Talkin Royals

The Royals over the years have worn patches on their uniforms to remember tragic periods in American history including 9/11 and more. Kansas City in 2007 was stunned after learning that local teenager Kelsey Smith was abducted and murdered. The Royals wore light blue ribbons on their wrists in remembrance of the 18-year old after former manager Buddy Bell spoke to the Smith family.  Many Kansas Cityians remember the Kelsey Smith case well after the story of her abduction hit the local media and national media. On June 2, Smith was shopping at her local Target in Overland Park, KS looking for a picture frame for her boyfriend John Biersmith. While at Target, Smith's killer followed her throughout the store after noticing her at the jewelry counter. While Smith was in the checkout line, her abductor ran to his vehicle to grab his gun and waited for her to leave the store to grab her. The 18-year old was unable to fight off the kidnapper and was forced into her vehicle and...

Since the departure of Whit Merrifield, the Kansas City Royals have struggled to find a long-term replacement at second base. Although Merrifield has been gone for just two seasons, the team has faced challenges in securing a dependable option for the position. Over this period, the Royals have experimented with various players, including Nicky Lopez, Chris Owings, and Nick Loftin. Despite being part of the 2022 and 2023 rosters, Massey has not been able to firmly establish himself at the position, due to ongoing competition from other players. In the most recent offseason, the Royals added Adam Frazier and Garrett Hampson to their roster. While these additions were not intended to replace Massey, they were meant to provide depth. General Manager J.J. Picollo explained the strategy: “He’s a player we’ve had a lot of interest in over the last couple of years, and when we thought about the offseason, we were thinking about how we need to put a team together and what we need. ...

Kansas City's front office continues to add to the team. The offense, for the most part, has been alright this season aside from Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez. Manager Matt Quatraro has tried multiple players in the leadoff spot, including Adam Frazier, Maikel Garcia, and Garrett Hampson. Despite Garcia's struggles, I believe he will return to form before October. In my opinion, Frazier has been the best of the three, but not by much, with a batting average of .197 as of late. Although Garcia and Hampson have better numbers than Frazier, neither one has been able to get the ball rolling at the top of the lineup. Kansas City decided enough was enough with the lack of production from the top of the order and struck a deal with the White Sox for veteran shortstop Paul DeJong. Chicago had brought in DeJong on a one-year deal worth $1.75 million plus incentives. The White Sox are a dumpster fire this season, clearly in a rebuild phase, but it wasn't supposed to b...

Kansas City has made significant strides this season to field a competitive team every night. The Royals' rotation is solid, with both Lugo and Ragans leading the pack. JJ Picollo made moves to improve the bullpen with the additions of Will Smith, Chris Stratton, and John Schreiber. However, aside from Schreiber, the bullpen has been inconsistent. Before the trade deadline, Picollo was looking to add an outfielder and a bullpen arm. The team struck its first deal with the Rangers to acquire pitcher Michael Lorenzen. Lorenzen is an upgrade over Alec Marsh, but it's unclear if he will be in the rotation or the bullpen. Shortly after acquiring Lorenzen, the Royals made a trade with Oakland for lefthander Lucas Erceg. Erceg is a great addition to the bullpen now and for years to come. Erceg is under team control until 2030 and isn't a financial burden. Although Erceg has years of team control, he's no spring chicken. The 29-year-old has a year and a half of big ...

era of 3.81 with a win-loss record of 5 and 6. The righthander has the ability to go deep into games, almost hitting 200 innings on the season. Lorenzen isn't a financial burden for the Royals. The Rangers brought the 32-year old to Texas on a one-year deal worth $4.5 million dollars guaranteed. The deal can max out at $7 million with incentives. Lorenzen has plenty of pitches at his disposal, seven. The seven pitches include: fourseamer sinker changeup slider cutter curveball sweeper The righthander doesn't rely on one pitch more than the others, he likes to mix it up. Kansas City in my opinion may have given up a little more than they should have for a rental player. What did the team give up? The Royals have decided to part ways with lefthander Walter Pennington. Many fans and likely the team had high hopes for the 26-year old. Pennington had made his major league debut on July 5th against his home team in the Rockies. Following the lefthander's debut, the te...

This past offseason Kansas City has shown they were willing to move on from struggling players, even if their defense is some of the best in the majors. Baseball for years has been a league where if you can't hit, you're out of a big league job.  The Royals under JJ Picollo have had shorter leashes on players. With that being said, Kyle Isbel's time in a Royals uniform may be running out. Fortunately for Isbel, Kansas City's Triple-A outfield depth is very thin other than Nick Pratto in terms of players that have pop in their bats. Aside from Pratto, the only outfielder in Omaha with big league experience is Drew Waters. Waters has been a disappointment to say the least. Waters came to Kansas City via trade with the Braves back in 2022 for the 35th pick for that year's draft.  Even with good play in Omaha, that doesn't mean a player is one flight away from returning to Kansas City. That's right, Nick Pratto. Pratto at this point in his career has...

Kansas City's rotation has been one of the best in the Major Leagues this season, with Seth Lugo standing out in particular. During the past offseason, the Royals made bolstering their rotation a top priority. Kansas City's front office successfully signed both Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha to strengthen their starting five. General Manager J.J. Picollo's ability to lure Lugo from the Padres to Kansas City was particularly impressive. Since the beginning of his career with the Mets, Lugo had always aspired to be a regular member of a team's rotation. However, opportunities in New York were limited due to the presence of stellar arms such as Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, and Noah Syndergaard. Following his departure from the Mets, Lugo secured a starting role with the Padres, where he performed admirably with a 3.57 ERA and 140 strikeouts. Opting out of his deal with the Friars, Lugo joined the Royals, and since arriving in the Midwest, he has been a puzzle for op...