Royals Rumors & News

Kansas City Star "Eric Skoglund, who figured to compete for the Royals’ starting rotation this season, will be suspended 80 games by Major League Baseball for testing positive for banned performance-enhancing drugs. Skoglund, 26, made 14 appearances with 13 starts for the Royals last season,..." January 16

Royals Review "I was scrolling through Twitter the other day and saw a graph roll through my timeline regarding Royals pitcher Jorge Lopez. Lopez, who came over in the Mike Moustakas trade last sumer, really impressed me in his brief time with KC in 2018. I believe he ought to be the Royals’ fifth..." January 15

ESPN "With $3 million at stake, the Boston Red Sox wanted to create the most compelling argument possible against Mookie Betts without alienating or insulting him. So last January, as they tried to convince a three-person arbitration panel that Betts deserved the $7.5 million..." January 11

Hardball Talk "There’s an offseason deadline today that, in the past, you may not have thought much about but which, this year, is a bit more important. It’s the deadline by which teams and arbitration-eligible players who were tendered a contract back on November 30 must exchange salary..." January 11

Bleacher Report "With the new year upon us and spring training around the corner, Bryce Harper and Manny Machado remain on the free-agent market. Both will eventually sign, and the consensus is they will land megadeals in excess of $200 million. According to The Athletic's Jim Bowden,..." January 10

Royals Review "It’s sometimes rough to find a positive for a team coming off of a 104 loss season. You don’t lose that many games without there being some major issues going on with your team. In that regard, the Kansas City Royals are like every other team in their..." January 09

Bleacher Report "With close attention being paid to the number of free agents still unsigned, Major League Baseball teams did something last season that hasn't happened since 2010.  Per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com), the $4,227,041,948 combined payroll for all 30 teams in 2018..." January 09

CBS Sports "If general managers of baseball teams still used paper calendars and magic markers, they would have circled those calendars years ago, drooling with anticipation for this winter. Bryce Harper and Manny Machado are multi-tool superstars in their mid-20s, making them the kind..." January 09

MLB Trade Rumors "The Royals have signed right-hander Kyle Zimmer to a one-year deal, the team announced (Twitter links).  Zimmer’s deal is a Major League deal, and MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reports (via Twitter) that it is a split contract.  Zimmer will earn $124K in the minors and $555K..." January 05

Fish Stripes "The Marlins announced Wednesday afternoon that they’ve claimed infielder/outfielder Rosell Herrera off waivers from the Royals. The acquisition fills up their 40-man roster. Herrera, 26, split his 2018 season between the Reds and Royals..." January 04

USA Today "Bryce Harper, a National League MVP at 23, is a free agent at 26, peddling his services in an industry that’s grown to nearly $11 billion in annual revenues. His combination of skills, age and marketing cachet make him an excellent fit for any major league franchise. Even the..." December 30

TMZ "Grab your tissues ... this tearjerker's brought to you by Kansas City Royals prospect Brady Singer who surprised his parents with a VERY expensive gift that'll earn him an award for Son of the Year. Singer posted this video on Christmas Day ... which begins with..." December 26

Royals Review "The Royals announced they have re-signed outfielder Bubba Starling, first baseman Samir Duenez, and pitcher Jason Adam to minor league deals. They non-tendered the three back on November 30 to clear space on the 40-man roster. Pitcher Andres Machado was re-signed a few weeks..." December 18

Royals Review "The Royals have a pretty rich tradition in Kansas City. Despite the shadow of Hall of Famer George Brett looming over the position, the Royals have done pretty well at the hot corner with Kevin Seitzer, Joe Randa, and Mike Moustakas all providing solid play for several years. But as..." December 12

Royals Review "What traditionally has been a major strength for the Royals turned into a major weakness in 2018. The Royals had the worst bullpen in baseball by WAR last season with an AL-worst 5.04 ERA. Additionally, they lost some of their best arms - Joakim Soria and Kelvin Herrera - through..." December 10

Hardball Talk "Jim Bowden reports that the Kansas City Royals are close to agreement with outfielder Billy Hamilton. He says they are “just working through bonuses and pending physical.” Hamilton was non-tendered by the Cincinnati Reds a couple of weeks ago following six seasons with the..." December 10

Cincinnati Enquirer "The Kansas City Royals have an apparent vacancy in center field and have shown interest in former Cincinnati Reds outfielder Billy Hamilton, according to multiple reports via Twitter. Hamilton became a free agent after the Reds did not offer him a contract before last..." December 06

CBS Sports "Changes to the way teams line up -- and are allowed to line up -- defensively could be coming to Major League Baseball. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has received "strong" backing from baseball's competition committee to try to "put something in place" to limit..." December 05

MLB Trade Rumors "The Royals have struck a deal with free agent utilityman Chris Owings, per Robert Murray of The Athletic (via Twitter). Terms of the prospective deal are not yet known; presumably, a physical remains at a minimum. On the surface, this seems to be quite a sensible match for all..." December 05

Royals Review "When the Kansas City Royals traded longtime third baseman and franchise legend Mike Moustakas to the Milwaukee Brewers in July, we all thought that would be it for Moustakas’ Royals career. Granted, we all thought that would be it for his Royals career in September 2017, and Moose became..." December 04

12 Up "Overall, there hasn't been a lot of action thus far this offseason as we wait for things to start to heating up with the Winter Meetings approaching. However, there's one position that has been getting a ton of interest this offseason: catcher. There are still teams..." December 02

MLB Trade Rumors "The Royals have utilized the opportunity of today’s non-tender deadline to drop four players from their MLB roster, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reported on Twitter and the team has now announced. Outfielder Bubba Starling is the most recognizable name who’ll be cut loose;..." November 30

CBS Sports "Flynn signed a one-year contract with the Royals on Thursday, avoiding arbitration. Flynn spent the 2018 campaign as a middle reliever for the Royals, posting a 4.04 ERA, 1.61 WHIP and 47:35 K:BB across 75.2 innings. " November 29

CBS Sports "On Friday, the Kansas City Royals announced that they have hired Mike Matheny as a special adviser for player development. The former St. Louis Cardinals manager will assist in several aspects of the baseball operations department, including scouting and..." November 23

Hardball Talk "The Baseball Hall of Fame has released its ballot for 2019. The newcomers to the ballot, two of whom I presume will be first-ballot inductees, include Mariano Rivera and Roy Halladay: Roy Halladay Todd Helton Andy Pettitte Mariano..." November 19

Sporting News "Major League Baseball and DAZN, the fast-growing global live and on-demand sports streaming service, have finalized plans to create a weeknight show for baseball fans to follow game-by-game action in real time beginning in the 2019 season.  The yet-to-be-named program,..." November 16

Hardball Talk "There’s something interesting deep in Ken Rosenthal’s latest notes column. It’s about arbitration, with Rosenthal reporting that the players union believes that all 30 teams will take a “file-and-trial” approach to arbitration this winter. If..." November 16

MLB Trade Rumors "Major League Baseball announced today that it has reached a new seven-year, multiplatform agreement with FOX Sports spanning the 2022-28 seasons. Eric Fisher of Sports Business Journal reports (via Twitter) that the contract’s rough value is a staggering $5.1 billion — a..." November 15

Hardball Talk "The owners meetings are going on down in Atlanta this week. Unlike a lot of gatherings of baseball dignitaries, we tend not to get much news out of them, however. We know the owners do things like light cigars with $100 bills and, I dunno, play games of chess on human-sized chess boards with..." November 15

Kansas City Star "This is the season of baseball players changing teams and one of the sport’s more valuable trade assets is Royals property. Done right, they could push some other contender toward a championship while bolstering their own chances in the future. A win-win. The reasons they..." November 14

Royals Review "The Royals are not rebuilding. No sir, they have made that very clear. Dayton Moore expects the team to win games next year - probably not enough to contend, but he does want an expectation of winning games rather than looking to the future, even as they look to the future. But..." November 13

MLB Trade Rumors "Major League Baseball owners are expected to meet next week to vote on a five-year extension for commissioner Rob Manfred, reports USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. He’d need the approval of ownership representatives from 16 of the 30 teams, though Nightengale reports that Manfred..." November 09

Larry Brown Sports "Paranoia about sign stealing was more rampant than ever during the MLB playoffs this year, and the league is trying to find ways to cut down on that heading into 2019. According to Jon Morosi of MLB Network, Major League Baseball is in the process of trying to implement rules and..." November 07

Bleacher Report "The free-agent market this winter includes the National League's Most Valuable Player—from 2015. And the American League's MVP—also from 2015. And the AL Cy Young winner. And two others who finished in the top five in MVP voting in their respective..." November 07

Sportsnaut "One of the interesting possibilities coming out of the GM meetings is not a potential deal, but a big change to the MLB trade deadline. MLB is considering moving the non-waiver deadline back from its traditional July 31 date. In the process, the waiver deadline of August 31 would be..." November 06

Hardball Talk "The Hall of Fame just announced the nominees for this year’s Veterans Committee ballot. Well, they don’t call it the “Veterans Committee” anymore, but it basically is. It’s now done with an era-system which rotates every year, and this year’s era is the..." November 05

Yahoo! Sports "Early in her seminal Babe Ruth biography, “The Big Fella,” Jane Leavy, the gifted storyteller of bygone ballplayers, perfectly encapsulates his place at the intersection of America’s game, Americana and America today. The forebear of modern politicians and religious..." November 05

Hardball Talk "The General Manager Meetings are taking place in San Diego this week. We don’t often get a lot of general news from those. Heck, at the moment two teams — the Giants and the Orioles — don’t even have general managers. The best way to think of the GM Meetings is to think..." November 05

ESPN "Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print The Boston Red Sox, just a week after winning the World Series, had the most players in the American League named as Rawlings Gold Glove winners, with right..." November 05

MLB Trade Rumors "The Royals announced Friday that right-hander Brandon Maurer, outfielder Paulo Orlando and infielder Ramon Torres all cleared outright waivers. Maurer has already rejected his outright assignment in favor of free agency, while both Orlando and Torres will become minor..." November 02

Bleed Cubbie Blue "Roster moves, options and opt-outs are in the news this week, and the Chicago Cubs are no exception to those moves: The exercising of Jose Quintana’s option was expected, and a no-brainer, really; it’s for $10.5 million. October 31

Fox Sports "With the likes of Jeff Montgomery, Dan Quisenberry, Joakim Soria and Greg Holland, the Kansas City Royals have trotted out some outstanding closers over the years. But only one Royals pitcher has ever recorded at least 10 saves without blowing an opportunity in a season. That would be..." October 31

MLB Trade Rumors "The Royals announced that they’ve declined their half of right-hander Jason Hammel’s mutual option, thereby making him a free agent. Hammel will receive a $2MM buyout rather than a $12MM salary for the 2019 season and will hit the open market in search of a new club. The..." October 30

Bleacher Report "For all the fuss this month about sign stealing, the key matchup in the World Series may have nothing to do with which team has the other team's signs. Sometimes, you don't need the signs. Sometimes, the pitcher tells you what's coming. He may do it..." October 22

Kansas City Star "At some point last summer, as the Royals trod toward 104 losses, general manager Dayton Moore essentially banned a word from the lingo of front-office personnel. Rebuild. The designation seemed rather suitable for the Royals, who had endured enough turnover that the roster..." October 19

Hardball Talk "Back in June, we learned that the Royals were considering signing embattled pitcher Luke Heimlich. Heimlich is a registered sex offender who pleaded guilty to a felony charge of molesting his then-six-year-old niece back when he was 15 years-old. Heimlich went undrafted. Per Tom..." October 18

Sportsnaut "Major League Baseball might not be too excited by the Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that overturned a nation-wide ban on sports gambling. But as states take it upon themselves to open up sportsbooks in the wake of said ruling, America’s pastime could soon see an..." October 18

Kansas City Star "The season ended as it started for Royals catcher Salvador Perez. In pain. Perez has been playing for the previous six weeks with a left thumb injury that will require surgery to repair ligament damage on Tuesday. “We’re going to fix it for next..." October 01

Kansas City Star "Ned Yost will return as the Royals manager next year. Yost and the club agreed to a 1-year extension, they announced Sunday. A frustrating year is ending on an uptick as the Royals prepared for their season finale on Sunday. There is no avoiding last place in the American..." September 30