Royals Rumblings

Weekend Rumblings - News for October 8, 2016

Is Wade Davis on the way out?

By Max Rieper@maxrieper Oct 8, 2016, 10:00am EDT

Weekend Rumblings - News for October 8, 2016

Rustin Dodd suggests Dayton Moore may “mix it up” this winter.

For Moore and the Royals, the coming offseason will offer a litany of hard choices and trade-offs, of weighing the present against the future, and trying to improve both. The club is expected to let starter Edinson Volquez walk, and it will consider giving a qualifying offer — worth an estimated $16.8 million — to designated hitter Kendrys Morales. But the financial cost will be weighed heavily. For now, as playoffs push on and the Royals remain at home, the club has the luxury of time.

“We have to continue to evaluate other opportunities out there to improve our team for 2017 and beyond,” Moore says. “We’ve got to look to be creative. It’s very early, obviously, with the offseason, and there will be opportunities that are available to us that we’re not even aware of yet.”

He also weighs the pros and cons for trading away each of the core players.

Wade Davis

Position: Reliever

Age: 31

2017 salary: $10 million

Why you think about trading him: It would free up $10 million, possibly net some younger pieces, and reliever Kelvin Herrera could slide into the closer role.

Why you don’t: The Royals’ two American League championship teams were built on dominant bullpens. When healthy, Davis remains among the best arms in baseball. To win big, his presence seems crucial.

David Lesky of Baseball Prospectus Kansas City is skeptical of Cheslor Cuthbert learning second base.

I will be shocked if Cuthbert is anything more than a bad second baseman. I mentioned this on the radio the other day, but I don’t think he can be as “good” as Alberto Callaspo was at second base. He’s not quick enough, he doesn’t have enough range and his footwork isn’t good enough. The footwork part could absolutely get better, but it won’t make up for the other shortcomings. Plus, let’s not forget the issue he had with throws late in the season at third. I’m at least a little worried about what kind of throws we’d see from him with a runner bearing down on him as he’s trying to turn the double play. Personally, I think the play here is to feign flexibility with him to add to his trade value and ultimately send him to a club in need of a third baseman.

Andrew Miller reminds us why the post-season is fun, writes Grant Brisbee.

Terry Francona knew when to ignore the leverage index.

Bill Murray is ready for October.