Royals Rumblings - News for February 6, 2018

Royals Rumblings - News for February 6, 2018

Dayton Moore talks about the rebuild.

“We’ve been through this before,” Moore said. “And we’re here again. What’s different this time is that I think the rebuilding process won’t take as long.”...

”There’s a very economic reality to what we’re doing,” Moore said. “Our payroll went up in 2016 and up in 2017 and the truth is, we didn’t make the playoffs either year and we didn’t meet our revenue needs because of that.”

So far, Moore is on course with his objectives. The payroll, which exceeded $150 million in 2017, now is under $108 million.

He also discussed the latest on Eric Hosmer.

We’ve had a lot of discussion over the last week,” said Moore of his talks with Hosmer’s camp. “I can’t say we’ve made much progress, but whenever you’re talking that not a bad thing.”

Kansas City’s offer was reported last week to be larger than the only other known seven-year offer received by Hosmer, which came from San Diego. And, much like Padres chairman Ron Fowler did last month, Moore suggested that there’s some hesitation from his own organization to push the envelope further.

“We’ve exchanged contract numbers,” the GM stated. “It doesn’t make sense for a team like us to set the market on a player like Hosmer.”

Alex Duvall at Royals Farm Report talks about who could be the top prospect in the system.

This brings up a classic debate about floors vs ceilings for baseball prospects. We ranked Nick Pratto as the Royals top prospect because we believe he has a very high floor with the combination of a somewhat high ceiling. This means that we don’t expect him to be a bust, but probably not an All-Star either. Other publications rank Seuly Matias as the Royals top prospect for his ceiling. It’s probably true that Seuly has the single highest ceiling in the entire organization. The kid has legitimate 40 HR power in his bat.

The problem is that he could also flake out and never reach the majors.

The new Royals billboard downtown looks sharp.

Nicky Lopez comes in at #98 in the top 100 prospects, according to the ZIPS projection system.

Sean Thornton at Bleeding Royal Blue talks about the return of bullpen cars and pace of play.

Todd Frazier signs a two-year, $17 million deal with the Mets.

Royals Farm Report also talks to Ryan O’Hearn about fan interactions.

A possible path forward for the MLBPA.

The Brewers may not be done spending.

While the Rays may not be done cutting payroll.

Does baseball need a “tanking tax”?

The Rangers sign Bartolo Colon to a minor league deal.

Phil Coke is trying to make a comeback as a knuckleballer.

How the Mets could be contenders.

A major financial crunch is coming to the NBA.

Eagles fans complained about Chris Collinsworth.

Why you shouldn’t panic over the big losses on Wall Street yesterday.

Nintendo finally answers the question of whether Toad’s hat is a hat or part of his head.

How The Cloverfield Paradox is an exercise in smart deal-making and hype.

Your song of the day is Elton John with Philadelphia Freedom.