Royals Links: Patience at the Plate, Roster Composition, & More

Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Today is Christmas Eve, so I wouldn’t expect to see too many teams making moves for a few days. The Royals may announce the Edinson Volquez signing soon, along with the corresponding roster move, but most teams tend to settle down around the holidays. Considering how busy everything has been around baseball recently, I’d say it’s even more important to take some time off so everyone can catch their breath. So with that in mind, on behalf of all of the Kings of Kauffman staff, we wish you all a merry Christmas and a very happy holiday season. Let’s get to some links.

– Since you probably don’t have any other plans today and tonight, FOX Sports Kansas City is airing a marathon of Royals games from the 2014 regular season. At 12 pm, they’ll show the May 17 win over Baltimore, in which Danny Duffy carried a no-hitter into the 7th inning. At 2 pm, it’s the June 3 win against the Cardinals, capping off a two-game sweep. The Sung Woo Game will be played at 4 pm, so be sure to stay tuned all the way through Jarrod Dyson‘s backflip. Next up will be the walkoff infield single against the White Sox, with Terrance Gore rounding the bases twice before the ball even reached second. And finally, of course, the game that clinched a playoff berth will air at 8 pm.

– Max Rieper of Royals Review took some research done by an author at FanGraphs on the composition of every team’s 40-man roster, and went a step further by looking at where the Royals’ production is expected to come from. He looked at projections and payroll costs for every player, and found that, unsurprisingly, the bulk of the production should come from homegrown talent. Also unsurprisingly, free agents will receive more dollars than players acquired in other ways.

More from KC Royals News

• KC Royals Rumors: Is a monster move in the cards?
• KC Royals Free Agent Hunt: 3 Tampa Bay pitchers
• Grading the 2022 KC Royals: The $25 million man
• KC Royals Winter Meetings Tracker: Expectations met
• KC Royals Winter Meetings Tracker: Day 3 update

– It’s no secret the Royals don’t draw many walks, but Pine Tar Press’ David Lesky broke down some numbers showing just how averse this team is to patience at the plate. Because they have so many guys with great contact skills, they should have a higher floor, but too many nights dealing with an angry BABIP Fairy could result in another frustrating offensive year, especially if they don’t offset their lack of on-base ability with more power than they showed in 2014.

– At Grantland, Ben Lindbergh says the Royals’ offseason has been pretty underwhelming, but it’s also been unsurprising. He thinks the moves could conceivably work out, although they lack the kind of flash or pizzazz you might expect following a pennant-winning season. Then again, this is how the Royals tend to do things, so it makes sense that they wouldn’t deviate from their plan.

– Joshua Kusnick is an agent, but he also writes for Baseball Prospectus. Yesterday, he wrote about something he’s done at the Winter Meetings for the last few years: he picks out the first young job-seeker he sees, and allows that person to follow him around for a few days to introduce him or her to the business of baseball. Every person he’s helped now has a job in the sport, which is pretty cool. Breaking into baseball can be extremely difficult, so getting the opportunity to network with a certified agent is always a big boost. And Kusnick does this all for free.