Royals Rumblings - News for March 9, 2017

Jeffrey Flanagan reports that Brandon Moss thinks by being more selective he has the key to avoiding slumps this year:

But by spitting on pitches out of the zone, Moss believes his on-base percentage should rise significantly.

"It should," he said. "I know what the root cause of [my low OBP] is -- when I go into a funk, I start swinging at more pitches for hits. Instead of being selective and finding a pitch to drive the ball, you're trying to get your average up -- and the only way to do that is get more hits, so you stop being selective.

"That's been my downfall the past couple of years. Instead of just staying selective when you get into a funk, I try to hit my way out of it. That doesn't work."

BP KC’s Darin Watson turns back the clock to Cookie Rojas’s time with the Royals:

But probably the most popular and best Cuban player in team history is a man who turned 78 this week. Cookie Rojas was one of the links between the “expansion” Kansas City Royals and the “division champion” Kansas City Royals, and a fan favorite almost from the day he arrived in town.

Octavio Victor Rojas Rivas was born on March 6, 1939, in Havana. When he was young, his mom nicknamed him “Cuqui,” meaning charming or adorable. The nickname stuck and got Americanized when he arrived in the United States, resulting in the “Cookie” nickname we know him by. The Rojas family was well-off; Cookie’s father was a doctor and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. But Cookie had different ideas. At 17, he signed a free agent contract with Cincinnati, and began his professional baseball career at Class D West Palm Beach in 1956.

Royals’ reliever Yender Caramo got to face fellow countrymen Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Gonzalez in the Royals’ exhibition game against Venezuela and fared well.

Minor leaguers’ pay lawsuit is moving forward.

The BP staff looks at dongs off tees and the potential comeback of Eric Gagne.

J.D. Martinez is bucking conventional wisdom and throws baseball orthodoxy under the bus.

Joey Votto is trying to be good at defense again.

Dylan Bundy could finally be on the verge of a breakout.

How worried should we be about artificial intelligence?

Early buzz on Iron Fist is not so good.

The U.S. Government will find its art or die trying.

Alan Sepinwall has an interview with Glenn Howerton about this past season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia with lots of spoilers.

The song of the day is “The Curse” by Josh Ritter.