Royals Rumblings - News for October 5, 2023

David Lesky at Inside the Crown dives into the Royals payroll situation:

What happens if they trade Perez and have to eat, let’s say, $10 million of his 2024 salary? Assuming the return is all prospects, that brings the payroll down to about $65 million. I think they probably tender Olivares a deal but move on from him in a minor deal. Now we’re down to about $62.5 million. Melendez could easily go. That’s $61.8 million. I’m not so sure Singer can be traded at this point, so we’ll leave his salary where it is. But now they’ve moved on from three more, which leaves big league room for five more players.

This is where it gets sort of fun. Let’s say they don’t acquire any big league pieces in any of the deals above (I sort of think they get a big leaguer back for Perez and maybe Melendez, but we can ignore that for now). I’ve heard each of the last two seasons that if the right player was available and agreed to come to KC that they were willing to go to about $110 million. I’m making an assumption now, but let’s say that’s jumped a bit because of how important this offseason is and how badly this ownership group needs a “yes” vote on a new stadium in a few months.

The Royals settled a racial discrimination lawsuit brought by a former employee of the Urban Youth Academy. ($)

Finding Royals news is a bit tougher in the offseason, so I will use a section of Thursday rumblings to update how Royals are doing in the Arizona Fall League. AFL play started on Monday, so the Surprise Saguaros have three games in the books.

• Peyton Wilson batted third in both Monday and Wednesday’s games, serving as the designated hitter on Monday and playing second base on Wednesday. He went 3-7 with a double and two runs scored, walking and striking out once.
• Gavin Cross batted sixth on Tuesday and Wednesday, playing right field in the former and center field in the latter. He went 2-7 with a couple stolen bases, walking and striking out once.
• Eric Cerantola took the mound to start last night’s game. He was wild in the first inning but settled in after that and departed after three innings. He allowed one run on a single and a walk and plunked a batter while punching out four.
• Jacob Wallace entered the game in the sixth inning last night. He surrendered a couple knocks, including a solo homer, in 1.2 innings. All five of his outs came via strikeout.

Every Wild Card series ended in a sweep, with many of the eight games being quite one-sided:

The Texas Rangers complete the sweep in a dominant 7-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Minnesota Twins win their first postseason series since 2002 with a 2-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Milwaukee Brewers become the first division winner eliminated after the Arizona Diamondbacks rally in the middle innings and weather the storm late to win 5-2.

The Philadelphia Phillies handily dispatch the Miami Marlins in a 7-1 victory.

Kyle Schwarber is one of the most popular teammates in baseball.

New Mets GM David Stearns appears to have an impossible task ahead of him. ($)

The White Sox are making changes to their coaching staff.

Arizona extended GM Mike Hazen.

San Diego third baseman Manny Machado underwent elbow surgery and, best case scenario, will be ready for spring training.

Patrick Mahomes is shouldering the blame for the Chiefs’ thus far lackluster passing attack.

The Taylor Swift bandwagon now includes this week’s College Football Bottom 10.

Colorado’s Deion Sanders offers a unique recruiting pitch.

The Country Club Plaza in Kansas City is reportedly being purchased by a Dallas-based developer.

Astrophysicists may have determined why the universe’s earliest galaxies appeared abnormally bright.

Amtrak’s Acela trains, already years behind schedule, are facing a whole host of new problems, per a recent audit.

Your song of the day is Take Me Home by Cash Cash and Bebe Rexha.