Royals Links: Winter Meetings, Ned Yost, Dillon Gee, & More

Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Today marks day 3 of the Winter Meetings, and it’s possible we could see an explosion of moves. Now that Jon Lester has agreed to sign with the Cubs, the remaining starters on the free agent market should begin to come off the board. Francisco Liriano also signed a deal yesterday, meaning there is one fewer option available, meaning things should get pretty exciting in short fashion.

The Royals have been mentioned in quite a few rumors – some probably more legitimate than others – so perhaps they’ve already laid the groundwork for a move. Or multiple moves. Or maybe zero moves. No one knows anything. Here are some links about rumors, news, and other speculation from the last few days.

More from KC Royals Rumors

– At Pine Tar Press, David Lesky suggests it may be better for the Royals to wait out the market some this winter. Whereas in years past the team was one of the first ones in the pool, they might be able to sit back and allow the market to develop before making their move(s). Now that Lester has signed with the Cubs, we may see more stuff happen, but I’m definitely fine with the Royals not rushing to make a bad deal just for the sake of making a deal.

– The Royals are rumored to be interested in Mets’ starter Dillon Gee, so Josh Duggan of Royals Review took a look at the 28-year old’s profile. He’s under team control for two more seasons at a reasonable rate (roughly $5 million in 2015) and has decent raw run prevention numbers (3.91 ERA in his career). However, those numbers are kept down by his home park, and his mediocre peripheral stats would likely regress in the American League. The Royals don’t really need another fringy back-end starter.

– Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star had some great quotes from Ned Yost during an interview on Monday. Yost said he became more flexible as the year went on, which was obvious in how he deployed his bullpen in the season’s final weeks. He also mentioned the Royals will stretch Brandon Finnegan out and give him a chance to start, but that putting him back in the bullpen was still an option.

– According to a report from Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times, the Royals have reportedly talked to the Braves about Justin Upton. The powerful right-handed bat would fit in perfectly with the Royals lineup, although the cost to acquire him, for even one season, could be high. It sounds like the Braves may be telling teams they need to accept Chris Johnson‘s awful contract in addition to Upton, so perhaps taking on salary could lessen the prospect cost. Might that be another reason why the Royals are shopping Omar Infante?

– The Hardball Times’ Daniel Brim looked at all of the videos released by MLB Advanced Media that contained data from StatCast – the new tracking system being used around the league – in an effort to see some detailed baserunning statistics. This system was installed in all four stadiums for the League Championship Series, so there is quite a bit of information on the Royals in this piece. Overall, it’s going to be fascinating to see what we can do as more data becomes available.

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