Royals Rumblings - News for December 19, 2018

Royals Rumblings - News for December 19, 2018

Rustin Dodd at The Athletic looks at how the Royals are branding themselves as a speedy team.

What does it mean? It means that, in one scenario, the Royals could have a lineup with Hamilton (who averaged 58 stolen bases from 2015-2017), second baseman Whit Merrifield (who led the American League in steals the last two seasons) and shortstop Adalberto Mondesi (who broke out with 32 stolen bases in 75 games last season.), plus Terrance Gore would be on the bench, ready to use his legs at a moment’s notice.

“You also want to have players in your lineup (in which) the fact that they just make contact — and it’s not right at an infielder — it’s going to be a really interesting play,” Moore said. “You don’t want any easy outs in your lineup. You want players in your lineup one through nine that can create pressure on the defense.”

If you look at Statcast speed, the Royals have guys that can fly up and down this lineup.

Add Hunter Dozier (28.6 ft/sec), free-agent acquisition Chris Owings (28.3 ft/sec), Jorge Soler (28.3 ft/sec) and Jorge Bonifacio (28.1 ft/sec), and the Royals could conceivably put together a lineup in which catcher Salvador Perez is the only player whose 2018 sprint speed wasn’t well above average. And that’s with Gore waiting on the bench

Jeffrey Flanagan talks to Dayton Moore about the Gore signing.

“As I have stated several times, we need to get more action-type players to our team and our offense,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore told MLB.com. “We need the type of speed that is hard to defend. Adding someone like Terrance Gore gives [manager Ned Yost] a terrific option late in games.

Lee Judge recycles his “put the ball in play on the first pitch” column.

Royals prospect D.J. Burt is doing well in the Australian winter league.

What is former Royals reliever Kyle Farnsworth up to these days?

Final payroll figures for 2018 show the Royals spent $53 million less than they did the year prior.

Carlos Beltran is hired as a special advisor for the Yankees.

Matt Harvey signs a one-year deal with the Angels.

The Cubs sign infielder Daniel Descalso to a two-year deal.

Ranking top suitors for Manny Machado.

Troy Tulowitzki had a workout for many teams, although the Royals were not said to be in attendance.

So what happens if Kyler Murray decides to play football professionally?

Emails show Cubs ownership considered moving the team out of Chicago.

Lenny Dykstra is now an amateur Torah scholar.

How Penny Marshall’s A League of Their Own impacted the way people saw women in sports.

UAB football was going to be discontinued, but instead they just won the first bowl game in school history.

Jose Mourinho is sacked as manager of Manchester United, so what’s next?

Your selfies look a lot different depending on what phone you use.

Everyone is suing Fortnite for stealing their dance moves.

The ten best documentaries of 2018.

Your song of the day is Heart with Magic Man.