Royals Rumblings

Royals Rumblings - News for July 2, 2015

Texas is a stupid state anyway.

By Max Rieper@maxrieper Jul 2, 2015, 8:00am EDT

Royals Rumblings - News for July 2, 2015

Hunter Samuels at Pine Tar Press looks at what should be done about Alex Rios.

As a proud member of the Jarrod Dyson Fan Club since 2010, and perhaps one of its founders, I can’t say I would love having him as the everyday right fielder...

A compromise to that option would be to platoon Rios and Dyson, although you’d still end up with Rios on the bench for the majority of the games, so a strict platoon isn’t that likely. I do think giving Dyson a couple of starts per week against right-handed pitching would be beneficial, and Rios could still have some value if his timing recovers. If the Royals aren’t comfortable with either of those choices, they could turn to the trade market.

I’m sure we’ll get more analysis on specific players in the coming weeks, but Carlos Gomez, Gerardo Parra, and Cameron Maybin are just a few names I wouldn’t mind seeing sewn across the back of a Royal blue jersey.

Rany Jazayerli says goodbye to blogging for now, and asks that you donate to help victims in Syria and is willing to thank you personally for it.

But for now, I’m content to enjoy the experience of rooting for a winning team, and sharing that experience with my firstborn. (My 10-year-old daughter doesn’t watch obsessively, but she asks how they do each day and wears her pink Hosmer shirsey all the time.

Even my wife has started to pay attention, or at least she follows the Royals on Instagram.) Before the season began, I intended to say goodbye for good when I wrote this article. Instead, I’m just going to say goodbye for now. I’m not going anywhere. And I just wanted to take this opportunity to say that, after writing about baseball for 20 years, and after blogging about the Royals for 15 years, I’ve learned that Jerry Seinfeld was wrong: we’re not rooting for clothes. We’re not rooting for laundry. We’re not even rooting for the players, and certainly not their manager, or general manager, or the analysts in their front office.

We’re rooting for each other.

NPR's Frank Deford takes issue with the fans voting for All-Stars.

So right now –– just to take one example –– Salvador Perez has 11,666,785 votes for catcher. What does that mean? It's like light years or grains of sand on the beach, just number numbers.

But having fans vote is the way leagues like to run All-Star balloting nowadays, instead of being old-fashioned and letting the choices be made by people who actually know something, people we dare call experts. You see, when fans vote, it's interactive. It's an interactive world now. Baseball's rationale is that if you voted your thirty-five times for Salvador Perez, interactively, you'll then be on pins and needles to see if he can win. You're invested in Salvador Perez.

Baseball America previews the international signing period, which begins today.

While players in Latin America gravitate towards bigger and bulkier frames, the Royals have been linked to athletic, agile players, though with different physical upsides and skill sets. Their top target looks to be Dominican outfielder Seuly Matias, who’s expected to get more than $2 million. He has an extremely high physical ceiling, a cannon arm and could be a star if the bat clicks. They are also the favorites for Jeison Guzman, a smooth, savvy Dominican shortstop who is trending in the right direction. He should be easily over $1 million. They appear to have some low-to-mid six-figure targets in Venezuela as well.

Go Royals, go Jeremy Guthrie, who by the way was named one of the worst starting pitchers for a contending team.

Jorge Bonifacio was named MVP of the Texas League All-Star Game.

John Lamb and Louis Coleman were named AAA All-Stars for the July 15 game in Omaha.

Your July Royals scheduled desktop is available.

Royals 33rd overall pick Nolan Watson made his professional debut for Burlington.

B-Royals' Nolan Watson's pro debut: 2.2 ip, 2 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 3 K. ... 45 pitches; looked as calm as can be.
— Bob Sutton (@tnBobSutton) July 1, 2015