Royals Rumblings - News for July 21, 2016

Sam Mellinger writes that the Royals need to be sellers at the trade deadline.

De facto clubhouse spokesman Eric Hosmer said the other day the players understood they were playing to keep the team together, because at some point the front office has to make decisions about whether to invest further in the final two months or pursue ways to improve for 2017. "It just didn’t happen," he said, summing up losing two of three against the Indians.

The Royals front office is made up of men who are naturally aggressive, whose default setting is set to add, but this is also a group that believes strongly in what only the eyes can measure. Part of their willingness to trade away four top pitching prospects last year was the breathtaking way the Royals attacked every game of a famously brutal grind. Even for a group of scouts and executives who want to believe, that case is becoming harder and harder to make this year.

Jesse Newell explains the evolution of Danny Duffy.

In simple terms, Duffy has traded about 5 inches of vertical movement for 8 miles per hour. It seems to have worked, as Duffy appears to be able to command the pitch better (he’s almost cut his career walk rate in half this season), and writer Ian Post believes this pitch also might be harder to for batters to read out of the hand now, as it comes from a flatter plane like Duffy’s fastball. Whether that’s the exact reason for his success or not, Duffy deserves credit for redefining himself

David Lesky at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City looks at trade candidates among position players.

Kole Calhoun – I’m not even sure if Calhoun gets traded, but as I mentioned when going over the pitchers, the Angels really need to regroup their farm system. Dealing Calhoun would make some sense, though it would probably weaken them even more than they’d prefer while they still have that Trout guy. Calhoun is a little like Alex Gordon. He plays excellent defense (in right field, though), works a walk and has some power. He doesn’t strike out quite as much as Gordon and he’s a few years younger, but they’re kind of similar to me. He’s due to make about $1.5 million the rest of this year and then has three more years of arbitration, so he won’t be cheap, costing presumably about $22-$25 million over those three seasons, but given the control, I’d be willing to give up a fair amount for Calhoun than some of the other rentals.

Lee Judge is schooled by Rusty Kuntz.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest is ready to meet the Royals today.

Never been a better day to rock my #Royals socks. @POTUS will welcome the Champs to the White House later today. pic.twitter.com/hODMLXyOxd

— Josh Earnest (@PressSec) July 21, 2016

The last time the Royals visited the White House.

MLB teams spent $268 million on draft bonuses this year.

Back surgery is a possibility for Clayton Kershaw.

The Indians are in talks to get catcher Jonathan Lucroy from the Brewers.

Old friend Mike Montgomery goes to the Cubs.

What is the key to Wil Myers' breakout?

Do the Rangers need a bullpen makeover?

Kelsie Whitmore makes her professional baseball debut for the Sonoma Stompers.

Ranking Big 12 expansion candidates.

France orders Microsoft to stop tracking Windows users.

Emojis are being used to teach sex ed.

The final Divergent movie gets downgraded to a TV movie.

Your song of the day is Queen with "We Are the Champions."