Royals Rumblings - News for February 25, 2020

Royals Rumblings - News for February 25, 2020

Brad Keller was pleased with his spring debut.

“For the first time out, I think it went all right,” Keller said. “I gave up a shift beater, and those things happen. Then had a sinker [to Machado] I wish could have been a little more inside.

“I got ground balls when I needed to. I was down in the zone and when I wanted to go up, I did that. It was good.”

Brett Phillips understands this is the biggest camp of his career, writes Jeffrey Flanagan.

“I think I’ve shown that I can help teams win with just defense alone. I know the bat will come along, too, with more time and more reps.

“Being out of options maybe helps me. In the past, it was always, ‘Go down to the Minors and work on this.’ But now, being out of options, it allows players to really have an opportunity up here.”

Sam Mellinger talks to new owner John Sherman about payroll.

“We should be looking at this business on a multi-year basis, right?” Sherman said. “We could think about perhaps looking at some of our current guys and getting them extended as a way to invest and make sure they’re here when we’ve got young guys coming up to make us stronger...

”(The TV contract) gives us more flexibility. It gives us more flexibility to invest when we’re ready. I would expect us to be moving up (in payroll) certainly from where we are now. Certainly if we have a competitive team and we’re ready this ownership group will do all we can to make sure this team is competitive.”

Khalil Lee is hoping to make an impact in camp.

Keith Law ranks just two Royals in his top 100 prospect list, but has Daniel Lynch at #13.

If it wasn’t for MacKenzie Gore, Lynch might have the best pure stuff of any lefty prospect in the minors. Lynch hit 99 mph in the Fall Stars game in the AFL, and regularly worked from 94-97 during the season with a plus slider and an above-average changeup, mixing in a two-seamer and curveball as well.

David Scharff at Kings of Kauffman writes that Eric Skoglund’s days with the Royals may be numbered.

Free agent Andrew Cashner is being marketed as a reliever.

Jose Altuve gets hit in the foot in his spring debut.

The White Sox give reliever Aaron Bummer a five-year contract extension.

Derek Jeter says its time for the Marlins to turn the corner.

Who will be the fifth starter for Minnesota?

A look at the best cutters and splitters in baseball.

Joe Sheehan lists his 20 most interesting players to watch this year.

Position changes to watch this spring.

Brandon Wood was a top prospect that never panned out, but he has found peace.

Here are the concerts coming to ballparks this summer.

Meet the Kansas City man who helped save the history of black baseball in America.

A 43-year old Zamboni driver became an emergency goalie hero for the Carolina Hurricanes.

What should we make of the Kobe Bryant merchandise market following his death?

How researchers are using Twitter and Reddit data to forecast suicides.

What can we learn about existence from a website that generates images of humans that don’t exist?

Netflix rolls out a top ten feature to show what people are actually watching.

Your song of the day is Badly Drawn Boy with Once Around the Block.