Royals Rumblings

Independence Day Rumblings - News for July 4, 2016

America, you don't look a day over 200!

By Max Rieper@maxrieper Jul 4, 2016, 10:00am EDT

Independence Day Rumblings - News for July 4, 2016

Ned Yost deflects criticism about the performance about the starting rotation.

"I look at Ventura and I look at Chris Young and I do expect those guys to get better in the second half," Yost said this weekend. "I think Ventura is making really good strides with his mechanics and staying within himself. I look for that to be more consistent in the second half and once (Young) gets into sync with his mechanics, I look for him to better."

Yordano Ventura seems to be doing okay after leaving Sunday's game with an ankle injury.

"They taped him up and he thought he could give it a shot," Yost said. "The first hitter, it was OK. But then it got progressively worst. "When he got to 3-2 on the last hitter, I knew I would go get him because he was starting to limp pretty badly." Ventura didn't seem overly concerned about the injury after the game.

"It feels better right now than it did when they took me out of the ballgame," Ventura said through interpreter Pedro Grifol. "It's still a little swollen, but the swelling is getting a little better. I'm going to continue to work to see if I can get better. "Right now, it's too early to tell about the next start. I'm going to have to wait a couple days to see how it feels."

Danny Duffy talks about his near-complete game.

"Obviously, it's cool to finish a game because those guys in the bullpen have picked me up so many times when I've been inefficient," Duffy said. "So if I got the opportunity to, might as well try to save another day.

"So that was kind of my mindset. A complete game would be cool, but those guys have been taxed by me a lot in my career. So my best way to pay them back is trying to keep them from pitching."

Clark Fosler at Baseball Prospectus ponders how the Royals may play the trade deadline.

I wonder if the recent performances of ‘so-so’ prospects like Whit Merrifield, Brett Eibner and Cheslor Cuthbert has had any effect on other organizations’ perception of the talent level of the Kansas City farm system? If so, has it changed it enough for Dayton Moore to pursue some of the more coveted potential trade targets without having to dangle Raul Mondesi?

Unlike many, I don’t agonize over moving prospects, but Mondesi is the one that even I would hesitate to offer. With the Royals six over and currently holding one post-season slot (as silly as that sounds on July 2nd), I care much less about potential for 2018 and more about contention in 2016. I am not haunted by the Reds having all three players involved in the Cueto trade in their starting rotation, nor do I agonize over Sean Manaea pitching for Oakland while Ben Zobrist is hitting for the Cubs. Even with that mindset, trading Mondesi seems like a non-starter to me.