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Royals Rumblings - News for January 23, 2015

Nobody goes to the K anymore, its too crowded.

By Max Rieper
John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

Royals Rumblings - News for January 23, 2015

Royals season ticket sales are up, and they have already sold 10,000 tickets to Fanfest.

While Royals officials won’t disclose numbers, they do say that their season-ticket base is nearing the level it reached in 2012, when the club played host to the All-Star Game.

The Royals’ season-ticket base was 14,000 in 1993, but then it slowly declined, hitting 7,400 in 2003.

Is the 1993 level reachable?

"We hope to get there," Shiffman said. "That’s a long stretch to go from last year. … Who knows, maybe we’ll reach that 14,000. That’d be real optimistic and hopeful."

The team sees encouraging signs. The Royals’ premium seating options — the Crown Club, Diamond Club box and Diamond Club seats — are sold out.


Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article7943586.html#storylink=cpy

Mike Axisa of CBS Sports is taking a look at franchise bests and worsts for each organization - here is the Royals.

Worst team: 2005

Golly. The 2005 Royals were so bad that they went through three managers -- Tony Pena (8-25), Bob Schaefer (5-12) and Buddy Bell (43-69) -- en route to going 56-106, the worst record in MLB by 11 games. D.J. Carrasco, the team's best starter, had a 4.71 ERA (92 ERA+). A 21-year-old Zack Greinke went 5-17 with a 5.80 ERA (76 ERA+) in 183 innings.

The 2005 Royals lost 19 straight games from July 28 through August 19 and their best individual month of the season was June, when they went 12-14. They were literally never over .500 -- they lost Opening Day and it snowballed from there -- and finished the year 43 games back of the first place White Sox. They were bad. Very very bad. Yeesh.

Craig Brown at Royals Authority looks at Jarrod Dyson and what speed do.

It will be interesting to see how the Royals use Dyson in 2015. I’ve heard rumblings the Royals think enough of Rios in right, they won’t lift him for a defensive replacement late in games. That’s disappointing for a couple of reasons. One, Rios has been worth negative runs saved in right the last two seasons, indicating a loss of range with his age. And two, because when you have a defensive weapon on your team like Dyson, it’s incredibly wasteful if he spends his time on the bench. He won’t provide near as much value if he’s only called upon as a spot starter and occasional pinch runner. He needs to get on the field as often as possible, without exposing his bat. That’s why he’s the ideal fourth outfielder.

Dayton Moore talked a bit about his off-season over at MLB Network Radio.

He also says it has "crossed his mind" to bring Shields back, but that a reunion is doubtful. He also expects Brandon Finnegan to go into spring training as a starting pitcher.

Hunter Samuels at Kings of Kauffman thinks there are still some players the Royals could sign to minor league deals that could help them in 2015.

Donnie Murphy (2B/3B/SS) – Come home, Donnie. The former Royal had a poor debut in Kansas City back in 2004 and 2005, but then again, who didn’t have a poor debut then? Since that time, Murphy has bounced around as a utility man for seven different organizations, even having a career year with the Cubs in 2013, when he hit .255/.319/.530 in 163 plate appearances. He’s not going to approach those numbers again, but he could provide some middle infield depth, grit, and veteranny goodness to the organization.

Jeffrey Flanagan talks to former Royals Assistant General Manager Dean Taylor about his career in baseball.

"A lot of things have to go right in the rebuilding process," Taylor said. "And you need time and patience."...

"And you can't necessarily get where you want to go just with scouting and player development," Taylor said. "You also have to fill holes with trades, and Dayton has made some great trades.

"People talk a lot about the James Shields trade, but the one that really got it going was the Zack Greinke trade."

Royals have announced game times for the 2015 schedule.

The Royals have signed SS Dusty Coleman to a minor league deal. The 27-year old former Wichita State Shocker hit .223/.300/.397 in AA for the Athletics last season.

Royals color analyst Rex Hudler discusses how Alzheimer's and Down's Syndrome has affected his family.

When you care enough to send the very best to the Royals fan in your life this Valentine's Day.

Dan Quisenberry's daughter Alysia is making a difference as a local art teacher.

Chris Kamler (a.k.a. "The Fake Ned") is writing a book on Sung Woo's trip to Kansas City and the wonderful 2014 season.

Maybe the Phillies won't trade Cole Hamels after all.

Thank heavens, Jonny Gomes is going to the National League. He has destroyed Royals pitching over the years.

Peter Gammons wonders if prospects are overvalued in trades, considering how much they bust, and cites our own Scott McKinney's study.

Lookout Landing is having a tournament of bad baseball cards.

Musician Jack White has his own baseball card from Topps.

Crappy taxidermy could use Ned Yost's steady hand.

Amos Barshad of Grantland breaks down the Saturday Night Live cast midway through the season.

The economics and nostalgia of dead malls.

CNN's Don Lemon dances with a robot in the name of journalism.

Your song of the day is Better than Ezra with "King of New Orleans."

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