Royals Rumblings - News for December 28, 2015

Royals Rumblings - News for December 28, 2015

Nick Cafardo at the Boston Globe writes that Alex Gordon wants to stay in Kansas City, but it may not happen.

Gordon is still drawing a lot of interest and prefers to stay in Kansas City, though that dream may be fading. Don’t be surprised if the aggressive White Sox rush to the front. The White Sox have already traded for Todd Frazier and would like one more significant hitter.

John Viril at Kings of Kauffman thinks the leaks from the Alex Gordon negotiations are coming from Alex's camp.

In many ways, free-agent rumors are like poker tells. The key is deciding if: 1) the rumor is a true "slip" or, 2) a deliberate signal from a competitor. In the first case, you might have discovered something the other side doesn’t want you to know. In the second case, they’re sending you message to create a specific response—which means the message is likely to be deceptive or self-serving.

In the case of the "no chance" story, I think it’s clear the Alex Gordon’s camp wanted that story to get out. Rather than the KC Royals having "no chance" to re-sign Gordon, I think it means that despite feelers from many teams, Close doesn’t have any firm offers that he wants to accept.

David Lesky at Pine Tar Press doesn't think Dayton Moore is perfect.

The idea that the Royals front office is now infallible is one that I’ve seen pop up more often over the last few weeks. It’s not that they haven’t done a great job in building this team to become World Series champions, but that doesn’t mean they’re immune from mistakes. With this thought that they can’t be questioned, many fans seem to be focused on what Alex Gordon doesn’t do. I’ve seen arguments that "he’s not an MVP" and then some other arguments from local media personalities that aren’t even factually based. I don’t really understand why people have to pretend that Gordon isn’t a very good player worth $18 million per year (based on today’s prices). Over the last five years, Gordon has the 14th highest OBP among all outfielders. His slugging percentage ranks 33rd. According to Fangraphs, he’s been the fourth most valuable outfielder of the last five years.

Rany Jazayerli finishes up his Royals report card from the 2014-2015 seasons.

Danny Duffy (5.0 bWAR): Yes, Danny Duffy has been the third-most valuable pitcher on the Royals over the last two years. He has thrown 286 innings with a 3.27 ERA. Also: on May 17, 2014, Duffy had a perfect game for 6.2 innings and finished with 7 shutout innings in a game the Royals won, 1-0. That activates Postulate #2. Danny Duffy is responsible for the Royals winning a world championship. Grade: A+

Richard Justice at MLB.com comes up with Christmas gifts for all 30 teams.

Royals: Alex Gordon's name on a new contract with the Royals. He has been one of the faces of the franchises and one of the reasons Kansas City has won two straight AL championships. He would look out of place anywhere else.

Former Royals outfielder Dave Henderson died over the weekend of cardiac arrest at the age of 57.

The Cardinals are pursuing some Rockies outfielders.

The best bullpen in baseball last year belonged to...the Pirates?

These player opt-outs are much better for the player than the team.

Noah Syndergaard celebrates Christmas with Bartolo Colon t-shirts.

Congrats to Lee Judge, whose piece on Bryce Harper was named one of the worst pieces of American sportswriting in 2015.

Why did the Patriots defer the kickoff in overtime?

Peyton Manning, Ryan Howard, Ryan Zimmerman, and other athletes accused of being supplied with PEDs have robbed us of our national innocence.

Andy Reid dabbed after the ninth Chiefs win in a row, killing the meme for good.

How the "Glasnost Bowl", a college football game in the Soviet Union in 1989, almost happened.

The year in fake outrage and internet backlash that makes us feel better about ourselves.

The Miami River is once again a cocaine superhighway.

The 44 video games to look forward to in 2016.

Your song of the day is The Rolling Stones with "Winter."