Royals Rumblings

Royals Rumblings - News for December 30, 2015

We can report that Alex Gordon has not signed with any team yet. More on this story as it develops.

By Max Rieper@maxrieper Dec 30, 2015, 8:00am EST

Royals Rumblings - News for December 30, 2015

Jeffrey Flanagan looks at some of the questions the Royals will need to answer in 2016.

Moore strongly believes that good teams need to enter a season with six or seven viable starters, knowing full well that, over the course of a season, pitchers inevitably break down. Right now, though, the Royals realistically only have five -- Edinson Volquez, Yordano Ventura, Danny Duffy, Kris Medlen and Chris Young. Moore is still in the market for another starter, and perhaps one of the prospects (Kyle Zimmer, anyone?) will emerge. Volquez is solid, Ventura seemed to mature in the second half, and Young and Medlen are veterans that the organization isn't too worried about. The Royals, though, are crossing their fingers that Duffy, who was moved to the bullpen down the stretch, can be productive for an entire season.

TJ Carpenter at 810 WHB says its fear, not frugality that is keeping the Royals from signing Alex Gordon.

We’ve been tricked into thinking the Royals are being cautious financially because it’s the wise thing to do, that there must be some flaw with Alex Gordon, rather than a flaw with their philosophy. Dayton Moore deserves a lot of the benefit of the doubt. Since trading Jonathan Sanchez for Jeremy Guthrie in 2012, he’s yet to make a bad decision. But that doesn’t mean the next decision will be right, it just means the likelihood of it being right is higher than the likelihood of it being wrong. Also, he could just be hampered by a cheap owner. If the Royals won’t significantly increase their payroll after winning the World Series, they never will. If the Royals won’t sign a reasonable major contract for Alex Gordon, who’s more valuable to Kansas City than he is to any other city, they’ll never sign a major contract.

David Lesky at Pine Tar Press writes that the Royals need Alex Gordon not just for next year, but for 2018.

When the 2018 season rolls around, the Royals figure to look very different than they do today. Eric Hosmer will likely be gone. Wade Davis will likely be gone. Edinson Volquez will almost assuredly be gone. So will Jason Vargas and Omar Infante (finally) and Kendrys Morales and more. Alcides Escobar might be gone. So might Mike Moustakas. Maybe Lorenzo Cain is gone too. In their place, will likely be a slew of young players from the minor leagues.

We’ll see guys like Cheslor Cuthbert and Bubba Starling and Raul Mondesi and maybe even Chase Vallot or someone we haven’t even heard of yet. Maybe Moustakas will still be around. Maybe they’ll keep Cain for a couple years. But it wouldn’t be the most surprising thing in the world if Salvador Perez is the only key regular remaining when the 2018 season starts.

This is why the Royals need Alex Gordon.

Lorenzo Cain enjoyed an NBA game last night.

Great to have World Series champ and All-Star Lorenzo Cain of @Royals here tonight enjoying #ThunderBasketball! pic.twitter.com/O7yUlLRbjb
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 30, 2015