closer Greg Holland what music to run into from the bullpen to orchestrating the way the Royals celebrate after victories. This is a team that looks to and channels Shields. It will only do that more if it reaches the playoffs for the first time since 1985: If it’s a one-game wild-card playoff, count on Shields and his postseason experience to get that call … and as many as possible in any series. Removing that presence from the room would have left a void and discombobulated everyone else in it. Teams adjust all the time to mid-season roster changes, but Shields is a rare presence whose stature is enhanced by the currency of his experience. “He’s got a ton of energy, he’s a tremendous competitor, and he’s a great communicator, and you couple all that together,” manager Ned Yost said. “He’s always talking to guys, he’s always encouraging guys, he’s always upbeat with guys. “And he’s in it for the team more than he’s in it for himself. Guys see it, they recognize it, they go with it.” None of which means the Royals officially can proclaim victory in The Trade that many scorned (or at least questioned): dealing hot-shot outfield prospect Wil Myers and pitcher Jake Odorizzi (essentially) to Tampa Bay for Shields and Wade Davis. Myers was hitting .227 when he suffered a broken wrist on May 30 after being named AL rookie of the year in 2013 (.293 with 13 home runs and 53 RBIs in 88 games). He may at last return next week. Odorizzi, 24, seems to have a bright enough future and is having a decent enough season. Entering the weekend for the 60-61 Rays, he’s 9-9 with a 3.82 ERA. Those contributions, though, pale next to the exploits of Shields and Davis, suddenly the most fearsome reliever in the American League. Now, the data on this will change in the years to come. And attitudes about this will evolve at different altitudes of hindsight. But in this moment, which is everything to a Royals franchise basically seeking to regain the public trust, we know this: The Royals wouldn’t be in this position without Shields and Davis. This mesmerizing time wouldn’t look like this right now without that move, even if Myers were healthy and productive for the Royals. Now, it would go a long way toward validating the trade if they make the playoffs. But no matter what, these were the right moves for the Royals — both to acquire Shields and to keep him. They triggered changes in the fundamental dynamics of their pitching, which before 2013 had gone 20 years without a staff ERA under 4.00. And they changed the tone of a room and the direction of a franchise whose future always was over a vague horizon to one where it’s now. To reach Vahe Gregorian, call 816-234-4868 or send email to [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @vgregorian. For previous columns, go to KansasCity.com. Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-colum...l#storylink=cpy

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Sep 11, 2014 -> 01:13 AM) Better off spending money on FA? No way. The Sox cannot fill all the holes by relying on FA. Trades will be necessary. Masterson is now an aging reclamation project that is currently making 10M and a big risk as to if he can ever rebound. That's one expensive project! Latos,lol, well he's going to cost more in prospects than McHugh! Yet with McHugh you say its better to hold prospects for one more year? Huh? Shields is going to be 33 and rather costly both in salary and years while he likely begins to decline. No thanks. BMAC will cost as well and is already 31. Again, no thanks. Leake is making just shy of 6M this year, getting a nice bump in salary this winter while he goes into his 2nd arbitration year and will be a free agent after 2016. Oh, and he's going to cost more in prospects than McHugh as well. Adding McHugh allows the Sox to fill a hole in the rotation thus saving the money that would be spent on a FA starter to be spent elsewhere like a higher priced position player via trade. It would give the Sox a better chance to be a contender in 2015. Honestly, I do not see where you're coming from. I never said I wanted any of those pitchers, you brought them up, so I'm not sure exactly who you're arguing with...yourself perhaps? If you saw the way Shields has pitched his last two times out in crunch time, you might rethink your position. The very drawbacks everyone has pointed out are the ones that will depress his price compared to Lester or Scherzer. Nobody knows what McHugh would do pitching for a pennant contender. It's easy to go out there for one of the five worst teams in baseball, with no pressure. Kip Wells looked great for the Pirates, but he couldn't handle Chicago, for example. With all that said, unless they have a plan for moving Danks, they're still going to have issues in the rotation because you're relying on Noesi, a rookie in Rodon and who actually can predict what you'll get with McHugh. I'm guessing he's at an all-time high for innings pitched, so you're also likely to see some regression next season when he hits that wall. I sincerely doubt ANY pitcher gets added...but you can't put a value on the experience, the confidence, the been there, done that attitude that Shields brought to a Royals' organization that had missed the playoffs for 29 years. He's single-handedly holding that rotation up right now, along with a rookie in Yordano Ventura.

Ah, those toolsy high school outfielders....bust rate is even higher on those guys like Hawkins.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 11:58 PM) Please, Humber never put up the numbers McHugh has this year. Take a look for yourself. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mchugco01.shtml I guess more expensive pitchers like BMac, Leake, Latos, Masterson, Shields etc. are better options? Yes, McHugh would cost a few prospects but the money not spent on an expensive starter could in turn be spent on the many holes the Sox have to fill and thats my point. Oh, and to those talking about McHugh being 27 and dfa. Hector Noesi says hello and I would also like to remind you of that the Sox are Hector's third team this season and most Sox fans are rather pleased with his progress. So please don't give me the age and dfa bulls***. The Sox, in their unenviable minor league depth position, would be MUCH better off spending money than giving up premium minor league talent. If they were ALSO going to spend on a DH/LF (probably two hitters, ideally...one Wilkins/Dunn type and one more who's an above-average corner fielder) and spend at least $10-15 million on the bullpen, then I could get behind "going for it at least 50%" for 2015. Otherwise, you have to hold all those trading chips one more year. Because just adding McHugh still leaves you two hitters and a bullpen short of contention. Of course, I would love to have Shields...but at what cost? Masterson, if Cooper has identified a flaw/fix. Latos....maybe? Depends on what we have to give up. Leake and B-Mac would be less interesting, at least to me.

McHugh reminds me of Phil Humber, who actually went to the Astros (along with Lucas Harrell) after leaving the Sox.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 08:27 PM) With only a few weeks left in the year, am I the only one that feels this MLB season has sucked? The most covered stories in the media seem to be Jeter's retirement and the collision rule at home. No record breaking statistics, etc. this year to get intrigued by. Tanaka going down, the Yankees missing the playoffs again, the Red Sox tanking...that's 50% of baseball for ESPN right there. More focus should be on the Giants and Cardinals for seemingly being able to recover from nearly every obstacle injury-wise with depth and pitching. Then you have the A's/Tigers storylines, which are pretty interesting I guess. The M's...and what's going on with Puig/Mattingly/Kemp on a daily basis.

QUOTE (CWSpalehoseCWS @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 09:37 PM) Good point. I guess I don't really envision Semien being at 3B all that much. If they don't trade Alexei, and Micah Johnson's not ready (which is pretty clear, physically and hamstring-wise and developmentally)...then Sanchez is your starter at 2B, with Semien filling in at SS/2B/LF and also hitting against lefties for Conor.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 09:44 PM) I see him more as a tight end. How about H back?

Who's closer next year? Petricka? Putnam, doubtful. Webb, probably needs a bit more seasoning. Bassit or Guerra?

QUOTE (Señor Ding-Dong @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 09:39 PM) I agree completely. He's still a well below average fielder at this point in his career. Fast in a 40-60 yard sprint isn't quickness, and that's why he will never be a basestealer...above 8-10 per season. He also isn't "first step quick" in terms of his outfield jumps and reads. On the other hand, he would make a great fullback in the NFL.

Great clutch hit from Avisail overrides Alexei, Abreu and Wilkins' struggles. Great job by the entire pitching staff today.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 08:41 PM) Best trade chip on the roster this offseason Unless it's Alexei...or Tim Anderson.

Royals had bases loaded, no outs and Perez hit into a line out off Al Al with Gordon picked off 3rd...no runs score. Huge for the Tigers, IF IF they can figure out how to score on the Royals' pen.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 08:22 PM) You also have to remember how great Montas looked in the minors this year. Montas can either be a rushed closer to another frontline starter. We'll see how patient they are...and what they really think of Webb. Would like to see how much they push Olacio as well. The AFL placement is indicative. It's also possible that Danish's stuff would play better as closer...another version of Keith Foulke with the angles/movement/deception and "average" fastball velocity.

Huge K of the surprising JD Martinez with runners at 1st and 3rd and two outs... Shields with only 2 hits and a walk surrendered through 7, and 100 pitches. 2-0 Royals going to the top of the 8th.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 08:15 PM) No shock this team is struggling to score without Viciedo and Flowers in the lineup, as they've been nearly the only source of power the last 3 weeks. It will be interesting to see if there's actually more than 4-5 thousand at the game tomorrow. Even 2007 had the entertainment of Fields, Owens, Andy Gonzalez and Wasserman. This is just beyond terrible. Well, at least Bassit's still fighting, there's that. A lot of the positives are being erased for me until/unless Avisail Garcia really impresses. Of course, excuses about the injury will be provided, with SOME validity, but there's far from even 50/50 certainty right now he's a 5/6 hole power bat or run producer at this point in his career. At 7-9, okay...it is what it is. But that's not what the acquisition was billed to be.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 07:44 PM) Since you guys are talking Astros, forget Castro and go after Collin McHugh. I'll take McHugh over signing BMAC or Masterson anytime. Not sure what it would take to get McHugh but I'm all over that s***! Sale, McHugh, Q, Noesi, Rodon with Carroll and Danks ( unless traded) as long men/ back ups in the pen. Hi, Jeff Luhnow here. You want McHugh? Your starting pitching depth sucks, you realize that? Well, at any rate, I would like Tim Anderson or a package of two of these guys (Hawkins/Montas/Danish). No, I DON'T want Davidson, Johnson or Semien, either. You can keep your so-called prospects/suspects. Rick Hahn. Gulp. Phone clicks. Fade to silence.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 08:09 PM) This would be a nice game to lose considering every team worse than us has lost or is going to lose tonight. Only Houston and Arizona are left to play. Trotting out that 6-9 against a contending team desperate for a win and with a rookie starter, we almost deserve to lose. It's pretty clear this team is the M's or Royals offensively with Abreu hitting more like Miggy Cabrera this season than Jose Abreu through July.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 07:43 PM) DID YOU GUYS KNOW HAWK THINKS THE BULLPEN IS REALLY IMPORTANT Let me guess, he's talking about the Royals, Mariners or possibly Detroit's 7th-9th inning struggles?

Despite giving up 38 hits in his past 23+ innings against DET, Shields has earned his Big Game moniker in spades tonight. Huge game for the Royals' pen to win in order to shift the "momentum" which may or may not exist in baseball...ask the Brewers, Mariners or A's/Angels.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 07:39 PM) Wilkins has struggled so bad this September................this may be doing more harm than good bringing him up. How? You find out that he's overmatched and see if he can make the needed adjustments. If he continues to flail away like this, it crosses another option off the list and forces his hand a bit more in terms of either trading for another bat or signing a FA. Personally, I'd much rather see Mitchell out there than Danks, because we already know exactly what Jordan is capable of doing.

QUOTE (CWSpalehoseCWS @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 07:03 PM) Why not keep Gillaspie and try trading for Dominguez? He might be easier to get than Castro. That's a R/L platoon I would like to see for the Sox. Because it's much easier to just keep Semien in that platoon role than giving up real talent for Dominguez? Just like it's probably better not to trade two starters for one in Castro unless it's abundantly clear that individual player is a HUGE upgrade at a position.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 06:59 PM) There is a pretty big reason that 26-27 year old 1B in AAA aren't usually considered prospects, even when they are putting up numbers like Wilkins. He looks awful. This team has packed it in the for the year. They should start sitting Jose more as well. You have to push those guys to their limits, because you're going to need them not to run out of steam in August/September 2015 or definitely 2016. They need to experience the feeling and realize the next time that there's light at the end of the tunnel and that they can overcome it.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 05:51 PM) Heads are you going to allow this? More respect to Seneca Wallace. He beat the Brad Banks/Gallery/Dallas Clark Hawkeyes team the only time in the regular season before they got punked by USC in the bowl game.

With news that the NFL had the video and sat on it/ignored it, the heat's only going to go up now on the commissioner's office.