Royals Rumblings - News for January 26, 2016

Royals Rumblings - News for January 26, 2016

John Paul Morosi writes that free-spending teams cannot replicate the Royals' clubhouse chemistry.

You might describe the Royals' character as "intangible." But the opposition knows it is there. I was reminded of that this week when, after the Detroit Tigers signed Justin Upton, I asked Tigers third baseman Nick Castellanos where his team stands in relation to the Royals....

"What the Royals do so good, is they're very good at coming together. They know how to win. They don't give up. If they're down, if they're up -- it doesn't matter. Everybody goes about their business great. Everybody knows their role.

"To be honest, they all love each other. That's a huge deal. They have great clubhouse camaraderie. They go out together. They have a good time together. I know this because I went to high school with Eric Hosmer. He talks about the friendships they have in the clubhouse. When you have those good friendships, it's a lot of fun to play together."

A's designated hitter Billy Butler admits there was bad clubhouse chemistry in Oakland last year.

Butler spent 11 seasons in Kansas City organization before signing with the A’s early last winter. He said it was a "culture shock. KC and the Bay Area are opposites."

He added, "I know what to expect now. Nothing’s out of the ordinary. I’m completely prepared for everything that’s ahead." Beyond all the losing, the A’s had a clubhouse-chemistry problem, and Butler acknowledged it Sunday, saying,"To say we had a bad clubhouse was accurate. "You see there’s definitely people who are not here anymore that were part of the issue. I think whenever you have a season you lose as many games as we did, that’s always going to be a question. I don’t think anybody’s going to get along (in a losing environment). Nobody wants to lose that much."

Royals scout Art Stewart will be inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame next week, and he says scouting is more important than ever.

"The big turnaround that brought the Royals back to prominence was the fact that it was almost 10 years since Dayton Moore was hired as general manager," Stewart said. "He took the job with the understanding that he would be able to hire the best scouts and the right people to develop them."...

"I never had a season that was more rewarding in 63 years of baseball," Stewart said. "Because I got to see guys like Moustakas and Hosmer in high school. I got to see Salvador Perez at the beginning, and I got to see all those guys come up through the minor league system together. With good scouts they were able to draft these guys and with good major league scouts, they were able to make the right deals for players like Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar and Wade Davis."

Lorenzo Cain is good at defense.

Lorenzo Cain can track some balls down. Heres all batted balls he caught with a hang time < 6 sec. & he ran 15 MPH+ pic.twitter.com/BvkrSHSDpt

— Daren Willman (@darenw) January 22, 2016

Commissioner Rob Manfred says that TV blackouts aren't good for the game.

This year's free agent class was extraordinarily good.

An investigation has cleared Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish of any wrong-doing connected to his brother's gambling ring.

The password the Cardinals used to hack into the Astros' database was "Eckstein123."

Grant Brisbee writes that nothing has gone right for the Nationals this winter.

Why do people make up fake baseball rumors on Twitter?

Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson will make a cameo on the show "Vikings."

According to Tecmo Super Bowl, the Panthers will defeat the Broncos in the Super Bowl.

How much did winter storm Jonas cost the economy?

If you want to lose weight, avoid restaurants.

Matthew Perry has no memory of several years of Friends.

Your song of the day is Metallica with "Wherever I May Roam."