Royals Rumblings - News for February 23, 2016

Royals Rumblings - News for February 23, 2016

Sam Mellinger writes that Royals executive can build a team but are not very good at self-promotion.

But now the Royals were American League champions, winners, as popular a sports team as has existed in Kansas City in a generation, and the sponsor even promised to donate all proceeds from sales of the T-shirt, which would’ve been blue with bold lettering across the front: TRUST THE PROCESS.

Moore said no, and now laughs at the memory. "First of all," he says, "we probably would’ve sold 10 of them."

OH I WANT ONE.

New Royals pitcher Mike Minor praised the Royals patience as he rehabs from a torn labrum.

Sitting at his locker on Sunday, Minor said there were other suitors in recent months. Many were interested in a one-year deal. Some, like the Cincinnati Reds, play their home games in a smallish bandbox. When the Royals reached out to his agent, B.B. Abbott of Jet Sports Management, the combination of a two-year deal and the spacious Kauffman Stadium sold Minor on Kansas City....

"With them giving me the two-year deal, they’re basically saying, ‘We want you to get healthy this year, possible help us in the second half with some guys that might be tired,’ " Minor said. "And then next year, just like Medlen, ‘We want you to maybe be one of those guys in the rotation.

The Royals have some of the biggest names among all minor league deals signed.

Perhaps no team benefited more from a minor league signing last season than the Royals with Madson, and this year they’re back at it again. The Royals have more filler in their 15 signings than the Indians and Braves, but they’ve also got more star power, as far as star power in minor league contracts is concerned. Travis Snider represents perhaps my favorite minor league contract of the winter, a solid fourth of fifth outfielder who still feels like he has untapped potential, and could serve as a nice complement off the bench to the light-hitting platoon of Jarrod Dyson and Paulo Orlando in right field. I suspect Snider will crack the Opening Day roster as the team’s fifth outfielder/pinch hitter. Dillon Gee also strikes me as a sneaky deal for a guy with a pretty big name relative to his minor league free contract peers. On a lesser scale, Brian Duensing and Clint Barmes were both contributors last year, while Ross Ohlendorf and Peter Moylan have decent tracks records, though admittedly less to show for it in recent seasons.

Among those names is Dillon Gee, who is trying to pitch his way onto the staff.

Gee, like Young, does not rely on an imposing arsenal. He is a four-pitch pitcher who pounds the strike zone and trusts in a two-seam fastball and an above-average change-up. The change-up, Gee says, is the pitch that gave him his big-league career. "I’ve kind of always said I live and die by the change-up," Gee said. ...

"He’s a guy that attacks the strike zone and he attacks hitters," Eiland said. "He doesn’t pitch away from contact. He’s not a mid-to upper-90s guy, but he comes right at hitters, and that fits our profile perfectly."

Craig Brown at Royals Authority runs down the timeline of all of Omar Infante's injuries last year.

The Star begins a six-part video series on BECOMING ROYAL.

Ned Yost thinks his bullpen could be even deeper this year.

Did you know the Royals have a top ten player in baseball? And its not who you're thinking!

.@jonmorosi's Top 10 players:
10)Arenado
9) Scherzer
8) Correa
7) Perez
6) Goldschmidt
5) Cabrera
4) Donaldson
3) Kershaw
2) Harper
1) Trout

— MLB Network Radio (@MLBNetworkRadio) February 22, 2016

Royals legend Frank White will run for re-election as Jackson County Executive.

Jeff Francoeur is back with the Braves on a minor league deal.

Jimmy Rollins goes to the White Sox on a minor league deal.

Jose Bautista is playing hardball in contract negotiations with the Blue Jays.

The Rays will likely play a spring training game in Cuba.

New Marlins manager Don Mattingly orders his team to shave those sideburns!

The Barry Bonds hitting coach experiment is fascinating to watch.

The Yankees want Russell Wilsons, not Cam Newtons on their team.

What players should you watch at the NFL combine?

All 129 college football programs as Pokemon.

Political campaigns are terrible about protecting the data they collect.

A judge orders 50 Cent back to bankruptcy court to explain Instagram photos with wads of cash lying around.

Fivethirtyeight has their final Oscar picks.

Your song of the day is Urge Overkill with "Sister Havana."