Royals Rumblings - News for December 12, 2017

Royals Rumblings - News for December 12, 2017

Signs are pointing to a rebuild, according to Rustin Dodd.

“We have to build our farm system at the level we had it in 2010,” Moore said. “That is the focus of this organization as we sit here today.”

This mission is why club officials spent part of Monday fielding phone calls from rival clubs inquiring about players such as Kelvin Herrera, Scott Alexander, Whit Merrifield and even Danny Duffy. It is also why the club is likely to eschew the free-agent market for most of this offseason — save for the continued pursuit of first baseman Eric Hosmer — and focus more on short-term, low-cost moves near the end of the winter.

The Royals, Moore said, remain willing to listen to trade offers on just about any player on their roster, except perhaps Salvador Perez.

Craig Brown at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City feels a rebuild is around the corner.

The Royals continue to insist they are in on Hosmer and are waiting to see what happens before they can truly chart their offseason course, but this is the talk of a jilted lover who simply can’t let go of better days. Hosmer is in the wind. The realpolitik can be found in the rumors that continue to swirl around almost the entire Royals roster. No player is untouchable as the team edges closer to rebuild. It’s only a matter of time and that time may be this week in Orlando.

Dayton Moore claims the team was losing tons of money.

Moore estimates the club lost $65 million to $68 million the past two seasons.

"We're going to look to trim payroll -- not because [owner] David Glass is telling us to do that," Moore said. "But it's like buying a house or going to college -- you save your money so you can use those resources later, like in 2020 and 2021 for us.

"We got to a World Series with a $96 million payroll, won a championship with a $120 million payroll. Then, we won 81 [games] with a $140 million payroll, and won 80 with a $150 million payroll."

The Royals are interested in retaining Peter Moylan.

Grant Brisbee questions whether Mike Moustakas is really that good.

Oh, Moustakas is going to get paid. There aren’t a lot of home runs at free agent Costco, and he’s a relatively young player, so there will be at least two teams that convince themselves there’s more blood to squeeze out of that stone. All it takes are two teams.

I cannot stress enough, though, how just-a-guy Moustakas is. His career OPS+ is 96. He doesn’t run well, and his fielding is average, at best. His batting average is usually on the lower side, which is why it takes him having an uncharacteristic .272 batting average to get his OBP all the way to .314. What he does is hit dingers. At least, it’s what he did last year.

The Padres are looking at Carlos Santana, but are focused on Hosmer.

Ned Yost is feeling better after his fall, and is hopeful to be ready for spring training.

More accolades for Royals prospect Nicky Lopez.

Ned Yost falls to #14 in Craig Calcaterra’s “handsomest managers” rankings.

The Orioles and Mets are discussing a Matt Harvey trade.

The Phillies want Manny Machado.

The Yankees turn their attention to pitchers like Gerrit Cole and Chris Archer.

The Giants are shying away from free agents that will cost them draft picks.

The only hot stove glossary you’ll ever need.

Is Derek Jeter turning the Marlins into the Kansas City Athletics?

Jeter left the Winter Meetings to appear at the Dolphins game.

How Japanese baseball is played is surprisingly similar to baseball here.

LaVar Ball’s kids will play for a small-time Lithiuanian team.

In Chart Party, Jon Bois wants to talk about Colin Kaepernick.

How students get banished to alternative schools.

How a writer made his shed the top-rated restaurant on TripAdvisor.

The winners and losers from the Golden Globe nominations.

Your song of the day is The The with The Beat(en) Generation.