Despite a quiet Winter Meetings, the Royals remain on the hunt for outfield help:
“So much of it comes down to, whoever you’re trying to acquire: What’s the competition for it [and] are you willing to beat the competition? [With] free agents, do you feel like it’s a fair asking pricing right now and does it fit our payroll? You got to weigh all those things. … I’ll say we’re in a good spot in the sense that we haven’t lost out on anybody we have a great interest in. It’s a matter of just hanging in,
especially on the free agent side. On the trade side, the avenue we get to where we want to go via trade is a little complicated. That’s just going to take time if it’s going to happen.” — Picollo on the waiting game for offseason acquisitions
The Royals sat out the Rule 5 Draft ($):
“We probably discussed five pitchers and it was four position players that we thought were worthy of discussion,” Picollo said. “But in the end, we view the Rule 5 player as they’re essentially an out of options player. So if you acquire them, they have to stay on your team. … I think the Rule 5 is fairly often a reflection of where a team is in their timeline and your progression.”
Your brief international Royals roundup:
- Eric Cerantola hasn’t pitched in nearly three weeks. I hope he isn’t done for the winter.
- Maikel Garcia made five starts for Tiburones de La Guaira this week, going 6-20 with a double and five walks. He also stole a couple bases.
- Much to my surprise, Salvador Perez has suited up for Leones del Caracas for the first time since 2022. He has made two starts at first base and three as the DH, going 3-17 with a homer and four walks.
Eric Longenhagen at FanGraphs scouts the players selected in the Rule 5 Draft.
Kiley McDaniel at ESPN predicts the top five picks in next year’s draft.
The minor leagues may experiment with eliminating hitter timeouts. ($)
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