Talkin Royals

Kansas City baseball has been a big disappointment since the end of the incredible 2014 and 2015 postseason runs. In fact, only two players from those teams remain with the club—Salvador Perez and Adalberto Mondesi. The Royals have been trying to put a competitive team out on the field but have yet to find players that stick. Michael A Taylor and Andrew Benintendi might be the only exceptions. However, the Royals have been able to find late bloomers in their farm system. The Royals 2022 season to this point has certainly been one to forget. Kansas City, heading into the month of July, will be looking to flip pieces for younger talent. The team has a few trade chips that could bring back decent players that could help the ball club be competitive in the near future. The Royals big trade chips include Andrew Benintendi, Scott Barlow and Whit Merrifield. Many fans believe the team should have moved Merrifield at the deadline last season when he was on the top of his game. Unfo

The Royals front office has made a trade with the Seattle Mariners. Kansas City's fire sale has begun before the month of July. Many Royals fans had been frustrated with the team playing Carlos Santana at first base on a daily basis, while several young prospects in the minors have been tearing it up. Santana came to Kansas City on a 2-year deal in 2021 worth $17.5 million to play first base. The Royals hoped this move would give players like Nick Pratto and Vinnie Pasquantino time to develop their craft in Omaha. Bringing in Santana didn't work out for the veteran slugger or the Royals. The 36-year old played in 210 games for the boys in blue, and his stats in a Kansas City uniform were a big disappointment. Santana's first season with the Royals wasn't great at the plate, but the former Indians slugger still showed some pop at the plate with 19 home runs while carrying a .214 batting average in 158 games. The Royals hoped that Santana would have a bounce b

Heading into the 2021 season, the Royals were looking to add a veteran first baseman in free agency. After struggling to find a replacement for Eric Hosmer, the Royals were willing to spend a bit more on a veteran player than they had the past few seasons. Kansas City is a small market team that wasn't able to outbid other teams for the available first basemen on the free agent market. Many fans in Kansas City aren't happy with the Royals paying Santana the money they paid him. The Royals signed Santana to a 2-year deal worth $17.5 million at the age of 35. The team knew when Santana signed the deal it was a gamble they were willing to take on a player that had played well at Kauffman Stadium with Cleveland earlier in his career. Santana's first season in Kansas City wasn't too shabby in my opinion, but it definitely could have been better. The 36-year old batted a little over the Mendoza line at .214 with an on base percentage of. 319 and a slugging percent

The Royals this season have played some horrible baseball, but I think they have a better team on the field than they have shown. Despite the Royals potential, the team must be active during the upcoming trade deadline. Kansas City has many trade chips for contending teams to consider including gold glove outfielder Michael A Taylor. Taylor came to Kansas City by the way of free agency in November of 2020 on a one year deal worth $1.75 million. The Royals had been looking for a replacement for center fielder Lorenzo Cain who left for the Brewers in 2018. The Royals tried to find Cain's replacement in 2019 by signing speedy outfielder Billy Hamilton to a one year deal worth $5.25 million. Unfortunately for Hamilton and the Royals, the signing failed horribly. Kansas City designated Hamilton for assignment on August 16. Since signing with the Royals, Taylor has provided the team with gold glove defense  in center field. While Taylor's offensive numbers don't jump

The 2018 MLB draft class for Kansas City has been quite shaky from Brady Singer to Kris Bubic. The Royals drafted Singer, Jackson Kowar, Daniel Lynch, Jon Heasley, and Bubic along with other college arms. The Royals selected the left hander out of Stanford University where he posted a great 2.62 ERA his junior year before getting selected by the Royals. Bubic quickly made his way through the Royals minor league system before reaching the majors in 2020. Unfortunately for Bubic and many other minor leaguers, the pandemic definitely impacted their developmental process. The Stanford graduate only pitched in nine games for Lexington before getting the call up to the majors by the Royals. The 24-year old posted an ERA of 4.32 in his rookie season with Kansas City. Following the end of his rookie campaign, Bubic posted a 4.43 ERAin 29 games and 20 starts. The Royals let Bubic begin his third year in Omaha, where he posted a miserable 6.59 ERA in only three starts before getting

The Royals infield, probably in the not so far future, could look very different with the trade deadline coming up soon. The team will obviously be looking to sell off key players to help build for the future, and that most likely includes utility player Whit Merrifield. The 33-year old has struggled a bit this season along with many other well liked players on the Royals. However, the asking price for Merrifield should still be pretty high. The Royals signed Merrifield to a four year deal worth only $16.25 million in 2019. That’s affordable for any team allowing the Royals to possibly ask for a good return. The chances of the 33-year old being dealt this season are pretty high leaving an infield spot at second base open for Lopez. Kansas City's need for Lopez at shortstop is also a possibility despite Witt Jr being a top prospect. The Royals can play Lopez at three positions in the infield if need be with his gold glove like defense, but the 27-year old must improve hi

The Royals starting rotation this season has been quite shaky from top to bottom, but there have been some bright spots from time to time in some of the arms. Brad Keller has most definitely had some rough starts this season to this point, but he’s also had many good ones including a start from June 18 against the Oakland Athletics where he went seven strong innings with six punchouts and zero runs allowed. Keller told Royals beat writer Anne Rogers: "I didn’t even notice it was happening until going out there for that inning,” Keller said. “I didn’t put too much thought into it. I was just trying to get deep in the ballgame, keep putting up zeros. Their starter Cole Irvin was putting up zeros, so just try to match him as much as I could.” The Royals are hoping that the pitchers from the 2018 MLB draft class pan out, but as of now, one has panned out—Daniel Lynch. Many fans believe a pitching coach change could make a big difference. The Royals heading towards the trad

The 2022 season has been one to forget to this point; however, the team has had some bright spots in the lineup.  1. Nicky Lopez Heading into the 2022 season, Lopez wasn't penciled in as the team's starting shortstop; however, things definitely changed when Adalberto Mondesi went down with a season ending injury. Mondesi's injury opened the door for Lopez to take the shortstop position by the horns, and Lopez has certainly locked down the shortstop position even with the team having the number one prospect in the game in Bobby Witt Jr. Although Lopez has taken the shortstop position with the Royals, his offensive numbers aren't great. But as many fans know, he isn't a power hitter, but he can put the ball in play and be a threat on the bases with his incredible speed. The 27-year old's speed has helped him defensively, allowing him to continue to play gold glove defense like he did in 2021 at second base; but now, he’s doing it at shortstop. In fact,

The Royals in the 2018 MLB draft focused on starting pitchers by selecting 26 pitchers, but really only five of them fans had high hopes for.  Singer had the highest praise coming out of the draft after being selected 18th overall. Many fans have been disappointed by the production they have seen from these pitchers early in their careers. Some believe Royals pitching coach Cal Eldred is to blame for the young pitchers’ struggles. While I believe it's fair to blame Eldred for some of the young pitchers' struggles, you can’t place all the blame on one guy. Fans must remember that not all draft picks are going to have success in professional baseball. Fortunately for the Royals and fans, the team has found a pitcher that has found early success in the majors in Daniel Lynch. The 25-year old made his major league debut in 2021, and the left-hander posted a 5.69 ERA in 15 games. Kansas City optioned the young lefty to Triple-A Omaha on May 14. Following Lynch's two