Royals Rumblings - News for August 31, 2017

Craig Brown weighs in on the Danny Duffy DUI to-do, largely preaching patience:

In a statement Duffy gave to the assembled press, he expressed regret for the “distraction” and asked that people “let the facts shake out.” The implication one could read is there is more to the story than we already know, although these cases are usually cut and dry. You drink, you drive, you get arrested. The breathalyzer don’t lie.

Duffy is right, though. We should let the facts shake out. That in no way implies we should let him off the hook. It’s just that we should hear the facts first. In the meantime, it’s fodder for message boards and sports talk radio. Baseless speculation. It sucks and won’t be engaged in at this website. Such is the media environment of today where we can get directed to a slideshow of Duffy’s fast food order or a breathless “BREAKING NEWS!!!” post that barely contains enough information for a tweet. Get them clicks, I guess.

An indisputable fact is that Duffy has built a ton of goodwill in this city. From his proclamations to “Bury (him) a Royal” to his work with several charitable foundations, to the pennants he has helped bring to The K, he has been embraced by the fan base in general and the community as a whole. Those good works won’t go away because of this, and they shouldn’t. But, likewise, the DUI will forever be a part of his narrative.

In a shocking development, Ian Kennedy states that he will not be opting out of the last three years of his five-year deal:

"It would be pretty stupid now [to opt out]," Kennedy said, smiling. "No one would want me."

Kennedy, 32, has not had the type of season he desired. He is 4-10 with a 5.47 ERA. Kennedy went 11-11 with a 3.68 ERA in his first season with the Royals, throwing 195 2/3 innings.

The final three years of Kennedy's deal is worth $49 million. If Kennedy opted out, he would be walking away from $43 million guaranteed. Kennedy would get a $6 million buyout if he opted out.

After resigning himself to the obvious conclusion that the Royals are not making the playoffs, Kings of Kauffman’s Eric Boston lays out what the Royals need to do in September:

With rosters set to expand in September, the smart thing the Kansas City Royals could do would be to call up the next wave. Players like Jorge Soler, Raul Mondesi, Ryan O’Hearn, Richard Lovelady and Jake Newberry all need to be in KC getting their cups of coffee.

All of these players have an above-average chance (some like Soler and Mondesi are virtual locks) to crack the roster of the big league club next season. Finding playing time over the next month will happen as a result of tough decisions. Those decisions need to be made though.

Jake Newberry? Next wave? Premature proclamation much?

Adult film legend Kendra Lust blasted Dayton Moore for his statements linking consumption of pornography to domestic violence in the Danny Duffy presser.

BP Kansas City’s Clint Scoles gives his players of the year at each full-season level in the Royals’ farm system.

KoK’s Tyler Dierking heaps praise unto Jake Junis:

The 29th-round pick by the Kansas City Royals in the 2011 draft—a pitcher out of Rock Falls, Illinois—is making a name for himself. He is doing so quickly in a year where inconsistency seems to be the norm.

Jake Junis has spent much of the past five years bouncing between the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals and lower Royals affiliates. It wasn’t until 2016 that Junis managed to make the jump to Triple-A Omaha.

Even though he has made seven different trips to the big leagues this year, he has made the most of each experience. The back-and-fourth started back on April 12 when the Kansas City Royals started extremely slow and the pitching struggled.

Could everyone please stop referencing the round in which Junis was picked? He got third-round signing bonus money.

The Cleveland baseball team’s owner doesn’t seem even remotely interested in ditching their racist caricature of a mascot.

Yasiel Puig has been pretty good in all but one area this year.

The first song of the day is “Day I Die” by The National:

Aaron Rodgers cuts through the nonsense on the subject of Colin Kaepernick’s continued free agency.

Who is winning the game of thrones? (Number one is right.)

Takashi Miike’s 100th film looks pretty great.

Paris has its first naturist park, but no voyeurs allowed.

70,000 Hot Dogs Frankfurters are needing to evacuate their homes after a massive World War II bomb was unearthed.

The second song of the day is “Over Everything” by Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile.

And your mini-concert of the day is Chance the Rapper appearing at NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series.