Royals Rumblings - News for January 4, 2018

Royals Rumblings - News for January 4, 2018

Sam Mellinger disputes reports the Royals made an offer on Eric Hosmer, and thinks they may be better off without him.

Because if we’re talking strictly about baseball, the Royals would be better off letting Hosmer sign somewhere else, and I say this as someone who may appreciate Hosmer more than anyone in town who doesn’t work for the club or wear his hairdo.

The priority for the Royals to win again must be improving the farm system, and Glass is claiming — whether you believe him or not — operating losses of more than $60 million the last two years.

Signing Hosmer means it’s harder to build the farm system, because the Royals wouldn’t receive a compensation pick, and would presumably be picking (slightly) lower in the draft with less money to sign amateur talent. The contract would also present payroll complications.

Hosmer is a good player, but he’s coming off a career year in which the talent around him wasn’t enough for even a .500 record, and that talent will almost certainly be less in 2018.

What are the pros and cons to each destination for Hosmer?

Similar to the Padres, the Royals ALSO don’t really need Hosmer. What likely happens is that they pay him a bunch of money so they can say they kept one of their signature free agents this year, and then run out of room to add any more pieces around him and struggle to reach the heights they will try to convince their fans they can achieve when making the case for bringing him back in the first place.

So he’s then stuck in a market that used to root for him either underachieving himself or being the only major contributor on an underachieving team. That sounds like a GREAT outcome for a baseball player that is still a few years away from 30. Exactly what he’s hoping for when he signs his last major contract of his career.

David Lesky at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City says don’t close the book on Jorge Soler.

Thankfully, this story isn’t over. Yes, Soler hit an absolutely embarrassing .144/.245/.258 with a .172 TAv. He was worth -0.9 WARP. He was horrendous. He was so bad that the major league ready outfielder the team acquired in exchange for one of the best closers in the world only came to the plate 110 times for the big league club because of being demoted to Triple-A. The good news is that he did what he was supposed to do in the minors. He posted a .952 OPS with a 15 percent walk rate and a not-horrible 25 percent strikeout rate.

Maybe more importantly, because of all that time in the minors, he is now under team control for an extra season.

Joe Posnanski looks back at the career of Johnny Damon.

Travis Sawchick at Fangraphs cites my article as further proof that teams are waiting out the market.

J.D. Martinez may have an offer from the Red Sox.

The Braves are interested in Christian Yelich and J.T. Realmuto.

The Cardinals may want to bring Jake Arrieta to St. Louis.

The Astros accept their invitation to visit the White House.

Former Phillies GM Ruben Amaro makes a cameo on the ABC sitcom “The Goldbergs.”

Former big league infielder and coach Rob Picciolo has died.

The Dallas Mavericks get a Chinese name, no longer wanting to be referred to as “Little Cows.”

Tickets to Saturday’s Chiefs playoff game are going cheap.

What is so unusual about the “bomb cyclone” headed to the East Coast?

Researchers find two major security flaws in nearly everyone’s computer.

Youtube star apologizes for showing the body of a man who committed suicide.

Your song of the day is Interpol with Untitled.