Royals Rumblings - News for September 27, 2019

Royals Rumblings - News for September 27, 2019

In his mailbag column, Jeffrey Flanagan looks at how the Royals might view power going forward.

Dayton Moore told me two years ago that they wanted to join the long ball movement, mainly because they play 81 games away from the Grand Canyon that is Kauffman Stadium. But I truly believe that was a decision based on their analytics department. And last winter, Moore decided to go back to more of a speed game by signing Terrance Gore and Billy Hamilton. Hey, that didn’t work out. But that was mainly because their pitching was really not good this season. I think going forward, they will still try to become more of a put-the-ball-in-play-and-run team. Guys like Adalberto Mondesi, Hunter Dozier, Whit Merrifield, Nicky Lopez, Bubba Starling, Phillips, Heath Lee and so on are perfect for that style of baseball.

Jeff Todd at MLB Trade Rumors looks at the Royals’ off-season needs.

Convincing slugger Jorge Soler to commit into his thirties seems unnecessarily risky, even if he just enjoyed a nice campaign. Righty Brad Keller might be worth inking at the right price after another good season in terms of results, but the landmine detectors (5.24 SIERA, for example) are flashing red. A long-term arrangement with Adalberto Mondesi or even Hunter Dozier could deliver huge upside, and certainly ought to be considered, but the organization should pull hard on its leverage given the ongoing uncertainty with those players.

Bill Mitchell at Baseball America talks to Brewer Hicklen who is playing in the Arizona Fall League.

Hicklen spent the entire 2019 season with Wilmington, using a strong August performance in which he posted a .943 OPS to finish the year with a solid .263/.363/.427 slash line. He hit eight of his 14 home runs during the season’s final month—a surge that came after an 0-for-20 stretch toward the end of July. He refused to let that slump define his season, however, and Hicklen credits his work ethic and ability to stick to a consistent plan at the plate for helping him to finish strong. He sums up the lessons he’s learned in one word—molding.

“What I mean by that is basically looking at a game, looking at it at-bat by at-bat and pitch by pitch,” Hicklen said. “Each pitch I see is molding me into being a big leaguer in the future. That’s important for me to really digest, because it’s easy to get frustrated when you look at instant results.”

Alec Lewis profiles Jorge Soler’s dad, who watched his son in Kansas City for the first time.

“I’m so proud of him,” Soler Sr. said. “I’m very proud. But I always knew that this day would come because I knew the talent that my son has.”

When did he first see that talent?

“Cinco años,” Soler Sr. said.

Clint Scoles at Royals Academy profiles Royals prospect Maikel Garcia, cousin of Alcides Escobar.

Sam Mellinger profiles a 93-year old WW II veteran who still loves coming out to the K.

Cody Rickman at KC Kingdom looks at the free agent market for the Royals.

Ryan Sikes at Kings of Kauffman lists the qualities he wants to see out of the next Royals manager.

The Twins become the first team to hit 300 home runs in as season.

The Rangers intentionally dropped a pop fly so Mike Minor could reach 200 strikeouts.

The Angels would fire Brad Ausmus if they could hire Joe Maddon.

Would the Mets have been better off not making the Robinson Cano trade?

The Cubs’ chances at a dynasty may be over.

Jay Jaffe looks at launch angle over the years.

Which players graduated to stardom this year?

Moises Alou doesn’t want to manage the Padres.

The Good Place staff gets creator and avid Red Sox fan Michael Schur with a baseball prank.

The NFL may consider a 17-game schedule.

The NBA 2K League adds its first eSports team outside of North America, with a team in Shanghai.

The FTC alleges that Match.com may have misled users with messages from fake dating accounts.

Samuel L. Jackson’s voice is coming to Amazon’s Alexa.

Mario Kart breaks Pokémon Go’s record for day one downloads.

Your song of the day is Electric Light Orchestra with Don’t Bring Me Down.