Weekend Rumblings - News for June 30, 2018

Weekend Rumblings - News for June 30, 2018

Add the Phillies to the list of teams that have interest in the services Mike Moustakas.

Texas veteran Adrian Beltre has been mentioned as a potential short-term fit for the Phillies, but there are others, including Kansas City’s Mike Moustakas. Neither would cost anything close to the prospect outlay that Machado would.

According to a baseball source, Phillies and Royals officials have had discussions about Moustakas and Royals scouts have been peeking in on prospects in the Phillies’ minor-league system in advance of a possible deal.

Sam Mellinger spoke with Royals scouting director Lonnie Goldberg, grabbing some interesting quotes on Royals first round pick Brady Singer.

“I didn’t want to walk away day one without at least two advanced, high-ceiling college pitchers,” Goldberg said. “I knew that. But then Brady falls into your lap, and that wasn’t part of the equation. Then Jackson, and it’s rolling from there, because you can’t go wrong if you take pitching — guys that throw strikes, guys that have makeup, guys who strike guys out at a high level.”

In his weekly Friday Notes over at BP Kansas City, David Lesky thinks Adalberto Mondesi has looked more comfortable than his past stints in the major leagues.

Breaking pitches have always been a problem for him and that hasn’t changed, though he’s really cut down on his whiffs on those in the tiny sample we have. But it’s been fun to watch him just look more comfortable as a big leaguer. That’s what struck me in his first two stints. He just seemed like he was uncomfortable and didn’t belong. Now he at least looks the part, and if the results start to come, watch out. He’s still just 22 years old. The only reason he’s not a top prospect in baseball is because the Royals rushed him to the big leagues and let him fail for too long. Maybe he can’t be a star, but I think we’ll have a much better idea in three months if he can or can’t, and I’m excited to see that with an increasingly athletic team around him.

Morgan Vogels at Kings of Kauffman put out a prospect profile on Khalil Lee with the news of his recent promotion to AA.

But, the good thing about Khalil Lee is that he is so young. For a team entering rebuild mode, it is refreshing to know there is already talented players within the Kansas City Royals organization. The farm isn’t completely bare, so they aren’t starting from scratch. And Khalil Lee is one of those players that has big play potential, he just needs more experience at the lower levels.

Staying with the minors, Nicky Lopez had quite the AAA debut/return to Omaha.

“As a player, you want to get to the big leagues,” Lopez said. “That’s your dream. And that’s been my dream since I was a little kid. To climb up the ladder as fast as I can is still my goal. It’s still the goal to get to the big leagues. I achieved my first goal, which was to get to Triple-A this year. My second goal is still ahead of me. Hopefully, I can produce here the way I want to. And (then), who knows what happens?”

The Twins recently called up one of the more fascinating players in all of the Minors.

What we have in Astudillo is a guy who seldom strikes out, even against advanced competition. Yes, he rarely walks, but he’s developing better power, and he’s generally been productive. He’s still just 26, and he’s even stolen six bases. This year, Astudillo has nine strikeouts. Six of them, strangely, came between May 27 and June 6, over five games. Astudillo hasn’t struck out now for 13 games in a row. Over that span he’s slugged .512. Astudillo can catch, but he’s also played third base, while dabbling at first base and left field. He’s mostly played third base in Rochester since shortly before Sano was demoted. Maybe that’s a coincidence, and maybe it isn’t.

Over at FanGraphs, Jay Jaffe looks at the monumental turnaround of Matt Carpenter.

Also at FanGraphs, in the community blog, former MLB player Nate Freiman had a very informative piece on the evolution of bullpens.

The AL Central has been historically bad.

Yu Darvish is visiting a doctor in Texas.

Tim Tebow was named to the Eastern League (AA) All-Star Game.

Just in case anyone is interested, Derek Jeter is selling his waterfront home in New York for $14.75 million.

LeBron James will discuss his upcoming decision on who he’ll play for next year in his “decision cave” down in the Caribbean.

NFL QB Jameis Winston might be one violation away from an NFL ban.

It’s been 35 years since the death of former Chiefs RB Joe Delaney.

Disney’s Toy Story Land is opening soon.

An anonymous person bought one million dollars worth of merchandise from Toys R Us to for donation.

Your song of the day is The Jimi Hendrix Experience with “All Along The Watchtower”