Royals Rumblings

Weekend Rumblings - News for July 23, 2016

Buy! Sell!

By Max Rieper@maxrieper Jul 23, 2016, 10:00am EDT

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Weekend Rumblings - News for July 23, 2016

Jon Heyman reports the Royals are preparing to possibly sell at the deadline.

As one person connected to the situation described it, the Royals "have to prepare on both fronts," this deadline. That could mean selling off pieces such as bullpen stalwarts Wade Davis and Kelvin Herrera, starting pitcher Edinson Volquez, and possibly even certain position players such as Lorenzo Cain.

Joe Sheehan gives his opinion on what the Royals could get for Volquez, Morales, and Hochevar.

Maybe one top-100 guy in total, and a few unrated ones beyond that. All ballast there. https://t.co/mSMFCjRQr6
— Joe Sheehan (@joe_sheehan) July 22, 2016

Corrine Landrey at Fangraphs makes the case that the Royals should be buyers - but with an eye towards next year.

It’s certainly possible that they can pull off a surprise run in the second half – the Royals have made an impressive habit of foiling projections in recent years, after all — but if I were the one calling the shots in Kansas City, I’d find it irresponsible to make moves focused solely on 2016 success.

Note how I phrased that, though: I didn’t say that I wouldn’t be a "buyer" this month, only that I wouldn’t focus on 2016. There’s a maddening and inaccurate oversimplification which inevitably occurs each July that there are two groups of teams: those trying to win now and those who should sell off all players without long-term value. The Royals shouldn’t be buying for 2016, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be "buyers" in the current trade market.

David Lesky is ready to trade the Cyborg.

I’ll just say it. I’d trade Wade Davis for the right return, and I’d do it right now. I know. That’s sacrilege, but I don’t care. If the Royals would put Davis on the market, you could make an argument that he’d be worth the biggest haul of any reliever on the market. Aroldis Chapman is a free agent after the year. His teammate, Andrew Miller, has an extra year of control and is a lefty, so I could see him commanding a bit more, but even so, Davis would bring back a ton as one of the game’s best closers who is still under control through next season. What could he bring back? That I don’t know, but the Padres got back a starter who has a 1.54 ERA with a ridiculously high strikeout rate and a ridiculously low walk rate in 87.2 career minor league innings for Fernando Rodney. If you’re worried about next year’s bullpen, I get that, but I think the Royals could re-sign Greg Holland (and I still think they will). Plus, they already have Kelvin Herrera and a couple prospects in the minors who could come up and help the bullpen next season.

David Schoenfield of ESPN makes the case that the Royals are the best fans in baseball.

The Royals rank 11th in the majors in attendance, and though they're not drawing bigger crowds than last year, they're still up more 11,000 fans per game from 2013. They're so popular in the region that delegates from Kansas at the Republic National Convention proudly wore Royals T-shirts on Tuesday and claimed the Royals, even though they play in Missouri.

The Royals' long drought of losing understandably turned fans away from the team, but when they were winning back in the late '70s and early '80s, it was a great baseball market, as the Royals outdrew the Cardinals and annually ranked in the top four in the AL attendance despite playing in one of the league's smallest markets. That fervor has returned and Kansas City has a strong case of baseball fever.

Danny Duffy dedicated his performance last night to a young boy who died of cancer.

The Royals are using ultrasound technology to analyze and maximize player performance.

Former Royals outfielder Kerry Robinson joked about the recent White House trip.