Royals Rumblings - News for July 15, 2015

Royals Rumblings - News for July 15, 2015

It was the zen of Ned that led the American League to victory Tuesday night.

Inside the visiting manager’s office, Ned Yost propped his feet on his desk and studied his lineup card. He rode in a Chevrolet convertible in the All-Star parade, waving to fans while propped up on the backseat. Now he was pondering a question from a reporter: How did he balance the need to try to play each man on his roster versus the desire to win the game and secure home-field advantage for the American League in the World Series?

Yost gently reminded his inquisitor that each player on his roster is an All-Star. In essence, there were no wrong moves, in essence.

Cincinnati was "Kansas City East" for the All-Star Game.

This city might have been the epicenter of baseball once again for a night, but that was just a frilly wrapper around what was in the middle of it all: your Kansas City Royals, wall-to-wall and in Sensurround. "You’re here to see your team play, huh?" a stadium security guard said upon being informed a visitor came from Kansas City. "This is Kansas City East."

Yordano Ventura and Salvador Perez both make Dave Cameron's Top 50 trade value list.

Perez serves as a nice reminder of our need to not overreact too much to the most recent half season of performance, and I was too aggressive in moving Perez from 36 to 7 last year. But even with a .273 OBP, Perez remains an asset on the field, thanks to his contact and power; it’s also a testament to the current run environment that a guy who makes that many outs can still be running a league average wRC+. But he is, and when you add in the fact that he’s a catcher who excels at blocking pitches in the dirt and shutting down the running game, and you still have a quality player despite the one glaring flaw in his offensive game. And his contract situation is nearly identical to Altuve’s, especially because his 2015 all-star selection triggered the maximum incentives, so he’ll earn an additional $5 million in the last three years of the deal, pushing the grand total to just over $21 million over the next four years. Perez might make a lot of outs, but he does almost everything else well, and that makes him a significant part of the Royals success.

Commissioner Rob Manfred calls the voting system that produced four Royals All-Star starters a success.

"I think you saw in different places like Detroit with Miguel Cabrera and Houston with Jose Altuve, fans saying ‘Hey, OK. They voted. They had their say. But our guy is better,’" Manfred said during a discussion with members of the Baseball Writers Association of America on Tuesday morning. "And that sort of fan reaction is a really good thing for a game, and it actually gives you confidence that fan voting is a good mechanism, not only for engagement, but that they have a way of correcting themselves when things get out of whack."

David Lesky at Pine Tar Press looks at some outfielders the Royals might look to target in a trade.

Jay Bruce – With the All-Star Game ready to pass, the Reds should be about ready to deal from their talent. Bruce is a guy I really like for this team because of the power he provides. He had a down season in 2014, but has come back this year with a .251/.341/.465 line. He had a terrible start to the year, but in his last 66 games, he’s hitting .274/.363/.502. Bruce makes $12.5 million next year and has a $13 million option for 2017, so he’s pretty affordable for the kind of power he provides. His defense has taken a swift left turn since he was very good out there, but he’s still not that much below average. I know the team is built on defense, but it’s not like Rios is giving them much out there. Bruce won’t be cheap, but a package deal including him and a certain Reds pitcher could make the Royals the easy favorites in the AL.

Jon Heyman reports the Reds have made Bruce available.

Do you agree with the "Franchise Four" for the Royals of George Brett, Frank White, Dan Quisenberry, and Bret Saberhagen?

The Royals are on pace to have the highest TV ratings for a regional sports network since 2007.

The Hardball Times asks if not the All-Star Game, what should determine home field advantage in the World Series?

Bill Barnwell at Grantland suggests that maybe baseball should set up a player loan system, truly creating a "rent-a-player."

Steve Wulf has a pretty neat managerial tree that can trace Ned Yost's roots all the way back to Ned Hanlon, the "father of modern baseball."

Is this a Golden Age of 25-and-under All-Stars in baseball?

Five roster changes the US Men's National Team should make.

Who is building the next NFL dynasty?

Why does it matter if Pluto is not a planet anyway?

There may not really be a link between genius and psychosis.

Could a really humongous earthquake destroy the Pacific Northwest?

A breakdown of the new trailer for "Suicide Squad" released last weekend at Comic-Con.

Your song of the day is The National with "Bloodbuzz Ohio".