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Royals Rumblings - News for December 12, 2014

Let us never speak of these Winter Meetings again.

By Max Rieper
Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

Royals Rumblings - News for December 12, 2014

Hunter Samuels at Kings of Kauffman mulls a potential trade for Justin Upton or Evan Gattis and whether he'd give up one of HDH plus either Kyle Zimmer or Brandon Finnegan to land one of the sluggers.

My first thought for that package was that it was pretty steep, but considering how much offense the Royals need, it may be worth it. Upon further reflection, though, I do think the Braves would need to come down with their asking price before the Royals should make that deal....

It would still be a steep price to pay for 1 year of Upton, or even 4 years of Gattis, but it may be more appealing than dealing Ventura or Danny Duffy. Trading away a young, cheap, frontline starter would be foolish, particularly considering the contracts being handed out to even the 2nd tier of pitchers. The Royals have a surplus of relievers, a talented farm system, and both bats would have an immediate impact on the Royals lineup. I’m not saying it’s a slam dunk that the Royals should make that deal, but they should definitely consider it.

David Lesky at Pine Tar Press goes over some of the trade rumors from the Winter Meetings.

Colby Rasmus, huh? Personally, I’m not a fan, but I do see the appeal of him. He has big time power, hitting at least 14 homers in every big league season and at least 18 in four of the six years he’s been in the Major Leagues. He can play center field or a corner outfield spot, and is a good enough defender at both. He has his warts, though, which is why he’s firmly in that second or third tier of free agents this season. His plate discipline has declined every year since his breakout season in 2010, and he’s had an OBP below .300 in three of his last four seasons. I think you could do worse than Colby Rasmus, and if he could be had for a year and, say, $5 million, I’d love the idea of giving him a chance to rebound. I just think he wants more than that and will get more than that, and I think it’s a bad idea for the Royals to commit multiple years and eight figures to a guy like him at this stage.

John Sickels has a summary of each Rule 5 draft pick including pitcher Jandel Gustave, who is apparently headed to Kansas City in a trade.

Age 22, posted a 5.01 ERA with an 82/29 K/BB in 79 hits in Low-A, with 94 hits allowed. From the Dominican Republic, Gustave is another hard-thrower in the 95-100 range but is very raw as a pitcher and surprisingly hittable due to a below average change-up and breaking ball. Long shot to stick in Boston. NOTE: Gustave was traded to the Kansas City Royals Thursday afternoon. He should have a better chance to stick in KC.

The rival Twins signed an old friend in Ervin Santana to a four-year $54 million deal.

Grant Brisbee hands out his grades from the Winter Meetings. Dayton Moore has to stay for summer school.

The Mets sign Kansas City native John Mayberry Jr., son of former Royals great John Mayberry.

Former Royals pitcher Kyle Snyder was named pitching coach for the Durham Bulls, the AAA affiliate of the Rays.

If the Royals transactions make you want to drink, at least you have some better options now.

Neal Paine at Fivethirtyeight write that the final college football rankings contradict history.

Are ESPN's fantasy football projections accurate?

The Golden Globe nominations came out yesterday, so here's the silliest nominations of all-time.

Todd VanDerWerff of Vox writes about the problems with ending a TV series.

Grantland is celebrating Paul Thomas Anderson week.

A man tried to hit on girls on Tinder using Darren Rovell tweets and it was surprisingly successful.

Your song of the day is Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughn with "Born Under a Bad Sign."

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