Royals Rumblings - News for July 25, 2019

Royals Rumblings - News for July 25, 2019

Lynn Worthy writes about how Ian Kennedy is handling the closer’s role.

“It’s a lot of fun, but it’s stressful,” Kennedy said. “It’s a lot of fun just because that’s what we play for. When I think about pitching the ninth or pitching in a big league game, that’s what you dream about as a kid in the backyard playing wiffle ball against your buddies.”

Ned Yost likes the way the team is playing.

Alec Lewis at The Athletic previews who else may get traded by the Royals by next week.

Soler had not played 102 games in a season prior to Tuesday night. He’s done that and shown his ability, which has been attractive to opposing teams.

There are those, like the Cleveland Indians, that could utilize a power bat like Soler’s in the AL at the designated-hitter spot. What would it take for a team to acquire the player he’s turned into? Like Merrifield, a blow-you-out-of-the-water offer.

And right now, that appears unlikely.

Jared Wyllys at Forbes writes how the Royals can win the trade deadline.

If there’s an Exhibit A of a team that needs to blow it up and start over, it’s the Royals. They don’t have a particularly strong farm system — it’s ranked in the bottom third in baseball — and the core of their major league talent isn’t enough to win anything unless the front office in Kansas City is willing to break character from the $100 million payroll it is currently operating with and go out on a spending spree.

That’s not going to happen, so the best bet for the Royals is to stop clinging to guys like Merrifield and Gordon and start working on the returns they can get for them that can improve the depth of their weak farm system.

Jakob Junis goes on the paternity list after the birth of his son, Jett, with Jake Newberry called up to replace him.

Fangraphs ranks the Royals as having the 27th-ranked farm system.

The Red Sox play a game under protest after the Rays make some unusual substitutions.

Some wild card contenders are content to be sellers, which could be a problem.

The Yankees are looking for starting pitchers.

The Cubs will cast a wide net for the trade deadline.

The Tigers are interested in packaging their trade chips.

Addison Russell gets demoted to the minors.

Craig Edwards at Fangraphs tries to predict what will happen at the trade deadline.

Rays officials meet with St. Petersburg officials for the first time since floating the idea of playing games in Montreal.

Former All-Star pitcher Don Mossi dies at age 90.

Why are American NBA stars skipping the FIBA World Cup?

How Overwatch is tackling the Esports stat problem.

Neil Armstrong’s death involved a secret $6 million wrongful death settlement.

Is GPS ruining our brains?

How motion smoothing is ruining cinema.

Your song of the day is Sting with All This Time.