Royals Rumblings - News for November 21, 2017

AAA Farmhand was called up for a spot start in the Rumblings today. Fittingly, the deadline to set 40-man rosters before the Rule 5 draft was last night. Read up on the rules if you need to.

The Rule 5 Draft will take place on the final day of next month’s Winter Meetings (Dec. 14) and allow clubs with open space on the 40-man roster to select Rule 5-eligible players out of other organizations. Rule 5 eligibility is dependent on the age at which a player signed and that player’s experience.

Back in 2010, if the Pirates had protected Nate from the Rule 5 draft, the Royals wouldn’t have been able to Adcock.

The general idea is that Adcock could be a #3-5 starter or back of the bullpen guy in the majors.

I don’t get online in time to link to news stories covering the results, so feel free to update & discuss in the comments.

Apparently Kings of Kauffman hasn’t been following the news much.

…the possibility of the Kansas City Royals making the playoffs next season isn’t the craziest idea you’ve ever heard. It’s just the most recent crazy thing.

Laurie Schlender of the Omaha Storm Chasers was named the Minor League Baseball Woman Executive of the Year. Congratulations!

The honor has been presented annually since 1976 to a woman who has made outstanding contributions to baseball, her club and league. Schlender will receive her award Dec. 11 during the Baseball Winter Meetings Awards Banquet in Orlando, Florida.

Schlender has been with the Chasers organization for more than a decade, and in October 2011 she became the highest-ranking female employee in the franchise's history when she was named assistant general manager of business operations.

Meanwhile, what’s going on with the other AL Central teams?

The Tigers want to have their scouting cake and eat their analytics, too.

General manager Al Avila is careful to say that any decisions that get made won’t be boiled down to an “analytics” or a “scouting” decision, but that there will be an emphasis on both sides of that coin.

South Side Sox is promoting a “2005 Happened” shirt. Kinda says it all.

Who should Cleveland (re)sign to take another run at the World Series, before their competitive window is phased out?

Jarrod Dyson and Cameron Maybin - Two speedy outfielders who could get a look. I think Dyson might be a bit overpriced for the Indians...

Twinkie Town leads off a Rule 5 draft article with goats. The 2017 Twins were underrated, productive, and easy to like, but ultimately couldn’t break through to the mainstream. Seems about right.

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We won’t be the only Royals stuffing ourselves with fowl meat this week. Although turkey is traditionally the Christmas centerpiece in Britain, “Britsgiving” is apparently a thing. British Turkey will tell you more about our should-have-been-national-bird across the pond.

Sleeping in on weekends is unhealthy; what about the Friday after Thanksgiving?

If you can’t sleep, you can always jump on social media and undermine democracy.

Speaking of undermining, watch the mountaintop over North Korea’s nuclear test site subside after the latest test.

North Korea isn’t the only secretive, dark state out there. There’s Kansas, too.

Meanwhile, a young hunter bags an elk in central Missouri. That’s technically illegal, but no one expects an elk this far north.

As long as we’re killing out-of-place animals, should New Zealand try to use CRISPR genetic manipulation to rid itself of invasive predators?

In related news, Midwestern agricultural groups are suing California over its classification of glyphosate (Roundup herbicide) as “known to cause cancer”.

While we’re at it, a new study shows how insecticide exposure can impair songbirds’ ability to migrate or breed.

Are you depressed yet? Cheer up! There may be a correlation between day length and earthquake activity. No, really.

Dark times can be followed by joy. Just listen to Jay Ungar and Molly Mason perform Midnight on the Water and Bonaparte’s Retreat, two of my all-time favorite fiddle tunes (skip to 2:06 to avoid the lengthy spoken intro).