Weekend Rumblings - News for February 16, 2019

Weekend Rumblings - News for February 16, 2019

Dayton Moore comments on new pitcher Homer Bailey.

“Obviously, there’s a couple factors there for us,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. “One, he’s has success in the past. That is something that we have to take into strong consideration. Then you factor in the fact that he’s an experience-type pitcher. We need experience in our rotation. And financially it works. It’s very little risk with a lot of upside for us.”

Rustin Dodd chats about the Royals with fans on The Athletic.

I would expect Hunter Dozier is the starter on opening day. But Ned Yost did say this morning that Chris Owings is going to a play a lot. Maybe not every day. But he’s going to be more than a backup.

The Royals are going to have one of their most flexible rosters in a while. I think Owings is going to play third, second, short and maybe some outfield. Whit Merrifield is going to play second and move around when Owings plays second. Dozier is going to play third and might be a “loose” platoon with Ryan O’Hearn at first base.

Ryan O’Hearn may be in a bit of a platoon.

But Vahe Gregorian writes that O’Hearn wants to show he’s a full-time player.

Meanwhile, O’Hearn is hungry to demonstrate that he’s more than a platoon player despite hitting just .108 for the Royals last year against left-handers..

“Which freaked me out, too, trust me,” said O’Hearn, who cited past successes against lefties and added, “I don’t think I’m a platoon player by any means, and I’m ready to prove that.”

Nine Royals prospects make Jim Bowden’s top 200 prospect list.

Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel report from the Driveline Pro Day.

We’ve also omitted left-handed pitcher Luke Heimlich, who has been training at Driveline since high school and who, according to Driveline, threw during the event at the request of “a few teams.” Prior to the event, Driveline sent out a roster of scouts and media members expected to be in attendance, and the highest ranking individual on the list was Royals Pro Scouting Director Gene Watson, though none of us saw Watson at the facility and we’re unsure whether he was there. The Royals are the lone team to have an employee (General Manager Dayton Moore) express interest in Heimlich, who pleaded guilty to child molestation as a minor.

Manny Machado meets with the Padres.

Jeff Passan writes about the free agent market stalemate that leaves top free agents still unsigned.

Yankees pitcher Luis Severino signs a long-term deal, was it because of this slow market?

Trevor Bauer suggests all players should be on one-year deals.

Catching framing may be going extinct, according to Baseball Prospectus.

“There Is No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect” may be truer than ever these days.

Craig Calcaterra takes Braves management to task for not spending money on players.

Addison Russell addresses the media for the first time since his suspension for domestic violence.

Is Nick Francona a whistleblower or a disgruntled employee?

Chris Berman is hired to do some Red Sox games.

Re-grading all 72 perfect scores in the NBA Dunk Contests over the years.

A fake football recruit catfished his way into a three-star rating.

J.P. Morgan will be the first major U.S. bank to issue a cryptocurrency.

A stuffed whale penis sells for $6,000.

12 movies to see over President’s Day Weekend.

Your song of the day is Art Blakey with Whisper Not.