Michael A. Taylor - Kansas City Royal

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Well, he was around for a long time, had some clutch moments, and folks saw him in the minors and took a liking to his game. However, most of this is driven by disappointment with Robles's development.  End of the season comparisons will be more meaningful.  As it is, Robles's OBP is .349, Taylor is .319.

[Elvir Ovcina]

Well, he was around for a long time, had some clutch moments, and folks saw him in the minors and took a liking to his game. However, most of this is driven by disappointment with Robles's development.  End of the season comparisons will be more meaningful.  As it is, Robles's OBP is .349, Taylor is .319.

He's not great, but he's a lot better than Robles right now.  Robles has a slugging percentage of LOL and is 1/4 on steals.  Taylor has neither of those issues.  As you said, the issue is that Robles sucks crap through a straw right now, not any greatness of Taylor, who is doing pretty much what he always has.

[imref]

He's not great, but he's a lot better than Robles right now.  Robles has a slugging percentage of LOL and is 1/4 on steals.  Taylor has neither of those issues.  As you said, the issue is that Robles sucks crap through a straw right now, not any greatness of Taylor, who is doing pretty much what he always has.

Last 7 days:
MAT: .227   .261   .273, 0HR, 1SB
VR: .333   .400   .444 0HR, 0SB (Caught twice)

This is MAT over his last 20 games: .213 / .284 / .213 0HR, 3SB

Folks seemed to get a bit too excited after his hot start, he's back to AAAA MAT that we knew here in D.C.

[Elvir Ovcina]

Last 7 days:
MAT: .227   .261   .273, 0HR, 1SB
VR: .333   .400   .444 0HR, 0SB (Caught twice)

This is MAT over his last 20 games: .213 / .284 / .213 0HR, 3SB

Folks seemed to get a bit too excited after his hot start, he's back to AAAA MAT that we knew here in D.C.

7 days is too small a sample to be meaningful.  He's had two doubles in that, which is two more than he had the rest of the year.  Encouraging, but until he sustains it, I'm not sold.  Right now him versus Taylor for the rest of the season is a tough call for me, which says something, and what it says is that neither is very good. 

[Natsinpwc]

7 days is too small a sample to be meaningful.  He's had two doubles in that, which is two more than he had the rest of the year.  Encouraging, but until he sustains it, I'm not sold.  Right now him versus Taylor for the rest of the season is a tough call for me, which says something, and what it says is that neither is very good.

Phillies would take either guy for CF. 

[Elvir Ovcina]

Phillies would take either guy for CF.

If the Phillies got either, they'd end up off the roster for non-baseball reasons just like the two previous guys.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

To me he was a decent player who seemed like a genuinely good guy and who gave thoughtful answers during interviews, a nice change from the usual grunting about "battling & grinding"...he also hit a homer in his first-ever World Series at bat, so there's that. 

[UMDNats]

I really liked MAT and hope he succeeds in a long career but was fine moving on. He had a lot of awesome moments with us and won a title. Great draft success story and a major leaguer.

[bluestreak]

Yeah. I can see not wanting the guy on the team anymore, but I can’t see actually not liking the guy. I’ll always remember that home run in Wrigley in the NLDS.

[welch]

Taylor now hitting .255 with 5 homers, 18 RBIs, and 4 stolen bases. OPS now is .695.

[Slateman]

Taylor now hitting .255 with 5 homers, 18 RBIs, and 4 stolen bases. OPS now is .695.

Thats better than any of the Nats CF options

[welch]

Thats better than any of the Nats CF options

I noticed that, too.

[imref]

Well, Robles does have one more SB, and Robles has an OBP of .336 versus .306 for Taylor.  And he's cheaper.

[Elvir Ovcina]

Well, Robles does have one more SB, and Robles has an OBP of .336 versus .306 for Taylor.  And he's cheaper.

He's also slugging nearly 100 points less.  There's not a huge gap between the two right now, really:  Taylor popped a couple over the fence on opening day and has 3 homers since.  But that's still 3 more than Robles has, which explains the slugging gap.

If you're going to hit zero home runs, you need to get on more and steal more than Robles does.  There are only seven players right now with more PAs than Robles and zero homers, and not surprisingly most of them (David Fletcher, Elvis Andrus, Leury Garcia, Myles Straw) have been absolute dead weights on their team's offenses.  Taylor hasn't been.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Even some spec in the trade column on MLB.com (Feinsand?  Petriello?) that Taylor might be a target for the NYY given Hicks's injury, the trade of Tauchman, and the performance of Gardner.  He'd do well defensively and would let them lean on Gardner less.

[Elvir Ovcina]

Even some spec in the trade column on MLB.com (Feinsand?  Petriello?) that Taylor might be a target for the NYY given Hicks's injury, the trade of Tauchman, and the performance of Gardner.  He'd do well defensively and would let them lean on Gardner less.

"Hi, Dayton Moore? It's Brian Cashman."

"Hello.  How's the New York media?"

"They're jerks as always.  Speaking of that, they're mad at me for not having a centerfielder.  Can I have yours?"

"Brian, we're a game and a half back of you, and you're half a game out of the two Wild Card spots.  Do you think I'm an idiot?"

"Well, yes.  This is New York.  Anyone who lives in the Central time zone is a drooling halfwit in our minds and we get to take anything they have that we want."

"This is baseball, Brian, not Goldman Sachs.  Adios, compadre."

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I get it, Elvir, but if it is a month from now and KC fades, Moore may look to cash in some of the guys on expiring contracts.  To put it in NY terms, this is a bit like Webistics in season 2 of the Sopranos. If MAT's value has been pumped, you dump.

[Elvir Ovcina]

I get it, Elvir, but if it is a month from now and KC fades, Moore may look to cash in some of the guys on expiring contracts.  To put it in NY terms, this is a bit like Webistics in season 2 of the Sopranos. If MAT's value has been pumped, you dump.

If KC fades and the Yankees don't, sure. 

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I am more doubtful of kc than nyy, even grading the divisions on a curve. Moore is sharp enough to know he should be stocking his system when he gets a hit on a cheap vet who shocks folks by being a 1.5 war guy.

[Elvir Ovcina]

I am more doubtful of kc than nyy, even grading the divisions on a curve. Moore is sharp enough to know he should be stocking his system when he gets a hit on a cheap vet who shocks folks by being a 1.5 war guy.

I am too given normal health, but KC always is under pressure not to punt seasons that are even remotely promising.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I agree. They get a shot every 3-5 years since moose/cain/Hosmer, so they have to go for it when they can

[Slateman]

I was kinda hoping Schwarber would surge and the Yankees would trade for him

[Count Walewski]

The Royals have won 5 in a row, including a 14-5 clobbering last night of the Twins who were expected to win that division preseason. The Royals scored 9 runs in the first inning and 4 runs in the second inning. Michael A. Taylor accounted for 3 RBIs and went 2-for-5.

I agree the Royals are not out of it yet and are only 2.0 games out of the WC and 5.0 games out of the division. But for the wildcard they are competing against the likes of 2 out of NYY/TD/BOS, Houston, and Toronto and I don't see them beating those teams out.

[Natsinpwc]

I was kinda hoping Schwarber would surge and the Yankees would trade for him

They need a CF. Trade them Robles.

[Slateman]

They need a CF. Trade them Robles.

Eh, the Yankees dont have anything that would recoup the value