Royals Rumblings - News for October 21, 2016

Royals Rumblings - News for October 21, 2016

David Lesky at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City thinks second baseman Neil Walker could be a player the Royals should target.

I think he would be an interesting pickup for the Royals who could really increase the team’s versatility. While Walker has played almost exclusively second base in the big leagues, he was a third baseman when he was drafted (and a very good one). He’s also dealing with back issues, which might make second base difficult for him. But you know what he can do pretty well? He can hit.

What if the Royals took advantage of what may be a down market for Walker because of his back injury and made an offer to him for two or three years at a reasonable dollar amount? He could play a decent amount of second base. He could play some third. He could even play some first. He could potentially be insurance at first base for after the 2017 season if the Royals don’t have anyone ready to replace Eric Hosmer.

The White Sox hire Chris Getz from the Royals front office.

Royals GM Dayton Moore is just as well known for taking care of his people as anyone in the game, and rather than have Getz languish in a token position, he was brought along aggressively. The Detroit News even reported him as weighing in on trades for Johnny Cueto and Ben Zobrist within his first year with the organization, in addition to having his fingerprints on some of the rookies who debuted in 2015.

This is not to argue that Getz is actually an amazing hire (because that’s still a total unknown) or that former experience with the Sox organization did not help him land this job (because c’mon), but this is a move that is far more about trying to steal the mojo of the 2013-present Royals than insularity.

Bernie Pleskoff at Today’s Knuckleball scouts Royals pitching prospect Josh Staumont.

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw him start for the Surprise Saguaros during the first game of this season’s Arizona Fall League. He dazzled with a masterful change of speeds and locations throughout his outing. In essence, he kept hitters off balance and leaning for his three innings of work. He yielded two hits and no runs. He struck out three and walked one. His second league outing was equally as good.

Staumont changes the eye level of the hitter by serving a combination of a curveball that he brings at 77-81 miles per hour and his four-seam fastball that varies from 90-98 miles per hour. Many times the same hitter faces that velocity variation. And once the hitter thinks he has the curve and the fastball fairly well-timed, Staumont sneaks in a 91 or 92 mile per hour cutter. But that happens less often in his sequencing.

It almost isn’t fair how Staumont taunts the hitter with his change of speeds and location. Every pitch has very good movement. Some pitches, specifically the lower-velocity fastballs, seem to move later than others.

We just saw the lowest-scoring ALCS in history.

The Blue Jays have an uncertain future.

Even The Economist notes that the “proven closer” is dying in baseball.

MLB is on the verge of announcing a new collective bargaining agreement.

The Detroit Tigers want to get “younger and leaner” this off-season.

Padres GM A.J. Preller returns from suspension.

The firing of Padres president Mike Dee fuels rumors of litigation.

Tim Tebow gets his first hit in the Arizona Fall League.

Can Bill Simmons salvage his HBO show?

Maybe NFL ratings are down because the games stink?

An oral history of Mizzou’s move to the SEC.

What led to the downfall of Nancy Grace?

A parent designs a helicopter parents’ worst nightmare in his backyard.

Nintendo releases its first trailer for Switch, its newest console.

Your song of the day is O.A.R. with That Was a Crazy Game of Poker.