Daily Clips
January 5, 2018
LOCAL
Royals trade Soria, Alexander for prospects
Oaks ranked 14th in Dodgers' system; Mejia a 'plus-plus defender'
January 4, 2018 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
https://www.mlb.com/royals/news/royals-get-trevor-oaks-erick-mejia-in-trade/c-264300558
Q&A with Royals' new pitching coach Eldred
January 4, 2018 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
https://www.mlb.com/royals/news/qa-with-royals-pitching-coach-cal-eldred/c-264270998
Royals trade Joakim Soria, Scott Alexander in three-team deal, save $9 million
January 4, 2018 By Rustin Dodd/KC Star
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article193069014.html
White Sox fans are happy their team traded for Joakim Soria
January 4, 2018 By Pete Grathoff/KC Star
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article193094384.html
Royals’ Salvador Perez posts social-media message about Eric Hosmer
January 4, 2018 By Pete Grathoff/KC Star
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article192928194.html
Royals fans would be happy if team copied this Oakland A’s anniversary promotion
January 4, 2018 By Pete Grathoff/KC Star
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article192992574.html
NATIONAL
White Sox nab Soria, Avilan to shore up 'pen
Chicago prospect Peter and Royals' Alexander sent to Dodgers in three-team deal with LA, KC
January 4, 2018 By Scott Merkin/MLB.com
https://www.mlb.com/news/white-sox-trade-for-joakim-soria-luis-avilan/c-264294484
Hosmer sweepstakes a guessing game
Royals, Padres both reportedly offer first baseman seven-year deal
January 4, 2018 By Joe Posnanski/MLB.com
https://www.mlb.com/news/is-eric-hosmer-bidding-war-overblown/c-264295410
What Is Eric Hosmer Really Worth?
January 4, 2018 By Jay Jaffe/SI.com
https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/01/04/eric-hosmer-free-agency-kansas-city-royals-san-diego-padres
MLB Hot Stove rumors: The Brewers and Rangers are reportedly after Lorenzo Cain
Cain is the best free agent center fielder on the market
January 4, 2018 By Mike Axisa/CBSSports.com
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-hot-stove-rumors-the-brewers-and-rangers-are-reportedly-after-lorenzo-cain/
Source: MLB, players union to discuss pace-of-play initiatives for '18
January 4, 2018 By Jerry Crasnick/ESPN.com
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/21960465/mlb-players-association-meet-next-week-discuss-pace-play-initiatives-2018
MLB TRANSACTIONS
January 5, 2018 •.CBSSports.com
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/transactions
LOCAL
Royals trade Soria, Alexander for prospects
Oaks ranked 14th in Dodgers' system; Mejia a 'plus-plus defender'
January 4, 2018 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
https://www.mlb.com/royals/news/royals-get-trevor-oaks-erick-mejia-in-trade/c-264300558
The Royals' rebuilding process kick-started Thursday when they traded veteran right-hander Joakim Soria and emerging bullpen star left-hander Scott Alexander in a three-team deal with the Dodgers and White Sox while acquiring right-handed prospect Trevor Oaks and infielder Erick Mejia.
Alexander, 28, pitched in 58 games with the Royals last season and posted a 2.48 ERA. He was sent to the Dodgers.
"I'm really going to miss Kansas City and the fans," Alexander told MLB.com. "I wish I could have done better when they were rising to the World Series. But I'm so thankful to the organization. It's all I've known since I was 20 years old."
Soria was in the final year of a three-year, $25 million deal and was owed $10 million. He was sent to the White Sox. A source told MLB.com that the Royals only had to pick up his $1 million buyout for 2019; thus the Royals saved $9 million on payroll by trading him. Soria had a 3.70 ERA in 59 games last season.
"It was hard to let those guys go," Royals general manager Dayton Moore told MLB.com. "But it's the process we're in."
Oaks, 24, was immediately added to the Royals' 40-man roster and Moore said he expects him to compete for a rotation spot in Spring Training.
Oaks pitched for the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City in 2017, going 4-3 with a 3.64 ERA over 15 starts and one relief appearance. He allowed only 18 walks in 84 innings while striking out 72. Oaks was the Dodgers' seventh-round pick in the 2014 Draft out of California Baptist University and was No. 14 on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 list of Dodgers prospects.
Oaks recently was added to the Dodgers' 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.
"As you know, the Dodgers have a pretty deep system and yet they thought to protect him," Moore said. "We believe he is a guy with great makeup and is a great competitor who can compete for a spot in our rotation."
Mejia, 23, is a switch-hitting middle infielder who can play outfield, though Moore indicated the Royals likely will keep Mejia on the infield for now. He played mostly at Double-A Tulsa last season and hit .289 with 17 doubles, three triples and seven home runs while stealing 25 bases in 29 attempts.
"He's a guy who fits our makeup of players," Moore said. "He's a plus-plus runner who is a good defender. We've got a guy in Nicky Lopez and he is somewhat like him."
Soria had seven blown saves last season but also had 20 holds in an up-and-down season.
Q&A with Royals' new pitching coach Eldred
January 4, 2018 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
https://www.mlb.com/royals/news/qa-with-royals-pitching-coach-cal-eldred/c-264270998
The Royals' new pitching coach, Cal Eldred, was once regarded as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball.
Eldred, 50, was a first-round Draft pick of the Brewers in 1989 and played 14 seasons in the Major Leagues for Milwaukee, the White Sox and Cardinals. The right-hander had his best year in 1992, when he went 11-2 and pitched to a 1.79 ERA.
After retiring, he wound up doing some broadcast analyst duties for the Big Ten Network before joining the Cardinals organization as a special assistant to the general manager, working closely with legendary pitching coach Dave Duncan.
Eldred spent the last two seasons as a special assistant to Royals general manager Dayton Moore.
Eldred, who will replace Dave Eiland, sat down with MLB.com for a quick Q&A:
MLB.com: Why did you want to become a pitching coach?
Eldred: It's been a job I looked at and thought about for a while. When I got done playing it wasn't on the top of my list, but the more I worked in the game, the more I got interested in it. But if you're married with five children, that's [among] the reasons you don't pursue them. But now we're at the point -- our third child is heading off to college -- now it makes more sense. But the right situation had to present itself. But as I told Dayton [Moore], I just want to do whatever is best that the organization believes will serve them best.
MLB.com: You were a special assistant to the general manager in St. Louis and got to work closely with legendary pitching coach Dave Duncan. How did that influence you?
Eldred: [Duncan] was very consistent. He was the same guy every day. He was quiet, so a lot of times people misunderstood him as a coach. Some people thought he was a grumpy old man. But he loved his players. That's a characteristic I want to have. But as a catcher, he was really good at seeing what the weapons are that a pitcher has, and understanding how those weapons will get a hitter out, and communicating what a pitcher will do to get that done. And he was really hard on his catchers in St. Louis. He commanded those catchers to be their best. As a pitching coach, that's important.
MLB.com: Your new bullpen coach, Vance Wilson, was a very successful Minor League manager. How will that help you?
Eldred: Vance has a lot more capabilities than a typical bullpen coach. Those guys are assistant pitching coaches to me. He's a great communicator. He's managed. He knows how to communicate with younger players and I look forward to working with him.
MLB.com: How would you assess the talent on this staff?
Eldred: I haven't contacted some of these guys yet. But I want them to relax through the holidays. But very soon I will contact them. I tend to look at them now and then where they could be. But that will change once I stand next to them and see them throw. I know [Jakob] Junis really well. I've seen [Brian] Flynn. The other guys I've been able to watch through the years. We have talent, but it's how much can you keep from that talent pool. We're in a unique situation. We have a lot of guys that other teams want. We know that. When you look at the bullpen and the arms -- [Ryan] Buchter and [Brandon] Maurer. We have guys with track records in [Kelvin] Herrera. There's a lot of talent here. But it's matching up that talent with production, that's my biggest challenge.
MLB.com: The game obviously has changed dramatically: It has become home-run-or-nothing as evidenced by the incredible increase in homers and strikeouts since 2015, and that all-or-nothing approach was never more evident than in the 2017 postseason. How do you combat that as a pitching coach?
Eldred: There was so much excitement in the World Series, but I just kept going on, 'Oh my God.' High fastballs, hitters are going to adjust. If you're going to go up there with some consistency, you better have some hair on it. That's going to be my message.
Royals trade Joakim Soria, Scott Alexander in three-team deal, save $9 million
January 4, 2018 By Rustin Dodd/KC Star
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article193069014.html
On a Monday last month, Royals general manager Dayton Moore sat inside a hotel suite at Walt Disney World and promised to restock his club’s farm system. He would listen to any deal that would expedite the process, he said. His focus was squarely on the future.
On Thursday, the Royals moved forward with the plan, executing a three-team trade that sent reliever Scott Alexander to the Los Angeles Dodgers and reliever Joakim Soria to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Dodgers prospects Trevor Oaks, a right-handed pitcher, and Erick Mejia, an infielder.
In a move that warmed up baseball’s frozen hot stove, the Dodgers also sent left-handed pitcher Luis Avilan to the White Sox, while Chicago sent minor-league infielder Jake Peter to Los Angeles.
For the Royals, the move represented a cost-cutting maneuver while signaling the impending rebuild. They dumped the final $9 million on Soria's three-year, $25 million contract by sending the reliever to Chicago, picking up his $1 million buyout for 2019 in the process. To make the deal work, they attached a valuable asset in Alexander and acquired two prospects who will help fill a hollowed-out farm system.
“The fact remains there’s an economic component to this,” Moore said on Thursday evening. “We needed to reduce our payroll and also improve our farm system. We like Trevor Oaks. We view him as a major-league starting pitcher. That’s a very deep and rich farm system. We think he’s got a chance to be a very durable major-league starting pitcher.”
The savings on Soria could offer the Royals flexibility to further pursue free agent Eric Hosmer. Yet the club may need to make additional reductions, Moore said. The club is hoping to pare its payroll down to close to the $105 million range. It entered Thursday with obligations of more than $115 million, including possible arbitration cases. That reality — and the desire to gain assets for the future — spurred team officials into action.
Alexander, 28, posted a 2.48 ERA in 69 innings in 2017, transforming himself into a formidable weapon in the Royals’ bullpen. It also made him an attractive trade piece. Once a sixth-round pick from Sonoma State in 2010, and dogged by a battle with diabetes in 2016, Alexander harnessed his potent sinker and turned in the highest ground-ball percentage in the majors during his first full season. Yet it was the combination of his performance and his contract status that turned him into a wanted asset. After debuting in 2015 and appearing in just 79 games across the last three seasons, Alexander will not become a free agent until after the 2022 season. The Royals used the value to rid themselves of Soria and acquire Oaks and Mejia.
Oaks, 24, is positioned to compete for a spot in the Royals’ starting rotation in 2018. Mejia, 23, is a switch-hitting infielder who will likely move to second base as a possible future pairing with shortstop Nicky Lopez, one of the organization’s breakout prospects last year.
Oaks, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound right-hander, finished 4-3 with a 3.64 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 84 innings for Class AAA Oklahoma City last season. A former seventh-round pick in 2014, he ranked as the 14th best prospect in a deep Dodgers farm system. Yet he was blocked from the major leagues by a deep Dodgers rotation.
“He’s young,” Moore said. “He competes. He’s got extremely good makeup.”
Mejia, meanwhile, spent most of the 2017 season at Class AA Tulsa, batting .289 with 17 doubles, three triples, seven homers and 25 stolen bases in 29 attempts. He did not rank among the Dodgers’ top 30 prospects, according to MLB.com’s Pipeline rankings.
“He’s got a very similar skillset to a Nicky Lopez,” Moore said.
The price for two prospects was Alexander, a solid left-handed reliever who will make the league minimum in 2018. The Royals, however, viewed this offseason as a prime time to dangle Alexander. The club is moving into what could be a three- to four-year rebuilding cycle. It is attempting to gain assets for the future. It also sought relief from Soria’s contract.
Once a star in the Royals’ bullpen, Soria could never regain his old form after signing his $25 million deal after the 2015 season. He posted a 4.05 ERA and recorded seven blown saves during a tumultuous 2016 campaign. He bounced back to some degree in 2017, offering strong outings for stretches, but still logged a 3.70 ERA while blowing another seven saves.
“To move salary,” Moore said, “sometimes you have to attach a young and talented player as the combination.”
White Sox fans are happy their team traded for Joakim Soria
January 4, 2018 By Pete Grathoff/KC Star
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article193094384.html
If Joakim Soria had ended up with just one stint with the Royals, he’d have been a beloved figure in Kansas City forever.
Soria had 160 saves and a 2.40 ERA in 298 games with the Royals from 2007-11. After leaving the Royals, Soria pitched for the Rangers, Tigers and Pirates before returning to Kansas City ahead of the 2016 season.
Over the last two seasons, Soria had 14 blown saves and a 3.89 ERA. He became a lightning rod for the frustrations of Royals fans, who had become accustomed to unprecedented success from a bullpen combination of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland.
So when Soria was traded to the White Sox as part of a three-way deal that included the Dodgers, a number of Roals fans took to social media to express their happiness at Soria’s departure.