Royals Rumblings - News for March 14, 2018

Royals Rumblings - News for March 14, 2018

In his Mellinger Minutes, Sam Mellinger thinks the Royals may be trying to have it both ways.

I have a fundamental disagreement with the people who run the Royals. I believe they absolutely need to commit to winning or rebuilding, that trying to do both means being able to do neither, and I’ll always wonder whether the Royals could’ve made up the five games difference between them and the second wild card last year by keeping Wade Davis and signing Josh Reddick.

That said, I will say two things in the front office’s defense.

First, and this should be obvious, but they are smarter than me. They have more brainpower, more information, and live this in a way I just don’t. Doesn’t mean they’re right, but it does mean it’s worth remembering, and considering.

Second, I don’t know anyone in the front office who doesn’t believe they are rebuilding, and this is the critical point.

They believe they can do both at the same time or, perhaps more accurately, they believe maintaining a certain level of competitiveness at the big league level is critical for rebuilding.

Baseball Prospectus evaluates the Mike Moustakas signing.

“Why didn’t another team out-bid the Royals?”

Beats the hell out of me. This offseason, we’ve seen teams get more and more creative acquiring players in order to move them around the field. The Mariners traded for a second baseman and moved him to center field. The Angels signed a shortstop and moved him to third base. If you imagine that third base is a loaded position throughout the league, that’s still no excuse not to bring in a hitter of Moustakas’ caliber, as a first baseman or a designated hitter even.

Part of the problem is that while half the teams would prefer this deal to ones that they made even just a few weeks ago, Moustakas had to take this deal in part because he was the last major bat standing. Usually, that player would be a guy with a very different pedigree, but not this time. Maybe too few teams wanted to spend to add a player after already bringing someone else in, for fear of looking silly after acquiring multiple other players.

USA Today talks to Royals players about the anti-pornography seminar hosted by the Royals.

“The porn thing is a big deal,’’ says Royals left fielder Alex Gordon, who has been with the organization since 2005, “and with the outlet to social media and everything, people don’t realize how much it affects people. I think the best way to do it is talk about it, and get it out there.

“Dayton is our leader, and a lot of us in here feel the same way as he does, trying to do the right thing.’’

Says new Royals first baseman Lucas Duda: “Everybody has their different views, but I think if you respect that boundary, everything is fine. For me, pornography is the last thing I’m probably going to watch before I go play baseball. I’ve got enough stuff to handle. I think his message sets a good tone in here.’’

Hunter Dozier will move to first base.

Royals Farm Report looks at minor league pitcher Cristian Castillo.

Jordan Foote at Kings of Kauffman considers whether the Royals should consider Greg Holland.

The Royals hand out organizational awards.

The Negro League Baseball Museum is named the second-best sports attraction by USA Today.

How the Twins built their best possible off-season.

How the opt-out clause is evolving.

David Wright suffers another setback in his comeback attempt.

MLB will host a food-festival featuring samples from all 30 teams.

The Brewers have an environmentalist on their roster who has found civil discourse among teammates that disagree with him.

The Chiefs pick up wide receiver Sammy Watkins. Here are your NFL free agency rumors.

Comparing The Athletic funding round to other sports media companies.

Your SB Nation Meme Bracket.

More than half of our fruit is now imported from other countries - is that bad?

How science fiction helps us understand economics.

RIP Stephen Hawking.

Your song of the day is The Undertones with Teenage Kicks.