Weekend Rumblings - News for July 14, 2018

Weekend Rumblings - News for July 14, 2018

Sam Mellinger lists the ten reasons how the Royals got to be this bad.

2. The drafts and international signings haven’t been good enough.

The Royals have internal metrics that rate their draft classes relatively well, and they absolutely have success stories that for various reasons are easy to overlook — Ventura, Manaea, Whit Merrifield, Ruiz, Adalberto Mondesi, Alexander, Bonifacio, etc.

But look at division rivals. The Indians’ homegrown stars include Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, Jason Kipnis and Lonnie Chisenhall. They traded for Corey Kluber when he was in Class AA, and have highly regarded Francisco Mejia and Triston McKenzie in the minor leagues.

The Twins boast Brian Dozier, Byron Buxton, Jose Berrios, Eddie Rosario, Max Kepler and Miguel Sano (I know, but still). The Tigers and especially White Sox have farm systems generally valued greater than the Royals.

Jordan Bastian at MLB.com looks at AL Central trade rumors.

AL scout’s take: ”They’ve got guys to move. I think someone will bite on Lucas Duda as a bat off the bench. Someone might bite on Jason Hammel as a reliever -- he might amp up his game as a reliever. The Royals would have to eat a lot of his salary but if they do, they could bring back a lottery ticket maybe. I don’t think they’ll get enough for [Danny] Duffy or [Whit] Merrifield to make a deal. They’ll definitely move [Mike] Moustakas and he will help someone. They just won’t get the big return. That doesn’t happen anymore.”

David Lesky at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City considers a Whit Merrifield extension.

There’s been some Whit Merrifield extension talk, and I guess it stems from his people approaching the Royals about it. I love Whit, but I don’t think an extension for him makes sense. It’s hard to argue with a .302/.373/.430 hitter who has seen his walk rate basically double from his breakout season last year. He’s a strong defender at second and can handle center field in Kauffman Stadium. He’s a hell of a player. He’s also under team control already through his age-33 season and is under super cheap team control next year before his three arbitration seasons. If you figure he gets $600k next year and then maybe $18 million through the arbitration process at most if he continues to play like this, I can’t think of a reason to pay significantly more than that.

Colby Wilson at BPKC looks back at the trades the Royals have made the past year.

Seuly Matias and Khalil Lee both make the mid-season Top 50 prospect list for Baseball Prospectus.

Seuly Matias, OF, Kansas City Royals

Why he’ll succeed: We generally turn a jaundiced eye towards MLEs, but I’d be curious to see how Davenport translations handles a potential 50-home-run season from Matias in the Sally League. He’s a potentially above-average right fielder with enough underlying athleticism to bet on hit tool improvements. You are here for the pop though and the raw power is top-of-the-scale and the 19-year-old has plenty of time to figure the rest out.

Chase Utley announces he will retire at the end of the season.

Shohei Ohtani is faster than you think.

It may be time to take the Oakland Athletics seriously.

The Orioles may have the worst defense we’ve ever seen.

Julio Franco is coaching in Korea, and possibly planning a return to playing?

Yadier Molina’s climb towards Cooperstown.

The troubling finances of a proposed stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays.

How minor league baseball players can begin unionizing.

Development of young baseball kids in Latin American has been marred by dysfunction.

The MLBPA may add legal firepower.

The 50 best remaining NFL free agents as camp begins.

A college kicker banned by the NCAA from making Youtube videos is challenging them in court.

A study finds American cities have way too much parking.

The most baffling Emmy nomination snubs this year.

A Build-A-Bear promotion earlier this week caused commotion and chaos.

Your song of the day is Dizzy Gillespie with Manteca.