Royals Rumblings

Weekend Rumblings -News for February 26, 2022

Relax and have a Gordo’s Golden Ale.

By Max Rieper@maxrieper Feb 26, 2022, 10:00am EST

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Weekend Rumblings -News for February 26, 2022

David Lesky at Inside the Crown makes the case for and against extending Andrew Benintendi.

So that contract is five years and $60 million, roughly. If he thinks he can get that when you add in his projected arbitration number of $9.3 million, that’s six year and $69.3 million to get his age 27-32 seasons. He’s hit .271/.333/.436 in his last two healthy seasons. He did play good defense for the Royals last season by the metrics, so there’s added value there, but that’s also a pretty middling line. Just because it makes him one of the more productive Royals doesn’t mean it’s anything great. If you can say that he’s definitively the May/September version of 2021, that’s a great deal. But boy there are some inconsistencies there.

Boulevard Beer will sell “Gordo’s Golden Ale” in honor of Alex Gordon.

Gordo also comments on today’s labor situation with Lynn Worthy.

“I’m just hoping the commissioner can figure out something, kind of get it settled. I know everyone is itching to get back into baseball and get back into the swing of things. Hopefully they can get something done quick. I know the season is coming up and they’re going to try to (meet) everyday now instead of back a couple months ago — I wish they would have back then — that’s just kind of how it is. Hopefully, they can get everything figured out sooner than later because I think everyone wants to see them out there.”

Fangraphs releases their top 100 ZIPS prospects, with four Royals making the list, with Nick Pratto at #47.

Pratto’s swing has bad intentions. He collapses his back side to create lift and just swings as hard as he can at fastballs he can pull, selling out for power. It’s very similar to Shohei Ohtani‘s swing mechanics, and this is a rare instance where we’re projecting a player to out-hit their raw power grade even though their hit tool grade is below average. Pratto has always had a good feel for the zone and his ability to pick out pitches he can drive is quite good, so we like his chances of continuing to tattoo fastballs at the top of the zone, though we also think he is still really vulnerable to back-foot breaking stuff and anything running away from him with this swing.

Anne Rogers writes about second base prospect Michael Massey.

“He kind of leans in and goes, ‘So is it OK if I, like, try to hit home runs?’” Zumwalt said. “And I’m looking at him going, ‘Yes, it’s OK to hit home runs. Massey, hit it over the fence.’”

The next time they went out to the field, Zumwalt threw batting practice. Massey stepped to the plate with a different mindset than the day before.

“And he starts launching balls,” Zumwalt said. “And all his buddies are smiling and going, ‘Where is this coming from?’”

Vahe Gregorian writes how the lockout has alienated fans.

Mike Gillespie at Kings of Kauffman wonders if Mike Minor should move to the pen.

The Last Word on Sports puts together an all-time Royals team.

Rob Manfred joined negotiations in a fifth consecutive day of talks between owners and players.

Liberty Media, who owns the Braves, shows the team made substantial profits last year.

What if owners just ended the lockout, what would happen?

There could be a transactions frenzy after the lockout.

Where will Kris Bryant sign after the lockout?

As baseball evolves, where do managers fit in?

What is the future of sports on television, and could direct-to-consumer streaming happen?

What if Tom Seaver’s deal with the Braves wasn’t voided?

A baseball game that was canceled due to a prison break.