Royals Rumblings - News for November 19, 2014

Royals Rumblings - News for November 19, 2014

Billy Butler is officially gone, having signed a three year $30 million contract with Oakland.

Thanks to @enosarris, it looks like Butler will need to be worth a little more than 4 WAR to be worth 3/30. Last 3 yrs, Butler had 4.1 fWAR.

— Craig Brown (@royalsauthority) November 19, 2014

Steve Adams at MLB Trade Rumors has his free agent profile on the Royals slugger.

I can see Butler taking a one-year deal with a solid annual value if no multi-year deals that his camp deems acceptable materialize, but I can also see him receiving a three-year pact at a smaller AAV. Overall, Butler’s been a plus hitter in a large park with just one below-average offensive season under his belt dating back to 2009. A one-year deal worth $12-13MM or so might be on the table, but I can also see three-year offers from a team that feels he can return to his ways as a strong OBP source with respectable, albeit non-elite pop.

Rumors circulated last week that the Orioles had made a three-year, $30MM offer to Butler, although GM Dan Duquette steadfastly denied that report. That figure is one of many that I’d kicked around with Tim Dierkes of MLBTR prior to the GM Meetings. If he’s truly received an offer in that range and not accepted, then perhaps this prediction will be inaccurate. But a three-year, $30MM contract was my previous expectation, and I’m sticking to that pick.

Andy McCullough writes about how the Royals will seek to fill the hole left behind by Billy.

The Royals remain in the market for a designated hitter. They have engaged in discussions with free agents Torii Hunter and Michael Morse, according to people familiar with the situation. They have pondered trading for players, such as Philadelphia first baseman Ryan Howard and Atlanta catcher/outfielder hybrid Evan Gattis.

David Lesky at Pine Tar Press takes a look at some backup catcher options to give Salvador Perez a break now and then.

None of the names jump out as terribly exciting, but that’s to be expected. We’re talking about a backup catcher here, not a front line player at all. Any one of these guys, though, could give Perez the rest he needs to stay effective with the bat throughout the entire season. You could argue that a rested Perez could add 10 runs created over the course of a full season from what he did in 2014. Using the idea that 10 runs is equal to a win, you’re gaining a win right there by adding a competent backup catcher.

David Hill at Kings of Kauffman thinks former Indians pitcher Justin Masterson could be a fit for the Royals.

Finally healthy, Masterson may be able to come closer to replicating his 2013 season, when he produced a 14-10 record with a 3.45 ERA and a 1.202 WHiP. His walk rate was at a more manageable 3.5 walks per nine while striking out 195 batters in 193 innings of work.

The past two years actually continue an interesting trend where Masterson has been good in odd numbered years as a starter while struggling in even number years. Since 2011, Masterson’s ERA has gone from 3.21 to 4.93 to 3.45 to last year’s 5.88. Perhaps, like Bret Saberhagen in the 1980’s, Masterson is just an odd numbered year pitcher.

The Royals have been reported to have checked in on the ground-ball pitcher.

Among our rivals, the Indians are trying to dump Nick Swisher, the Tigers may be dealing David Price, and the White Sox spend $15 million on lefty-specialist Zack Duke.

The Diamondbacks are interested in James Shields, reports Ken Rosenthal. Rosenthal drops this interesting tidbit:

The D-backs tried to trade for Shields and Wade Davis two years ago in a three-way deal that would have sent Justin Upton to the Rangers and prospects to the Rays.

Bruce Chen is not retiring.

Source: FA LHP Bruce Chen intends to pitch next year and is in the process of talking to teams about a deal.

— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) November 18, 2014

Chris Getz is back!

.@610SportsKC #Royals Insider @JoshVernier610 has learned that former 2nd baseman Chris Getz has taken a job in the Royals front office.

— 610 Sports Radio- KC (@610SportsKC) November 18, 2014

Jim Callis runs down the top performers team-by-team in the Arizona Fall League.

Best Performance: The fifth-overall pick in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft, right-hander Kyle Zimmer had the most impressive start of the season, striking out 11 over five scoreless innings against Glendale on Oct. 13. He reached the upper 90s with his fastball and had plenty of power on his curveball. But he worked just one more AFL inning before leaving to have exploratory shoulder surgery.

Its not good when your top performer is the one that got hurt.

RIP former Royals pitcher Ray Sadecki. Sadecki won 135 games over 18 years in the big leagues primarily for the Cardinals, Giants, and Mets, and was once traded in separated deals for Orlando Cepeda and Joe Torre. He appeared in eight games for the Royals over 1975-1976.

The Diamondbacks hired a veterinarian to head their analytics department.

The Chiefs are rising up the SB Nation NFL Power Rankings.

Tiger Woods does not understand satire.

Oof, Ireland beat the United States Men's Soccer Team.

Philae, the probe that landed on a comet as part of the Rosetta mission, has detected organic molecules in the comet's atmosphere.

An Uber executive suggested digging up dirt on critical journalists, and now they're Tweeting apologies. Could have a future with the Kansas City Royals?

Vox.com provides a map of the most stolen vehicle in each state.

If you have some spare time this offseason, you can build a Millennium Falcon completely out of cardboard.

Your song of the day is Boyz II Men with "Its so Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday."