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Weekend Rumblings - News for February 21, 2015
Discussion over where Brandon Finnegan should be this year is ongoing, but Finnegan firmly wants to remain in the big leagues.
The decision will not be made by Brandon Finnegan. But he made his preference known on Friday morning. He wants to begin this season as a reliever on the Royals, rather than a starter at Class AAA Omaha.
"(I want to be) definitely up with the big-league club," Finnegan said the day after pitchers and catchers reported to camp. "I think anybody would say that. The minor leagues isn’t fun for a reason. Everybody wants to get up there."
In the baseball landscape, only a masochist with an addiction to all-night bus trips and postgame burritos wants to be in the minor leagues. So Finnegan’s opinion is far from shocking. It also won’t be his call.
Greg Holland enjoys being a Royal and is interested in signing an extension with the club, though he realizes the business and financial difficulties involved in such a deal.
“Both sides were interested,” Holland said. “And, I hope, still are. But it’s a business. We’ve got a lot of money in our bullpen right now.”
The Royals have invested $22.65 million this season for for the relievers Holland, Wade Davis, Kelvin Herrera, Luke Hochevar and Jason Frasor.
“I think both sides would like to work something out at some point,” said Holland, who makes his off-season home in Asheville with wife Lacey and fourth-month old son Nash.
“But it is a fine line to get both sides happy and to feel comfortable.”
Ned knows that overuse of Salvador Perez is an issue and wants to make sure he gets his rest. Tune back in July to see if this is actually a thing.
Perez wore down and faded offensively in the stretch. After hitting .283 with 11 home runs and a .437 slugging percentage before the All-Star Game, he hit .236 with six homers and a .360 slugging percentage after it. After hitting .347 in June, Perez dropped to .229 in August and .190 in his final 22 games. He drew only three walks the second half, a .236 on-base percentage.
Perez, who popped up foul for the final out of the World Series with the tying run at third base, hit .207 in 15 playoff games. He struck out 10 times and walked once. Keeping Perez from tiring is a Royals priority in 2015.
"It will be one of the hardest things that we try to figure out all year," Yost said. "How we keep balance there."
MITCH!
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Mitch Maier is here working as a coach. The club has some him serving, in essence, as Rusty Kuntz's apprentice.</p>— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) <a href="https://twitter.com/McCulloughStar/status/568855737654312960">February 20, 2015</a></blockquote>
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It looks like the MLB is serious about speeding up the game. Three main changes are thus:
- Managers must initiate all replay challenges from the dugout. In 2014, the first year of replay challenges, the general practice involved a manager running on to the field to argue with an umpire, all while looking back toward a coach in the dugout who was in communication with the club's video representative to determine whether or not to challenge the call.
- Batters must keep one foot inside the batters box at all times, unless an established exception occurs.
- Game play to resume "promptly" after each commercial break. Baseball certainly doesn't want to decrease its advertising allotment, thereby decreasing revenue, so this rule will attempt to make sure the game is ready to begin as close to each commercial break is returning.
Other articles of interest
Should Sony quit or scale back its other endeavors and focus on being the Playstation company?
Aquaman is already cool! Well, maybe. He's Aquaman after all.
One of the tallest residential towers in the world caught on fire in Dubai. The building is referred to as the Torch. So. Yeah.
The Oscars are this weekend. It's that time of year for predictions on who will win and the subsequent disappointment when your favorite doesn't come away with the shiny golden man. I'm personally disappointed that The Lego Movie wasn't even nominated for best picture, but such is life.
Video games shouldn't be like movies--they should instead be like steak.
Weekend Classic
Max does a fantastic job of picking a song every day. I don't want to step on his toes, so I'll instead offer the musical piece of the weekend from the realm of classical music. Today's piece is the first movement from Beethoven's Third Symphony, which premiered in 1805.
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