Royals Rumblings - News for November 18, 2022

Omaha Storm Chasers broadcaster Jake Eisenberg will replace retiring Steve Physioc in the broadcast booth next year.

“It’s an honor to be part of the broadcast team that shares the stories of this new, exciting era of Royals baseball while also getting to sit next to and learn from a Hall of Famer in Denny Matthews,” Eisenberg said in a statement. “Being in Omaha the last couple of seasons was a great education on how special this organization is and how bright this team’s future is. I am thrilled and grateful for this opportunity, and eager to get started serving Royals fans in Kansas City and beyond.”

Craig Brown at Into the Fountains reacts to John Sherman’s downtown ballpark letter.

The Royals ownership group plans to invest “hundreds of millions” into this venture. It’s vague, but it sure sounds like less than one of those two billion they’re going to need. But it’s more than what I have in the bank account. (Trust me on that.) So let’s just take a stab—since we’re working with a ton of generalities from this letter—and guesstimate that the Royals are willing to pony up anywhere from five percent ($100 million) to 45 percent ($900 million).

Reader, they are not going to put up $900 million of their own money into this venture if they can help it. It will be closer to $100 million.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter reacts to this week’s transactions.

The Royals will only be paying O’Hearn $1.4 million in 2023. While some may disagree with him being on the roster at all, that’s a pretty paltry amount, all things considered. He actually produced a better xWOBA (.327) than Frank Schwindel (.278), Michael Chavis (.261), and Jesus Aguilar (.298).

Therefore, it isn’t a bad risk for the Royals to see if the new shift rules could help O’Hearn in 2023, especially considering his BABIP of .268, which is well below the .300 threshold.

Pete Grathoff looks at the free agent pitchers national sportswriters are projecting to the Royals.

The Downtown Council addresses parking and traffic concerns with a downtown stadium.

Former Royals pitcher Al Fitzmorris reacts to the news the Royals want to move downtown.

Aaron Judge and Paul Goldschmidt win MVP in their respective leagues.

Pitcher Nick Martinez re-signs with the Padres on a three-year, $26 million deal.

The Mariners trade outfielder Kyle Lewis to the Diamondbacks.

Former Royals-killer Matt Davidson is headed to Japan.

Shohei Ohtani wants to participate in the World Baseball Classic.

The Texas Rangers will host the 2024 MLB All-Star Game.

MLB announces the creation of MLB University to develop diverse front office executives.

Liberty Media will spin off the Atlanta Braves to be their own public company.

MLB is investigating whether or not the Mets and Yankees communicated improperly about free agent Aaron Judge.

Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson is confusing teammates by using Seahawks audibles.

Qatar World Cup officials apologize to a Danish TV crew after security threatened them.

A Space Force plane returns with a sonic boom after over two years in orbit.

Your internet bill may be unfairly high.

If Twitter collapses, it could wipe out a lot of records from recent human history.

Your song of the day is Beastie Boys with Make Some Noise.