Royals Rumblings - News for January 11, 2021

Royals Rumblings - News for January 11, 2021

Alec Lewis writes about the Royals’ new housing development for minor leaguers in Arizona.

“To describe it, I would probably use the term, ‘Luxury condo,’” said Royals senior vice president/assistant general manager Scott Sharp, who played an integral role in the project. “A lot has been made of minor-league living situations recently. And this wasn’t in light of that. We just felt like, look, if we can get players out of hotels, we’re going to put them in a better environment.”

The quality of this new environment explains why Rodriguez, 62, needed just one oft-repeated word to handle his review. He preferred, simply, “Damn.”

Alex Duvall at Royals Farm Report begins his list of top Royals prospects, starting with 41-50.

I’m not entirely sure if Avila’s spot on our rankings will come as a surprise to most, because I’m not entirely sure there’s more than five of you that will even know who Luinder Avila is. To anyone as insane as us to follow the system this much, maybe it will be a surprise. Avila hasn’t been spectacular in his four years of professional baseball, but there is a TON of projection left in his right arm and I LOVE his feel to pitch.

Avila doesn’t throw overly hard, 91-93 without a ton of movement (though his fastball was cutting like crazy in one particular outing I watched), but he locates the ball well for a younger kid and he has a WICKED changeup, something you don’t see much from younger pitchers.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter continues with his tiers of Royals prospects, with a look at Alec Marsh and Austin Cox.

Marsh and Cox could be better in 2022, and the fact that the Royals don’t need to rush them to the Major League level is a sign of the strong pitching depth in their farm system (though it will be interesting to see if a team will select Cox in the Rule 5 Draft, whenever that happens). However, if Marsh and Cox want to be taken seriously as potential starters in Kansas City, they will need to see some gains in Triple-A next year, which will likely be their starting spot in 2022 (though it is possible Marsh could repeat Double-A).

If they don’t, it is possible that Marsh and Cox could be the second coming of Scott Blewett and Foster Griffin, respectively.

Mike Axisa at CBS Sports lists the best free agent in each team’s history.

RHP David Cone (three years, $18 million in Dec. 1992)

This was a homecoming for Cone in more ways than one. He grew up in Kansas City, was originally drafted by the Royals in 1981, and made his MLB debut for them in 1986 before being traded away. This contract made Cone the highest-paid pitcher in baseball for a few hours (the Braves sign Maddux soon thereafter) and included an upfront $9 million signing bonus, which was unprecedented at the time. Cone won the Cy Young in 1994 and had a 3.17 ERA in 415 2/3 innings in the first two years of the contract. The Royals traded him to the Blue Jays prior to the third year.

Craig Brown at Into the Fountains continues his countdown of Salvy’s 2021 home runs.

Jordan Foote at Inside the Royals looks at Baseball America’s projected 2025 lineup for the Royals.

MJ Melendez hops on the podcast of former Royals minor leaguer Anderson Miller.

Former Royals infielder Tommy Matchick died at the age of 78 last week.

MLB owners are preparing to make an offer to players in the next few weeks.

Apple is in serious talks to broadcast MLB games.

The Blue Jays hire Jaime Vieria as a minor league hitting coach, their first female coach.

What to know about Saturday’s start to the international signing period.

Angels pitcher Ty Buttrey wants to return to baseball after leaving the game last summer.

What the heck is a flat sinker?

The Mets thought they were getting Juan Soto’s brother Elian, but it looks like he’s joining the Nationals.

Eddie Basinski, a celebrity in Portland who was the second-oldest living MLB player, has died at the age of 99.

Which birth year produced the most WAR?

The Oakland Athletics once made an effort to sign Michael Jordan.

What is the best NFL coaching opening?

College football officials are unable to reach agreement on expanding the playoff.

Some Congressional candidates are offering NFTs as a way to raise funds.

Why do so many TV shows and movies look like they were filmed in a gray wasteland?

The duality of Bob Saget is what made him special.

Your song of the day is Neutral Milk Hotel with In The Aeroplane Over The Sea.