Royals Rumblings - News for March 22, 2018

Jeffrey Flanagan reports that Alex Gordon will be getting reps in minor-league games to try to right the ship during a woeful spring training:

“He has the benefit of going over there and getting 12-14 at-bats in one day,” Yost said. “He can DH [in the Cactus League] and get four at-bats in three hours. He can get 12-14 at-bats over there in three hours.

”You go over there [to Minor League games] and it’s constantly going from field to field with all the games going on and getting at-bats, improving your timing.”

Yost said his concern level with Gordon, who hit .208 last season and .220 in 2016, is not yet high.

The Royals assigned some more players to the minors, including Ryan O’Hearn, Josh Staumont, and Richard Lovelady.

At BP KC, David Lesky wonders what the Royals may have to do with Alex Gordon if he can’t figure this out:

But what happens if this continues? The contract the Royals signed him to puts them in a really bad spot. What’s done is done and all that, but he’s owed a full $20 million this year and $20 million next year. It’s hard for any team to just turn their back on that and make a guy a part-time player at best. For a team where that’s 15 percent of the payroll, it’s probably even harder, even if it’s likely the right decision to make. And to make matters even more difficult, at some point, the defense isn’t going to be there either as he ages. One of the things that made him a good bet on his contract is the physical condition he’s in, but everybody ages eventually. It may be that he doesn’t lose any defensive ability before the deal is done, but if he even loses another half-step, what value does he bring other than leadership and an example of how to take care of yourself?

This could all be a moot point. Maybe this is just a horrible slump and he’ll pull out of it and be fine once he does. He’s always been a streaky hitter. Of course, that doesn’t exactly seem likely given that he’s been in this slump for the better part of two years. But still, the time in minor league camp leading off every inning could be beneficial. It seems like he’s slotted to hit in the bottom of the order again, so if he can just pull a .240/.320/.380 type line, that would be acceptable with his defense. That’s a significant boost from last year, but we can dream.

Kings of Kauffman’s Jordan Foote sits down with prospect Nicky Lopez.

Charlie Pierce has some strong words for Dayton Moore’s bizarre anti-porn bent he’s bringing to the club.

Aaron Judge be a-tamperin’.

BP profiles the LorenzoCained Brewers.

Craig Edwards looks at each team’s dead money situation.

Congress is about to completely screw over minor leaguers.

Mark Zuckerberg cops to having made mistakes in light of the Cambridge Analytica revelations.

Amy Poehler will have her directorial feature-length debut coming to Netflix soon in the form of Wine Country.

Check out the wreck of the USS Juneau.

The song of the day is “This Year” by The Mountain Goats: