Weekend Rumblings - News for October 19, 2024

Always October.

Anne Rogers writes about the questions facing the Royals this off-season, such as what improvements can be made internally.

Player development is still crucial.

Picollo specifically mentioned Garcia and outfielder MJ Melendez as two players who the Royals might stick with and hope for improvement. They both have had big moments in their young careers, but they both haven’t shown the type of consistent play that you’d want as everyday players. Garcia and Melendez could be immediate answers to the two previous questions here, respectively.

“They’re the two guys that have really big upside, and it’s hard to get players that have that athleticism, whether it’s defensive talent or offensive pop and potential,” Picollo said. “They’re players that every organization wants. You just have to stay with them.”

David Lesky awaits the off-season.

Every offseason is different, but I think the Royals find themselves in a spot they haven’t been in before, at least not in the era of modern baseball money. They no longer have to pay the bad team tax. They have a superstar with whom other players will theoretically want to play. And they might be one of the few teams spending money. They had the latter last winter and the superstar wasn’t quite a superstar yet, but was close. But they certainly had to pay the bad team tax. No, they’re not going to be in on Juan Soto or players like him, but I don’t think there’s any player the Royals can’t get and any of the players they target could easily see Kansas City as the place they’d rather be over other offers. It’s a wild time we live in.

Rachael Millanta at Kings of Kauffman writes about who the Royals could target if Michael Wacha departs.

Carter Jensen and Ramon Ramirez are mentioned in Baseball America’s article on prospects who performed well in Statcast data.

The Mets blow out the Dodgers to win Game 5 and send the series back to L.A.

Max Muncy of the Dodgers set a post-season record for reaching base in 12 consecutive plate appearances.

With Japanese stars in the post-season, the whole world is watching.

Is it bad that FOX is relegating the NLCS to FS1 in favor of The Masked Singer?

Is Taylor Ward a trade candidate?

Baltimore’s Jackson Holliday did not turn prospect hype into immediate success.

In addition to the Braves, Diamond Sports will retain the broadcast rights for the Marlins.

The story of Trea Turner turning his season around in 2023 when boos turned to cheers is told in a Netflix documentary.

The Cleveland Browns want a dome in the suburbs.

The origins of Hakeem Olajuwon’s “Dream Shake.”

Dinosaur fossils are fetching high prices at auctions for private collectors.

When a political candidate failed to show for a debate, his challenger created an AI chatbot of him to debate.

The 50 most disappointing albums of all time.

Your song of the day is Jimi Hendrix with Red Door.