Weekend Rumblings - News for January 4, 2024
What’s next for the Royals in 2025?
Jaylon Thompson writes about things to look for with the Royals in 2025.
Witt produced another historic campaign in 2024. He led Major League Baseball with a .332 batting average and 211 hits. He added 32 home runs, 31 steals and 109 RBIs in 161 games.
For that, Witt secured multiple awards. He won a Gold Glove, Silver Slugger and was named the MLBPA Heart and Hustle Award winner. However, Witt finished second in AL MVP voting behind Aaron Judge.
Could Witt win MVP in 2025? He remains the Royals’ offensive engine and could have more run-scoring opportunities with the addition of new leadoff hitter Jonathan India.
Hall of Famer George Brett was the last Royal to win the AL MVP in 1980.
David Lesky looks at the roster as it is currently constructed.
The reason for pessimism lies in the rotation and the relatively inconsistent offense. I think the rotation is still going to be a strength for this team in 2025, but I also question whether or not they’ll be able to get as much out of their starting five as they did in 2024. They were just so healthy, and I think it would be a huge upset if they were as healthy in 2025. It’s not that it can’t happen, it’s just that there will likely be some regression. There likely would have been regression with Brady Singer too, for whatever that’s worth. I think it’s a very reasonable thought to say that the main pieces of the rotation will be as good as they were in 2024, but they just won’t pitch as much. Then it falls more on unknowns like Bubic, Kyle Wright, Noah Cameron and others.
ESPN ranks the Royals #13 in their power rankings.
The Royals will hope to hold the ground they gained after last year’s miracle turnaround. They re-signed Michael Wacha to a three-year deal and then traded Brady Singer for Jonathan India, losing some rotation depth but adding much-needed on-base ability (India had a .357 OBP for the Reds). If the Royals want to return to the postseason, however, they might need to improve their bullpen depth or maybe add some rotation insurance (an outfield bat would be nice, too).
Preston Farr at Farm to Fountains looks back at the Royals’ 2022 draft class.
The Dodgers sign Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim to a three-year, $12.5 million deal.
Baltimore signs veteran pitcher Charlie Morton to a one-year, $15 million contract.
The Tigers and Blue Jays emerge as favorites to land Alex Bregman.
The Angels are weighing a run at Pete Alonso.
Who is left on the free agent pitching market?
The Red Sox plan to keep Ceddanne Rafaela in centerfield as much as possible.
The Nationals want a court to uphold $320.5 million in TV rights from MASN that the Orioles owe them.
Why some of the worst teams in baseball could have hope.
Umpires have gotten better, but the edges of the strike zone have shrunk.
Carlos Beltrán is named GM of the Puerto Rican WBC team, and he names Yadier Molina as manager.
Five Chiefs are voted into the Pro Bowl, but Patrick Mahomes is not one of them.
The PGA may have a bracket format for the Tour Championship.
Why does Peanuts continue to live on 25 years after the comic strip ended?
Despite inflation, Americans love coffee more than ever. [$]
The Breaking Bad house in Albuquerque is up for sale for $4 million.
Your song of the day is Bob Seger with You’ll Accomp’ny Me.