Royals Rumblings - News for October 21, 2021

Royals Rumblings - News for October 21, 2021

In his Mellinger Minutes, Sam writes about funding for a potential downtown ballpark.

I don’t know how the funding will work.

“If this happens and it makes sense, you could expect (Royals ownership) will invest a meaningful amount of capital in the project,” Sherman said.

I believe him, but what does that mean? In the last round of renovations at Kauffman Stadium, the Glass family contributed $25 million of the total $250 million budget.

Now, $25 million is more than I have lying around in the couch, but I’m fairly certain that when Sherman says “a meaningful amount of capital,” he’s talking about much more than $25 million.

But how much more?

That’s all speculation at this point.

Alex Duvall at Royals Farm Report looks at some of the 40-man roster decisions the Royals may have to make this off-season.

Hanser Alberto or Maikel Garcia

This isn’t particularly close to me. Maikel Garcia is one of the best middle infield prospects in the entire system. He posted a 108 wRC+ and 0.60 BB/K as a 21-year old in High-A this summer to go along with some pretty impressive defense at SS. He’s probably not going to get drafted, to be honest. But there is NO WAY I’m going to let the Baltimore Orioles Victor Reyes him in 2022 because they can’t find a suitable alternative at SS. Not for Hanser Alberto. The Royals have plenty of middle infielders that will need looks in 2022 and, if we’re being honest, Adalberto Mondesi could be a much better option to serve a similar role as Hanser Alberto. I’m going to guess that the likelihood of the Royals cutting Alberto to save Garcia is 0.5%, but this isn’t a move I’d overthink, personally.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter writes about what the Royals will do with Mike Minor next year.

In order for Minor to find any success in 2021, he needed to see an increase in his fastball velocity in his move to Kansas City. There was some feeling that the “shortened” 2020 season messed with his development, and that with a full Spring Training and 162-game season, Minor would see that uptick in four-seamer velocity, which in turn would improve his overall line to what he did in 2019 and 2018.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Minor’s velocity only “slightly” increased to 90.9 MPH, which ranked him in the bottom 17th percentile of the league in fastball velocity, according to Baseball Savant. While he did see an increase in put away rate from 2020 (20.5 percent) as well as a decrease in xwOBA (.315), both good signs, his whiff rate declined to 18.8 percent, and he also saw an increase in slugging on the pitch from .360 in 2020 to .472 in 2021.

Batoul Hammoud at Kings of Kauffman looks at Asa Lacy’s performance in the Arizona Fall League.

Eddie Rosario cranks two home runs to put the Braves one win away from the pennant.

The Astros finally get some pitching and shut down the Red Sox to take a 3-2 lead.

If there is a lockout next year, what happens to minor league play?

The Mookie Betts trade has cast a shadow on this post-season.

MLB playoff game times are actually getting longer.

Seeing sluggers like Kyle Schwarber lead off isn’t that unusual anymore.

Jose Iglesias is not on the active roster, but he’s turned into Boston’s biggest cheerleader.

The Brewers fire hitting coach Andy Haines.

The Angels fire scouting director Matt Swanson.

Who will the Mets turn to now in their GM search after some big names turned them down?

Will Carlos Beltrán ever get another chance to manage?

Mets pitcher Carlos Carrasco has a bone fragment removed from his elbow.

Should the next collective bargaining agreement include a contract amnesty clause?

The Chicago Sky brought the door Diana Taurasi broke to their championship parade.

The Texans could trade quarterback Deshaun Watson to the Miami Dolphins this week.

When can we enjoy nightlife again?

Facebook will rebrand with a new name.

The crypto fans who secretly paid $4 million for Martin Shkreli’s Wu-Tang album.

Your song of the day is Young MC with Pick up the Pace.