Royals Rumblings - News for February 2, 2016

Royals Rumblings - News for February 2, 2016

Clark Fosler at Royals Authority writes that with Jarrod Dyson as a starter, the Royals could have an an even better defense.

In 2015, Cain ranked fourth among all outfielders with 18 defensive runs saved. Kevin Kiermaier led all outfielders (and everyone else) with 42 runs saved. Dyson? He was credited with 11 DRS, which would have tied him for ninth in baseball with Gregory Polanco. Of course, if you are thinking ahead, you have already noted that all of those nine outfielders tied with or above Dyson all played well over 1,000 innings. Jarrod logged just 560 innings in 2015. Pick your metric, do the math and you come up with what your eyes already told you: Dyson can play defense on par with any outfielder in the game.

David Lesky at Pine Tar Press ponders the future with Raul Mondesi.

Jeffrey Flanagan had an interesting tweet yesterday saying that the Royals were privately discussing whether Raul Mondesi projects as a leadoff hitter or a number three hitter in the big leagues. For a guy with a career minor league line of .246/.293/.365, that seems like a laughable statement, but we all know what kind of upside and talent Mondesi has. It got me thinking about how important 2016 is going to be for him. No, if he struggles, it doesn’t change much of anything, but I think this is the year we’ll need to actually see the results finally come through. It’s worth noting that Mondesi has been roughly half a decade younger than other players at his level, but it’d be nice to see some production....

Lee Judge writes that the Royals are changing the game.

On Friday at the Royals FanFest, both Ned Yost and pitching coach Dave Eiland talked about the Royals pitching staff and how it’s been built. The Royals knew they couldn’t afford top-of-the-line free agent starting pitchers like Zack Greinke or Johnny Cueto, so they invested in relievers. Both Ned and Dave talked about other teams trying to emulate what the Royals have done ... those teams are stocking up on relievers in an attempt to duplicate the Royals’ success....

The game has always been changing and always will, and right now the Kansas City Royals are the team that’s changing it.

Cubs President Theo Epstein praises the Royals as a model organization.

\We spent a lot of time talking about KC as we planned our rebuild," Epstein acknowledged. "Basically it was an eight-year process [for them] to get to the World Series. They did a masterful job.

"Look at the arc of those young players’ careers. Alex Gordon was optioned multiple times, and in a bigger market might not have been given a second chance. Mike Moustakas didn’t blossom as a good hitter until late in the 2014 season. Eric Hosmer probably underperformed after lofty expectations for him until midway through that 2014 season. Through great planning and great perseverance they were able to give those players room to breathe and go through that natural growing process. You experience a lot of valleys along the way, whether it’s being demoted or having a difficult month or year. In the end, they were rewarded for their patience."

David Schoenfield of ESPN ranks the Alex Gordon re-signing as the top move of the baseball off-season.

Dayton Moore will be inducted into the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame this weekend (h/t Jeff Zimmerman).

A first-hand account of the Pine Tar Game on Snap Judgment (h/t Captain_Sub-zero)

Joe Mauer will no longer catch because it is dangerous.ow would the logistics work for a MLB series in London work?

The Yankees are the only team to not sign a free agent.

One of their top prospects, Greg Bird, will miss the entire 2016 season.

A look at #5 starters in the American League.

Teams underperformed like never before in 2015.

Ken Rosenthal wants sabermetricians to remember the "human element."

A Mets minor league affiliate is asking fans to "Netflix and Chill" with them.

Duke falls out of the college basketball top 25 rankings for the first time since 2007.

Peyton Manning had the worst season by any Super Bowl quarterback ever.

Jon Bois is going to watch the Super Bowl.

Mitch Albom has suggestions on what rape victims should do with their settlement money.

The ticket re-sale business is "fixed", says the New York Attorney General.

Seven things you never knew about sports camera operators.

The best films of Sundance 2016.

Your song of the day is Sonny and Cher with "I Got You Babe."