KC Royals Midweek Musings: Trade updates and more

This week’s KC Royals Midweek Musings tells you which former team members were included in trade deadline deals, who finally got a day off and how some injured players are doing.

Some KC Royals Midweek Musings while wondering if Alex Gordon and the club have discussed 2021:

Did any former Royals move by the trade deadline?  By now, last week’s trades of Trevor Rosenthal to the Padres and Brett Phillips to Tampa Bay are old news; time will tell how those deals will work out for Kansas City. But what of former Royals? Scouring the Internet reveals several changed teams.

Hitting close to home was the deal that sent outfielder/pinch runner Jarrod Dyson from the Pirates to the Royals’ American League Central Division rival White Sox for international bonus pool considerations. Dyson moved over to Chicago in time to see action against Kansas City over the weekend.

Two ex-Royal outfielders playing on the West Coast headed east: the Angels traded Brian Goodwin to Cincinnati for pitcher Packy Naughton and the Giants sent Billy Hamilton to the Mets for pitcher Jordan Humphreys and.

Pitcher Cody Reed, no stranger to trade deadline deals—the KC Royals packaged him with fellow hot mound prospects Brandon Finnegan and John Lamb to get Johnny Cueto from the Reds in 2015—went from the Reds to Tampa Bay for pitcher Riley O’Brien.

Mike Minor, another pitcher who spent time with Kansas City, moved from the Rangers to the A’s for infielder Dustin Harris, outfielder Marcus Smith, and international bonus pool considerations.

And Tampa sent former KC farmhand Jose Martinez to the Cubs for two players to be named later or cash.

Two other ex-Royals received bad news after Monday’s trade deadline. The Brewers released Justin Grimm and Toronto designated Sam Gaviglio for assignment.

Mondi gets a night off.  Manager Mike Matheny finally gave struggling shortstop Adalberto Mondesi a night off Tuesday. Mondesi, who’d played in all 35 games before Tuesday despite an awful .186/.211/.240 slash and two RBIs, sat against the Indians. Second baseman Nicky Lopez filled in at short, Whit Merrifield started at second and Bubba Starling took Merrifield’s place in center.

But don’t look for Mondesi’s time off, encouraged here at Kings of Kauffman a few days ago, to last long. As mlb.com’s Royals beat writer Jeffrey Flanagan reported Tuesday, Mondesi is Matheny’s shortstop:

FanFest canceled.  The Royals announced Tuesday that FanFest, their annual preseason winter bash, has been canceled for 2021. The club also announced it’s scheduled the next FanFest for Jan. 28 and 29, 2022.

Braden Shipley no longer with Kansas City.  Pitcher Braden Shipley, signed by the Royals last December, has been released. Shipley was on the Royals’ 60-man Player Pool but never received a call to the big club.

Injuries.  Reliever Ian Kennedy became the latest addition to the KC Royals’ Injured List after suffering a calf injury Saturday against the White Sox. He went on the 10-day List Monday.

Salvador Perez remains on the List with vision trouble.

Nick Heath landed on the List with a hamstring issue Aug. 8 and was optioned Monday to the club’s alternate site.

Old friends playing overseas.  Former Kansas City pitcher Aaron Brooks threw eight scoreless innings to earn a win in his start Tuesday for the Korean Baseball Organization League’s Kia Tigers. He’s now 8-4 with a 2.68 ERA.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows teammates Nori Aoki and Alcides Escobar, who also played together with the Royals, continue to make their marks in Japan. Aoki is hitting .310 with 11 home runs and Escobar has a .287 average to go with one homer.

Simulation update.  The KC Royals are still the American League Central’s last place team in baseball-reference.com’s simulated 2020 season.

Tuesday, the club won for the first time since our last update and is now 40 games below .500 at 49-89.

Jorge Soler has tied Ryan O’Hearn for the team home run lead with 22 and Whit Merrifield leads with a .316 average. Danny Duffy and Jorge Lopez both have seven wins; Brad Keller won his fourth game Tuesday but has 15 losses. Ian Kennedy tops the Royals with 11 saves and Scott Barlow is close behind with 10.

The division leads haven’t changed: the Yankees, Indians, A’s, Nationals, Cardinals and Dodgers all remain in first place.

The simulation utilizes Out of the Park Baseball 21 and is updated daily around noon.

That’s all for this time. We’ll be back next week with more KC Royals Midweek Musings. Until then, stay safe and healthy.