Royals Rumblings - News for February 26, 2015

Royals Rumblings - News for February 26, 2015

The Royals had their first full squad workout, and they are brimming with confidence.

Cain burst into living rooms across the country with his performance in October. Dyson grabbed Cain and asked nearby photographers to capture the moment as he posed with "The MVP," a reference to Cain’s award from the American League Championship Series. During the winter, the Royals said Cain emerged as the top jersey seller on the roster.

Cain experienced the trappings of sudden fame during the winter. Fans recognized him at a bowling alley in Oklahoma. He filmed an ESPN "Sports Science" segment in Los Angeles. Here at camp he noticed a sense of poise that had solidified throughout the roster. "Confidence is definitely through the roof right now," Cain said.

Ned Yost says the Royals had their amazing post-season run because THEY BELIEVED.

"I spent all winter trying to figure out what clicked in the eighth inning of the (American League) Wild Card Game," Yost said. "We had like a 2 percent chance of winning, down four runs against a guy (Jon Lester) against a guy we’ve never beaten, and it finally took me to about three weeks ago to figure it out.

"They came in the eighth inning and they believed. They believed they could do it, they believed in each other and the rest is history.

"That’s always the last little thing that gets you over the hump. When a team finally believes. Because in belief — it’s black or white — you either believe or you don’t. You can try to believe but that doesn’t work. Until you have total full belief in your teammates and ability …

Tony Pena was onto something! !Nosotros Creamos!

The Royals are still high on oft-injured first round pick Kyle Zimmer.

Kansas City projects Zimmer could contribute to the big-league club at some point this summer. They expressed a similar view last year, only to see Zimmer slowed by a latissimus dorsi strain. He never fully recovered. On the mound, he said, "felt like someone was just like stabbing me every time I threw." He worked as a reliever with Class AAA Omaha for a brief time and wowed observers in the Arizona Fall League. But his shoulder continued to bother him.

The team hopes the surgery removes this sensation. Their hopes for him still remain sizable. Some within the organization believe Zimmer possesses more talent than Yordano Ventura, their probable Opening Day starter. Baseball America ranked Zimmer as their No. 75 prospect before this season. The Royals believe if he is healthy, Zimmer can devastate opposing hitters.

"It’s not a matter of ‘If.’ It’s ‘When,’" said assistant general manager J.J. Picollo. "When is the right time? He’s going to have to pitch some in the minor leagues this year.

Tony Blengino previews the AL Central and picks the Royals to finish third.

The "Well, 2014 Sure Was Fun" Club Last year’s Royals showed everyone how important those incremental wins between 85 and 90 actually are. Get in the playoffs, and you have a chance. The club’s chief asset is their young, improving nucleus, featuring Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez and Alcides Escobar in the lineup, and Yordano Ventura and Danny Duffy in the rotation. Plus that killer pen. The bad news is their relative lack of depth; the loss of most any one of those position players plus Mike Moustakas would be a real problem, and oft-injured starter Kris Medlen represents the bulk of their insurance behind their top five starting pitchers. The Royals were a historically healthy club in 2014, and even though they are young and athletic, should expect to need to utilize Plans B and C a bit more this season. In addition, I just can’t get too amped up about their top offseason additions, Alex Rios, Kendrys Morales and Edinson Volquez. Regression will not be the Royals friend in 2015.

Mike Sweeney, the newest inductee to the Royals Hall of Fame, gave credit to his father, who is battling cancer.

MLB Network is ranking the top 100 players in baseball, and Yordano Ventura is 96th so far.

The Royals will likely have the 17th highest payroll in baseball this year.

The Royals signed a number of pre-arbitration players to one-year deals.

Beat writer Andy McCullough talks Royals on Buster Olney's podcast.

Re-live the Royals run last year in a 60-second video.

Yours truly had a hot sports take on Commissioner Rob Manfred's suggestion that perhaps MLB could shorten the season to 154 games.

Bryan Kilpatrick looks at some potential bust candidates this summer.

Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton is facing a suspension from MLB after a drug relapse.

Former Royals farmhand Mark Ellis is retiring after 12 seasons. He racked up 33 WAR after being dealt away from Kansas City in the Johnny Damon trade.

David Ortiz is not a fan of the pace of play rule changes.

Sporting Kansas City lost their pre-season match against Real Salt Lake.

The owner of the St. Louis Rams got his plan to build a football stadium in Inglewood, California approved.

The NCAA is cracking down on football players trying not to be homeless.

Kevin Garnett is back in Minnesota.I wonder if they're as excited as we were when Brent Mayne came back to Kansas City.

Andy Greenwald at Grantland reviews the series finale of "Parks and Rec" and marvels at its amazing run.

Here's what the future looks like, according to "Parks and Rec."

Is the mobile payment system Venmo safe?

KFC has answered our prayers with edible coffee cups.

Weed is now legal in D.C., so expect Congress to get even less done.

Your song of the day is Michael Jackson with "Wanna Be Startin' Something."