Royals Rumblings - News for January 5, 2021

Royals Rumblings - News for January 5, 2021

Jeffrey Flanagan writes about the best single-season in Royals history, by position.

Starting pitcher: Bret Saberhagen, 1989 This really comes down to Zack Greinke in 2009 or Saberhagen in 1989. Both won Cy Youngs those years. A close race. Both had 2.16 ERAs in those campaigns. But Saberhagen led the Majors in wins (23), innings pitched (262 1/3), complete games (12) and WHIP (0.961).

Baseball America has a mock draft out, with the Royals picking University of Florida outfielder Jud Fabian at #7.

Prep RHP Andrew Painter was in consideration here—but the pick is Fabian. The center fielder has impressive power and speed, although he has the odd righthanded-hitting/lefthanded-throwing combination and has hit just .250 over 73 games with Florida with a 21.9% strikeout rate. His spring performance over a (hopefully) full season will be important.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter profiles top prospect Bobby Witt, Jr.

There will be plenty to watch for from Witt next year, and there are certainly some questions Royals fans have that will need to be answered. Will his renewed plate discipline transition to 2021, or will his strikeout and contact issues from 2019 rear their ugly head again? Will he truly be able to stick at shortstop (scouts seem to think so), or is third or second base more in his future as a Royal (especially with Mondesi currently at shortstop)? And though he showed his contact skills at Summer Camp this past July, will Witt’s power start to blossom in 2021 in the Minors, thus showing that he can indeed be multi-year All-Star infielder for the Royals in the near future?

Royals left-handed pitcher Daniel Tillo is already throwing following Tommy John surgery.

The Giants sign catcher Curt Casali to a one-year deal.

Will the Blue Jays go up to $125 million for George Springer?

How the Dodgers can respond to the Padres’ active off-season.

The Mets are interested in reliever Brad Hand.

The Red Sox are interested in outfielder Yasiel Puig.

The Tigers’ short-term pitching plan hasn’t worked.

The Cubs hire Jon Sciambi to broadcast on the Marquee Network.

At ESPN Insider, writers list the biggest baseball storylines to expect in 2021.

Craig Edwards at Fangraphs looks at whether payroll mattered in 2020.

Baseball’s drug policy for minor leaguers took its toll on players.

A look at ten historic performances from last season.

Here is your SB Nation Mock NFL Draft.

The entire NCAA basketball tournament will take place in Indiana.

The Peacock streaming service is hanging its hopes on The Office.

Actress Tanya Roberts is still alive, despite her rep announcing her death.

Michael Keaton, Robert Pattinson, and Ben Affleck will all play Batman in 2022 films.

Your song of the day is The Kinks with Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy.