Royals Rumblings - News for November 19, 2020

Royals Rumblings - News for November 19, 2020

Mike Rosenbaum at MLB.com gives a status update on the improving Royals minor league system.

After defeating the Mets in the 2015 World Series, the Royals have spent much of the past half-decade restocking their farm system with premium talent via the Draft and international market. As a result of those efforts, homegrown players currently occupy all but three spots on Kansas City’s Top 30, with Draft picks comprising two-thirds of the list. Fourteen of those picks are products of the Royals’ 2018-20 Draft classes, and half of that group ranks among the organization’s top 10 prospects. Erick Peña, who signed for $3,897,500 in July 2019, Seuly Matias (No. 14) and Jeison Guzman (No. 19) all received seven-figure bonuses as international signees.

Clint Scoles at Royals Academy looks at candidates to become the next Jeremy Guthrie with the Royals.

One pitcher that makes a ton of sense due to Colorado struggles in a way much like Guthrie had is veteran Jon Gray. The Rocky Mountain altitude hasn’t played havoc on Gray’s career as much as it did Guthrie until this year. This past season Gray made five starts at home, giving up 23 earned runs in 24.2 innings. What stood out this season was a dip in Gray’s strikeouts, dropping to 5 per 9 after back to back 9+ K/9 seasons. A dip in velo may have led to that with a FB velo drop from 96 mph to 94 this season. It may be small sample noise, but given the career-low walk percentage, it may also be a failed adjustment.

Alex Duvall at Royals Farm Report writes about which prospect he would be most willing to include in a trade.

Then there’s Kris Bubic. A borderline unanimous first round talent dating back from the 2018 draft. Led all of Minor League Baseball in strikeouts in 2019. Made the jump from High-A to MLB in 2020 and posted a 4.32 ERA in 50 IP at the age of 22. His baseline stats weren’t quite as good as Brady Singer in 2020, but if you take a look at the periphery, he was actually better in some ways.

It’s for this reason that I tend to think that Kris Bubic might fetch the most in a return in a potential trade this offseason. By no means am I eager to move one of the “Core 4,” but if you HAD to move one, Bubic might be the best choice at this point.

Shawn Bauman at Kings of Kauffman writes that the Royals won the 2018 draft.

The Kansas City streetcar will display a tribute to Buck O’Neil.

Mets second baseman Robinson Cano is suspended all of next year after a second PED violation.

Five free agent bargains every team should consider.

Should the Cubs trade any of their top bats?

Cleveland executive Mike Chernoff is the top candidate for the Mets GM job.

Cody Bellinger has surgery on his dislocated shoulder.

A look at the players that could be non-tendered soon.

Why does the home team hit so much better than the visiting team in the first inning?

Padres chairman Ron Fowler steps down.

A look at the work being done to uncover Negro League statistics.

Instant grades for every NBA draft pick.

The New York Giants fire their offensive line coach after a heated confrontation with head coach Joe Judge.

A German court rules that techno is music.

Conan O’Brien will end his show on TBS for a new weekly show on HBO Max.

The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special ties up a loose end from the sequels.

Your song of the day is Cage the Elephant with Come a Little Closer.