Royals Rumblings

Weekend Rumblings - News for September 23, 2023

Will the Royals spend some money this winter?

By Max Rieper@maxrieper Sep 23, 2023, 10:00am EDT

Vahe Gregorian writes it is time for Royals ownership to spend money.

Who does the franchise consider a pillar? Who does it deem more valuable in the long run as a trade piece? And what’s the willingness of owner John Sherman to spend money on payroll in ways he hasn’t before?

To reiterate something I wrote a couple months ago, it seems it would be win-win for Sherman and the Royals to invest in some key cogs — particularly some seriously credible starting pitching.

While my belief is that funding the stadium project and the team’s performance now are largely disparate points, many quite reasonably ask why they should want to spend on the team if Sherman won’t spend more to improve the franchise.

This is a chance for him to address that head-on.

David Lesky at Inside the Crown reacts to this week’s front office moves.

I still stand by what I’ve said multiple times. If I was making the moves for the Royals last year, I’d have cleaned house almost entirely. But they didn’t and that’s what happened. It doesn’t mean that every single person involved with the organization is useless and I think Ontiveros has done a pretty solid job in the draft, especially when you consider that the first picks in a draft are often way more of a team effort than the down round picks. I get the frustration I’ve seen from many, but the big point is that Bridges is a great hire. I’ve said for weeks (months?) that the Royals would be adding to the front office and likely not subtracting much, so this is no surprise. I’m just now interested in who they add next.

Craig Brown at Into the Fountains writes about the downtown stadium site selection being pushed back.

This continues to be an embarrassing episode for the Royals. The entire process so far has been an absolute shambles. Let’s take a moment to recap: They have no details and no site. All they have is a lame press conference with some generic renderings and false promises. Other than that, things are great. I’m thinking I’d like to play poker with John Sherman. He seems like a guy who goes all-in on a mediocre hand not because he’s bluffing, but because he believes his hand is the winning one.

Did Sherman really believe that all it took was him saying that “it is time to leave Kauffman Stadium,” and like magic, the community would gift him and his partners a new ballpark complete with an entertainment district? That’s not how this works. Especially when you have a stadium as beloved as Kauffman, where the most recent round of renovations funded by the taxpayers of Jackson County are still being paid down.

What a disaster this has been.

Josh Duggan criticizes the Royals’ front office moves, or lack thereof.

The Royals outright Matt Beaty to Omaha.

Pete Grathoff looks back at Justin Maxwell’s walk-off grand slam ten years ago.

Here are the MLB tiebreaker rules and scenarios.

The Giants release infielder Paul DeJong.

The Rays call up top infield prospect Junior Caminero.

The Mets and Brewers could get in a bidding war over manager Craig Counsell’s services.

Reliever Sean Doolittle announces his retirement.

Complete Arizona Fall League rosters are announced.

With cursive used less, is it time to phase out script lettering on uniforms?

Stephen A. Smith has a hilariously bad ceremonial first pitch.

Former Chiefs backup quarterback Chad Henne turned down an offer from the Jets.