Royals Rumblings - News for May 3, 2017

Royals Rumblings - News for May 3, 2017

Sam Mellinger considers a Royals firesale.

I can tell you that the Nationals and Royals have not talked about a trade involving Herrera, or anyone else.

There is a rhythm to these things, and not to say there are no exceptions, but teams don’t normally start exploring with any seriousness until late May, or into June.

The Royals could announce to the baseball world that they are open for business — if they do, might I suggest a full page color ad in the Kansas City Star? — but that doesn’t mean anything until and unless they find teams to work with.

Those other teams don’t normally become serious about trades until later in the season, and there are always complications with trades. Baseball teams are generally much more hesitant to deal young players now than ever before, and you have to find trade partners with matching needs.

The Mets could be a match for Mike Moustakas, for instance, but they also stink, so are they going to be aggressive with a move?

Ned Yost doesn’t believe in a lot of ranting and yelling to rally the team.

“People think that it’s productive,” Yost said. “It’s not football. It’s not productive.

“What are you going to scream and yell about? ‘Let’s go? Let’s get some hits?’ ”

Baseball does not work like that, Yost says. You can’t fight out of a skid with intensity and anger. In his early days as a manager, Yost said he took a different approach. During his days in Milwaukee, he would yell and scream and rip into a young team. Once he arrived in Kansas City, he began to mellow. But there was a day five years ago, he says, after the Royals lost two of three. He invited his players into an adjacent room in the clubhouse and began to scream. The tirade didn’t have much impact.

“I think good leadership is to stay consistent,” Yost said, “stay positive.”

Eric Hosmer explains to Lee Judge that he needs to lay off inside fastballs.

Eric’s 6 feet 4 and has long arms. That being the case, pitchers have been trying to jam Hosmer on the inside part of the plate: “That’s been the book on me for the last couple of weeks.”

So when a hitter is getting jammed on the inner third of the plate, he has several options:

1. He can try to get the barrel of the bat out in front of the plate sooner.

2. He can try to create more room inside by rotating his front shoulder away from the plate.

3. Or he can do the simplest thing of all; let that inside pitch go by.

Hosmer has been trying the first two options with poor results.

Jerry Crasnick of ESPN re-grades MLB off-season moves.

K.C. assistant general manager and Latin America scouting guru Rene Francisco is a big fan of Soler, and the Royals think he's capable of having a big impact over 600 at-bats. But Soler began the season on the disabled list with an oblique injury, and he's currently on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Omaha. In his absence, Paulo Orlando and the rest of Kansas City's right-field contingent have logged a .472 OPS -- second-worst in the majors.

Vahe Gregorian writes the Royals are looking for a new start.

Should the Nats move Trea Turner to centerfield?

C.C. Sabathia says that racism is expected at Fenway Park.

Maybe the White Sox shouldn’t be having a rebuilding year?

An Oakland A’s prospect dies unexpectedly.

MLB.com has a mock draft that has the Royals taking a pitcher.

Astros infielder Alex Bregman apologizes for a tweet towards the Rangers.

Why was there a four-hour documentary made about the 1982 Braves?

Meg Rowley at Baseball Prospectus writes that while Pitch was flawed, it made women feel welcome in baseball.

Jamaal Charles signs with the Broncos.

Team USA will use D-League players to qualify for the World Cup.

Why don’t people consider competitive cheerleading a sport?

The consequences of Amtrak not owning the tracks it runs on.

The concert ticket industry is still broken.

Your song of the day is Ben Folds Five with Battle of Who Could Care Less.