Royals Rumblings - News for March 7, 2018

Royals Rumblings - News for March 7, 2018

Sam Mellinger answers many Royals questions in his Mellinger Minutes, including how long a rebuild will take.

If your definition is a winning season, maybe three years?

If your definition is playoff success, maybe four or five?

I don’t know, those guesses are probably on the short end, if anything. The last one took seven years for a winning season, and eight for playoff success, and judged purely by talent in the organization, the Royals probably have more good players now but had more potential stars back then.

This is the opposite of a sexy storyline, but this summer’s draft will absolutely define the organization for years. The Royals have four picks in the top 40, and with the current CBA, that’s the best and most efficient way to build back up.

Scott Boras talks about the dead market for Mike Moustakas.

“The teams are coming, and Moose is going to be playing baseball,” Boras said. “But I don’t control time, and I don’t control competitiveness. The question is when do those teams want to commit to winning, and of course I think he’ll be playing, yes.”...

So, Boras knows this route. He designed the playbook, and volunteered an alternative outcome. If the offers don’t come, Moustakas could wait until the draft pick compensation drops after the June draft, perhaps sign a deal for the rest of the 2018 season, and then take another spin with free agency.

New Royals outfielder Jon Jay talks to the media.

Jeff Todd at MLB Trade Rumors considers a contract extension for Whit Merrifield.

Given that they already control him until he’s 33, the Royals need not be in any rush to secure Merrifield for the long haul. At the same time, though, the club ought to have ample leverage, so perhaps we shouldn’t immediately dismiss the merits of exploring a deal. While picking up control over Merrifield’s earliest-possible free agent campaigns might be a nice feather in the cap, the potential value for the team lies mostly in locking in future salaries at an appealing rate while announcing the presence of a new core piece to go with Duffy and Perez.

Rustin Dodd at The Athletic writes about the absence of legendary scout Art Stewart at camp.

Hunter Samuels at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City pens a nice tribute to Yordano Ventura.

Is Dayton Moore elite?

Lorenzo Cain welcomes his third son into the world.

The Athletics release Brandon Moss and the Tigers release Travis Wood.

Where will Neil Walker end up?

Is the six-man rotation coming to baseball?

Who is the ultimate backup catcher?

A shirtless Giancarlo Stanton is on the cover of Men’s Health.

Could Aaron Judge lead off?

How baseball’s biggest young stars can be even better next year.

The state of Ohio sues MLS over the potential relocation of the Columbus Crew.

TBS will announce the entire NCAA college basketball field first, before announcing seeds.

Something mysterious is killing gorillas in captivity.

The man behind Know Your Meme has become a sort of historian of the internet.

Why are people addicting to watching reruns of The Office?

Your song of the day is George Baker with Little Green Bag.