Royals Rumblings - News for March 5, 2018

Royals Rumblings - News for March 5, 2018

Joe Posnanski profiles Dayton Moore as the team embarks on a rebuild.

This optimism and sense of direction, well, Moore has had that ever since he began. He is now the third-longest tenured GM in baseball behind the Yankees’ Brian Cashman and the Rangers’ Jon Daniels, and Moore and manager Ned Yost have the longest-running working relationship in the game. And what has separated Moore, I think, is that his devotion to what might now be called the Royal Way has never wavered.

He has been criticized for being too old-fashioned and not being as cutting edge as other organizations -- especially with advanced stats. He doesn’t buy it (“I love the advanced stats, I find it all fascinating”) but is fine if people want to keep saying it.

He has been knocked for being too focused on intangibles -- like character, leadership, chemistry -- and not focused enough on very tangible things like on-base percentage or next-generation scouting reports. Again, he doesn’t think it’s true, he thinks his organization has its eye on the ball, but he’s OK with the reputation.

Who will lead off for the Royals this year?

But Yost did hint that his analytics department may not prefer Merrifield in the top spot.

“You go back and look through it in an analytical mindset, and I’m trying,” Yost said, “but the analytics people like on-base people at the top. If you look over the last few years, those guys have been Alex Gordon and Jorge Soler. So I don’t know.”

Ned Yost doesn’t want to talk about his future status with his contract expiring after this year.

“I don’t want to talk about coming back or retiring,” Yost said. “I’ll be here today and I’ll be here tomorrow.”

For now, Yost admits he is enjoying the beginnings of a new era in Royals baseball. He watches a camp full of eager prospects vying to show off their skill sets, and he smiles.

”It is fun for me,” Yost said. “I don’t know if it’s more fun, but it’s fun. Well, maybe a little more fun.”

David Lesky at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City wants to see what Hunter Dozier can do, but is fine with the Lucas Duda signing.

It’s been talked about a lot, but the Royals are still very right-heavy, and Duda provides an experienced, legitimate power bat in the middle of a lineup to help take some of the pressure of Cheslor Cuthbert, Jorge Bonifacio and Soler. If the Royals rebuild is going to take less than the five to seven years it seems destined for, those three are likely going to have to be key cogs in a 2020 lineup. I have my doubts that they will be, but if it’s going to happen, they’re incredibly important. And I’ve talked about this a lot before, but I think part of the reason why some of the Royals star prospects have struggled initially is that they were rushed to the big leagues and/or had to take on a starring role on the team way too early.

Billy Burns will remain with the club after clearing waivers.

Bo Jackson visits camp as a guest instructor.

The poignant way Alex Gordon remembers his late father.

The A’s designate Brandon Moss for assignment.

Paul Leibowitz at FanRag compares Eric Hosmer to Lucas Duda.

Mike Moustakas welcomes a baby boy into the world.

Christian Colon is talking about launch angles.

Where are all the left-handed sluggers in the American League?

Tanking is out in the open and impossible to contain.

What is the essential baseball film?

What if there was a baseball-version of the XFL?

Is there a legal argument against service time manipulation?

Russell Wilson appeared in a game for the Yankees and looked pretty good.

The college football game that once included 77 punts.

RIP Roger Bannister, the first man to run a sub-four minute mile.

Pooping in the mountains is more difficult than you think.

Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight is losing money, but still has a number of suitors.

Brooklyn thinks it is taking over BBQ, which is adorable.

Your song of the day is Koufax with Trouble will Find You.