Royals Rumblings - News for November 16, 2017

David Lesky takes in the prospect of Dayton Moore being at the helm of a rebuild:

And, you know, maybe Dayton is just better at building a winner rather than maintaining one. If you look at the 2014 and 2015 World Series clubs, there were a fair amount of guys brought in from the outside, but there weren’t many big splashes. They won mostly with the guys they said they were going to win with in those years. Sure they had big help from the haul from the Myers deal and some huge mid-season acquisitions in 2015, but bringing in top tier talent is never a bad plan when you’re in win-now mode.

The last couple years have seen a lot of moves paying way too much for non-top tier talent. Ian Kennedy was a clear overpay, even if I didn’t hate the signing as much as many. The Alex Gordon move hasn’t worked out in the slightest, and I’m not sure it would have been made if they weren’t coming off a World Series win. I loved the move and nobody expected this, but it just has been a disaster so far. Joakim Soria has been a dud (though he was way better in 2017 than people will give him credit for). The deadline deals in 2017 were more about hoping guys would fit rather than going after that top tier talent. I had no problem with either of the big trades they made, but they also weren’t exactly dealing for stars.

Steve Adams at MLB Trade Rumors tackles the Royals’ offseason outlook:

If Kansas City deems, then, that a full rebuild is necessary, it’d have to face the tough scenarios of marketing longer-term assets in trades. Left-hander Danny Duffy, who has four years and $60MM remaining on his contract, would be one of the top starting pitchers on the trade market and could fetch multiple quality prospects and/or an MLB-ready young talent. Few teams are aggressively seeking starting catchers, but dangling the remaining four years of Perez’s contract would cause some teams to rethink their catching situations. And late-blooming star Whit Merrifield, controlled all the way through 2022, would be of immediate interest to teams in need of infield upgrades.

That said, the American League Central isn’t an intimidating division at present, with both the White Sox and Tigers rebuilding. Rather than a full rebuild, it seems likelier that Kansas City could look to operate similarly to the 2016-17 offseason. Herrera and/or Soria could be marketed as a means of acquiring some young talent and shedding payroll while still largely attempting to field a competitive unit. After all, both Duffy and Perez would come with substantial value whether marketed now, next summer or next offseason. With that in mind, the Royals may well look to shorter-term solutions at affordable rates as they wait for Moss, Hammel and albatross deals for Ian Kennedy and Alex Gordon to come off the books.

The MLBPA is challenging the new posting system that’s getting hammered out between the NPB and MLB, delaying the Royals’ imminent signing of Shohei Ohtani, reports Jon Heyman at FanRag.

Ken Rosenthal has two big pieces up behind the paywall at the Athletic. The first talks of the Braves and the fact that they will lose prospects (potentially Kevin Maitan) in the fallout over their international free agent signing practices that led to GM John Coppolella’s dismissal (in addition to possibly being barred from signing international free agents for a couple signing periods, as tweeted by David O’Brien). The second looks at the Pirates’ firing of their Director of Latin American scouting, Rene Gayo, for receiving improper payments—hardly shocking after he may have completely screwed Miguel Sanó over (as documented in Pelotero).

David Laurila asks GMs who is under the radar in their organizations (Shadow Royal acquisition Brandon Marsh is mentioned).

Corey Kluber and Max Scherzer won their respective leagues’ Cy Young Awards.

Why don’t more characters in TV and film have bad taste in music?

How did bagels make their way into the Israeli food scene?

Your song of the day:

Bask in the glow of Hunter Pence.