Royals Rumors & News

MLB.com "Last August inside the White Sox visiting clubhouse, Royals outfielder Alex Gordon, the face of the franchise, said he was at least pondering retirement for the first time in his career. But Gordon’s stunning and impressive start to the 2019 season now has him wondering, and..." May 17

Royals Review "As most of you are probably aware by now, the Kansas City Royals did a complete 180 on us yesterday by calling up Nicky Lopez days after telling us they weren’t going to call up Nicky Lopez. You can read about that here, here, here, and here. Shortly after..." May 14

MLB Trade Rumors "The Royals have designated first baseman Frank Schwindel for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster for infield prospect Nicky Lopez, whose previously announced promotion to the Major Leagues is now official (Twitter link via Lynn Worthy of the Kansas..." May 14

Royals Review "The Royals have selected the contract of Nicky Lopez from AAA Omaha and have sent down pitcher Jake Newberry. The team has yet to make a corresponding move on the 40-man roster. The 24-year old Lopez is a middle infielder who was a fifth-round pick by the Royals in 2016 out of..." May 13

Yardbarker "Royals utilityman Whit Merrifield racked up a career-high 39 outfield appearances a year ago, but he’s probably not going to approach that total this season. The Royals are wary of the physical toll that the outfield could take on Merrifield and will try to keep him at his primary..." May 12

Sportsnaut "Eventually, Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost is going to have to stop being the Royals manager, whether it’s on his own terms or not. The 2015 World Series Champion is the longest-tenured manager in the American League but is coaching his team under the uncertainty of a one-year..." May 07

USA Today "Major League Baseball’s attendance problem is not going away, as a significant dip in 2018 has endured into the new season – even with better weather and a boost from some big-name stars on the move. As the game’s worst part of the calendar comes to a close, 12 of 30..." April 30

Hardball Talk "With a home run on Monday or Tuesday night, Cody Bellinger will enter May with 15 home runs, which would be a record. Currently, Bellinger and Christian Yelich this season have joined Albert Pujols (2006) and Álex Rodríguez (2007) as the only players..." April 30

Variety "YouTube, in its biggest swing yet at the sports-media biz, landed a deal with Major League Baseball to live-stream 13 games during the 2019 season worldwide — free for viewers to watch and available exclusively through YouTube in the U.S., Canada and Puerto..." April 30

USA Today "In one of the most bizarre double plays you'll ever see, Kansas City's Terrance Gore and Billy Hamilton were both caught in rundowns on the same play. With Hamilton on first and Gore on third in the second inning against Tampa Bay on Wednesday, Hamilton took off as Rays lefty..." April 24

Kansas City Star "Royals pitcher Brad Keller, this year’s opening day starter, has dropped his appeal of Major League Baseball’s five-game suspension for his role in the bench-clearing altercation between the Royals and White Sox last week in Chicago. Keller’s suspension..." April 23

SB Nation "On April 19, Major League Baseball suspended Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson for one game, following his emphatic bat flip against Kansas City Royals pitcher Brad Keller two days earlier. Keller had retaliated by hitting Anderson with a pitch in..." April 23

The Score "Marcus Stroman isn't keeping quiet about the one-game suspension handed down to Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson for his reported use of racist language during a recent benches-clearing incident with the Kansas City Royals. The Toronto Blue Jays right-hander took to social..." April 20

MLB.com "Nothing from nothing leaves nothing, as the musician Billy Preston sang in 1974. But when the Yankees' Adam Ottavino faced the Royals' Terrance Gore in the seventh inning of New York's 6-2 win on Friday at Yankee Stadium, we had something -- baseball history. Both players..." April 20

12 Up "Across its several levels of the minors and the big leagues, there are some truly weird names in baseball. The Kansas City Royals, however, have among their ranks the most sexually-charged name across all of professional baseball. And it's beyond a shadow of a..." April 19

TSN "Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson has been suspended one game because of language used during the benches-clearing incident with the Kansas City Royals earlier this week accoridng to ESPN's Jeff Passan. Passan adds that Brad Keller, the pitcher who drilled Anderson with a..." April 19

Kansas City Star "The Royals’ schedule this year includes games against the National League East teams, so they’ll be in Atlanta for a two-game series in July. That will give the team a chance to watch Nigel Talton do his thing. Talton is better known as The Freeze, and the man..." April 19

Sportsnaut "If you’re a proponent of robot umps taking over at the MLB level, then a new study put together by graduate students at Boston University will strengthen your stance. The information garnered by this study, which evaluated nearly four million pitches over the span of..." April 16

Royals Review "Take a step back in time with me. It’s January 6th, 2016. The Royals are fresh off back-to-back World Series appearances and, more importantly, still flying high after a Plaza Parade celebrating their first World Championship in 30 years. I don’t know about you, but that seems so..." April 15

Hardball Talk "Flanagan reports that Hamilton has been diagnosed with a mild left knee sprain and is considered day-to-day. Royals outfielder Billy Hamilton collided with the wall in center field attempting to catch a fly ball hit by the Mariners’ Mitch Haniger in the..." April 12

Royals Review "The Royals have demoted first baseman Frank Schwindel to Omaha and have recalled pitcher Jake Newberry. Schwindel was a surprise addition to the Opening Day roster and appeared in six of the Royals’ 11 games, but had just one hit in 15 at-bats, with two strikeouts. With two other first..." April 11

MLB.com "Royals center fielder Billy Hamilton was carted off the field in the ninth inning Thursday, after apparently injuring his left knee while trying to make a game-ending catch. With the Mariners trailing 6-4 with two outs and two on, Mitch Haniger lifted a fly ball to deep center field..." April 11

The Score "Whit Merrifield's hit streak will make it into the Kansas City Royals record books, but no further. On Thursday, the second baseman was held hitless for the first time since Sept. 10 of last year, breaking a streak of 31 games. Merrifield, 30, broke the franchise record..." April 11

Hardball Talk "April 15 is quickly approaching so here’s one for all the tax nerds out there: the IRS issued new guidance today that will give professional sports teams some relief from a new twist presented by the tax law enacted in 2017. The relevant provision related to how businesses are..." April 11

Kansas City Star "Whit Merrifield issued a plea following Tuesday night’s game — that Royals followers not give up on the team so early in the season — and on Wednesday night he came to the plate in a drama-packed moment and gave those followers something to cheer about. Merrifield..." April 11

Royals Review "I wrote an article recently where I made the argument that numbers don’t always tell the entire story. This article is based on a similar principle, only this time we’re going to use more numbers to get a better picture of what’s happening, instead of backing away from..." April 10

Yahoo! Sports "The New York Yankees are the most valuable team in Major League Baseball, according to Forbes’ list of team values released Wednesday. If there’s déjà vu you’re feeling, it’s because the Yankees have sat atop the rankings every year Forbes..." April 10

Kansas City Star "Whit Merrifield sat up from his chair as a throng of media began to approach his locker. As the hitting streak has grown, so have the number of cameras, the number of tape recorders and the number of questions. It’s old baseball code not to talk about a hitting streak, same as a..." April 10

MLB Trade Rumors "The Royals announced Tuesday that Rule 5 pick Chris Ellis has cleared waivers and returned to the Cardinals organization. The right-hander will head to a minor league affiliate (without occupying a spot on the 40-man roster), though the Cardinals’ announcement of the move did..." April 09

Royals Review "The Royals are calling up left-handed reliever Richard Lovelady, according to Sixius XM radio host Craig Mish. The 23-year old left-hander was a tenth-round pick in 2016 by the Royals and has excelled at each level in the minor leagues, with a career 1.99 ERA in..." April 09

CBS Sports "One of baseball's recent true norths -- to invent a plural form -- is that commissioner Rob Manfred will tinker at the margins in order to improve pace of play, at least notionally, and re-calibrate a game that, according to sturdy consensus, has become too infested with..." April 09

USA Today "So much for Cuban players not having to defect to play in the majors. When the Trump administration abruptly cancelled Major League Baseball’s landmark agreement with the Cuban Baseball Federation, it guaranteed the dangerous practice will continue. Players..." April 09

Royals Review "Whit Merrifield doubled to begin Sunday’s game, which officially extended his hitting streak to 28, the second-longest hitting streak in franchise history. Only George Brett’s 30-game hitting streak in 1980 stands in front of Whit in Royals lore. However he has a long way to go to..." April 08

Hardball Talk "Mid-February marked the beginning of contract extension season in baseball. Since February 13, 25 contract extensions have been signed, notably by many young players including Ronald Acuña Jr., Blake Snell, and Eloy Jiménez. Acuña Jr. and Snell were last year’s..." April 08

MLB Trade Rumors "The Royals have selected the contract of righty Homer Bailey, who’ll slide into the club’s rotation. To create roster space, righty Chris Ellis was designated for assignment. Bailey, who’s a month from his 33rd birthday, will try to resurrect his..." April 03

Awful Announcing "I was taken aback this week when I attempted to watch highlights on MLB.com. For some reason, they got rid of the damn search bar. It’s absurd. Previously, if you clicked on the videos tab, you would see a page of the most popular recent videos, with an easy to..." April 03

Royals Review "The Royals have acquired catcher Andrew Susac from the Baltimore Orioles for cash considerations. The 29-year old has been a journeyman, hitting .221/.283/.373 in 113 career big league games over five seasons with the Brewers, Giants, and Orioles. Last year he appeared in just nine games with..." April 02

Hardball Talk "The first response I usually get to a post like our post about the Ronald Acuña Jr. extension — a post which notes that the Braves are getting an extraordinary bargain for a supremely talented player — is “So what? It’s their choice? No one forced them..." April 02

MLB.com "While Opening Day starter Brad Keller will pitch again on Tuesday against the Twins on normal rest, the Royals continue to list Wednesday’s starter as to-be-announced. But that spot in the rotation likely will go to right-hander Homer Bailey, who was signed in the..." April 01

NESN "Defensive shifts used to be rare occurrences reserved for only the most-notable left-handed pull hitters in Major League Baseball. Oh, how times have changed. As advanced stats have taken a larger role in the day-to-day workings of baseball, and every manager in the game has..." March 28

MLB Trade Rumors "The Angels have claimed outfielder Brian Goodwin off release waivers from the Royals, Robert Murray of The Athletic reports (on Twitter). It’s not especially common for players to be claimed off release waivers, and Goodwin will technically have the option to reject the claim (as is a..." March 27

Royals Review "The Royals announced they have released outfielder Brian Goodwin and have selected the contract of first baseman Lucas Duda. The 28-year old Goodwin was acquired by the Royals last July from the Nationals for minor league pitcher Jacob Congra-Bogan but played in just 27 games in Kansas City due..." March 25

Sportsnet "We are not witnessing the death of the Major League Baseball Players Association. But on the 50th anniversary of Curt Flood’s challenge on the reserve clause that opened the door for free agency, we are bystanders to its gelding. It’s debatable who, if anybody, gets the..." March 25

Hardball Talk "With the recent spate of contract extensions and big name free agent signings, more than a handful of fans have expressed concern that deals signed by the likes of Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, and Manny Machado will drive up ticket prices. Research on the subject is scarce, but..." March 22

Kansas City Star "Pitcher Ian Kennedy will embrace a “new part” of his career as the Royals will move the longtime starter into the bullpen for the 2019 season. After an injury-plagued 2018 season, the organization and Kennedy hope the move will make Kennedy an even more valuable weapon for their..." March 20

USA Today "It took 11 years, but three players this winter have agreed to contracts larger than the record-setting 10-year, $275 million deal Alex Rodriguez signed with the New York Yankees in the fall of 2007. Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout will make $426.5 million over..." March 19

ESPN "Major League Baseball suggested sweeping changes to the minor leagues -- including a significant increase in salaries, a higher standard of living conditions and better transportation -- during an initial collective-bargaining session with the group that oversees the minors, sources familiar..." March 19

CBS Sports "Sign-stealing is a hot topic in baseball these days after the Astros were caught monitoring and recording activity in the opposing dugout during the postseason last year. Houston was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, though the incident did bring high-tech sign-stealing into..." March 18

MLB Trade Rumors "The Blue Jays have acquired right-hander Jason Adam from the Royals for cash considerations, Scott Mitchell of TSN reports. Additionally, the Blue Jays announced notable injury news regarding second baseman Devon Travis and right-hander Mark Leiter Jr., Shi Davidi of Sportsnet tweets. Travis..." March 17

MLB.com "Jorge Soler is going to be in the lineup somewhere every day this season. Where he plays – either in right field or as the club’s designated hitter – each day is to be determined. “How do I know? How do I know what’s going to happen? How do I..." March 17