Royals Rumblings - News for January 28, 2019

Royals Rumblings - News for January 28, 2019

Dayton Moore is optimistic about Kyle Zimmer this year.

“We obviously took him off the roster and no one claimed him [last spring],” Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. “He obviously couldn’t stay healthy. It wasn’t personal. We loved Kyle, but he couldn’t stay healthy. But we knew he’s tough-minded, and he has the right ingredients. He came to instructional league and we evaluated him last fall, and we thought he deserved the chance to be on the 40-man again.

”It wasn’t just us. We based it on trying to win the negotiations based on what other teams were deciding. There were other teams willing to put him on the roster. I would rather have him fail with us than succeed with someone else. That’s the play there.”

Moore draws comparisons to Patrick Mahomes when talking about Adalberto Mondesi.

Rustin Dodd has his notes from FanFest, including that Dayton Moore received a lot of trade interest in Richard Lovelady.

“I look at a guy like Lovelady, who most of our people feel is major-league-ready,” Moore said. “Will he pitch well in spring training? We’ll find out. Will he be able to make the team? That story has not been written yet. But he certainly has a good enough arm. And based on the talks I’ve had this winter, a lot of teams in baseball feel he’s ready to be in the major leagues as well — based on their discussion and their interest level in him.”

One thing is certain: The Royals have a lot of open slots in the bullpen, and for now, it appears they will be filled by internal candidates, including two Rule 5 picks.

Hunter Dozier says he found himself late in the year.

“It didn’t start off too well, but how I finished I was really happy,” Dozier said. “I kind of felt like I just found myself again. I missed all of 2017, and I always told myself that wasn’t going to affect me, but I think it did. I think I just needed time to kind of almost — like I said — find myself and kind of get into the groove. I didn’t realize missing basically a whole year of baseball how it would affect me.”

Brady Singer is the only Royals prospect in the Top 100 for MLB Pipeline.

While the Royals have just the one representative in Singer, his presence on the list is indicative of a recommitment to building up a farm system that was used to produce a World Series championship team. The Royals didn’t have anyone on the Top 100 in 2017 or 2018 and Singer could be joined on the list by some exciting international signees making their way to the higher levels or even one of the other three picks in the top 40 picks of last June’s MLB Draft (Singer was No. 18 overall).

Bo Jackson shares his thoughts on baseball with fans at FanFest.

Bo Jackson is 56 years old now, and Father Time keeps on keeping on even when it comes to one of the greatest athletes who ever walked the earth. So, no, Bo doesn’t break baseball bats over his knee anymore.

“I pulled a muscle lifting a toilet seat this morning,” he said with a smile on Friday at Royals FanFest at Bartle Hall. “I’m not trying to break any bats. No. No.”

Chase Jones at Kings of Kauffman looks at the rise and fall of Alcides Escobar.

The Padres and Dodgers take the lead in J.T. Realmuto trade talks.

Dodgers management downplays concerns about the slow off-season.

Astros owner Jim Crane doubts there will be too many 10-year deals anymore.

A’s manager Bob Melvin still expects Kyler Murray to be at spring training.

Mariners executives deny allegations they disparaged Latino players.

Grant Brisbee reflects on the infamous Billy Ripken F***face baseball card 30 years later.

Jon Bois looks at how our tiny TV screens could not fully capture the greatness of Patrick Mahomes.

The Pro Bowl should probably just be a big game of dodgeball.

A cable in the ocean broke and now the island of Tonga doesn’t have the internet.

A guy saves someone’s life using CPR using methods he learned from comedy The Office.

Flavortown is coming to Kansas City next month!

Your song of the day is The Kinks with Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy.