Royals Rumblings - News for January 21, 2025
Are the Royals done?
Mike Gillespie at Kings of Kauffman writes that the Royals may be done upgrading the roster.
Just four years ago, the Kansas City Royals were stuck in the same spot they are now, searching for a big bat to juice up an offense needing more pop. With only a few days left before spring training began, the 2021 Royals landed that bat by signing Boston Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi to a deal they hoped would help move the club into a new competitive era.
Today, general manager J.J. Picollo’s winter-long quest to solve his team’s mid-lineup power puzzle continues. How close he is, if at all, to finding that solution no one outside the organization seems to know, but KC fans should be prepared for the search to end unsuccessfully. The Royals may well be willing to stand pat and open spring training without major alterations to their roster.
The signs are certainly there.
Preston Farr at Farm to Fountains writes about what to expect from Kris Bubic this year.
The biggest concern that I have for Bubic is that we see regression in his stuff as he moves to the rotation out of the bullpen. It’s common that pitchers see improvement in their stuff when they come out of the bullpen, especially in velocity because they aren’t stretched out to throw 80+ pitches a game. There is some concern that as Bubic returns as a starter, there could be a dip in velocity on his fastball and changeup as well as a reduction in spin on his slider. The question then becomes, does the addition of the ~2 more pitches out way the slowdown in stuff?
Baseball America re-drafts the 2010 draft class. [$]
4. Royals — RHP Jacob deGrom
Actual Pick: SS Christian Colon
Original Drafting Team: Mets (9.272)
DeGrom is the first player in this redraft who enters the first round after going later than that originally. The Mets drafted deGrom in the ninth round and signed him for just $95,000 out of Stetson, where he was a shortstop and pitcher. On a per-inning basis, deGrom is one of the most dominant big league pitchers ever, though he has struggled to stay on the field over the last four seasons. DeGrom owns a 2.52 ERA, which is the second-best mark among starters since 2014, behind only Clayton Kershaw (2.43). He was the 2014 rookie of the year, won back-to-back Cy Young awards in 2018-19 and is a four-time all-star.
Vinnie Pasquantino says the Mets don’t value what Pete Alonso brings to the table.
Royals Weekly makes some projections for this season.
The Blue Jays sign Anthony Santander to a five-year, $92 million contract.
The Giants sign pitcher Joey Lucchesi to a minor league contract.
The Dodgers had interest in Kirby Yates before landing Tanner Scott.
Who would be the best fit for remaining free agents?
Why the Dodgers deferrals are bad for baseball.
Cubs owner Tom Ricketts responds to arguments the team is being cheap.
A probe by MLB finds no evidence of an improper agreement between the Dodgers and Roki Sasaki.
Bradford Doolittle at ESPN Insider wonders if Andruw Jones played his way out of the Hall of Fame. [$]
Who will get the call to Cooperstown today?
ESPN says Chiefs/Texans was its most-watched NFL game ever.
Ohio State wins the College Football Playoff over Notre Dame.
Europe will ban “forever chemicals” in consumer products.
Why you can’t dump seawater on the California fires.
The best movies over three hours long.
Your song of the day is The Luka State with Bury Me.