Royals Rumblings

Royals Rumblings - News for September 21, 2016

Brangelina has split, but Lorenzo and Salvy are still together.

By Max Rieper@maxrieper Sep 21, 2016, 8:00am EDT

Royals Rumblings - News for September 21, 2016

Sam Mellinger discusses how long Ned Yost may stay on as skipper.

Yost will be 63 by the end of next year, and that’s certainly not too old to keep managing, but that job is a grind, and he has enough other things to keep him busy. People always talk about his farm, and hunting, but he also has what I understand to be a very nice and busy youth baseball facility that’s important to him.

As for who will replace him, I don’t know, that’s so far off. Jason Kendall is the first name that comes to mind, though I’m not sure he’d want the job. Raul Ibañez will be talked about. If you hear anyone mention Jonny Gomes, you should laugh at them. I wonder about Mike Jirschele or Mike Sweeney (don’t think he’d want it), and I assume there are some people from the Braves organization who might be considered.

But, again. That’s a long way off.

David Lesky at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City ponders what to do about Kendrys Morales next year.

You know, people don’t like to hear this, but the Royals have a budget, and it looks to already be stretched pretty thin next year. Can they even afford to add another $12 million plus to the payroll? I think if you have a chance to win a title, absolutely, but it’s also not my money.

The question is if the Royals are a better team with Morales in the middle or with their regulars getting the opportunity to take a half-day off. I could see either side, but in my opinion, I think the best option for the Royals is to work something out with Morales that doesn’t require them to pay him nearly $17 million in 2017, but does allow them to keep him to provide that key bat in the middle of the order.

Steve Adams at MLB Trade Rumors looks at what Morales may get.

It seems reasonable to believe that the Royals will forgo a qualifying offer for Morales, who is all too familiar with what the QO does to a DH with an above-average but not elite bat. Assuming, then, that he’s unencumbered by draft-pick compensation, another two-year contract for Morales is a reasonable expectation — and probably one at a higher annual rate than his current agreement. Morales’ new representatives at Wasserman (he switched agencies last October) could very well see fit to push for a third year.

John Viril at Kings of Kauffman notes that Alcides Escobar is finishing the season strong.

Though the correlation isn’t perfect, I couldn’t help but notice that Escobar’s surge mostly coincides with Royals manager Ned Yost dropping him from leadoff to the no. 8 position in the lineup. Yost made that move on August 9. He’s rarely hit lead off since.

Gosh, could it be that Alcides Escobar produces better at the bottom of the order?

The Royals are hiring a baseball systems developer.

Royals minor league pitchers Gerson Garabito and Franco Torres will play in the Dominican Winter League.

Madison Bumgarner has words with Yasiel Puig again.

Ken Rosenthal wonders how Mike Trout will get screwed out of another MVP.

The Reds may have the worst pitching staff of all-time, but look out for the 2006 Royals!

National League tie-breakers could leave the Mets playing in four cities in six days.

What is the impact of injuries on player valuation?

This company says they can predict when a pitcher will need Tommy John surgery.

Should baseball adopt a loan system similar to soccer leagues?

How Las Vegas is ramming a football stadium through the political process.

Seven classic teams that should have been in NBA 2K17.

How Amazon nickels and dimes customers.