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Royals Rumblings for June 3, 2014
As assembled by Royals Review staff:
Rany Jazayerli has more on his blog about his frustrations with Dayton. He doesn't see the Royals getting much better this year, he is fearful for what Dayton will do at the trade deadline, so he's giving Dayton one more month to turn things around:
But I don’t think I’m being unreasonable when I say that if 2014 was the make-or-break year for Moore, then June is his make-or-break month. If the Royals can climb back to .500 by month’s end, then maybe the grim reaper should be held back for a little while longer. If they get over .500 and are a serious threat in the wild-card race, maybe it will even be best to let the season play out, even if it means holding onto Shields and taking the draft pick the way the Royals did with Ervin Santana last year. But if the Royals aren’t any higher in the standings at the end of June than they are at the beginning of it, it’s time for the owner to do what only the owner can do.
Peter Gammons suggests the Royals problem may be not enough veterans. Clubhouse presence! Frenchy! Minky! Bloomie! RAWR!
And maybe this isn’t Yost’s fault, or Grifol, or Kevin Seitzer, who was let go in Kansas City and now given considerable credit for the discipline the Toronto hitters are exhibiting this season. Maybe it’s that teams like the Royals, who invest heavily and spend on getting the best young players they can find, aren’t spending enough on $10-12M veterans who can take the load off the youngsters.
Keith Law has his updated Top 25 prospect list up, and Royals shortstop Raul Mondesi is #19 with Kyle Zimmer (pre-injury I presume) getting Honorable Mention.
Jeff Passan argues it would be prudent for the Royals to make James Shields available for a trade this summer, saying they should be able to get more than the Cubs got for Matt Garza last year. But will Dayton make him available? Not for now.
In case you missed it, one of us is running the White House Press Room now.
Josh Earnest admits to @KCStar he does root for the Royals: "It's not easy but I totally do." Obama asked him on Wed. to take @PressSec job.
— Lindsay Wise (@lindsaywise) May 30, 2014
Are you a fringy draft prospect? Former big leaguer Dirk Hayhurst gives some tips on how to improve your draft stock.
Why are there so many baseball books? Don't forget "Throwback: A Big League Catcher Tells How the Game is Really Played" by Jason Kendall and Lee Judge, just in time for Father's Day!
Not all Cardinals fans are awful. Jon Hamm is actually quite awesome and this anecdote from when he hosted Saturday Night Live is hilarious.
Today's Royals Rumblings soundtrack comes from the massive three-disc collection 69 Love Songs by The Magnetic Fields. While the Stephin Merritt's vision may have been a little grander than the actualization of the vision ended up being, there is at least a solid album of gold off of the collection. While far from a cut off of Straight Outta Compton, the song does feature a curse or two, so it might be advisable to listen with headphones on if you are toiling away at your desk with The Man breathing down your neck.