Royals Rumblings - News for January 15, 2018

Royals Rumblings - News for January 15, 2018

Buster Olney writes that teams don’t value leadership in the market that much.

“It’s overblown,” one executive said the other day. “Completely overblown. A player might have a reputation for being a leader, but if he gets hurt or doesn’t play well, that disappears. I think front offices have gotten smarter and understand that now.”

Said another executive: “I couldn’t agree more. Leadership is organic within each group of players. You’re not paying for that.”

Richard Justice at MLB.com looks at perfect fits for remaining free agents.

1B Eric Hosmer and the Royals

Hosmer might have been the most valuable player in Kansas City’s baseball renaissance and back-to-back trips to the World Series. He loves the city, franchise and team. There’s a rebuild coming in Kansas City, but with Hosmer only 28 and Alex Gordon and Salvador Perez still in the primes of their careers, the Royals may still be capable of making some noise in the American League Central.

Clint Scoles at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City thinks a trade may be brewing with the Royals.

If they were to make a trade of Duffy then one team that stands out as a very likely match is the Milwaukee Brewers. Beyond the fact that the Royals have traded a young pitcher to the Brewers and a different GM in their attempt to compete for the playoffs in the past, there are players the Royals have had interest in in the past. On the heels of a bounce-back ’17 campaign, Monte Harrison exploded in the Arizona Fall League this past fall, hitting five home runs despite playing just 13 games there. A local kid from Lee’s Summit West High School, Harrison as a former football player with quick twitch skills, speed to cover center and power he fits a phylum that the Royals scouts have long coveted.

Bryant Larimore at Royals Farm Report looks at the state of the infielders in the system.

Gabriel Cancel – 2B (#12 in RFR’s Royals Top 100): I’m not as high on Cancel as some around the Royals blogosphere but you don’t have to squint too hard to see a scenario where he matures into a fine MLB player. He’s not your prototypical Royals player in the fact his bat is better than his glove. He started out his pro career at SS but was quickly moved to 2B. His bat is where he will make his money though

Luis Torres at Beyond the Boxscore looks back at the James Shields trade.

Myers’ results are brutal. Even had the Rays kept him, his production since the trade has not been overwhelming. He is a productive player, but we were all hoping and projecting he would be more than that. The Royals came out way ahead on the results. It was extraordinarily lucky.

While I will stand by the fact that Moore deserves to be criticized for this deal considering what was known at the time, and regardless of the results, the fact of the matter is that flags fly forever. Perhaps the Royals would have still won a championship with Myers, but we will never know.

The Royals have apparently hired former MLB infielder Andy LaRoche, brother of Adam LaRoche and a native of Fort Scott, Kansas.

Nathan Williams at Kings of Kauffman thinks this will be the year of Raúl Mondesí.

Ian Kennedy sells his Arizona home for $1.7 million.

Legislators want the state attorney general to look into Frank White’s finances as county executive.

Gerrit Cole goes to Houston for four players.

The Twins sign Addison Reed to a two-year deal.

The Padres extend reliever Brad Hand.

Grant Brisbee argues Lance Lynn is not the kind of pitcher that should be looking for work in January.

Joe Posnanski makes the Hall of Fame case for Jim Thome.

How many Hall of Famers is every candidate on this year’s ballot better than?

Cubs owner Tom Ricketts says the club will welcome Sammy Sosa when he comes clean.

Travis Sawchick at Fangraphs argues Scott Boras needs to adjust.

RIP sportscaster Keith Jackson, best known for college football, but also the voice of Monday Night Baseball and three World Series.

The Good Place producer talks about how the Jacksonville Jaguars became a part of the show.

Rob Gronkowski warns kids not to eat Tide Pods.

Why is “raw water” a thing?

An ultra-marathon runner is stripped of his titles after it is learned he hid in porta-potties.

Host Sam Rockwell joined the list of people that have uttered an “f-bomb” live on SNL.

Your song of the day is The Dead 60s with Riot Radio.