Royals Rumblings - News for January 3, 2018

Steve Adams at MLB Trade Rumors took stock of the Royals’ trade assets.

One-Year Rentals

Kelvin Herrera, RHRP (projected arbitration salary of $8.3MM): Herrera is coming off the worst season of his career, having struggled to a 4.25 ERA as he watched his K/9 (8.5), BB/9 (3.0) and HR/9 (1.37) all trend in the wrong direction. That said, Herrera’s average fastball checked in at 97.5 mph, tying him for 10th among all qualified relievers in the game. His 11.5 percent swinging-strike rate and 34 percent chase rate on pitches out of the zone were both down from recent seasons but comfortably above the league average. He’s still just 28 years old, as well.

Jared Koller at KCTV5 doesn’t think the Royals necessarily need a complete, long-term rebuild.

Either way, the roster Kansas City has in place is not as far off, even without Hosmer. Perez and Duffy are legitimate All-Stars if healthy, Mondesi Jr., Bonifacio and Merrifield have the potential to make an All-Star game, and the sky’s the limit for young, but fairly unproven talents like Starling, Soler, Cuthbert, Dozier and Zimmer.

Adding a prime of his career Hosmer to this group, after two years of team development, added with a top pitching free agent and prospects like Pratto and Lee, and this team absolutely can compete in 2020.

Sam Mellinger at the Kansas City Star explains why this rebuild is going to be tricky (and answers a different question by our own Max Rieper).

The truth is that free agency is a bad way to build a team, and that the next big obstacle for the Royals will be that rich teams know that and are behaving accordingly. The Yankees of 10 years ago might’ve traded Greg Bird and signed Eric Hosmer for $150 million. They’re not doing that anymore. Without what is essentially a soft salary cap, the Dodgers and Red Sox and Cubs would be bloating their payrolls and rosters with free agents.

They’re not doing that anymore. They’re spending money and time with amateur talent, knowing that players often have their best seasons under original club control, and that they can build superior rosters using the same principles small-market clubs have used for years, except with more money.

Former Kansas City second baseman Johnny Giavotella just got married, and there were numerous Royals or ex-Royals in attendance, including Everett Teaford, Eric Hosmer, and Jarrod Dyson.

Also in the world of social media, Danny Duffy saved a bird. What a guy!

Yeah, Duffy is wearing a Royals hoodie and Royals Beats headphones. It’s gonna stink if he is traded elsewhere.

Guy Fieri’s New York Times Square restaurant is no more, after taking customers to Flavortown for five years.

In Hartford, Connecticut a woman in the midst of battling cancer got married just 18 hours before passing away, the story quickly going viral.

Could Amazon buy Target?

Here are the 50 most anticipated video games for 2018. And Nintendo hasn’t even announced much of anything yet, either.

Your photo gallery of the week: creepy, abandoned theme parks.

Marvin Lewis will coach the Cincinnati Bengals until the world caves in.

And now, for a live look at every baseball fan right now:

Chocolate isn’t going extinct. Calm yoself.

Tune for Wednesday

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