Prospect Staumont Has Tools to Surprise This Spring

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February 8, 2017 Gosselin designated for assignment LOCAL February 7, 2017 By Chad Thornburg/MLB.com http://m.dbacks.mlb.com/news/article/215425948/arizona- Prospect Staumont has tools to diamondbacks-sign-daniel-descalso/ surprise this spring Sources: Rangers, Napoli agree to 1- Hard-throwing righty struck out 167 batters in year deal 123 1/3 innings across two levels in '16 February 7, 2017 By T.R. Sullivan/MLB.com February 7, 2017 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com http://m.rangers.mlb.com/news/article/215390370/rangers- http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/215313402/royals-josh- mike-napoli-agree-to-1-year-contract/ staumont-could-surprise-in-2017/ Nats add electric arm in trade for lefty KC brings back Pena for catching Romero depth February 7, 2017 By Jamal Collier/MLB.com http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/215426676/left- Veteran to return to Royals on Minor League hander-enny-romero-traded-to-nationals/ deal with spring invite February 7, 2017 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com The Market was stacked against Jason http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/215380968/royals-sign- Hammel brayan-pena-with-spring-invite/ February 6, 2017 By Jeff Sullivan/FanGraphs.com Royals forecast to finish last in AL http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-market-was-stacked- against-jason-hammel/ Central in 2017 by PECOTA projections MLB TRANSACTIONS February 7, 2017 By Pete Grathoff/KC Star February 8, 2017 •.CBSSports.com http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for- http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/transactions petes-sake/article131188889.html Royals set to reunite with catcher LOCAL Brayan Peña on a minor-league deal February 7, 2017 By Rustin Dodd/KC Star http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city- Prospect Staumont has tools to royals/article131185584.html surprise this spring Mellinger Minutes: Royals lineup Hard-throwing righty struck out 167 batters in February 7, 2017 By Sam Mellinger/KC Star 123 1/3 innings across two levels in '16 http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/sam- February 7, 2017 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com mellinger/article131213059.html http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/215313402/royals-josh- Do the Kansas City Royals need to hit staumont-could-surprise-in-2017/ more home runs? With Spring Training fast approaching, MLB.com will take a February 7, 2017 By Lee Judge/KC Star look at a different aspect of this year's Royals squad each day http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns- this week. Today's topic: Who might surprise? blogs/judging-the-royals/article131354794.html Dayton Moore tells crowd how to Josh Staumont. reach the top of your game, as he did Royals fans may want to get familiar with that name. in building the Royals' world February 7, 2017 The Hutchinson News Staumont, a hard-throwing 23-year-old, could be the next http://www.hutchnews.com/news/local_state_news/dayton- young fireballer to emerge in the Royals' pipeline of bullpen moore-tells-crowd-how-to-reach-the-top-of/article_2d20ecf0- arms, perhaps following in the footsteps of Greg Holland, 10d6-5fcf-bd70-ce54f5c8fe97.html Kelvin Herrera and last year's sensation, Matt Strahm. Royals general manager Dayton Moore has indicated NATIONAL Staumont, who can hit 101 mph on the radar gun, will get an extended look this Spring Training for a possible bullpen spot. MLB Roundup: Why Jason Hammel didn't have a deal until February That's bold, considering Staumont isn't even on the 40-man February 7, 2017 By Buster Olney/ESPN.com roster. http://www.espn.com/blog/buster-olney/insider/post? id=16162 "We've certainly showed in the past that we're not afraid to go with young arms in the bullpen," Moore said. "If you have Source: Yanks, Carter close to 1-year the talent, you can pitch at any level." deal Staumont, a second-round pick in the 2015 Draft out of February 7, 2017 By Bryan Hoch/MLB.com Azusa Pacific University -- the same school that produced http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/215382544/yankees- former Chiefs great Christian Okoye -- always has had a big near-deal-with-free-agent-chris-carter/ arm. He could hit 100 mph in college. D-backs sign infielder Descalso We’ve come to expect a few things in early February. But it wasn't until the second half of 2016 when Staumont proved he could harness that blazing fastball. The groundhog. The Super Bowl. The dismal prediction for the Royals season from PECOTA, the baseball projection After being promoted to Double-A Northwest Arkansas, system. everything began to click for Staumont, the Royals' No. 10 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. In 11 starts there, he Well, the numbers aren’t kind to the Royals again. posted a 3.04 ERA with 73 strikeouts in 50 1/3 innings. Baseball Prospectus forecasts a 71-win season* for the In Staumont's last three starts covering 17 innings, he struck Royals in 2017 and a last-place finish in the American out 30 and walked six. His last start of the season was the League Central. That’s the fewest victories in the American most memorable as he threw six shutout innings, struck out League, second in all of baseball to the San Diego Padres 12 and walked two. (68). And it’s a distant fifth-place finish in the Central, six games behind the rebuilding Chicago White Sox. "There's nobody in our system that throws the ball as easy and as hard as he does," Royals assistant general UPDATE: This is an increase of 69 from hours earlier on manager/player personnel J.J. Picollo said. "Even when he's Tuesday, because of what was described as a bug in how runs throwing 98 [mph], it looks like he's just playing catch. scored and runs allowed calculated team wins. The overall win-loss total for all Major League Baseball teams went from "He's got a really good curveball that is from 80-88. And 2386-2474 to 2431-2429, an increase of 45 wins overall. there are nights he adds and subtracts [from his velocity] the way Zack Greinke did for us. I'm not saying he's going to be A year ago, the PECOTA projection was right about one the next Zack, but there are similarities." thing in the American League Central: The Indians were picked to win the division and that they did. However, the With the absence of Wade Davis and Luke Hochevar this Royals exceeded their projection of a 76-86 record and a last- season, the Royals are counting on one or two prospects to place finish in the Central. seize a bullpen role. All eyes will be on Staumont this spring. Instead, the Royals were 81-81 and third in the division. That "We really don't have anyone quite like him," Picollo said. continued a trend of (depending on your view) overachieving KC brings back Pena for catching Royals seasons or wrong predictions. depth In 2015, the PECOTA system forecast the then-defending Veteran to return to Royals on Minor League American League champion Royals to win 72 games. deal with spring invite Instead, the Royals rolled to a 95-67 record and, of course, won the World Series that season. February 7, 2017 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/215380968/royals-sign- In 2014, the Royals were projected to finish 79-83. The won brayan-pena-with-spring-invite/ 89 games, were a wild-card team and advanced to the World Series. Old friend alert. In 2013, PECOTA projected a 76-win season for the Royals, The Royals on Tuesday signed catcher Brayan Pena to a but they beat that by 10 games (86-76). Minor League contract with an invitation to Spring Training camp. PECOTA was the brainchild of Nate Silver, who is well- known for his work at FiveThirtyEight.com. It was created in Pena, 35, likely will provide organizational depth at Triple-A 2003 and named after former Royals infielder Bill Pecota. Omaha. Last year's catcher at the affiliate, Tony Cruz, was designated for assignment earlier this offseason and UPDATE: USA Today also released its predictions for the subsequently released. 2017, and they were much kinder to the Royals: An 83-79 record and third-place finish in the AL Central (behind the Pena played four seasons for the Royals from 2009-12, with Indians and Tigers). his best season coming in '09, when he hit .273 with six homers and 18 RBIs. Part of the what they wrote about the Royals: “... they’re playing to keep together a team loaded with pending free Pena was one of the more popular players in the Royals' agents.” clubhouse during that stretch. Royals set to reunite with catcher Pena is a .259/.299/.351 career hitter in 12 Major League Brayan Peña on a minor-league deal seasons. February 7, 2017 By Rustin Dodd/KC Star http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city- Pena was a regular with the Reds in 2014 and '15, and he royals/article131185584.html played nine games for the Cardinals last season. Royals forecast to finish last in AL Seeking more depth at catcher, the Royals have tapped an old Central in 2017 by PECOTA friend, signing free agent Brayan Peña to a minor-league deal, the club confirmed on Tuesday. projections February 7, 2017 By Pete Grathoff/KC Star Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal first reported the deal, which http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for- includes an invite to major-league spring training. petes-sake/article131188889.html The Royals will enter the season with catchers Salvador But this is a team that expects to win this year, and has a Perez and Drew Butera on the 25-man roster. But the chance, with health and the right breaks, to get back into the organization desired more insurance at the position after postseason after last year’s disappointing 81-81. letting backup Tony Cruz go this offseason. Cruz spent most of last season at Class AAA Omaha. The rotation is solid, if unspectacular. The bullpen could be strong, maybe not like the 2014-15 laser show, but again Peña, 35, spent parts of four seasons with the Royals from strong depending on how well they’re able to fill the innings 2009 to 2012. Known for his gregarious demeanor and between the starters and Kelvin Herrera. inspiring back story — Peña defected from Cuba in dramatic fashion when he was 16 years old — the switch-hitting The offense has to be better, and there are plenty of logical catcher batted .251 with a .291 on-base percentage and 12 reasons to believe it will. Alex Gordon was terrible last year. homers in 264 games for the Royals. I believe his wrist hurt more than he’ll ever admit, and that he’ll be much better in 2017, if he can stay healthy. They The Royals jettisoned Peña after the 2012 season. He spent essentially add Mike Moustakas, who is in the prime of his 2013 with the Detroit Tigers and then played in 223 games career. Eric Hosmer should be ready for the best season of for the Cincinnati Reds in 2014 to 2015. He played last his professional life. Jorge Soler and Brandon Moss add season in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, playing in just power. nine games while battling a nagging knee injury. One man’s guess on the lineup: In 12 major-league seasons, Peña is a career .259 hitter with a .299 on-base percentage and 23 homers in 638 games. Alcides Escobar, SS Mellinger Minutes: Royals lineup Mike Moustakas, 3B February 7, 2017 By Sam Mellinger/KC Star http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/sam- Lorenzo Cain, CF mellinger/article131213059.html Eric Hosmer, 1B @gingerylocks: I've actually moved on to Jason Hammel. Sal Perez, C This was sent after the Super Bowl, but I’m using it here to replace a question about whether the Royals were OK with Alex Gordon, LF filling the last two spots of the rotation in-house. Jorge Soler, RF Spoiler alert: they weren’t. Brandon Moss, DH I expected them to sign someone, but am mildly surprised it was Hammel, mostly because of cost and a few conversations Raul Mondesi, 2B I had with some folks. But the deal isn’t enormous — two years, $16 million, and the omnipresent mutual option for a One man’s suggestion for the lineup: third year that essentially serves as a way for the club to further backload the money — and Hammel provides a level Alex Gordon, LF of dependability. Lorenzo Cain, CF He was, probably, the best starting pitcher still on the market and the Royals got him for a price far less than he or anyone Eric Hosmer, 1B else expected him to make at the beginning of the offseason. Jorge Soler, RF He’s more of a placeholder than difference maker. He’s 34, and while he’s made 27 or more starts six times in the last Mike Moustakas, 3B eight years, he’s never thrown 180 innings in a season and his production has hovered around the league average. Sal Perez, C There’s a lot of value in that, particularly for the Royals, who Brandon Moss, DH can now avoid a hint of desperation as they fill in the last spot of the rotation. Alcides Escobar, SS Danny Duffy, Ian Kennedy, Jason Vargas and Hammel make Raul Mondesi, 2B for a representative first four. After that, the Royals are probably choosing from a group headlined by Nate Karns, Either way, that’s a group that could be closer to the middle Chris Young and Matt Strahm. of the league in runs scored (like they were in 2015) than the bottom (like they were in 2016). You could do worse, and a week ago, it looked like the Royals were going to try. There’s enough here to hope, at least, which is what the current leadership is going for. We’ll get more into this as the week goes on, but this mostly completes a terrific offseason under brutal circumstances for @Bart41CPA: isn't this "competitive cliff" more a product of Dayton Moore and the men who work for him. 4 poor drafts from 2009-2012 than a lack of spending?

If I understand the term correctly, I actually don’t think there’s a competitive cliff. The Royals have enough to expect another winning season, and they’ve built themselves in a When the Royals were losing, some people blamed the lack way to keep that going — even if they’re sacrificing a bit of of home-run power, but the 2014 and 2015 Royals showed high-end in the name of consistency. that if they excelled at the other parts of the game the Royals could win without hitting a lot of home runs. But, yes, absolutely, the Royals haven’t been as good in the draft as they need to be or that most believe they’ve been. But now that the Royals have added Jorge Soler and Brandon Moss — two guys with pop — we’re once again talking An incomplete but somewhat informative point can be made about the Royals hitting more home runs. by looking at the firstround picks from those seasons: Aaron Crow, Christian Colon, Bubba Starling and Kyle Zimmer. The last time the Royals made a big deal out of hitting more Crow went 12th overall. The others were all in the top five. home runs was in 2012, right after they fired hitting coach Kevin Seitzer; but changing hitting coaches didn’t change the Mike Trout, Shelby Miller, Chris Sale, Matt Harvey, dimensions of Kauffman Stadium. Francisco Lindor, Anthony Rendon, George Springer, Addison Russell and Corey Seager are just some of the guys In 2012 under Seitzer the Royals hit 131 home runs and the Royals left on the board when they picked. scored 676 runs; after Seitzer was dumped, the 2013 Royals hit 112 home runs and scored 648 runs. Yes, I understand, we could play this game with every team, in every draft. But particularly now, with MLB rules Jack Maloof — Seitzer’s replacement — said that trying to prohibiting teams from overpaying picks (which is how the hit home runs in Kauffman Stadium doesn’t get rewarded; Royals got Wil Myers in the third round of 2009) the Royals better to hit line drives, plug the gaps for doubles and run like have to be better than most. hell.

Instead, from those four drafts, Colon is the best of the Maloof lost his job the next day. bunch. But replacing Maloof didn’t help; since 2012 the Royals have Baseball’s draft is perhaps the biggest crapshoot in sports, either finished last, tied-for-last or second-to-last in home but that’s not good enough. runs in the American League.

John Hennessy Best spring training food near Surprise, AZ? So how come Kauffman Stadium doesn’t limit opponent’s home runs? Scottsdale? Actually, it does. Visiting teams out-homer the Royals when Look, I love spring training. I love it because it’s baseball, playing in Kauffman Stadium, but: and I love it because it’s the best place to get work done, and I love it for all the corny reasons old baseball people talk ▪ In 2013 only one AL team allowed fewer home runs in its about, with green grass and sunshine and spring and all of home park. that. ▪ In 2014 only one AL team allowed fewer home runs in its But Surprise is, um, not awesome. Kyle Zimmer has spent home park. more time in Surprise than most, and put it perfectly when asked if he’d grown to like it: “Not really. You can only go to ▪ In 2015 no AL team allowed fewer home runs in its home Walmart so many times.” park.

Rosie’s is good, and has the added benefit that you’re 50-50 ▪ In 2016 — a year in which the Royals were ninth in team to run into Art Stewart there. You can find some decent hole- ERA — it was still hard for visiting teams to hit the ball out in-the-wall Mexican places. But the options are less than of the yard; only three AL teams allowed fewer home runs in awesome. I’m all about that Chipotle and Jimmy Johns life in their own ballpark. Surprise. Turns out it’s hard to hit home runs at the K no matter who There are worse ways to live. you are, but visiting teams still have a home-run advantage Do the Kansas City Royals need to hit when playing in Kansas City. more home runs? Why? February 7, 2017 By Lee Judge/KC Star http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns- Because visiting teams that play their home games in smaller blogs/judging-the-royals/article131354794.html parks might find power hitters a good investment; paying a power hitter to play half his games in Kauffman Stadium is a Last season the Kansas City Royals were dead last in the risky bet. American League when it came to hitting home runs. Dead last sounds pretty bad until you remember the 2014 Royals Nevertheless, after the Royals signed Brandon Moss they were also dead last in home runs and still managed to win the assured everyone that the power Moss has displayed in the AL championship and make it to Game 7 of the World past will transfer to Kauffman Stadium. Maybe so, but if you Series. see a whole bunch of Brandon Moss fly balls being caught on the Kauffman Stadium warning track, that’s a bad sign. And in 2015 the Royals were second-to-last in home runs, but once again won the AL Championship and the World The downside of trying to hit home runs Series. But what’s the harm in at least trying to hit more home runs? Let’s start with batting average: Recently Royals GM Dayton Moore said the Royals are not abandoning their philosophy of speed and defense, but would Look up the numbers and you’ll see the 2016 Royals hit .170 like to hit more home runs — and while we’re at it, I’d like to and slugged .490 when they hit a fly ball; when the Royals lose weight, but continue to eat pepperoni pizza and drink hit a line drive their average was .679 and their slugging beer. percentage was 1.013. Those numbers are fairly typical. It may not be possible to do both things at once, but Dayton So do you have your hitters try to lift the ball and hit a homer and I are willing to give it a shot. knowing if a fly ball doesn’t leave the yard it’s probably an out? Or do you have your hitters try to hit line drives and Stay tuned. hard grounders and go for average? Dayton Moore tells crowd how to In recent year the Royals have gone for average and getting reach the top of your game, as he did the ball in play. in building the Royals' world February 7, 2017 The Hutchinson News And that brings us to strikeouts: http://www.hutchnews.com/news/local_state_news/dayton- moore-tells-crowd-how-to-reach-the-top-of/article_2d20ecf0- In 2014 and 2015 the Royals were the hardest team in the 10d6-5fcf-bd70-ce54f5c8fe97.html American League to strike out. As a team the 2014 Royals struck out once every 5.6 at bats; the 2015 Royals struck out If he had listened to his mentors, Dayton Moore wouldn't be once every 5.7 at bats. Getting the ball in play puts pressure in Kansas City. on the other team’s defense and it’s how the Royals won Game 5 of the 2015 World Series. It was 2006 and the Kansas City Royals were one of the worst teams in baseball. At the time, the small-market team To hit home runs most guys have to pull the ball, and that only had one winning season out of 11. Sure, the Royals were means swinging sooner and that means getting fooled by a his boyhood team. But Moore had worked his way up the pitch more often. Jorge Soler strikes out once every 3.2 at Atlanta Braves organization. He would have been content to bats and Brandon Moss strikes out once every 3.3 at bats. finish his career there, raise a family there. And finally, signing guys to hit home runs often means less But he had a job offer to be the Royals' general manager. For team speed. 10 days, he sought the advice of his mentors. There are exceptions, but home-run hitters tend to be big "They all said the same thing - they all said don't go," said guys and big guys tend to be slow. That means fewer stolen Moore to a crowd at the Hutchinson Sports Arena Tuesday. bases, fewer extra bases taken and less ground covered on "They said you can't win. The owner isn't going to spend any defense. money. There is no players in the farm system." If Soler and Moss are as slow as their stolen-base numbers "The person I sought the the most counsel from said, indicate — 13 combined steals in a combined 13 seasons — 'Dayton, Kansas City is a professional graveyard.'" they’re not going to help much on the base paths or on defense. Moore didn't take their advice. And it would be seven more years before the Royals would have a winning season. There The point of the game is not to score more runs; it’s to score was even talk at one point whether he - and Royals manager more runs than your opponent. And you can do that by Ned Yost - should find their success somewhere else. putting runs on the board or keeping the other team’s runs off the board. Those things have been forgotten with a Wild Card win in 2014 and a World Series appearance. It was followed by a ▪ In 2014 the Royals were ninth in runs scored, but only three 95-win season in 2015 and a storybook ending with a World American League teams allowed fewer runs. Series championship. Among the highlights: Eric Hosmer's dive at home in Game 5 of the 2015 World Series to tie the ▪ In 2015 the Royals were sixth in runs scored, but only two game with the New York Mets. And, there was Christian teams allowed fewer runs. Colon's clutch hit in the 12th inning to score Jarrod Dyson in the Series clincher. You can be middle-of-the-pack in runs scored if you’re good enough at preventing the other team from scoring. So if you Moore spoke at the first Dillon Lecture Series of 2017, add Soler and Moss to put runs on the board but they can’t telling the audience how positive leadership and role models keep runs off the board, you might not come out ahead. So shaped him, and how he took those same philosophies and keep an eye on how often either one of these guys is the DH; management style to the Royals, creating a franchise where that keeps their gloves on the bench — and if they are in the character and integrity is one of the foundation principles. field watch for a defensive replacement in the later innings. Farming to baseball What comes first: the players or the philosophy? Moore, however, hasn't forgotten his own foundation. His Teams that are consistent over a long period of time tend to mother grew up on a farm near Coldwater. At least once a have a philosophy and acquire players that fit that year, he travels to Comance County where his parents are philosophy; teams that aren’t so consistent tend to sign buried. whoever looks good at the time and change their philosophy based on the players acquired. Moore spent his early childhood years in Wichita before his family ended up in Moline, Illinois. He tells of Jarrod Dyson - "One of the most difficult trades I "They were all farmers," he said. ... "I figured I would be a ever made emotionally," he said of trading Dyson to the farmer, work in aviation like my father." Seattle Mariners last month.

Moore, however, loved baseball. Dyson, from Mississippi, was drafted by the Royals in the 50th round in 2006. He learned he and his dad have the same "I can't recall a day in my life where I haven't dreamed or birth date at his father's funeral. thought about this great game," Moore said. It shows his upbringing, Moore said. He played at Garden City Community College, then at George Mason University. He became a coach, but soon the "We never thought Jarrod Dyson would be a Major League Braves called, offering him a scouting job. He loved his job - player. Nobody thought he would be a Major League player - working to make difference in the players he coached, but the let alone help us win a Major League championship," he said. Braves were persistent. In fact, he was on several release lists. But Moore and his "I thought I was going to do this four years and get right back staff could never cut him. into college coaching," Moore said of his Major League stint. "We loved his heart," he said. "Yeah, he failed a drug test, Instead, he stayed, until he got a phone call for his mentor, and we would send him away and he would do OK for a Braves General Manager John Schuerholz. Royals owner while. Then he would fail another, and we would send him David Glass wanted to meet him. away and he would do a little bit better.

Moore told Schuerholz the Royals were his boyhood team, "But if we sent Dyson out, one or two things were going to but "I probably won't ever leave the Braves." happen. He was going to end up incarcerated or he was going to end up dead. And we loved his heart. His teammates cared But he agreed to the meeting. about him and his coaches cared about him. Because we stood up for him, he gave us everything he had." "I could tell right away," Moore said of Glass, "he was broken, frustrated. He was embarrassed. He wanted change." Moore recalls sticking up for Mike Moustakas, too, the third baseman who, early in his career, fans were screaming to get Moore soon was beginning his efforts to rebuild the Royals. rid of.

When Moore and his family arrived in Kansas City in 2006, "We stayed with Moose because we believed in him. ... He he had questions of all prospective Royals leaders. One was was trying to get better. His coaches believed in him. And if they were able to apply moral principles in their lives. because we stayed with him, he went on to help us." They needed to have good character - to be good fathers and husbands, community leaders and represent the organization Remain calm in the eye of the storm. Handle your well. circumstances.

"We won in Atlanta for all those years and our environment Alex Gordon represents this quality, Moore said. here is based on people who have the ability and desires to put everybody else's needs, wants and desires first and put Gordon was hailed to be the savior of the struggling Royals - their own needs wants and desires second," he said. the next legend - like Hall of Famer George Brett.

Whoever manages failure the best will reach their ceiling, But Moore sat Gordon down in 2009. He was sending him said Moore. down to Triple-A Omaha.

"I knew what we had to do - we may not win, I can't control "We need a change, because if you keep doing what you’ve that," he said. "But let's try to create the greatest environment always done you will get what you’ve always gotten," he said in all of sports ... certainly in the history of baseball, where he told Gordon. people want to work, where scouts want to represent the organization, where coaches, instructors and managers love Moore also told Gordon he would learn a new position - left working, where players want to play and raise their families. field - and that up-and-coming Moustakas would be playing We simply wanted to create an organization where we third base. wanted our own sons and our own families to be a part of. "Alex Gordon responded the most successful people in the "It had to become personal. So let's create the best history of our country respond," he said. "He embraced the environment that we can possibly can," Moore said. new circumstance like it was the best thing that ever happened to him." Rebuilding "I wasn't sure if he would ever make it back to the Major Moore crafted a leadership team with those core Leagues, and I never thought he’d be a Golden Glove left philosophies. There are seven in his organization leadership fielder. In fact, I told Rusty Kuntz - 'Rusty, just try to make model. him average. He’s a hard runner. He doesn’t even run the bases very well. I don't know how he is going to track balls in Two stood out in Moore's talk. Kauffman Stadium."

Stand up for others. Gordon deserves all the credit, said Moore, adding at the end of his speech, "If you put others first you will reach your ceiling." great defense. His .267 batting average on balls in play last Seven organizational leadership skills of Dayton Moore year was the best in his career, and 32 points below his career BABIP of .299; batted balls that dropped in past years were 1. Settle disputes quickly caught. His strikeout-to-walk ratio fell to 2.72 last season, from 4.30 in 2015. 2. Care more than anyone else. Be responsive.

3. Have an above and beyond attitude. Give people more than The union should have larger concerns about how the they expect. strategy of tanking (or rebuilding, whatever you want to call it) has become standard operating procedure, because each 4. Stand up for others. season, it seems that three to six teams are turning off the spending spigot and essentially declining to pursue players 5. Share the glory. who could make them better and more competitive. Hammel probably would have made some of the worst teams better in 6. Remain calm in the eye of the storm. Handle your 2017, but there are teams that would rather lose 96 games circumstances. while pocketing the dollars than lose 94 games.

7. Emphasize one on one communication. The players' association should have done more to fight this trend in collective bargaining agreement talks last fall. With that opportunity squandered, the next time around, the union NATIONAL needs to alter this. If all teams were devoted to winning in 2017, Hammel and others might have gotten better contracts. MLB Roundup: Why Jason Hammel didn't have a deal until February But a lot of teams were wary of the right-hander for the same February 7, 2017 By Buster Olney/ESPN.com reasons they believe the Cubs were: Pure analytical http://www.espn.com/blog/buster-olney/insider/post? evaluations of his pitching and his health. id=16162 Lee Judge of the Kansas City Star takes a closer look at The market was stacked against Jason Hammel in free Hammel. agency, writes Jeff Sullivan.

When the Chicago Cubs declined to pick up the right- hander's $12 million option, the explanation was that they Notable didn't want to stand in the way of him pursuing a multiyear deal with another organization. It was said to be a decision of benevolence.  Jayson Stark writes about MLB's proposal to alter the strike zone. Other teams, however, weren't buying this at all. Rival executives assume that the Cubs cut Hammel because they  According to ESPN researcher Sarah Lang, called believe he cannot help them for the salary cost. The Cubs strikes in that area of the strike zone have grown didn't become a great team -- a great organization -- by in recent years. The rate of called strikes in the giving away value. lower third of the strike zone has increased by 16 percent from 2009 to 2016.

It's assumed in other front offices that the Cubs cut ties with Hammel because they preferred other options. Remember, There were 38,982 strikeouts in the 2016 season. That the Cubs went into the offseason needing rotation depth, and shattered the MLB record of 37,446, which was they want to give lefty Mike Montgomery a chance to win set in 2015. The MLB strikeout record has been the No. 5 spot. They also signed veteran Brett Anderson to a broken in each of the past nine seasons. low-risk contract. The percentage of strikeouts ending on called strikes in The fact that Hammel had to wait until February to get a two- the lower third has increased by 28 percent from year, $16 million deal with the Kansas City Royals -- who 2009 to 2016. suffered the tragic loss of Yordano Ventura -- within what was widely perceived to be a thin market of starting pitchers is an indication of industry concerns about Hammel's health  We wrote here in the fall about how and underlying numbers. the Pittsburgh Pirates planned to shift Andrew McCutchen to right field, and Clint Hurdle Hammel, 34, had some elbow trouble late in the 2016 season formally announced the decision Sunday. Kevin and made just four appearances in September, throwing 20 Gorman writes that it's the right move. Travis 2/3 innings after Aug. 31. More and more, teams seem to be Sawchik also wrote about the move. buying into data that suggests that each arm issue is a The Oakland Athletics will name their field precursor to a larger problem -- like the tremors that come  before an earthquake. after Rickey Henderson.  Joel Sherman writes about the New York Yankees' budget. Hammel had a solid 3.83 ERA, but his fielding independent Scouts watched Seth Maness. numbers weren't as good. Fairly or not, some rival evaluators  believe Hammel was greatly helped by the Cubs' historically  Andrew Baggarly writes about the San Francisco Giants' non-roster invitees. Moves, deals and decisions  Jeff Sanders writes about the San Diego Padres' shortstop options. 1. The Los Angeles Angels signed Dustin Ackley. 2. The Minnesota Twins claimed an infielder. AL East NL East  Roger McDowell has a reputation as serious coach.  A spring training preview of the Philadelphia  Manny Machado talks about the World Baseball Phillies' pitching, from Matt Gelb. Classic.  Seth Lugo has a great curveball.  The Boston Red Sox are drawing inspiration from  Matt Ehalt writes about the New York Mets' right the New England Patriots. field situation.  Michael Silverman has nine questions the Red  The Washington Nationals have some MVP Sox face. candidates in the infield.  Boston's trucks departed for Florida.  The Nationals' catchers face a tall task in trying to  The Tampa Bay Rays prepare to open a camp. replace Wilson Ramos.

AL Central NL Central  Paul Sullivan writes about what kind of team that  A new form of training is paying off for Jameson the Chicago White Sox will be this year. Taillon, writes Bill Brink.  The Royals have a new slogan for 2017.  The St. Louis Cardinals will be helped by  A look at the Cleveland Indians' bullpen. the Cincinnati Reds' plodding rebuild.  Rebuilding the Detroit Tigers' farm system will take time, writes Lynn Henning. NL West AL West  Henry Schulman writes about Sergio Romo's decision to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers.So  Kyle Seager has been part of the Seattle now the Giants will see that Frisbee slider from a Mariners' growth. different angle. For the past few years, Romo and Hunter Pence have dressed at adjoining  Evan Grant writes about Carlos Gomez's defense. lockers at AT&T Park. Now they will try to beat one another. Buster Posey caught Romo for eight seasons. Now Posey will have to hit him. Lastly

Posey might get the chance sooner rather than later, in the World Baseball Classic, if both Mexico and  The last snap of the football season means the the United States advance to the second round. start of baseball, writes John McGrath.  Cubs bobbleheads will be available soon. I know from my Twitter feed that many Giants fans  A Milwaukee Brewers minor-league coach cannot forgive Romo for going to the Dodgers, recovered from a rare disease. while many others feel he gave his all to San Francisco for his entire career so far and he had And today will be better than yesterday. every right to go where he chose. Source: Yanks, Carter close to 1-year I doubt any of those folks are going to budge. deal February 7, 2017 By Bryan Hoch/MLB.com Dodgers-Giants, you know. http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/215382544/yankees- near-deal-with-free-agent-chris-carter/ Romo gets $3 million, as Andy McCullough writes. The Yankees are closing in on a one-year, $3.5 million room for Descalso on the 40-man roster, they designated agreement with slugger Chris Carter, a source familiar with infielder Phil Gosselin for assignment. the negotiations has told MLB.com. MLB Network Insider Ken Rosenthal reported the deal The club has not commented on the deal, which is subject to guarantees Descalso $1.5 million for 2017 and includes a $2 a successful physical. The Associated Press reported that million buyout for 2018. Carter's contract includes a $500,000 signing bonus, a $3 million salary and $500,000 in performance bonuses: Descalso, 30, spent the last two seasons in Colorado. He hit . $100,000 each for 250, 300, 350, 400 and 450 plate 264 with a career-best eight home runs and 38 RBIs through appearances. 99 games in 2016.

Carter tied the Rockies' Nolan Arenado for the National The veteran infielder began his big league career in 2010 and League lead with 41 home runs last season, batting .222 with spent five seasons in St. Louis, where he won a World Series 27 doubles and a career-best 94 RBIs in 160 games for the in 2011. Brewers. He also led the NL with 206 strikeouts and was non-tendered by Milwaukee in November. Gosselin, 28, was acquired by Arizona in a trade with the Braves in June 2015. He's appeared in 146 games for the D- "I am excited to go play for a bigger-market team with more backs since, batting .283 with five homers and 26 RBIs. national exposure," Carter told The AP on Tuesday. Sources: Rangers, Napoli agree to 1- Though the deal is not yet official, the 30-year-old Carter year deal projects to provide insurance for the Yankees at first base, February 7, 2017 By T.R. Sullivan/MLB.com where they had been planning on entering the spring with a http://m.rangers.mlb.com/news/article/215390370/rangers- competition between Greg Bird and Tyler Austin. mike-napoli-agree-to-1-year-contract/

Bird showed promise in a late-season callup two years ago, After more than three months of discussions, Mike Napoli is hitting 11 homers in 46 games, but he missed all of 2016 headed back to the Rangers. following right shoulder surgery. Austin hit .241 with five homers and 12 RBIs in 31 games last season, marking his Napoli has reached a tentative agreement with the Rangers on first taste of big league duty. a one-year contract, Major League sources confirmed Tuesday. An official announcement is pending until the The Yankees also have added veteran slugger Matt Holliday required physical and the Rangers can make room on their to the roster, though they envision the 37-year-old more in a 40-man roster. The club has not confirmed the deal. designated-hitter role. The two sides may wait until next week when the Rangers A career .218 hitter over seven Major League seasons with can make room on Feb. 14 by moving Prince Fielder or Jake the Athletics, Astros and Brewers, Carter could play first Diekman to the 60-day disabled list. Both have to stay on the base against left-handers, against whom he posted an .875 40-man roster until that date. OPS last year, while also picking up some at-bats at DH and in left field, where he has played 77 career games. Napoli will join the Rangers to be their primary first baseman while continuing to get time at designated hitter. He jumps "I'm ready for whatever role they give me," Carter said. "I ahead of a field that includes Minor League invites Josh know they have Holliday and I know Bird's there, so I'm Hamilton and James Loney. If Hamilton shows he is healthy, looking to help the team in any way I can." he could still earn significant time at designated hitter.

Carter earned $2.5 million last season and would be the third The move likely means Joey Gallo will likely start the season significant free agent signed this winter by the Yankees, at Triple-A Round Rock, although he could change that with following their pacts with Holliday (one year, $13 million) a big Spring Training. Jurickson Profar and Ryan Rua will and closer Aroldis Chapman (five years, $86 million, a new likely fill utility roles as they did for most of last season. record for a reliever). Napoli, 35, gives the Rangers more power in the middle of Yankees pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to their lineup, something that was of concern after the Tampa, Fla., on Feb. 14, with the full squad set to report on departure of Carlos Beltran, Mitch Moreland and Ian Feb. 18. Carter said that it was a relief to finally know which Desmond to free agency. uniform he would be wearing in 2017. Napoli was with the Indians last season and hit .239 with 34 "It's definitely been tough having to wait this long in the home runs, 101 RBIs and a .465 slugging percentage. The offseason when Spring Training is so close," Carter said. "I'm Indians won the American League Central and advanced to glad to have this out of the way now so I can get out there at the World Series as Napoli played in the postseason for the Spring Training and have a team and be out there with the eighth time in 10 years. guys." D-backs sign infielder Descalso Napoli was with the Rangers in 2011, when they went to the World Series and again in 2012, when they advanced as an Gosselin designated for assignment AL Wild Card team. He left as a free agent after that season February 7, 2017 By Chad Thornburg/MLB.com but was reacquired on Aug. 7, 2015, for the Rangers' stretch http://m.dbacks.mlb.com/news/article/215425948/arizona- run. diamondbacks-sign-daniel-descalso/ Acquired from the Blue Jays on Jan. 25, 2011, Napoli hit . The D-backs signed free-agent infielder Daniel Descalso to a 320 for the Rangers that season with 30 home runs and 75 one-year contract, the club announced Tuesday. To make RBIs. In 17 postseason games, Napoli hit .320 with three popular. Hammel is coming out of this with a nice chunk of home runs and 15 RBIs. change.

Napoli was an All-Star catcher for the Rangers in 2012, when On the other hand, we’re a week into February, meaning he hit .227 with 24 home runs and 56 RBIs. When he spring training is right around the corner. Hammel got two returned in 2015, he split time between first base and left years where he really wanted three, and this offer might not field. have even existed were it not for a horrible accident claiming the life of Yordano Ventura. The Royals were more or less He will not play left field this time around. forced into this position, and the offseason for Hammel Nats add electric arm in trade for lefty wasn’t what he thought it would be. Looking back, I suppose there’s not much mystery. Hammel’s representatives were Romero fighting something of an uphill battle. February 7, 2017 By Jamal Collier/MLB.com http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/215426676/left- We can start easy. What’s one reason why Hammel might not hander-enny-romero-traded-to-nationals/ have been able to draw much of a market? He’s 34 years old. Teams tend to shy away from making significant The Nationals added another left-handed arm to their bullpen commitments to players Hammel’s age. There are exceptions, mix when they acquired lefty Enny Romero from the Rays on in the cases of really really good players, but Hammel is only Tuesday for Minor League righty Jeffrey Rosa. really really good relative to you. In the majors, he’s basically average, and 34-year-olds get worse. Sometimes, Romero, who just turned 26 in January, was the youngest they stay the same. But then they get worse. Everybody gets member on Tampa Bay's Opening Day roster last year but worse. had a disappointing season. He had a 5.91 ERA in 52 games and got himself into trouble with high walk numbers at 5.5 Then there’s the matter of the Cubs declining Hammel’s walks per nine innings. option. This was sold as a great gesture, and it even probably was. The Cubs were said to be honoring an arrangement However, Romero has an electric arm with a fastball that where they wouldn’t trade Hammel or limit his future averaged 96.1 mph in 2016, which ranked ninth among earnings by putting him in the bullpen. But Hammel’s option American League relievers who threw at least 40 innings, was for only $12 million, and it came with a $2-million according to Fangraphs. He did have success at the beginning buyout, meaning it would’ve cost the Cubs just $10 million of last season when he set a Rays franchise record by retiring to pick up. Teams were inevitably going to react with 17 consecutive batters, and he struck out 9.9 batters per nine skepticism. Hammel ended last season with elbow innings last season. discomfort, and other teams weren’t sure he was okay.

That strikeout rate, high velocity and the fact that he is under Tying into that, Hammel leans heavily on his slider. It’s a team control until 2022 was enticing enough for the Nats to good slider, and Hammel knows it, and he throws it more take a chance on a young pitcher after Tampa Bay needed to than a third of the time. Last season, 181 starters threw at free up space on its 40-man roster upon signing first baseman least 50 innings. Hammel had the sixth-highest slider rate Logan Morrison. Romero, who is out of options, brings the among them, and sliders have a negative perception when it Nats' 40-man roster to 39, and he will likely enter comes to a pitcher’s longer-term health. Teams weren’t sure competition with the remaining lefties in the Nationals if Hammel’s arm was sound, and the slider rate to some bullpen. extent justified the concern. Even now, the Royals can’t be totally sure Hammel can hold up. Both Oliver Perez and Sammy Solis will return this year after playing key roles in last year's bullpen, and Matt Grace is the And there’s one more interesting twist. On the matter of remaining left-handed reliever on the roster. Manager Dusty Hammel’s stamina and durability — for his career, he has a Baker grew fond of carrying three lefties through much of the 3.99 first-half ERA, and a 5.06 second-half ERA. I’ll grant first half last season, so perhaps there is room for Romero as that ERA isn’t a good statistic. I’ll also grant that season half well. His sample size in the Majors is small, but Romero has splits are quick and sloppy. But a lot of people around the fared better against right-handers (.665 OPS) than left- league think of Hammel as a pitcher who wears down, and handers (.880 OPS). for some evidence, over the past two decades, there are 184 pitchers who have thrown at least 500 innings in each half. Washington parts with Rosa, 21, after two seasons in the Here are the 10 worst splits by OPS allowed. organization following his signing as an undrafted free agent. He spent 2016 in the Gulf Coast League, and in 24 starts in Second-Half Decliners, 1997 – 2016 the Minors the past two seasons, he posted a 3.83 ERA. Pitcher 1H OPS 2H OPS Change The Market was stacked against Jason Chris Sale 0.588 0.682 0.094 Nate Robertson 0.756 0.848 0.092 Hammel Jason Hammel 0.721 0.805 0.084 February 6, 2017 By Jeff Sullivan/FanGraphs.com Johnny Cueto 0.641 0.725 0.084 http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-market-was-stacked- Edinson Volquez 0.709 0.787 0.078 against-jason-hammel/ Edwin Jackson 0.743 0.811 0.068 Jered Weaver 0.662 0.729 0.067 Jason Hammel isn’t yet officially a member of the Royals. Brad Penny 0.733 0.791 0.058 He still has to pass a physical, and we’ve been burned before Josh Fogg 0.794 0.852 0.058 when we’ve jumped the gun. Yet the odds are that Hammel Chris Capuano 0.746 0.802 0.056 will soon officially join the Royals, and he’ll do so on a two- SOURCE: Baseball-Reference year guarantee worth $16 million. I’ve personally never Minimum 500 innings pitched in each half. signed a two-year guarantee worth $16 million, and I can’t imagine I’m going to, unless FanGraphs gets incredibly There are some good pitchers on that list, like Sale and Cueto. They don’t suffer from the same kind of perception Padres Contract problem. But Hammel’s split is indeed enormous — it’s the third-biggest out of everyone, where the total pitcher pool has an average split of -0.001. Hammel had problems down the stretch last year. He had problems down the stretch the year before, and he lasted just 4.1 innings over two playoff starts. Plenty of teams like the idea of Jason Hammel as a starter, but you just can’t know what you’ll have in September.

I don’t know how much of this is fair, versus how much of this is random noise. Much of Hammel’s ugly split comes down to quality of contact allowed, and that can bounce all over the place. But something we don’t talk about enough is the stretch-run and playoff bonus that gets built into certain contracts. High-leverage relievers get more money, and front- of-the-rotation starters get more money, in part because they’re being compensated for postseason value. Even though no team is guaranteed to make the playoffs, there’s always some chance, and you know which players might become more important in October.

With a guy like Hammel, you very well might not want to use him in October. You might not even trust him in September or August. It’s not that that’s certain, and it’s not that he doesn’t help a team out in the earlier months, but as the games get more and more important, the idea is that Hammel gets less and less reliable. And to an executive, that’s negative value. It means Hammel might not help if your own team makes the playoffs, and it means another team might not want Hammel so bad in the event your team has to sell near the deadline.

In short, Jason Hammel suffers from a perception problem. His age, his stats, his being left off the Cubs’ playoff roster — it all informs a general lack of trust in his ability to keep pitching well as a season wears on. For the Royals, maybe that means this is a buy-low opportunity on a legitimate No. 3 starter. Heaven knows that would help fill a void. But this is a risk, a risk that reminds us to consider just what a team is paying for. The best baseball seasons stretch for seven months, and they don’t all mean the same thing. MLB TRANSACTIONS February 8, 2017 •.CBSSports.com http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/transactions

TEAM PLAYER TRANSACTION

Cleveland Austin Adams Designated for Assignment Indians

Signed to a Minor League Detroit Tigers David Lough Contract

San Diego Signed to a Minor League Erick Aybar Padres Contract

San Diego Tony Cruz Signed to a Minor League