Royals Rumblings - News for June 10, 2020

Lynn Worthy at the Star reports that Dayton Moore feels ready for the dramatically truncated draft, and name drops some of the behind-the-scenes science people:

“We’re prepared,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore said during a recent video call with reporters. “You know, we haven’t been able to finish off those evaluations like we normally do, but that’s the case for everybody. There are no excuses. We’ve had more calls with people at the amateur levels. I’ve spoken to multiple college coaches at every level, as has Lonnie Goldberg and all of our scouts. We’ve spoken to coaches at academies throughout the country. We’ve developed better contacts.

“We have dug deeper — in some respects because we’ve had to — and we continue to rely on the data. Dr. (Daniel) Mack, who heads up our research and development — his work is spectacular. Austin Driggers, our performance science director; Ryan Maid, our director of behavioral science; they’re all involved. ... And we’re just really fortunate to have some very talented people that can help us navigate through this trying time.

Former Twins outfielder Torii Hunter endured more than his share of racism throughout his playing career, and had a no-trade clause to keep him away from Boston due to consistently racist actions by fans there. But he also told this story about Kansas City, as relayed by Pete Grathoff from a Boston podcast (linked within the Star story):

“Kansas City once did something for me about it. When they called me the ‘N’ word standing over our dugout. Our whole team, we were almost going to jump this guy, but this guy’s kid covered his mouth.”

Hunter didn’t reveal what year the incident occurred. While the child may have helped his or her father avoid a physical altercation, Hunter said the dad was dealt with immediately.

“The police right next to our dugout got up and took him to a back room, they talked to him, interrogated him and banned him for life,” Hunter said. “That was cool. I’m like, ‘Wow, Kansas City took care of that.’

Joe Posnanski brought Negro Leagues Baseball Museum president Bob Kendrick on his podcast, along with Dayton Moore:

The latest counter from the MLBPA:

Former Twins reliever Ryan O’Rourke is hanging ‘em up.

Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto talked to the Seattle Times about trying to develop prospects in whatever sort of truncated season is about to happen.

At The Athletic, Andrew Baggarly wrote about the very unlikely nemesis of Peak Barry Bonds. Guess one thousand times and you will not get his identity correct.

Bill Thompson at BtBS writes the MLB owners don’t actually care if baseball is played in 2020.

Strip everything away and look at what the owners have proposed and ask yourself, “Do you really believe that they have any intention of taking the actions necessary to play baseball in 2020?” That sort of situational appraisal should lead you to the honest conclusion that no, the owners have no intention of taking any sort of action that would see baseball played in 2020.

That lack of intent is why the particulars of this latest proposal don’t matter. The number of games offered, the safety measures discussed, and the playoff reformatting put forth shouldn’t even begin to be topics of conversation when the proposal can’t pass the litmus test of its intent of action. It has been clear from the very onset of any talk of a 2020 season that the owners were not willing to take even the slightest chance of a loss on the season. Heck, it’s not even that they weren’t willing to take a loss, they weren’t willing to consider any plan that would see them only make 52 percent in profit as opposed to 90 percent.

The chairman of the St. Louis Cardinals is trying to sell the idea that owning a baseball team isn’t all that profitable. SURE, JAN.

A guide to some of the “less lethal” weaponry police forces have used during protests recently.

Why guidance on wearing masks seems to keep changing.

Fun question of the week that I’m borrowing from Reddit: what’s the one part of your hobby that you hate doing?

I’m probably the only person here who cares, but the Bravo reality show Vanderpump Rules fired two of their original cast members, along with two recent additions, for racism. It’s probably time for that show to be finished.

Nostalgia led me to revisit the “Five Score and Seven Years Ago” album from Relient K yesterday. So, today’s music: