Royals Rumblings - News for November 25, 2024
The Jonathan India trade is all about Bobby Witt Jr.
Sam McDowell writes that the Jonathan India trade is all about Bobby Witt Jr.
Because this is what waits behind him: Witt hit 23 solo home runs in 2024, fifth most in baseball. His 23 doubles with nobody on ranked fourth. The six triples, second. The 122 hits, first.
For the record, I remain curious about what the Royals do defensively, and they’ve talked with Massey about left field. They’re also now back in the market for starting pitching. This offseason just turned up a notch.
Those items matter, but they can’t match the consequence of giving, say, 10% of Witt’s plate appearances a little more juice.
Craig Brown has mixed feelings about the deal.
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being an amazing and exciting deal for the Royals, this trade lands at a solid five for me. One one hand, it’s good to see Picollo and his staff actually being transactional. Singer was their best trade chip and they went and found a deal. Perhaps this is my bias talking, but I can’t help but feel they could’ve done better than India. (I’m not ignoring Wiemer, I just think he’s a bit of a throw-in because the Royals agree that a straight up Singer-for-India deal isn’t enough to get across the finish line.)
Royals Weekly examines the deal.
India has one other offensive attribute that I find particularly interesting. He finds an optimal launch angle a lot. Despite having a well-below-average hard hit rate, he had a roughly average barrel percentage. Why? Because he has a great launch angle. Piccolo mentioned in the press conference about this trade that he thought India would thrive offensively with Kauffman’s spacious outfield. It’ll probably mean even fewer home runs for him, but it might mean a lot more doubles and triples. His excellent launch angle makes me hopeful on this point.
Kevin O’Brien of Royals Repoter reviews the trade and who the Royals could pursue to replace Brady Singer in the rotation.
Furthermore, I think Picollo will add another starting pitcher candidate to the mix as insurance for Marsh and Wright, Ragans, Lugo, and Wacha, should any of them get injured in 2025.
Michael Lorenzen seemed to respond well to Royals pitching coaches Brian Sweeney and Zach Bove, so he could be a candidate to return to Kansas City on a reasonable one-year contract. Frankie Montas and Shane Bieber are proven free-agent targets who could solidify the back of the Royals rotation. Additionally, Cal Quantrill, Griffin Canning, and Patrick Sandoval are recent non-tendered pitchers who could be bounceback projects for Sweeney and Bove in Kansas City.
Colorado signs infielder Kyle Farmer to a one-year deal.
Teams are expected to make offers to Juan Soto this week.
The Red Sox are interested in free agent Corbin Burnes.
The Orioles are pursuing catching help.
The free agents who raised their stock after one-year deals this year.
The 2025 Rookie of the Year candidates.
The Rays are building a team with the expectation of more rainouts next summer.
Why Tigers reliever Tyler Holton deserved his downballot MVP vote.
Is the strikeout era ending?
Former batting champ Rico Carty dies at the age of 85.
UCLA ends South Carolina’s women’s basketball winning streak of 43 games.
A position switch for Kylian Mbappé was just what Real Madrid needed.
Spirit Airlines’ CEO got a $3.8 million bonus just before the company filed for bankruptcy.
A crypto guru spent $6.2 million for a banana taped to a wall.
Your song of the day is Pink Floyd with Comfortably Numb.