Royals Rumblings - News for October 24, 2018

Royals Rumblings - News for October 24, 2018

Jeffrey Flanagan talks to prospect Nick Pratto.

MLB.com: As you know, the Royals, maybe more so than other organizations, put a premium on defense. How did you do defensively?

Pratto: It was OK. I had to work on my throwing a little bit, on throws to second and to first. I changed my arm slot mid-year, and it really didn’t help me out. So we went back to how I normally do it. Naturally, I’m in a lower slot, a little more sidearm. I’ve always been fine in terms of accuracy, but the infielders were complaining that my throws moved too much [like a two-seam fastball]. But hey (laughing), I never complain about their throws moving. So anyway, I went back to my normal slot and everything is fine.

Royals pitching prospect Scott Blewett is named Arizona Fall League Pitcher of the Week.

Royals prospects Gabriel Cancel and Xavier Fernandez hit homers at the Under-23 World Cup.

David Lesky at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City looks at some bullpen additions the Royals could be interested in.

RYAN MADSON

Here’s another familiar name. He’s been a Royals reclamation project once before and it earned him a big deal from the A’s of all teams. He was kind of whatever in the first year of his deal but was outstanding in 2017. Then the wheels fell off a bit in 2018, and you wonder what that will do to his market. His 5.47 ERA would have fit nicely with the 2018 Royals, but he did post a 1.67 DRA after being dealt to the Dodgers with a ton of strikeouts and just one walk in 8.1 innings. At 38 years old, maybe the wheels fell off, but if he has to settle for a small deal, the Royals could do worse than find out.

Mookie Betts wins us all free tacos.

Every player in the World Series, ranked.

The Dodgers may be the most positionally fluid team of all-time.

The Rays are close to signing Cuban pitcher Sandy Gaston for $2.6 million.

Where will the Tigers play Nick Castellanos?

These players might have been Hall of Famers if their splits weren’t so big.

Should pitchers choose their pitches at random?

What teams will be contenders over the next five years?

Merrill Hoge has co-authored a new book questioning concussion studies, and NFL pundits are promoting it.

Eight logical trade destinations for Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson.

The world’s most valuable esports companies.

Biohackers are implanting everything from magnets to sex toys.

You can’t stay anonymous if you win the lottery in some states, but some people want to change that.

Your song of the day is Barenaked Ladies with If I Had a Million Dollars.