Royals Rumblings - News for December 9, 2019
Daniel Clark-USA TODAY Sports
Happy Winter Meetings Week!
Royals Rumblings - News for December 9, 2019
Dayton Moore talks to David Laurila at Fangraphs about analytics.
“We’re very aware of what everybody is doing,” Moore told me. “Obviously, we have to focus on what we do, and what works for us. I leave it up to Dr. Mack, and [assistant GMs} J.J. Picollo and Scott Sharp, to make sure that we stay cutting edge on everything we do. We never make a decision… we’ve never signed a player, or drafted a player, without using all of the advanced metrics.”
Delegating those types of responsibilities to Mack, Picollo, and Sharp doesn’t mean that Moore doesn’t value information. Any such suggestion are guaranteed to raise his hackles.
“Here’s the deal,” said Moore. “I started out as an area scout, as I’m sure you know. I never, ever, presented a player without using all of the available statistics to validate my judgment. The information we have today — there’s a lot of it — is all used to validate our judgment. We also use it to hopefully lead us to players who are undervalued.”
Clint Scoles at Royals Academy has some assorted thoughts, including a look to next year’s draft.
Some think the draft falls off after the first three selections of Emerson Hancock, Spencer Torkelson, and Austin Martin but that sells Nick Gonzales pretty short to me. The second baseman from New Mexico State has hit spectacularly during his first two seasons of college ball before dominating the Cape this summer. His 1.081 OPS was over .100 points greater than the nearest hitter to him and gave a great indication that his lofty numbers in the WAC aren’t all built on the elevation he’s playing in. Is he Keston Hiura? Probably not as he doesn’t have that type of power but he is a likely better defender and could be a pretty dominant force at the top of a lineup hitting into the .300s with good doubles power and 10-15 home runs.
Will Leitch at MLB.com looks at the most shocking baseball stories of the decade.
Was there a more moribund baseball franchise in 2010 than the Royals? They’d just lost 97 games (they’d lose 95 in 2010), and they had a winning record exactly once since 1995. There was some hope coming out of their farm system, but Royals fans had heard all that before, and besides, those prospects seemed to be coming along rather slowly, all told. And yet, in 2013, they won 86 games, and in 2014, it all clicked, with a Wild Card comeback win that led to their first World Series appearance since 1985 and a Game 7 that almost featured the most amazing finish in World Series history. And if that wasn’t enough, they’d come back and win the whole thing the very next year, leading to a parade they’ll talk about in Kansas City for centuries.
They were back to losing 100-plus games by the end of the decade, but they’ll always have 2015.
MLB.com also lists the best value draft pick for each team.
Royals: Bret Saberhagen, RHP (19th round, 1982)Taken from the California high school ranks, it took Saberhagen less than two years to reach Kansas City, making his big league debut at age 19. He then went on to produce a 58.8 WAR, win two Cy Young Awards and go to four All-Star Games.
Jordan Foote at Kings of Kauffman stresses patience with Royals pitching prospects.
Drew Osborne at Royals Farm Report looks at potential Rule 5 pick Thomas Burrows.
The Yankees have reportedly offered Gerrit Cole $245 million.
The Mets are interested in Rick Porcello.
The Rangers are pursuing Anthony Rendon.
The Reds may be targeting Didi Gregorious.
Catcher Ted Simmons and union leader Marvin Miller are voted into the Hall of Fame.
Are Mike Trout’s best seasons behind him?
Former White Sox reliever Bobby Jenks shares his harrowing tale of a botched surgery and painkiller addiction,
MLB will allow teams to sell local streaming rights.
A look at the history of minor league contraction.
The Chiefs had their gear accidentally sent to New Jersey for their game against the Patriots.
Mizzou will hire Appalachian State coach Eli Drinkwitz to coach their football team.
The best nonfiction books of the last 25 years.
Banana artwork that fetched $120,000 is eaten by a hungry artist.
The trailer for Wonder Woman 1984 drops and it looks as fun as the original TV show.
Your song of the day is Pearl Jam with Daughter.