Weekend Rumblings - News for June 20, 2020

Weekend Rumblings - News for June 20, 2020

Alec Lewis of The Athletic does a Q&A and answers how the pandemic will affect minor league development.

What does it mean for hitting prospects such as Nick Pratto, MJ Melendez and Seuly Matias, who struggled last season at the plate? Well, each of those hitters revamped their swings in different ways during the offseason. They were all confident in the spring about the seasons they’d have. Not being able to show that to the masses likely hurts internally, but the organization knows where each stands. Of course, positive performance cements that knowledge. But for what it’s worth, the Royals, from what we’ve heard, are happy with the work they’ve put in. And although it’s a results-based business and the fan base is hungry, the club does have time.

Pete Grathoff of the Star asks what will happen to the fan giveaways that were scheduled for this year.

Bobbleheads of Merrifield, Jorge Soler, Hunter Dozier, former Royals manager Whitey Herzog and Hall of Famer George Brett were also scheduled to be given to fans.

“Our plan is the majority of them will just be moved to 2021,” Cook said. “There are some of them that might not happen at all. But we’ll make that decision. Because we don’t know the status on fans in the building this year, we haven’t ruled out whether any giveaways could happen this year.”

Jordan Foote at Kings of Kauffman talks to second-round pick Ben Hernandez.

“I kind of had a feeling… one of the scouting directors in the midwest for the KC Royals told me that the Royals were really interested in me and if I was available in the second round, they’d take me.

The day of the draft… day two… this was, like, 11:50 in the morning. My aunt put me and my mom in a group chat together and she typed out a dream that she had. She dreamt that I got drafted by the Royals. So I read that and was like ‘alright, I have nothing to worry about.’

The process was like no other. I’ve seen it all the time on television when I was younger watching drafts and watching my buddies get drafted, but I was pretty pumped that it was going to happen to me.”

Nick Whyman at Overtime Heroics talked to Royals signee Kale Emshoff.

“The signing process was exciting and hectic at the same time. Calls opened up at 8 central time that morning and within the first minute, I had over 15-20 calls and messages wanting to talk to me.”

Eno Sarris at The Athletic writes about the hectic signings of undrafted free agents, and one rival executive sounds jealous.

Unfortunately, the reality of rosters means the Royals will likely have to make the same cuts everyone else did at some point.

“They’re going to have to make those cuts, too, they’ll just string them out over the season,” said an executive with another team. “It was a good idea, and I believe Dayton Moore is a good man and meant the things he said. It was also a masterful use of the media.”

Clint Scoles at Royals Academy gives his thoughts on labor negotiations and competing for amateur talent.

Royals Farm Report talks to Scoles and Cody Tapp at 610 Sports about the draft.

Bobby Witt, Jr. talks about his first season in pro ball.

Eleven players on seven different teams test positive for coronavirus, prompting MLB to reconsider a bubble plan.

What happens if baseball doesn’t return this year?

Baseball is back in Japan, what to know about the Nippon Professional Baseball League.

Miguel Sano is accused of a kidnapping, but he says he is being blackmailed.

The Twins remove a statue of former owner Calvin Griffith because of his racist statements.

Columnist Phil Mushnick thinks Pete Alonso is part of a growing vulgarity problem.

Albert Pujols is covering $180,000 in salaries for staffers in the Dominican.

What is it like to play baseball in front of no fans?

How current players match up with their dads who played in the 90s.

The universal designated hitter may be here to stay.

Premier League play is back, here’s what we learned from the Tottenham/Manchester United match.

UCLA college football players want third party oversight for COVID-19 concerns.

Guinness World Record reinstates the Donkey Kong records of Billy Mitchell.

Why the video game The Last of Us Part II is misery porn.

Two guys made a 29-minute movie on Zoom, rented out a theater, and grabbed the top spot at the box office during a pandemic.

Your song of the day is Chet Baker with Alone Together.