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Royals Rumblings - News for December 4, 2015

Happy Royals ZIPS Day!

By Max Rieper
Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Royals Rumblings - News for December 4, 2015

Grant Brisbee gives his prediction on where Ben Zobrist will end up.

That means there is no likely, no hard favorite coming down hard and scaring away the competition. Except the Dodgers could use him, and they have the money. They have Andrew Friedman in the front office, and he's heard the good word of Ben Zobrist. He's spread the gospel himself, he has. It's an obvious fit.

An obvious fit, that is, if the Dodgers don't spend $200 million to keep Zack Greinke away from the Giants. If they do that, they might be less inclined to spend on a second baseman, which would allow the Giants to swoop in. He fits the Giants perfectly, too, and they might prefer a combination of Zobrist and Mike Leake to one boring old Greinke. Maybe the Mets will actually spend some of that sweet pennant money on a player they desperately need. It would make too much sense, and Mets fans are right to scream about Zobrist from a bullhorn atop an overturned car.

Clark Fosler at Royals Authority gives his thoughts on the Ben Zobrist sweepstakes.

Sadly, given the years and dollars rumored (yes, there are rumors and speculation in the off-season, get over it), I cringe at the thought of ‘Ben Zobrist news’ as it seems very likely any ‘actual’ news surrounding Zobrist will likely include the phrase ‘his former team, the Royals’. For the record, I’d be delighted with Zobrist for three years, but I’m hesitant about four. I do not get too hung up on ‘old’, which is apparently anything with a 3 in front of one’s age, but Ben will be 38 for the bulk of four seasons from now. There is a lot of thin ice and cliffs when you get up around that age as an athlete.

If Zobrist is gone, it would seem the Royals could – should they so choose – go pretty big in an effort to retain Alex Gordon. Four seasons from now, Gordon will be the same age as Ben Zobrist will be this coming year. I’m willing to take a gamble that Alex will still be productive (probably not a Gold Glover any longer, but certainly not Jose Guillen…or Alex Rios) in even year five of a mega-deal.

Darin Watson at Pine Tar press wonders if the 2015 Royals were the best in franchise history.

The 2015 team is probably roughly equal to the 1976 and 1978 versions. Both had better Pythagorean records, but if you add Zobrist and Cueto to the mix for a full season, I think that makes up the difference. But the 1977 team…

They were the only team in Royals history to win 100 games; in fact, they won more games that year (102) than any other team in the league. The only team in Royals history to have a Pythagorean win percentage above .600 (.605, or 98 wins). A team that outscored the 2015 group by 100 runs yet only allowed 10 more. A team that was a half-run per game better than league average in scoring and run prevention. I think the 2015 Royals came close, but I would still give the nod to the 1977 group.

Today is ZIPS day for the Royals. Here's a preview.

The Royals re-signed infielder Orlando Calixte to a minor league contract. Calixte was non-tendered this week to get him off the 40-man roster.

The Royals also signed former Padres infielder Cody Decker to a minor league deal. Decker has some pop, but more importantly, was the driving force behind the amazing movie "On Jeff Ears."

MLB Network will do some documentaries, including one comparing the 2015 Royals to the 1985 championship team.

In this podcast with Anthony Castrovince, Jeffrey Flanagan previews the Winter Meetings for the Royals.

Royals beat writer Andy McCullough pens his goodbye to the readers.

The Padres are shopping former Royals pitcher James Shields.

Alex Anthopoulos was ready to bid on David Price, but the Blue Jays had other ideas.

Russell Carleton at Baseball Prospectus looks at the neuropsychology of smallball.

Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman was on a 1997 episode of NIckolodeon's Figure it Out.

Hunter Pence proposes at Disney World.

Adam Dorhauer of The Hardball Times gives a history of baseball players unionizing.

Fox Sports' "Just a Bit Outside" featuring writers like Rob Neyer, Dave Cameron, and C.J. Nitkowski is shutting down.

Former defensive coordinator Barry Odom has been promoted to head football coach at Mizzou.

Sounds like the NFL's Chargers are on their way to Los Angeles.

Jon Bois is here to explain what a "catch" is in the NFL.

Coldplay will play the Super Bowl halftime show.

A car turned in its driver for a hit-and-run collision.

Yahoo! might be selling off its internet business.

Too much TV and chill could be making you stupider.

A Missouri professor puts the price tag on a real life Death Star at $419 quintillion.

Your song of the day is Mark Ronson with "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face."

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