Royals Rumblings - News for January 16, 2017

Royals Rumblings - News for January 16, 2017

Buster Olney of ESPN ranks the Royals as just the seventh-best defense in baseball (INSIDER).

The Royals were the only team to get at least 10 defensive runs saved from every outfield spot last season. But of course they lost Jarrod Dyson, whose 19 were the most on the team last season; he was traded to the Mariners last week. They have a lot of hardware: Catcher Salvador Perez has won four Gold Gloves, Eric Hosmer three, Alex Gordon four and Alcides Escobar one.

Nate Karns was on MLB Network Radio and was excited about playing for the Royals.

David Laurila at Fangraphs writes about the power outage in Kansas City.

The Kansas City Royals have been in existence for 48 years, and their all-time leader in home runs, George Brett, had just 317. No one else has reached the 200 mark. Steve Balboni, with 36, has the most in one season. Only 10 Royals have hit 30 home runs or more.

The lack of power, and a ballpark that suppresses it, hasn’t prevented the team from winning a pair of World Series, and from falling just short on two other occasions. Pitching, speed, and defense have been KC trademarks.

That brand of baseball can be entertaining, but at the same time, home runs are exciting. The club record, set in 1987, is 168, and fifteen teams out-homered the Royals that year. This past season, 23 teams left the yard 168-or-more times. The club that calls Kaufman Stadium home finished dead last, with 147. It could have been worse. Twelve times in franchise history they’ve hit 100-or-fewer home runs. In 1981, they launched the same number that Roger Maris hit twenty years earlier.

Do Kansas City fans ever feel they’re missing out on the fun?

John Viril at Kings of Kauffman looks at how the Eric Hosmer deal helps the Royals cut costs.

So far, Moore has done a fine job cutting salary while fielding what should be a team that competes for a playoff berth. He traded off impending free agents Wade Davis and Jarrod Dyson for players with four years of team control in outfielder Jorge Soler and pitcher Nate Karns. Those deals netted close to $9 million in payroll savings. Add the $1 million from Hosmer’s expected arbitration value, and Moore has sliced $10 million from the expected 2017 payroll.

Bo Jackson was honored at a banquet for professional scouting.

The Indians could be after Jose Bautista.

The Mets want prospects for Jay Bruce.

Neftali Feliz may be headed to Milwaukee.

Hall of Fame voters seem to be leaning towards Jeff Bagwell this year.

What is the Hall of Fame path for Joey Votto?

A look at the longest and shortest baseball games of last year.

Sigh. Chiefs.

The Raiders have filed paperwork to move to Las Vegas.

Ringling Brothers Circus is shutting down. (h/t cmkeller)

New research may explain why you get so hungry when you’re drunk.

The CW is airing a gritty reboot of the Archie comic book series.

Your song of the day is Court Yard Hounds with See You in the Spring.