Weekend Rumblings - News for October 23, 2021

Weekend Rumblings - News for October 23, 2021

Alec Lewis at The Athletic looks at the 2021 Royals payroll.

Carlos Santana, 35, is entering the final season of a two-year deal he signed last winter. The Royals will have an option on Mike Minor after the 2022 season, but the lefty who will turn 34 this winter is likely also entering his final season with the Royals. Both of them underperformed their projections in 2021.

To quote “Macbeth,” what’s done is done.

As far as the other four, well, after Salvador Perez’s year, $18 million seems like a bargain; Hunter Dozier’s $4.75 million won’t break the bank this season, regardless of how he performs; Michael A. Taylor’s defense alone is worth $4.5 million; and Whit Merrifield might be the best deal of them all.

Dan Szymborski at Fangraphs reflects on how teams did in the AL Central.

Some of the team’s offensive problems may take care of themselves in this regard, but the challenge ahead is in building a lineup around these players beyond just filling out the card with familiar names. Merrifield is still valuable when playing his natural position of second base, but Hunter Dozier’s 2019 breakout has stalled, Jorge Soler is gone, and neither Benintendi or Ryan O’Hearn look to be real long-term solutions. If Kansas City is rarely going to trade players near the top of their game, it will have to invest more in free agency and the top-tier variety of player rather than an endless parade of one-year stopgaps.

Plus a Bobby Witt, Jr. ZIPS projection!

Dave Helling at the Star questions the funding for a potential downtown stadium.

If you have $1 billion or $2 billion in public dollars to spend, though, would you spend it on ballparks? Or would you spend it on transportation, or housing, or health care, or public safety, or education, or higher education, or something else? Or would you give Kansas City’s overtaxed poor some relief?

All of the above isn’t an answer. Tax dollars are finite. To govern is to choose.

Did you know: Less than half of the original $102 million bond issue that built the Truman Sports Complex actually went for the stadiums. The rest was spent on flood control, street improvements — and funding for a public hospital. Then, as now, there were other important needs.

Jerry Edwards at Inside the Royals puts together an Edward Olivares trade to Boston for pitcher Nick Pivetta.

Negro League Museum President Bob Kendrick and former Royals great Frank White will start the race today at Kansas Speedway.

David Price replaces the injured Joe Kelly on the Dodgers’ NLCS roster.

How rare is the three-home run game in the post-season?

Former Giants GM Brian Sabean could be a candidate for the job with the Mets.

The Rangers may be big spenders this off-season.

The Yankees will look to address the shortstop position this off-season.

The Hiroshima Carp could post outfielder Seiya Suzuki this off-season.

Why its time for Chicago to allow more Friday night games at Wrigley Field.

Here are your overreactions from NBA’s Opening Night.

How did the Miami Dolphins go from being a blueprint to being a mess?

How the internet works.

There is now a $250 Lego set for the movie Home Alone.

Why Dune endures.

Your song of the day is Charles Mingus with Fables of Faubus.