Royals Rumblings - News for October 25, 2024
Could Tommy Pham return?
David Lesky writes about some potential free agent hitter targets for the Royals, including Tyler O’Neill.
I’ve written this before, but the Royals interest in O’Neill last winter probably doesn’t mean a ton about their interest this winter. He was available on what was essentially a one-year deal as it was his final year of arbitration. It ended up being less than $6 million and the acquisition cost was pretty low too. Now, after a .241/.336/.511 season, he’s likely looking for a multi-year deal at reasonably big money. Next season is his age-30 season, though he doesn’t turn it until late June. Multi-year deals for guys his age with his profile max out at around what I mentioned above for Hernandez and Conforto, though there are some weird outliers like the Nick Castellanos deal that was five for $100 million. I’d be pretty surprised if O’Neill gets that much, but the deal does exist in the world.
Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter considers if the Royals could bring back Tommy Pham.
The Royals could benefit from platooning Pham and Melendez in left field next season. Pham seemed to handle left field the best in Kansas City, as he posted a +2 OAA at that position via Savant. Though MJ improved defensively in 2024, his -6 OAA in left field still paled to Pham’s defensive performance last season.
Thus, Pham could give the Royals some veteran insurance at the corner outfield spots in 2025. In addition, he wouldn’t cost the Royals a lot, as his market value in free agency is expected to be around $2.5 to $3 million via Spotrac.
The Royals can bring back Pham on a one-year deal and still have financial flexibility to improve their position player roster via free agency.
Preston Farr at Farm to Fountains reviews the season for Maikel Garcia.
Jacob Milham at Kings of Kauffman grades the season for Salvador Perez.
Shohei Ohtani will not pitch in the World Series.
Aaron Judge is a Dodger-killer.
The Yankees set their pitching matchups for the first three games.
The Dodgers will honor Fernando Valenzuela with an honorary uniform patch.
Yankees GM Brian Cashman still thinks they should have won the 2017 title.
The Rangers want to drop below the luxury tax threshold next year.
Jim Bowden at The Athletic ranks the top free agents with predictions on how much they’ll get.
The Braves hire Tim Hyers to replace Kevin Seitzer as hitting coach.
Rob Manfred weighs in on the potential sale of the White Sox.
The Reds will have a visitation for Pete Rose at their ballpark.
The Athletics are shopping a minority stake that would value the team at $2 billion.
DeAndre Hopkins discussed coming to the Chiefs in a 2023 fishing trip with Chris Jones.
The NBA is investigating the 76ers handling of Joel Embiid.
Prosecutors seek a resentencing for the Menendez brothers for the murder of their parents.
Could we have a world without passwords?
Sex is disappearing from movies.
Your song of the day is Flaming Lips with The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song.