Zimmer with another solid outing yesterday. I really hope he makes the opening day roster, even if it’s short lived. It would be nice to get something out of that pick.

Strahm and Ruiz were tough pieces to part with. The Royals did it in an attempt to complete the team that all expected to work out pretty well at the time, based on Cahill and Buchner. It just didn’t.

Turning around and using Buchner to dump salary before the next season exacerbated things.

Strahm’s floor is as a dynamic bullpen stopper. Ceiling is a very good #3 starter since he added a better put away/strikeout slider after moving to San Diego.

Ruiz was a tough give as well. He’d be a top 5 prospect for the Royals and also slot in nicely with the Melendez/Prato/etc. crew.

Probably the worst trade moore has ever made. The Royals gave up a lot more than they did for Cueto, and got a lot less in return.

I don't think there's any question Zimmer is making the opening day roster at this point. Only a week to go and barring injury, there is very little he could do to get himself cut, IMO. His curve has looked fantastic his last 3 outings.

It appears the driveline guys fixed Zimmer, at least as a short-stint reliever.

Some MLB team should throw $100 million+ at those guys and buy them out now. They do some pretty amazing things.

Nah.

MLB teams are just stealing their methods instead. They've all got Rapsodo cameras, etc... now that driveline showed everyone how to use them...

Suppose Zimmer really is fixed -- what's his contract situation going forward? He won't be cheap will he?

I think it's a one year MLB deal that he signed. We retain his rights until he reaches free agency, including the arbitration-eligible years. Other teams wanted him this off-season, but the Royals offered him the MLB deal to under-cut the other offers, which were all MILB, from what I've heard.

Middling signings like this only have value if you are going to trade him for garbage draft picks, or if you plan on competing. Otherwise you block your ability to see what you have in Viloria and Gallagher.

I hate it.

Viloria was in A ball last year. He should be getting ABs in the minors every day. Not sitting on the bench 5 days a week. I'll admit I was surprised at the number of people who just want to bring him up. It's not like you can play two catchers, let the guy move up to AA and keep developing. Plus having a gold glove catcher back there is a huge benefit for all our young pitchers.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Martín Maldonado caught some innings on the backfields today. He threw out Terrance Gore at second. He was drilled in the leg by a fastball in one plate appearance. Pretty good catcher&#39;s workout.</p>&mdash; Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) <a href="https://twitter.com/rustindodd/status/1106981470629826560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
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@pgrathoff: The Royals traded righty Jason Adam to Toronto for cash considerations.

Forever Royal

Ian Kennedy goes one inning in the game yesterday. That doesn't sound like a guy that's going to be in the rotation. No announcements that I can find, but this seems pretty obvious what is going to happen. Meanwhile Bailey goes 4 innings this past Friday. From their stretching guys out, looks like Keller, Lopez, Junis and either Fillmyer or Bailey to start the season (and maybe the other when they add a 5th). Sounds like Duffy will be a ???? again this year.

I hope Lopez continues to improve. That near-perfect game last year was about the only Royals highlight of the entire season

Holy smokes!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING: Star center fielder Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels are finalizing a record-breaking 12-year contract worth more than $430 million, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN. Details: <a href="https://t.co/bROnnC11Uh">https://t.co/bROnnC11Uh</a></p>&mdash; Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1108008799288332289?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2019</a></blockquote>
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