Royals Rumblings - News for February 2, 2021
Anne Rogers lists the best debut seasons in Royals history.
3) James Shields, 2013
Key fact: Finished 11th in AL Cy Young Award voting while leading the league in innings
The trade that netted Shields and reliever Wade Davis but cost the Royals top prospects Wil Myers and Jake Odorizzi, as well as Mike Montgomery and Minor League infielder Patrick Leonard, was strongly questioned at first.
It’s stunning how successful this trade worked out for the Royals. Of course, Davis was part of the vaunted Kansas City bullpen and helped them to the World Series in 2014 and ’15. And Shields’ debut season in ‘13 helped push the team into the win column, setting them up for that success.
Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter wonders if Ronald Bolaños could be a sleeper this year.
As of now Bolanos throws five pitches (FF, SL, CU, SI, and CH), but he may be on his way to being a four-pitch pitcher in 2021, as he only threw his changeup 1.4 percent of the time, which was down from 5.2 percent in 2019. In fact, it could be possible that Bolanos may refine his pitch arsenal even more, as he may need to make a decision in regard to the sinker. If it truly is a pitch he trusts, he may want to phase out his FF a bit and use his sinker more, in the mold of Brady Singer in 2020. On the other hand, he could reduce his sinker usage and focus on developing more velocity and command behind his FF in 2021, which may be more beneficial, especially if he can averaged 96 MPH or above on the FF consistently.
Shawn Bauman at Kings of Kauffman thinks a slow start could lead to a coaching shakeup.
Leigh Oleszczak at KC Kingdom considers a Wil Myers reunion with the Royals.
The Angels are close to finalizing a deal to acquire pitcher Alex Cobb from the Orioles.
The Rangers sign outfielder Delino DeShields, Jr. to a minor league deal.
The Mets acquire pitcher Jordan Yamamoto from the Marlins.
MLB hires former Royals outfielder Raúl Ibañez to work in the league office.
Longtime Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia retires.
Chipper Jones will serve as a hitting consultant for the Braves.
Jay Jaffe looks at the next five years of Hall of Fame votes.
Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway is accused of lewd behavior.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is trying to give minor league teams financial relief.
Despite the hiring of Kim Ng, baseball still has a long way to go in diversity of front offices.
An unsealed court document in the ongoing federal defamation lawsuit by Ryan Howard and Ryan Zimmerman raises questions about possible PED use.
Why is Tom Brady such a polarizing figure?
Grading every top signing during soccer’s transfer window.
A SoulCycle instructor got a COVID vaccine for being an “educator”, but now she’s in trouble.
Who’s making all those scam calls?
We are closer to a Frasier sequel being in the works.
Your song of the day is Primal Scream with Rocks.