Royals Rumblings - News for July 21, 2014

Well, what a weekend!

Alex was not very pleased with how things turned out in Boston.

"After losing two tough games, you think we’d come out with a little more intensity and energy. But we didn’t. That’s not how good teams play. We need to look in the mirror and figure it out."

Though Yost did call a team meeting to address the players after the loss. So there is that.

— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) July 20, 2014

Well, at least that will take care of things.

Joe Posnanski calls out manager Ned Yost for the "Jonny Gomes affair" and casts doubt that the Ned Yost is the kind of manager a team that hopes to contend should want in the dugout.

For a long time I have believed that Ned Yost would not be the manager for the Kansas City Royals when they actually contended for the World Series. He always seemed to me a transitional manager, a pro who works well with management, follows the plan, does not hesitate to play young players and so on. That’s important for a terrible team. That also goes only so far. When the Royals were ready to actually win games, I figured that, one way or another, Yost would be replaced with someone who could match up with the best managers in the game and could instill a sense of confidence.

Yost filled that transitional role with Milwaukee. And just like in Milwaukee, Yost’s Royals teams gradually improved. In Yost’s fifth year with the Brewers, they finally had a winning record. It took Yost four years in Kansas City. But he couldn’t finish the job in Milwaukee — he was fired late in his sixth season (even with the team winning) because Brewers management sensed that fuses were popping and things were going heywire.

Now in his fifth season in Kansas City, it’s easy to sense the same thing. The Royals are one game over .500 and have been an erratic light show all year, at times looking unbeatable and at times looking like they would need a court order to score a run. They are a staggering 10-19 in one run games — staggering because such a dreadful one-run record usually reflects a leaky bullpen, and the Royals actually have one of the best bullpens in baseball.

Mellinger continues to beat the drum he's been beating for weeks - that the Royals fold under pressure, and that's their problem!

How is the trade front looking?

Royals have interest in trading for Marlon Byrd, sources say, but it's no longer certain they will be deadline buyers. They are 48-48.

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 20, 2014

Well it was fun to imagine being sellers for a few weeks, wasn't it?

Billy Butler says he doesn't want to be traded, and holds out hope the Royals will pick up his $12.5 million option for next year.

"My numbers throughout my contract suggest they should (pick it up)," Butler said. "Maybe not the way I’ve necessarily played this year, but that’s the reason you play a full 162 games. The evaluation is there. That’s the reason why you have a track record. "If you want to go off 90-something games, you can say, ‘yeah, it’s not justified.’ If you want to go off of other ones, yeah, it probably is. It’s all how you want to look at it."

Um, gee, that's great Billy. But you see, its not you, its me. Billy also says he is willing to negotiate a multi-year deal at a lower rate should the Royals decline his option.

Dave Cameron of Fangraphs says Salvador Perez has the seventh most trade-value in all of baseball.

Perez might not yet be the best catcher in baseball, but there are a lot of people convinced that he’s going to be in the near future. He’s basically a power spike away from being Jonathan Lucroy, only he’s four years younger than Milwaukee’s backstop, and at a point where many catchers are still honing their craft in the minors. And while framing metrics don’t love him the same way they do Lucroy, his defensive reputation is still stellar, as he shuts down the running game as well as anyone.

And then there’s the contract. Because the Royals locked up Perez after just 39 big league games, he’s set to make $2 million each of the next two years, and then they have team options for three additional years at $4 million, $5 million, and $6 million respectively. It’s $19 million over five seasons, or an average of $4 million per year. The best catcher in the American league is signed to the kind of deal you give a decent middle reliever.

Royals utility infielder minor leaguer Logan Davis, son of former Royals reliever Mark Davis, has already racked up a ton of frequent flier miles, playing at four levels of baseball this year.

Jim Bowden says it would only take Sam Selman straight up for the Royals to acquire Marlon Byrd, which seems absurd to me.

Ticket prices to the Yankees game honoring Derek Jeter September 7 against Kansas City are going through the roof.

The Royals run for a Wild Card could be an intriguing second-half storyline writes Rany Jazayerli at Grantland.

Rangers pitcher Colby Lewis is taking this "unwritten rules of baseball" crap to a whole new level.

The Astros failed to sign the #1 overall pick from the draft, in addition to two other high draft picks. Say what you will about Dayton Moore, but there have not been any draft signing shenanigans with that guy.

If you're a Sporting Kansas City fan, they had a huge weekend, beating Los Angeles 2-1 and re-signing two of their best players to long-term deals, locking up Graham Zusi and Matt Besler through 2018.

Should the Cavs trade Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love?

This Vox.com map shows where the best-paying jobs are. Kansas City may not have the best paying jobs, but I know some jobs you can have in town where you're never held accountable!

Well one good thing happened this weekend, as my family added a third son to the family on Friday. Please welcome Edgar Yost Rieper to the Royals Review community. To make room in our family, we have designated our eldest son for assignment. Your song of the day is John Lennon's "Beautiful Boy."