Royals Rumblings

Royals Rumblings - News for May 14, 2017

Winning. It’s better than losing.

By Max Rieper@maxrieper May 15, 2017, 8:00am EDT

Royals Rumblings - News for May 14, 2017

Drew Butera just marveled at Joakim Soria’s catch yesterday.

“He keeps telling me he wants to catch pop-ups,” Butera said. “Here’s your chance. Thank God, he’s athletic.”

Defenders were battling the sun all day, but the Royals adjusted.

In the fifth inning, the Orioles had two on and two out when Joey Rickard skied a fly ball to deep left-center. Center fielder Lorenzo Cain couldn't find the ball but at the last second, left fielder Alex Gordon raced over to make the play, saving at least two runs.

"Me and Lorenzo actually know the time of the day on day games when it's going to be bad for either of us," Gordon said. "Early in the game, I'll say 'Ball in the gap is yours.' Then as the sun moves, it's my ball in the gap. We just know."

The trade market could start early this year, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

The early favorite to sell first is the Royals. Multiple scouts have told me that many of their Kansas City brethren already have had their pro coverage rearranged to delve deeper into systems of likely buyers such as the Yankees, Red Sox and Cubs. Royals general manager Dayton Moore disputed that, writing in a text: “our scouting strategy hasn’t changed since 2007.”

Still, another AL executive stated: “The Royals are dying to declare.” This is not wholly unexpected. The Royals dealt walk-year players Wade Davis and Jarrod Dyson in the offseason and free-agents-to-be Alcides Escobar, Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer all are free after the season.

Jeff Conine talks about being selected in the expansion draft from the Royals.

“Looking back, I don’t know what would have happened if I stayed with the Royals. They had Wally Joyner over at first base for a couple more years. I don’t know if I would have made the starting lineup in the outfield; it’s hard to say. Given this opportunity, I worked hard and took advantage of it – and made myself stay in that lineup. As they say, ‘It’s hard to get to the big leagues, but it’s tougher to stay.’ And I worked hard to stay there.”

Lee Judge explains how Kauffman Stadium wears out centerfielders.

The Urban Youth Academy looks impressive.

Jeff Suppan on his first visit to the @Royals Urban Youth Academy: "Being here for the first time, I've got two words -- blown away." pic.twitter.com/MCZ23MkZhd
— FOX Sports KC (@FSKansasCity) May 14, 2017