Royals Rumblings - News for May 22, 2018

Royals Rumblings - News for May 22, 2018

David Laurila at Fangraphs talks to Brad Keller and how he was almost drafted by the Royals out of school.

“It’s weird how we came full circle, because this front office almost drafted me out of high school,” Keller explained. “They were pretty hot and heavy on me. I went to Kaufman Stadium and did a pre-draft workout — I actually had two pre-draft workouts for them — and there were in-house visits and stuff like that. There was even some contact with them on draft day.”

Jim Bowden at The Athletic looks at the third base trade market.

If the Braves make a splash at the trade deadline, acquiring a closer such as the Royals’ Kelvin Herrera makes more sense for their present needs. And if Johan Camargo doesn’t produce enough offensively at third base and if for some reason they don’t think Riley is ready by then, they could always try to trade for Royals third baseman Michael Moustakas along with Herrera in a trade that might cost less in prospects than what it would take to land Machado by himself.

Craig Brown at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City wants to know what the plan is for Danny Duffy.

The Royals need to make a decision on Duffy. He can go on the disabled list with a sore shoulder or a stiff elbow or a jammed eyelid. That buys him a mental break it sure seems like he could use. Shut things down for a bit, gather your thoughts and come back hopefully a little refreshed in an attempt to get your season back on track.

The other option is moving him to the bullpen. It worked before, so why not try it again? The Royals are smart enough to frame it not as a demotion, rather the opportunity to get things right. Duffy is too valuable to this team to flounder in the rotation. And he’s too valuable to pitch just one or two innings at a time in relief.

The Royals were interested in re-acquiring Kendrys Morales at one point, according to Jon Heyman.

Lee Judge explains why pitchers are poor hitters even if they could hit as an amateur.

Pete Grathoff notes Greg Holland’s struggles in St. Louis.

Royals minor league catcher M.J. Melendez made the MLB Pipeline Team of the Week.

Baseball Prospectus highlights the baseball program at nearby Neosho Community College.

Melky Cabrera is up with the Indians.

Tim Collins gets called up by the Nationals after being out for several years.

Are Miguel Cabrera’s days in Detroit coming to an end soon?

People are having takes on the Rays bullpenning strategies.

Is Fortnite becoming a problem for MLB players?

Baseball needs to take a cue from the NBA on allowing fans to share video clips.

The modern baseball coach needs to know their advanced statistics.

Is it a problem that baseball players have become too good?

Fox and WWE ink a $1 billion deal for Smackdown.

Predatory marketers are taking advantage of Facebook addiction support groups.

NASA is about to create the coldest spot in the universe.

The people that keep the ‘Star Wars Customizable Card Game” community alive.

Your song of the day is School of Fish with Three Strange Days.