Royals Rumblings - News for October 24, 2014

Royals Rumblings - News for October 24, 2014

It sounds like Jarrod Dyson will get the start tonight over Nori Aoki.

Ned Yost acknowledged possibility Jarrod Dyson might start tomorrow. Nori Aoki has more value off the bench than Dyson as a pinch hitter.

— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) October 24, 2014

Oh, Billy.

Quintessential Billy Butler: He was asked if he might be able to put a ball into McCovey Cove. "That'd be a pretty dadgum good shot."

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) October 24, 2014

Rob Neyer doesn't think Lorenzo Cain was snubbed so much as he got caught up in a "glitch."

Routinely, if the Royals were ahead late in a game, Dyson would replace Aoki in the lineup and take over in center field, with Cain shifting to right. Now, you might assume that (and still) is purely because of Cain's stronger arm. But you would probably be wrong, because Dyson is a tremendous, Willie Mays-level center fielder. And he played nearly as much center field as Cain this season.

Can't you understand a Gold Glove voter who says, "Well, hell. How can I vote for Cain when he's not even the best center fielder on his own team?"

I'm not saying that's a good reason. I'm saying it's a reason I can understand.

Tony Blengino at Fangraphs cites the Royals health as a big reason why they are still playing this late in the season.

A quick look of the rest of the American League’s team stats made it clear the Royals are the only club even close to having all nine primary position players reach the 500 plate-appearance plateau. I decided to go back to the beginning of the DH era to see how many AL clubs that reached the postseason did the same, omitting strike-shortened seasons in 1981, 1994 and 1995. In that time frame, 119 different clubs have made the playoffs.

Only 5% of the AL playoff teams in the DH era had nine 500 plate-appearance players.

Jayson Stark and Jon Morosi think Ned Yost out-managed Bruce Bochy in Game Two.

"After the sixth inning," Yost said, happily, "my thinking is done."

Ben Lindbergh recaps Game Two and notes how the Giants may attempt to limit the Royals running game.

Asked about controlling the Royals’ running game before the series, Peavy said, "We’re going to have to do all we can do with varying our times, holding the balls." According to PITCHf/x data provided by Baseball Prospectus, in Game 2, Peavy actually varied his pace from pitch to pitch with men on base less than he had in every start this season but one. However, he did hold the ball for an average of 29.6 seconds between pitches with men on base, the fourth-longest delay he’s shown in any start this season. Alcides Escobar was the only Royal who attempted to steal off Peavy; he was thrown out, thanks in part to a smooth pick from Joe Panik

Tyler Kepner at the New York Times writes about how Billy Butler stands out from the speedsters on this Royals roster.

"This team is counting on me to do my job, and that’s in the middle of the lineup and being an impact bat," Butler said. "Things like that will work out after the World Series. That’s the way they do. This is all I’ve ever known, so I’m proud to be here and I’m proud to be a Royal. I always have been."

Joel Sherman looks at the payroll questions the Royals and Giants will have to address when the Fall Classic festivities are over. For example, can the Royals afford to keep Wade Davis?

Nevertheless, Davis is no ordinary setup man. He had a 1.00 ERA this year and was as huge a relief force as anyone. So it would seem fine to pick up that $7 million for next year. It is just that Greg Holland will be in his second year of arbitraton, he made $4.675 million this season and, as arguably the best closer in the AL, could see that grow to the $7 million to $8 million range.

Can the Royals afford to pay $15 million-ish for roughly 130 innings late in games?

"Yes, in the immediate, it works," Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. "We can make that fit. But we do have to analyze our roster from an economic standpoint every year."

Former Royals General Manager Allard Baird, now with Boston, is pretty proud of his role in helping to build this pennant-winning club.

His main signing was Alex Gordon, who went through a lot of turmoil as the next George Brett, coming up as a third baseman the year after Baird left. Gordon struggled and failed to live up to his promise until he was moved to left field. He has won three Gold Gloves and could finish in the top five in the MVP voting this season.

Baird also drafted designated hitter Billy Butler, pitcher Luke Hochevar (who missed this season with Tommy John surgery), and Zack Greinke, who was later flipped to the Milwaukee Brewers for Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress, and Jake Odorizzi...

“I’m really happy for the organization and the fans,” Baird said. “It’s a part of the country that’s all about substance and they deserve this ride.”

World Series Game Two ratings were up over Game One, although the 8.8 rating was down 7% from last year. It still won the night and is the most watched program on FOX this year since American Idol back in February.

The host markets once again showed strong numbers, especially in KC where the Royals haven’t been to the postseason in 29 years. San Francisco posted a 28.7/50 while Kansas City posted a whopping 49.6/71.

ESPN with a nice video piece on Salvador Perez and how he got to this point.

Jeremy Guthrie might not be available to start Game Three after all.

I'm locked up... pic.twitter.com/4VNyApGkVa

— Jeremy Guthrie (@TheRealJGuts) October 23, 2014

The Royals signed Baseball America Independent League Player of the Year Balbino Fuenmayor to a minor league deal. The twenty-four year old Venezuelan first baseman hit 23 home runs in the Canadian-American Association and could be sent to AA Northwest Arkansas.

The Braves named John Hart President of Baseball Operations and will not hire a General Manager, meaning Dayton Moore is likely here to stay.

Phillies GM Ruben Amaro is running away with "The Contest."

The Feds are doing important work confiscating panties from the popular Kansas City boutique store Birdies for illegal copyright infringement of MLB merchandise.

SB Nation's NBA season preview. Lakers are looking to bounce back with a healthy Steve Nash. Oh wait.

Iowa State basketball is getting all the good transfers.

The trailer for Marvel's "Avengers: Age of Ultron."

All this winning makes me happy, but there's more to life than just being happy.

Food snobs like McDonald's when they're told it organic.

Oh good, cable television is dying, but cable companies are doing just great.

The KFC "Zinger Double Down King" in South Korea is a sign of the apocalypse.

You still have time to order your Lorenzo "Super Cain" and Jarrod Dyson Dance t-shirts in time for when the World Series comes back to Kansas City if the Royals somehow fail to end things in San Francisco. Just look at how good the Super Cain shirt looks on this professional male model.

Your song of the day is The Flowerpot Men with "Let's Go to San Francisco."