Royals Rumblings - News for October 30, 2018

Royals Rumblings - News for October 30, 2018

David Lesky at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City considers how the Royals will manage the 40-man roster this off-season.

Nick Dini and Xavier Fernandez are both catchers who could be solid and might attract attention as big league backups right now. The Royals are so rich in catching that they really can’t afford to add them unless they make some cuts elsewhere. This won’t thrill people, but I’m guessing they don’t add Frank Schwindel either because they feel he’s a good risk to not be lost. D.J. Burt is eligible as well, and he’s a guy they may lose, but I just don’t see how they can use a 40-man spot on him either. The same is true for Donnie Dewees. They have plenty of fourth outfielder types, so if they lose him, oh well.

Mark Feinsand at MLB.com looks at each team’s biggest off-season needs.

Royals: Relief pitchingThe Royals’ 5.04 bullpen ERA ranked 29th in MLB, ahead of only the Marlins. Considering that Kansas City’s 2014-15 World Series teams were built largely on the strength of strong bullpens, it would make sense for general manager Dayton Moore to bolster his relief corps, rather than spending on starters.Potential FA targets: Cody Allen, Joe Kelly, Justin Wilson

Drew Osborne at Royals Farm Report writes that Scott Blewett is having a fine Arizona Fall League season.

You could say Blewett’s adjustment to the Texas League was slow. But he is certainly making up for lost time facing the best hitters he has ever faced in the AFL. Blewett is a guy the Royals have to make a roster decision on soon. He is Rule 5 eligible and if he is tearing up the AFL like this by the end of the season, someone is putting him in their bullpen hoping that 95 mph heater plays up.

Alex Gordon wins the Fielding Bible Award for left-field.

Scott Barlow and Whit Merrifield are headed to Japan to tour with the MLB All-Stars.

Khalil Lee and Meibrys Viloria were named Arizona Fall League All-Stars.

The Royals are 200/1 odds to win the 2019 World Series.

An overreliance on analytics did not determine the World Series.

The Red Sox are the bullies they always wanted to be.

Is time running out on the Dodgers to win a championship?

The good and bad of television coverage of the MLB post-season.

MLB baseball gets the Bad Lip Reading treatment.

The Cardinals re-sign Adam Wainwright.

So, isn’t there a conflict of interest when a player agent becomes GM of the Mets?

Ten high school prospects who boosted their stock at the Perfect Game wood bat tournament.

Every single college football power five conference title game could include a “WTF” team.

A guy went to all five Los Angeles pro sporting events on Sunday.

The get rick quick scheme that almost killed a German soccer team.

Should Twitter kill the retweet button?

That “Justin Bieber doesn’t know how to eat a burrito” pic that went viral turned out to be totally fake.

Your song of the day is SIlverchair with Tomorrow.