Royals Rumblings - News for January 7, 2015

Royals Rumblings - News for January 7, 2015

J.J. Cooper at Baseball America discussed the Royals' system following their top ten ranking of the club's prospects.

Grant (NYC): How many of these guys are likely to make the top 100? J.J. Cooper: Hey everyone. Thanks for coming out. If you’re a Royals’ fan, I’m imagining you are still walking around with a grin on your face. I would say there is one slam dunk and three candidates. Mondesi will be a pretty high Top 100 guy, Zimmer, Starling and Almonte all have their cases, but none are guarantees. The system is thinner now, obviously, after promotions and the trades that brought in Cueto and Zobrist last season.

Darin Watson at Pine Tar Press revisits the Johnny Damon trade.

Of course it’s easy to say now, but the Royals would likely have been better off with one of their other two options than they were after trading Damon. Had they stayed pat, they probably would have had a 2001 season similar to 2000: score lots of runs, win 75 games or so, nothing to write home about. However, they would have received draft pick compensation for losing Damon. The A’s did, and used those picks to take Nick Swisher and Mark Teahen. The Royals could have had two compensation picks in a strong 2002 draft. They also would have retained minor leaguer Mark Ellis, who became a very good second baseman in Oakland.

David Hill thinks the Royals may be looking at free agent pitcher Doug Fister.

The question that the Royals, or any other team interested in Fister, need to ask is whether or not that time in the bullpen was a mirage. Is his decreased fastball velocity a sign that he is beginning to decline, or was he battling through an injury? Can he learn to pitch effectively if his fastball is still only in the mid 80s going forward? Yet, even with those issues, Fister still had that excellent control he has been known for, walking just over two batters per nine innings. If he can continue that control, and learn to adjust his pitching style to match his diminished velocity, Fister could be close to the pitcher that he had been in years past.

What's next for Dayton Moore?

Royals get back Gordon. Will look at starting pitcher now. Have Kennedy, Chen, gallardo on radar. @FlannyMLB 1st with AG

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 6, 2016

Dayton headed to DR, which pitcher is he after this time?

— kevin kietzman (@kkwhb) January 7, 2016

Good timing with the Alex Gordon signing, Royals FanFest is later this month.

The Royals have added a split-squad spring training game against the Cubs.

Ken Griffey and Mike Piazza were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Former Royals Mike Sweeney received three votes, Jason Kendall received two votes, and Mark Grudzielanek received no votes.

Mike Sweeney got 3 HOF votes. Great hitter who could have Ped' his way to 50%. Fought for level ground testing. Shot down by 1 union boss

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) January 7, 2016

Dan Szymborski higlights the Hall of Famers voters have misconceptions about.

Chris Carter goes to the Brewers on a one-year deal.

The trade market for Marlins outfielder Marcell Ozuna is heating up.

Ryan Zimmerman and Ryan Howard sue al Jazeera for defamation over reports linking them to an HGH supplier.

Derek Jeter's trainer has been linked to Peyton Manning's alleged HGH supplier.

Alex Anthropoulos gets a job with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Rams owner Stan Kroenke has become the most hated man in St. Louis for his comments after filing for relocation.

Will the Big 12 soon expand or host a conference football championship game?

Kansas City tennis star Jack Sock is a pretty good sport.

Internet bots are going to take over the web in 2016.

Nobody wants to eat Chipotle's e coli burritos anymore.

The Voltron movie reboot is now a Netflix TV show.

Your song of the day is Mark Morrison with "Return of the Mack."