Royals Rumblings - News for November 5, 2014
Sam Mellinger writes in his Twitter Tuesday column, about how to reconcile the feelings of "awesome that the Royals got this far this year" with "bummed that the Royals came so close to winning it all but lost."
In a lot of ways, getting that close and losing hurts more than, say, if they’d have lost to the Orioles in six games of the ALCS. Sal Perez homered off Bumgarner in game one of the World Series. If that had come in his last at bat, there would’ve been a parade two days later – down Grand Boulevard, just like 1985 – and the entire city would’ve partied so hard you would not have wanted to go in for elective surgery or get on an airplane for at least a week.
It’s a strange thing. In the clubhouse after game seven, there was real, raw pain. Mike Moustakas, in particular. Lorenzo Cain wanted no part of any question with even a hint of “hey, congrats on a great season” in it. I used this line in the column, but you can’t get that far if you’re going to be happy losing.
I guess I think of it a little bit like this. In life, if you get a raise or a promotion, it’s really easy to be excited for a short bit and then realize that the woman across the office still makes more than you, or got her promotion faster than you. No matter how nice the house you buy, someone has a nice one. You can have a great vacation on the beach, but someone’s there for a longer time, with more money to spend on dinner and drinks.
Craig Brown at Royals Authority discusses some of the Royals recent transactions to begin the off-season.
Now, the question is: With Greg Holland looking at around an $8 million payday as a second-year arbitration eligible pitcher, does it make fiscal sense for the Royals to spend $15 million of the back end of the bullpen. Oh, throw in a healthy raise for Kelvin Herrera as well and the Royals could be committing close to $20 million for three relief pitchers.
It’s not so crazy given the Royals brain trust believes the bullpen was a massive reason for their success in 2014. Both in the regular season and in October. The scary thing is bullpens are temperamental creatures. Last summer’s success story is this summer’s burnout. But Davis and Holland have been fairly consistent in the quality they’ve delivered out of the bullpen. It’s a gamble, but a good one. (Bookmark this post. Just in case.)
It also makes sense if David Glass approves a payroll increase. If you bought a $50 hat or a $100 hoodie at The K this October, you know what I mean. Although picking up options today, does not preclude a trade tomorrow, I’ll bet the Royals do everything they can to keep their core three relievers intact.
Eno Sarris at Fangraphs tries to examine what works in the post-season.
Better teams are better. They have better weighted offensive numbers, they walk more, they strikeout less. Sure.
But there are two things that stood out to me. Probably just confirmation bias, but look at that last column. Postseason winners did not out-slug their opponents once they got to the postseason. Also, even though their regular season walk rates were a little better than other postseason teams, the gap has been very narrow. In fact, the champions set was — relative to other postseason teams — much better at making contact compared to their league.
You know what doesn't work? Pop-ups with the game-tying run 90 feet away and two outs.
David Laurila casts doubt as to whether Lorenzo Cain should have won the Fielding Bible Award for "multi-position player.'
Cain is a fine defender and strictly speaking he did see action at multiple positions. He played 93 games in center field and 77 in right field. Is that enough versatility to justify his winning the honor? The esteemed panel thinks so, but I wonder if maybe the spirit of the award demands more positional differentiation.
Ben Zobrist played 79 games at second base, 38 in left field, 31 at shortstop, 19 in right field and 7 in center field. Is Zobrist as good with the glove? No, but along with Josh Harrison and Brock Holt he’s the definition of a multi-position player. Cain really isn’t.
Jim Caple at ESPN writes about post-season shares, and how its decided who gets what slice of the pie.
Kansas City outfielder Lorenzo Cain, who became a full-time regular in the majors in 2013, lost his father when he was 4. His mother had to work so many jobs to raise the family that Cain didn't start playing organized baseball until high school so as not to add to her burden.
"I think it helps everyone," he says of the shares he and his teammates will receive this year. "I haven't made millions of dollars. I'm still making [about] the minimum. It helps me out, too. It helps everyone. It helps the trainers, the people in K.C., all the guys who work for us, the clubbies. It changes lives. That kind of money changes people's lives. I'm just happy we were able to come this far, to not only help myself and my family but other people's families as well. It's definitely a blessing."
MLB Award finalists were named for MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year. Yordano Ventura was not one of the three American League Rookie of the Year finalist. Ned Yost was one of the Manager of the Year finalists however.
Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer, and Salvador Perez talk to ESPN about winning Gold Gloves.
Jeffrey Flanagan gives each Royals position player a season grade.
MLB Trade Rumors has its arbitration salary estimates for all teams, including the Royals eleven arbitration-eligible players.
Royals General Manager Dayton Moore was on 610 yesterday morning, and here's the podcast.
Speaking of podcasts, Pinetar Press has their season recap podcast up with Royals Assistant General Manager J.J. Piccollo.
Baseball Prospectus has their free agent predictions, and have the Royals netting Brandon McCarthy, Alberto Callaspo, and Torii Hunter.
Is Ryan Howard tradeable? Hopefully not to Kansas City.
Kansas City is sending a lot of barbecue to San Francisco due to the World Series loss. I will personally spit on every fifth burnt end.
A's Assistant General Manager Farhan Zaidi was named General Manager of the Dodgers.
Your guide to the MLB Qualifying Offer process. The Royals have already extended a Qualifying Offer to James Shields.
Former Royals great Frank White won in a landslide to a seat in the Jackson County Legislature.
Jeremy Guthrie shares his faith at a Platte City church homecoming.
I haven't gotten a chance to watch it yet, but the reviews for the latest "30 for 30" that debuted last night on Cuban brothers Livan and Orlando Hernandez were pretty good.
Marlins Guy showed up at the Miami Heat game.
Grantland writes that Kansas State quarterback Jake Waters is the leader of the Island of Misfit Toys.
The "Alex from Target" viral Twitter campaign was of course, a huge marketing stunt.
Washington, DC and Oregon legalized it.
Your song of the day is The Shins with "So Says I."