From Soup to 'Nuts': Who's Healthiest in KC?

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February 19, 2017 MLB TRANSACTIONS LOCAL February 19, 2017 •.CBSSports.com http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/transactions From soup to 'nuts': Who's healthiest in KC? LOCAL Merrifield's pizza craving gives edge to Gordon February 18, 2017 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/216386742/alex- From soup to 'nuts': Who's healthiest gordon-whit-merrifield-in-health-battle/ in KC? Shortstop Escobar aiming for the Merrifield's pizza craving gives edge to Gordon fences February 18, 2017 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/216386742/alex- February 18, 2017 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com gordon-whit-merrifield-in-health-battle/ http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/216395866/kansas-city- royals-alcides-escobar-eyes-homers/ Call it the Royal Battle of the Health Food Nuts. Yordano Ventura’s final year filled with family turmoil, emotional In one corner is the legendary Alex Gordon, he of the next- to-zero percent body fat who many years ago cheated on his distress diet with a cheeseburger. The shame. February 19, 2017 By Vahe Gregorian & Maria Torres/KC Star And in the other corner, the young, upstart Whit Merrifield, http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city- who caught everyone's attention last year when he revealed royals/article133099124.html he ate seven perfectly healthy meals a day combined with Somebody sent Salvador Perez a bat multiple workouts a day. from ‘The Walking Dead’ for some "I saw that," Gordon said of Merrifield's daily regimen. reason "Interesting." February 18, 2017 By Rustin Dodd/KC Star Merrifield added about 15 pounds of muscle before the 2016 http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city- season with a diet that consisted of nine eggs and oatmeal for royals/article133622999.html breakfast, then chicken, rice and vegetables three times a day, Royals hope to identify their leadoff then red meat for dinner, and all of that supplemented by two hitter during spring training protein shakes at different times of the day. February 18, 2017 By Rustin Dodd/KC Star Gordon admits he is impressed. http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city- royals/article133632949.html "But I don't have seven meals," Gordon said. "Maybe if you For Royals pitcher Chris Young, the count snacks as a meal I do. I do breakfast, lunch and dinner. offseason offered another title: "I eat a lot of food, and I don't want to say all the things I eat. ‘Coach’ But it's all healthy. Pretty much high protein and low fat. But February 18, 2017 By Rustin Dodd/KC Star I eat a lot of carbs. Lot of pasta and rice. Protein shakes in http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city- there, too." royals/article133609774.html Coming off new procedure, Maness Merrifield concedes that Gordon likely is the healthier eater. fighting to earn spot with Royals "I enjoy my weekends," Merrifield said. "I'll break down and February 18, 2017 FOXSportsKC.com (via AP) have a pizza and a beer on weekends." http://www.foxsports.com/kansas-city/story/coming-off-new- procedure-seth-maness-fighting-earn-spot-kansas-city-royals- Gordon admits he'll break down, too. Sort of. 021817 "I'll have a beer," Gordon said. "I might have chicken wings every once in a while. That might be once every couple of NATIONAL months. That is my cheat food.

"It would be pizza. But I won't let myself do it. But I crave it Yordano Ventura's Toxicology Report all the time." Will Not Be Made Public February 18, 2017 By Emma Baccellieri/Deadspin.com Informed of this, Merrifield smiled, "See? I knew it. I have http://deadspin.com/yordano-venturas-toxicology-reports- more pizza than him." will-not-be-made-pu-1792512584 Not that Gordon sits around and nibbles on alfalfa sprouts Padres agree to deal with Weaver and tree bark all day. February 18, 2017 By AJ Cassavell/MLB.com http://m.padres.mlb.com/news/article/216388836/padres- "I've gotten smarter over the years," Gordon said. "I'm not agree-on-pact-with-pitcher-jered-weaver/ like die-hard chicken, rice and vegetables every meal. I mix it up with some red meat, some pasta. I enjoy it a little more than I used to. I have a lot of whole grain, rice, pasta, whole grain breads. It's just got to be healthy." “It’s not a secret that it’s a dangerous road,” said Col. Diego Pesqueira of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, The hardest part for Merrifield and Gordon is preparing adding, “It’s a road people know they shouldn’t drive after healthy food. It takes time and energy. dark.”

"But I like cooking," Gordon said. "And my wife does a good Yet on this unforgiving highway, largely unlit and shrouded job of cooking, too. We make it work." in fog, here drove a heedless Yordano Ventura between approximately 3 and 5 a.m. on Jan. 22. Said Merrifield, "I'll still concede it to Gordo. He's the healthiest." Following a festival in Ocoa with friends, the 25-year-old Shortstop Escobar aiming for the Royals pitcher took to a road he’d never driven before in the jacked-up Jeep, whose high suspension worried some who fences knew him. February 18, 2017 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/216395866/kansas-city- Disdaining his seat belt as usual, he intermittently exchanged royals-alcides-escobar-eyes-homers/ calls with his estranged wife, María del Pilar Sangiovanni.

Shortstop Alcides Escobar made a bold statement right out of According to a screenshot of her cellphone call log she the gate Saturday as rain cut short the Royals' workout: He provided to The Star, they last spoke at 4:23 a.m. before he believes he can hit double-digit home runs after hitting a hung up to search for a better GPS signal. He was lost, she career-high seven homers in 2016. said, on the way to her home in Constanza yet another 50 miles away. "Oh, yeah. I think I can hit 10-15 homers," said Escobar, who arrived in camp Friday. Soon thereafter, he navigated the hairpin left turn at Arroyo Malo and steered through a deft right twist downhill before Escobar also has the same goal he has every season -- play abruptly losing control of the Jeep. 162 games, a feat he accomplished in 2016 and '14. Zig-zagging and over-correcting, police said, he skidded over "Every year I feel better," he said. "I feel more comfortable at rumble strips intended to provide traction and further alert the plate. I'm feeling really good." drivers, plowed through a caution sign into a guardrail and flipped. Worth noting Ventura died on impact. A toxicology report is pending. Speedy Terrance Gore has never been known for his bat -- he's a career .243 hitter in the Minors, is hitless in nine Major Pesquiera, a spokesperson for the agency investigating the League plate appearances and didn't get his first Spring accident, said Ventura died because air bags in the Jeep never Training hit until last season. deployed. Official police photos of the car that were viewed by The Star show an intact steering wheel. But Gore pledges that his offense will be much better in 2017. The Jeep, detailed in Royal blue and embellished with “YVentura” in its front grille and headrests, wasn’t Ventura’s "I feel better at the plate," Gore said. "I don't know why. I first choice for travel that night. He used it because he had just got more comfortable. They say you're your own best been in a minor accident in his Cadillac SUV days before and coach, and I feel like I've figured some things out." because his more practical Toyota Corolla was out of gas, Yordano Ventura’s final year filled two friends said. with family turmoil, emotional But the Jeep was the vehicle associated most with him. It was distress meant to make a statement about a young man who had demonstrated a certain flair for spectacle. February 19, 2017 By Vahe Gregorian & Maria Torres/KC Star “Everyone knew whose Jeep it was when he drove it” in the http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city- Dominican, MC Customs of Miami wrote in publicity royals/article133099124.html material after delivering it to Ventura between his signing of a five-year, $23 million contract extension in April 2015 and Ascending into the clouds, abruptly spiraling downward and the Royals winning the 2015 World Series. weaving through cratered flood plains, the 30-mile road from San José de Ocoa to Juan Adrián is widely known to be MC Customs, which declined comment for this story, in its treacherous. literature would even call the Jeep a “good-luck charm.” A local will tell you that 50 people have died in the last year But its extravagance symbolized a dividing line in the arc of on the new second half of the route from Rancho Arriba, a Ventura’s life. number at which authorities scoff even while acknowledging the death toll rises routinely. “Life happened too fast for him,” said Victor Baez, who as director of the Royals Academy in the Dominican oversaw The passage is rife with every sort of caution sign. They Ventura’s official tryout in 2008 and then nurtured him for plead with drivers to honk their horns moving into blind 18 months at the academy. “He wasn’t prepared.” curves and implore them to slow down and get in low gear and turn lights on even by daylight and “Proteja su Vida” (protect your life) by wearing seat belts. While Ventura recently seemed to be emerging from a time “On Earth, there are no friends … All friends betray,” said of distress — he was in the best shape of his life — many Raúl Hernández, Ventura’s grandfather, not specifying the close to him share the same lament: perceived offenses but referring to the new elements in his grandson’s life. “You can only count on family.” Too much, too soon. To some of the newer people in his life, though, Ventura only In the final year of his life, he was alienated from his mother, was getting his wings. with whom he last spoke on Feb. 14, 2016, married a woman who was already married, and experienced a series of bizarre “You were an eagle that left the nest because you couldn’t episodes involving Sangiovanni that would seem exaggerated stand having to ask permission to fly or pay a toll …” in a telenovela. Sobeida Felix, a friend who would refer to him as her own child, wrote in an Instagram post after his death. “He wanted One event, though, was more than mere drama. love and someone who would hug him without expecting something from him in return. That’s the truth. … In March 2016, Ventura was taken to a hospital in Arizona after overdosing on medication. Sangiovanni said he had “And here in Puerto Plata … there were people who offered attempted suicide, though some close to him are skeptical of him friendship without expecting anything in return.” that conclusion. Although the wedding was in Ventura’s home in Las Whatever happened that day, Ventura’s personal life had Terrenas, no immediate family members attended in the wake become complicated for the young man from a remote of tensions aroused by a relationship that many who knew Dominican resort town. Ventura intimately were suspicious of from the start.

“I don’t think it was easy for him to get out of Las Terrenas “To me, she’s at fault for everything. She was the one who and come into everything he accomplished,” said longtime distanced him from me and the rest of the family,” Ventura’s friend Abel Padilla. “Not everyone can manage that type of mother, Marisol, said through a flow of constant tears pressure.” Wednesday in Las Terrenas. “She lied to him, told him things that weren’t true. Ventura expressed that burden soon after signing his breakout deal. “After she came into his life, I never heard from him again.”

When he was home for the All-Star Break in 2015, Orlando In response to that assertion, Sangiovanni noted the couple Sarante remembers hearing his longtime friend — known to had separated last July and added, “Had it been my fault, fellow Las Terrenas residents as Yafelín, not Yordano — Yordano would have started talking to his family in July.” yearn for the days when he was a poor teenager working for his grandfather’s hardware store and doing construction. The relationship was convoluted from the moment Ventura and Sangiovanni connected on social media. “‘I sometimes wish I was still driving around town in my grandpa’s truck,’” Sarante recently recalled him saying, Sangiovanni began communicating with Ventura on “‘and that I wasn’t Yordano Ventura.’” Instagram in August 2015, days after a Twitter spat between Ventura and Toronto Blue Jays outfielder José Bautista, Someone who appeared to have it all, someone who thrived whom Sangiovanni said she used to date. Ventura and among his teammates and on the field, struggled to cope with Sangiovanni met in person a few months later, when the Blue some of the ramifications of his success. Jays visited Kansas City for the American League Championship Series. The sorts of things that any other young adult might struggle with as he makes his way were amplified by his rapid rise Sangiovanni said Bautista was a family friend from years from humble means to a stature in which many had a stake in before, when he and her older brother played baseball his every move. together in the Dominican. She said she came to Kansas City with her family in October 2015 to watch Bautista and the “It’s hard to talk about him, but here’s the thing: Yordano Blue Jays play the Royals. didn’t belong to us anymore,” said Ventura’s uncle, Rubén Hernández. “He belonged to the world.” “When he came out to see me, he said, ‘I imagined you this way, but you’re prettier in person,’” Sangiovanni recalled. Who could he trust among all the new voices and faces and “And I told him, ‘I imagined you a different way but you’re social-media personas throwing themselves at him? way uglier.’ Then he asked if I was leaving town the next day, which I was. And he asked me to stay. “For our players,” Baez said, “it’s hard to judge why someone is getting close to them.” “I was supposed to go back to the Dominican with my family, but he insisted I stick around ... I was supposed to be Contrasting the serene sense of home he and his family in town seven days. By day 21, that’s when I realized I had demonstrated in January 2015 when The Star visited them in missed my flight ... He said, ‘Well, you were leaving, but Las Terrenas, Ventura came to feel tugged and pulled and you’re not leaving now.’” commodified in the months that followed. Five days after the wedding, Sangiovanni said, she suffered a In the process, he embraced others who those who knew him miscarriage of twins she’d been pregnant with by Ventura — longest didn’t know well and believed sought to manipulate who had a 3-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. and take advantage of him. Soon they were engulfed in chaos. From Ventura’s home in Surprise, Ariz., six weeks later — ingesting at least 10 Benadryl pills and four doses of another March 15, 2016 — Sangiovanni called 911 to report a threat medication and was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. to Ventura. Citing federal patient-privacy regulations, the Royals According to a Surprise Police Department incident report declined comment. obtained by The Star, she told police that two men she believed were from Puerto Rico and Colombia had come to About a month after the incidents in Surprise, Sangiovanni Ventura’s door earlier seeking Ventura. alleged Ventura was the target of a second threat back in Kansas City. Per her statement to police, they told her to leave because they were going to kill him. Someone — police never identified a suspect — vandalized Ventura’s Toyota 4Runner in the parking garage of his The two men left, she told police, but she then “heard apartment complex on Madison Avenue near the Country numerous gunshots come from outside.” Club Plaza.

When Ventura returned home, she told him what happened, A Kansas City Police incident report states that officers leaving Ventura upset, the report said, because he believed observed flattened tires, ripped interior consoles, a broken her father was going to have him killed in the wake of recent display monitor in the dash and the message “Volvemos Por arguments Ventura apparently had with her. Ti” scratched into the front passenger window.

“Both M. Ventura and Y. Ventura stated they both believe M. Translation: “We will be back for you.” Ventura’s father is capable of having Y. Ventura killed,” the reporting officer wrote. “I was advised that M. Ventura’s It remains unclear who did it. Sangiovanni told police she father is close family friends with the president of the discovered the damage about 11 p.m. on April 16, when she Dominican Republic and because of this relationship he is went down to the garage where she had left the 4Runner able to have people killed.” unlocked two days earlier.

Asked Friday about what that relationship might be, After seeing the damage, Sangiovanni said she called Royals Sangiovanni said her uncle, José Hidalgo Díaz, is a political officials, who called police. A detective checked for activist in her hometown of Constanza. His Twitter profile surveillance video but found none. lists his affiliation with Partido de Liberación Dominicana, the political party to which Dominican president Danilo Two days later, the case was closed because Ventura Medina belongs. declined to prosecute, according to Sgt. Kari Thompson, a Kansas City Police spokeswoman. Police reported that Ventura was distraught and crying on his bed during the interview. Police said there was no indication in the case file that investigators in Kansas City knew of alleged incident in Their investigation found no shell casings outside the home, Surprise. The Royals alerted MLB security about both and neighbors officers spoke with said they heard no matters. No proof of a credible threat was found. gunshots. Sgt. Norm Owens of the Surprise Police Department told The Star that his officers were not able to Although privacy laws prevent the Royals from speaking substantiate the reported threat. specifically about what they did to help Ventura, they learned of the two threats and utilized their off-field resources and Even so, Major League Baseball and the Royals were alerted. support system to try to help him. Surprise Police said the Royals sent a liaison who works with Dominican players to stay with Ventura as they tried to sort “I’m at complete peace with everything that we did to out the situation. support Yordano on the field and off the field,” general manager Dayton Moore said. “And in those two As a precaution, police did follow-up work for several days circumstances, we informed Major League Baseball security — including a “welfare check” at Ventura’s residence on and Royals security immediately, and the appropriate steps March 19. were taken to support and to counsel and to protect Yordano.” That same day, Sangiovanni on Instagram posted an ode to her father, José Miguel Sangiovanni. As a child, the only thing Ventura really desired was to work alongside his grandfather. “#MissingYouDaddy #TeAmoJoseMiguelSangiovanni I wish God in an oversight made you eternal daddy!” she wrote in Raúl Hernández opened a hardware store in Las Terrenas in text attached to a photo of her father puckering up to her. 1995, and as soon as Ventura was able, he was outside hefting concrete blocks onto the flatbed of a Daihatsu She told The Star that she later learned her father had only delivery truck. intended to scare Ventura by sending the two men. She eventually shared that information with Ventura, but it is He’d watched his grandfather peel out of the gravel lot often unclear if she informed police. enough by then that he was driving it as a 9-year-old.

Ventura did not travel with the Royals on a trip days later to “Ever since he was a little boy,” Hernández said, “he was San Antonio and was said to have flu-like symptoms. He did very motivated.” not pitch again in a game until March 24. Strewn throughout the tales of Ventura’s childhood is that Sometime in between, Ventura spent a few days in an area singular theme: The only person who could tell Yordano hospital. Sangiovanni said he had attempted suicide by Ventura what he could or could not do was Ventura himself. He acted out at opponents for having the temerity to hit the As a 14-year-old, Ventura dropped out of school, in part ball off him, or be hit by his pitches, and went from being because of an issue with a teacher he felt treated him rudely known for competitiveness to coming unhinged. and in part to help his mother financially after his father left and moved to Germany. It would be rationalized as Ventura feeling he had to earn his contract or his place as the Royals’ ace. But Baez offered Ventura was 17 when the Royals signed him for $28,000 another perspective. following a tryout at their academy, and he spent an unusually long 18 months there as the Royals sought to lend What really was happening, he said, was that after generally more structure and discipline to a boy prone to doing keeping a lower profile on the field as a rookie in 2014, everything at once very fast. Ventura now felt he could assert his true self — full of bravado and determined to seize command of the plate. He arrived in Arizona for rookie ball in 2010 and moved steadily through the minors before feeling stalled at the The problem, Baez said, is that Ventura wasn’t mature Royals’ Class AAA affiliate in Omaha and calling Marisol in enough to know how to harness his own energy and often anger and sadness. overreacted to his own miscues.

Within seconds of hanging up, he texted her a photo of his Despite being sent down to Omaha in late July, Ventura face, two big tears on his cheeks. never left Kansas City thanks to an injury to Jason Vargas just before he was to depart. Ventura made the most of this Not long after, Hernández got a phone call from Ventura that second chance, going 10-3 the rest of the regular season and started the same way. helping the Royals win the World Series.

He said he was leaving, packing his bags. After the season, he returned to Las Terrenas and rode on a truck in a parade held in his honor. But this time it was for the majors, where he made his debut on Sept. 17, 2013, against Cleveland, giving up one run in 5 “You can imagine what he was like on that float,” said 1/3 innings to hint at a bright future ahead. Migúel Gómez, one of Ventura’s youth coaches. “He was excited. He drove down the whole street, greeting and Just over a year later, Ventura was called on to pitch Game 6 waving at people. It was a beautiful moment.” of the World Series. The Royals’ season was on the line just days after the death in a drunk-driving wreck of his It was a moment that belied Ventura’s changing relationship countryman and friend Oscar Taveras and Taveras’ with Las Terrenas. As he became closer with Sangiovanni, he girlfriend. also spent more time with friends around the Dominican instead of with his family. “It was incredible to see the kid who arrived in raggedy clothes, skinny as can be … transform into someone who was Rather than driving into town in his custom Jeep, his friend on the verge of pitching a decisive Game 6 of the World Sarante said, Ventura would arrive in modest cars and “hole Series and wearing an elegant Gucci suit, so self-assured,” up in his house with his friends and never really come out.” Baez said. “That’s unforgettable.” Between Ventura’s apparent breakaway and enchantment With an homage to Taveras visible on his cap, Ventura’s with his social life, Padilla believes Ventura at least performance in the Royals’ 10-0 victory became his mother’s temporarily lost his edge for baseball leading into the 2016 proudest moment. season.

“I never thought I’d see him in the big leagues, pitching like “He only started preparing for 2016 a month before spring a man,” she said. “He had the mind of a child, but he pitched training; that’s not how it works,” Padilla said. “You need to like a man.” start 10 weeks out.”

To any observer, the scene was similarly joyous when Perhaps one of the most anguishing aspects of Ventura’s Ventura signed his contract extension just days before death is that despite all this confusion, by several accounts he pitching for the Royals on opening day in 2015. had enjoyed a fresh start in the last few months.

Behind the scenes, though, his mother already was worried His relationship with Sangiovanni had crumbled by mid- by what she perceived as a change in his demeanor. 2016, she acknowledged, though she said they were seeking to reconcile. “As soon as I arrived for the signing (of the contract), I could tell something was different, that money was starting to In his last known interview, given to multiple media outlets change him,” she said. “And I told him, ‘Don’t let yourself in Puerto Plata in late October, Ventura said he was single. be driven by money.’ Though never reconciling with his mother, he had frequently “He said, ‘No, no,’ he wouldn’t. But he did.” seen his grandfather as he returned more regularly to Las Terrenas this offseason. Many blamed the contract for what came next. He also had dedicated himself to the game with a renewed Despite a belief within the organization that Game 6 had zeal by taking a residence near Santo Domingo and working proved his poise, for weeks Ventura presented high drama out with Baez and others at the Royals Academy. He was nearly every time he pitched. excited to represent his country in the World Baseball Classic, Baez said, with a Cy Young Award bid and the chase for another World Series title at the forefront of his mind. The site where his drive ended now bears a small memorial “It made sense,” Padilla said. “He could be calm; he could be in his honor. focused on what he had to do. He had work to do.” What compelled him to leave in the middle of the night to Or as Baez put it, he “wanted to be peaceful” and have some drive a perilous road he’d never been on before may never be distance to just focus on training and not having “to appease known — a notion that further agonizes the family. everyone.” “From every angle,” Ventura’s grandfather said, “there’s Moreover, Ventura all along invested in Las Terrenas, something weird about this.” whether it was ongoing contributions to his childhood church or youth baseball programs. But maybe there were some answers in what Marisol told a group of young ballplayers at a visitation the day after her Against the advice of some, Ventura even intervened in the son died. impending shutdown of his grandfather’s business after two decades of serving the town. When you’re young, she warned, you think you’re indestructible. With the operation in financial peril, Ventura bought the family business. “One day he told me, ‘No matter what you tell me, if I say I’m going out, I’m going out even if I break my neck,’” she He outfitted it with three newer-model Daihatsu trucks, told those gathered around his coffin. “I’m not telling you slapped a decal with the initials YVH — his family name, this so you can follow his example. ... You’re young. You’re Yordano Ventura Hernández — on the front of the store and still children. made sure Las Terrenas continued to have his family’s support. “You don’t know what path your life is going to take.” Somebody sent Salvador Perez a bat “He did a lot with us in very little time,” said his grandfather, choking back tears. “The biggest thing was when we sold from ‘The Walking Dead’ for some him the store. … He just helped me so much, in such little reason time together.” February 18, 2017 By Rustin Dodd/KC Star http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city- Yet as she thought about her son last week, Marisol grieved royals/article133622999.html not just his death but the distance that separated them at the end of his life. Relax, it’s just a promotion. She thought he’d have time to mature and that he’d come In the opening days of spring training, Royals catcher back home and they’d make up. Salvador Perez was seen walking around the clubhouse toting a wooden bat wrapped in barbed wire. “I never saw him again, except for when they brought him back dead,” she said. “Even when he lived with me, he would It turns out the bat was a gift from somebody associated with never say goodbye. He’d say, ‘See you later.’ He hated “The Walking Dead,” the zombie-filled television series that saying goodbye.” airs on AMC. The bat is a replica version of “Lucille” — a weapon used by character Negan in the show. Perez said he Five days before Ventura’s death, a longtime Royals scout and his wife are big fans of the show. had seen him in the Dominican and suggested he go out to Arizona early for spring training. “It’s a nice show,” Perez said. “It looks real.” But Ventura was in a groove working out at the academy, so For the moment, the bat has taken up residence in the much so that Baez beamed as he remembered one of his last clubhouse. How long will it stay? We’ll see. sessions. “Hopefully,” Perez joked, “I never use it.” In the modest dining room of the academy, a radiant Ventura told Baez, “I’m laughing at the way I feel; I never felt I was Royals hope to identify their leadoff in such great shape.” hitter during spring training February 18, 2017 By Rustin Dodd/KC Star As Baez spoke in the lobby of the academy, he glanced http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city- outside and thought of playing catch with Ventura. royals/article133632949.html “It’s really not that hard to keep the happy memories at the The Royals will enter the regular season boasting their forefront of my mind,” Baez said, smiling. deepest lineup since at least the second half of the 2015 season. But the club still lacks a traditional leadoff hitter at And that was how Baez remembered seeing Ventura on Jan. the top. 21 after he finished a Saturday workout, headed out into his weekend and said, “See you Monday.” When a reporter gently noted this fact during an interview session Saturday morning, manager Ned Yost offered the Photos and videos from the festival in Ocoa show Ventura following rebuttal. enjoying the revelry around the town square before embarking on the drive that Sangiovanni said she had urged “Have we ever?” Yost asked. him not to make. Fair enough. The Royals remain hopeful that their offense is improved The first was rehab, eight weeks of rest and recovery after after the offseason additions of Jorge Soler and Brandon offseason surgery to repair a tear in his abdominal muscles. Moss. Coupled with the healthy return of Mike Moustakas The second was considerably more fun. and Lorenzo Cain, the club is hoping for a spike in run production after finishing 13th in the American League in After returning to Dallas, Young took over coaching duties runs scored with 675 in 2016. on his daughter’s third-grade basketball team. There were practices to organize and games to attend, and there were the Royals general manager Dayton Moore said the front office usual scraped knees and lessons to impart. Geno Auriemma, sought to “lengthen” the lineup during the winter, and that he is not. But for Young, a former Division I basketball goal was accomplished with the acquisitions of Soler and player at Princeton, the experience offered memories of his Moss. But there is still a hole at the leadoff spot. days in a YMCA league back home in Texas.

The most likely candidates would appear to be Alex Gordon, “It was a blast,” Young said, “spending time with my Alcides Escobar and Whit Merrifield — if he wins the daughter, getting that time with her.” starting second base job. But Yost remained noncommittal on the subject Saturday morning. When he wasn’t recovering from injury or manning the sideline, Young often found himself in the backyard, playing When asked who would be in the conversation for the leadoff basketball with his two younger sons. All three endeavors spot, Yost responded: “All of them. We’ll keep an open were welcome. mind.” The surgery and rehab were necessary to allow Young to be Yost proceeded to mention Gordon and Escobar as healthy and ready for his 13th season in the big leagues. The possibilities. dad moments helped him put a frustrating 12th year in perspective. “Gordy’s done well there before,” Yost said. “We’ll see. I don’t know. We have to look at it. Esky has done OK there After delivering a sterling supporting role in the Royals’ before.” 2015 World Series championship, Young’s encore was largely panned. He posted a 6.19 ERA and allowed 28 All the possible candidates come with question marks. homers in 88 2/3 innings last season. He began the year in Gordon possesses the on-base skills that translate to the top the starting rotation before a run of dismal results and a of the order. But he battled just .220 in 128 games last season forearm strain forced him to the disabled list — and then the and, at age 33, he is not getting any faster. Escobar served as bullpen. the leadoff man for much of the 2015 season. But his on-base percentage has hovered below .295 for the last two seasons. Young is a harsh self critic, armed with the thoughtful mind Merrifield could also project as a logical option. But he first of an Ivy league graduate and the competitiveness of a must fend off Christian Colon, Cheslor Cuthbert and Raul fighter. But as he evaluated himself last season, he struggled Mondesi at second base. to find an answer. When the season began, his velocity was higher than usual. But the life was drained from his fastball. Yost also didn’t rule out the idea that the club could think His walk rate also jumped from 3.1 per nine innings to 4.4. outside the box and look for another option. “I wasn’t pleased with last year,” Young said. “It wasn’t fun “Somebody could develop,” Yost said. “I try not to go into it for me. I felt like I let the team down in a lot of ways. I’m with too many preset notions to this. I like to get into spring motivated and I’ve worked hard, and I think the results will training, look at it and see how it feels. It doesn’t really show that.” matter right now anyway … it just matters the first game.” The Royals believe a full offseason could be beneficial for Rain shortens Saturday workout Young, who sketches out a specific plan each winter and follows a meticulous daily routine. At the least, it offered An afternoon storm shortened the Royals’ workout schedule time to decompress. on Saturday. Many players spent most of the morning getting physicals, a scheduling quirk that was set to delay the day’s In 2015, Young signed with the Royals during spring workout by a couple of hours. training, began the year in the bullpen, and finished as a postseason hero, registering a clutch relief performance By 11:30 a.m., an approaching storm caused the Royals to during a Game 1 victory and starting Game 4 in New York. move batting practice inside and limit the day’s activities. The championship offered the greatest moment of his The schedule was slated to resume on Sunday. professional career. But for Young, it also meant a shorter For Royals pitcher Chris Young, the offseason — and less rest for his aging body. offseason offered another title: Whether a full offseason will mean improved results remains ‘Coach’ to be seen, but Young is confident he can channel his performance from 2015, becoming a productive member of February 18, 2017 By Rustin Dodd/KC Star the pitching staff again. http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city- royals/article133609774.html “That’s my expectation,” Young said. Royals pitcher Chris Young spent his offseason at home in He will open camp in a three-man battle for the Royals’ final Texas juggling two distinct jobs, two activities you might rotation spot, competing with offseason acquisitions Nathan associate with a baseball player approaching his 38th Karns and left-hander Travis Wood. But barring a birthday. tremendous performance this spring, he could slot in as the Royals’ long reliever. In some ways, it’s the same role that Young filled entering the 2015 season. “It’s a gray area, it’s not black or white,” Maness said. “It wasn’t completely ripped in half. It was causing problems. I “He primarily came in here to compete in the bullpen,” had to take care of it. Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. “He’d never done that before. And we know how that worked out in “I had two options. I knew it was going to be one or another. 2015.” When I came to, they told me I had the one with the less recovery time.” For one season, the marriage worked out magnificently for both club and player. Two years later, Young is motivated to Maness had a showcase tryout just before spring training that prove he can become the same versatile weapon. He is set to attracted 16 clubs. He agreed to a minor league contract with make $5.75 million in 2017, the second season of a two-year the Royals but will receive $1.25 million if he makes the club deal that includes a mutual option for 2018. With the and could earn another $750,000 in incentives. possibility of free agency looming, and his 38th birthday in May, the opening months of this season could present a Maness would not speculate if he will be ready for the April crucial stretch. 3 opener.

Which returns us to the question of health. In the days after “I know it’s more of a marathon than a sprint,” Maness said. last season, Young underwent an MRI that revealed a muscle “I’ll just take it slow and listen to my body. I’ve been tear in his abdominal muscles and groin area. The injury was throwing. I wouldn’t say its full go, but I’ve thrown a couple the result of years of wear and tear, Young said, and he did of pens and am kind of easing into it.” not feel it when he pitched. But it did offer tightness and pain in the days between starts. Manager Ned Yost said the club would take it slow with Maness in spring training. Maness has also talked to the A specialist recommended surgery. The rehab schedule was training staff about his rehab schedule. short, so Young agreed. The procedure set up an offseason routine. For months, he juggled recovery and his usual Since Tommy John had his surgery in 1974, hundreds of big offseason program with the demands of his family. For league pitchers have had a similar surgery, giving doctors Young, it was a productive offseason on both ends. and training staffs enough information to put together a prescribed recovery program. “My boys don’t play on teams yet,” Young said. “But just being in the backyard, playing with them. It was a good “Just cause we really don’t have a lot of quantitative data on offseason.” the matter, it’s just kind of play it by ear,” Maness said. “I’m Coming off new procedure, Maness really listening to my body and making everything is in the right place, then take the next step and the next step. I don’t fighting to earn spot with Royals know how really to describe it.” February 18, 2017 FOXSportsKC.com (via AP) http://www.foxsports.com/kansas-city/story/coming-off-new- Maness was a mainstay in the St. Louis Cardinals’ bullpen procedure-seth-maness-fighting-earn-spot-kansas-city-royals- from 2013-16. He compiled a 17-10 record with a 3.19 ERA 021817 and seven saves over 237 1/3 innings in 244 bullpen appearances. Kansas City Royals right-hander Seth Maness is like many pitchers in spring training, trying to earn a bullpen job. “In spring training last year I started to feel it and I knew the area,” Maness said. “I saw my game regressing. I had the Maness also is a willing guinea pig, coming off a new feeling in the back of my head, but you don’t want to accept surgical procedure that has the baseball industry’s attention. it. You just want to go as long as you can and try to ride it out until you’ve got to go on the shelf.” Maness opted to pass on Tommy John surgery to repair the right elbow that blew out last season and try a different His last outing was Aug. 13 against the Chicago Cubs when procedure that could cut the recovery time significantly. It he faced three batters and retired none. normally takes 12 to 18 months to return from the Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery. If the 28-year-old makes a successful comeback in 2017, years from now they may call it the “Seth Maness” surgery. St. Louis orthopedic surgeon Dr. George Paletta suggested another procedure called “primary repair” to Maness and was “It doesn’t quite have that ring to it,” he said as having a cautiously optimistic that he could be back pitching when the Tommy John. “It’s not something I’m looking for. I’m just season opened or soon after it. If he had the Tommy John, trying to get healthy and get back.” Maness would have in all likelihood missed the entire 2017 season. NATIONAL “When I went to see Dr. Paletta he mentioned it and gave me the two options,” Maness said. “He said it’s something he’s done. He said the recovery time was seven months. I said I Yordano Ventura's Toxicology Report definitely want to try that. So I went through it and here we Will Not Be Made Public are.” February 18, 2017 By Emma Baccellieri/Deadspin.com http://deadspin.com/yordano-venturas-toxicology-reports- When Maness went under the anesthesia for the Aug. 18 will-not-be-made-pu-1792512584 surgery, he did not know if he was going to have the Tommy John or the “primary repair.” If the ligament was torn too Three weeks ago, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported that severely, Tommy John would be the best alternative. the fate of the $20 million left on Yordano Ventura’s contract would depend on whether he was legally drunk when he died Weaver's fastball sat in the mid-80s last season -- though he in a car crash last month. A clause in the Kansas City Royals used the pitch only about a third of the time. pitcher’s contract noted that payment would be invalidated if he died or was injured due to driving while intoxicated, and In his 11-year career, Weaver has been named to three All- so a toxicology report will be key to determining what Star teams and finished in the top five of Cy Young Award happens to the remaining money. voting three times as well. He led the American League in victories in 2012 and '14 and has averaged 30 starts a season. It now looks like that will happen behind closed doors. Authorities in the Dominican Republic have said that the "The idea behind the signing was somebody who can log report will be made available only to Ventura’s family and innings, somebody who still has a lot to prove and wants to lawyers, according to the Kansas City Star. The Royals have pitch," Preller said. "He's always been successful." declined to comment except to say that determining the outcome of his contract could take several months. Saturday marked the first full-squad workout for the Padres. But -- even after Weaver joins the club -- Preller said he isn't This stands in contrast to the 2014 death of St. Louis necessarily done adding to the group. Cardinals prospect Oscar Taveras, who similarly died in a car crash in the Dominican and whose toxicology results were He may be done looking for veteran rotation pieces, however. made public by the office of the country’s attorney general. With Richard, Trevor Cahill and now Weaver, the Padres The same government spokeswoman, Tessie Sanchez, who have a trio of veteran pitchers to help lead an otherwise shared Taveras’s toxicology results two years ago told the young staff. Star this week that Ventura’s results will be kept private. It is not clear what operating procedure has changed in the interim "We're not necessarily bringing guys in like Jered to mentor or why Taveras’s case would otherwise be different from people," said pitching coach Darren Balsley. "We think he Ventura’s. can pitch and pitch well for us. But it doesn't hurt when you have young kids watching and seeing how he competes and The legal blood alcohol limit in the Dominican is .05, below what he does in his side sessions and stuff like that. the United States limit of .08. Obviously, guys that have made it as far as he has, they do Padres agree to deal with Weaver things right." February 18, 2017 By AJ Cassavell/MLB.com When the deal becomes official, the Padres will need to clear http://m.padres.mlb.com/news/article/216388836/padres- room for Weaver on a full 40-man roster. agree-on-pact-with-pitcher-jered-weaver/ MLB TRANSACTIONS Jered Weaver is set to join a wide-open rotation mix in San February 19, 2017 •.CBSSports.com Diego, as the veteran right-hander agreed to a one-year http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/transactions contract with the Padres on Saturday. TEAM PLAYER TRANSACTION The club has not officially confirmed the deal, which is pending a physical and reportedly worth $3 million.

The 34-year-old Weaver, who posted a 3.55 ERA in 11 Baltimore Signed to a Minor League seasons with the Angels, will likely slot toward the top of the Craig Gentry Padres' starting rotation. He'll also serve as a veteran Orioles Contract presence in one of baseball's youngest clubhouses.

"He's always been a winner, his entire career," said Padres general manager A.J. Preller. "[He] has been there, been in Los Angeles Signed as Free Agent, ( 2017) the postseason. I think from that standpoint, he brings a lot to Chase Utley our team and some of the other pitchers that are in that locker Dodgers (one-year contract) room."

The Padres' current rotation candidates number into double figures. Weaver's place in the starting rotation isn't quite New York Dellin Signed, ( 2017)(loses guaranteed. But Preller noted, "When you sign Jered, you sign him with the idea that he's going to pitch in the rotation." Yankees Betances arbitration)

Weaver joins Jhoulys Chacin and Clayton Richard as rotation favorites, which seemingly leaves two spots open for about seven starting candidates. San Diego Signed as Free Agent, ( 2017) Jered Weaver "It's going to be a work in progress all spring," Preller said. Padres (one-year contract) "Hopefully we get to the end of spring and there's a surplus and there's a lot of guys who have a chance to pitch in the rotation for us. We definitely are trying to get some numbers and some depth."

Weaver struggled for the Angels last season, posting a 5.06 ERA in 31 starts. The Padres are hoping for a bounceback year in 2017, despite Weaver's declining fastball velocity.