Royals Rumblings - News for November 16, 2015

Royals Rumblings - News for November 16, 2015

Sam Mellinger writes about how owner David Glass celebrated winning a championship.

Glass drove a major change in the team he loves in 2006, when he hired Dayton Moore as general manager and promised to support and fund his vision for a better franchise. When that vision began to gain traction — and Glass admits it took longer than he expected — the owner maintained his steady presence in the background. He calls himself "just a fan with good parking and good seats."

The truth is obviously much deeper than that, but this speaks to Glass’ preference to lie low. It also leads some fans to wonder if he will sell the team now that it’s achieved the ultimate goal.

Not a chance, he said. "No," he said. "My whole family, we’re all sort of baseball junkies. My goal in life when I was a kid was to be a major-league baseball player, and I didn’t have the talent to do that. This is the next best thing, to do it this way.

David Lesky at Pine Tar Press questions whether the Royals should double-down on the bullpen when it comes to potential free agents.

Let’s first talk about Darren O’Day. It’s been mentioned by multiple reporters that the Royals have been connected to him as a free agent. On the surface, sure, it makes a lot of sense. The Royals are built and win, in large part, because they’ve had a dominant bullpen. They’re probably losing Ryan Madson to free agency and Greg Holland is definitely going to miss the 2016 season. They’re left with Luke Hochevar, Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis as proven relievers. So sure, they could probably use another proven, reliable arm.

The problem, though, is that O’Day is the best reliever in a fairly thin market. As teams work to try to duplicate the Royals success, relievers are more sought after than ever before (they may not really be, but that’s the narrative out there, so why not run with it?). Because of that, a reliever on the wrong side of 30 is going to get a three- or four-year deal worth $7 million per season or more. He likely will have his choice of contending and non-contending teams alike, and can drive the price up for someone based on all the other interest. That’s not the wisest way for the Royals to spend their money.

David Hill at Kings of Kauffman likes Korean free agent outfielder Hyeun-Soo Kim as a fit for the Royals.

Add in the question as to how well his game would translate to the major leagues, and Kim could potentially fit into the Royals payroll, should they elect not to retain Gordon. However, that ability to adjust to the majors may not be as big of a question mark. Given that his offensive profile is predicated upon his ability to make contact and have a stellar sense of the strike zone, Kim should be able to produce after a minimal adjustment period. In fact, that profile seems to be, as that scout mentioned, a perfect fit for what the Royals want in their players.

Shane Tourtellote at Hardball Times takes a look back at the 2015 post-season.

In WPS terms, the whole Series was a reversal of last year’s. The 2014 World Series went seven games, but those games were just slightly above average at best and spectacularly uncompetitive at worst, with three games below 175. This year’s series was over in five, but its floor was just mildly dull, with a very high ceiling and two good games filling out the rest. (Game Five was merely good because Matt Harvey kept suspense fairly suppressed for his first eight innings, and because Kansas City made a total blowout of the last one.)

The 2015 Series ranks 39th in WPS out of the 111 that have been played, moderately above average. Not only does it cruise past last year’s 1,659.8, it has the highest WPS score for a World Series since 2011, which tallied 2,840.1. There’s not too much shame in falling short of the sixth-best Series, by WPS, ever played.

Ken Davidoff of the New York Post ranks Dayton Moore as tied as the ninth-best GM in the game.

New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio had to sing Kansas City to fulfill a World Series bet.

The Padres ship off All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel to Boston.

The Red Sox plan to look for a number one starting pitcher through free agency.

This year's rookie class was the best rookie class in 100 years.

Baseball has had labor peace for two decades, is that about to change?

The company that owns the Braves will issue stock in the team - does that mean they have to open their books?

Why did 600 bobbleheads of Chris Denorfia mysteriously turn up on an apartment doorstep?

The Chiefs may have broken Peyton Manning.

Mizzou football coach Gary Pinkel announces his retirement due to non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Fans take to the streets to protest the New York Attorney General for shutting down FanDuel and DraftKings.

The Kansas City streetcar passes its first test on the road.

Why are so many laser pointers being aimed at aircraft lately?

Smokers are becoming a thing of the past.

Which TV character is the absolute worst person?

Your song of the day is Elvis Costello with "(What's so Funny 'bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding."