It’s undeniably been a special couple of seasons for the Royals, and many of the team’s core players tell Bob Nightengale of USA Today that they are enjoying the time they have together for at least the next couple of seasons. To a man, they expressed an interest in sticking around long-term, though of course it would be hard to predict how many will ultimately do so. Meanwhile, GM Dayton Moore suggested that the organization is taking much the same approach. “You can’t be so consumed with what players are going to be here for just this period of time,” he said. “There’s urgency every day. We’re not going to focus on next year, two years, or three years from now. I can’t predict the future. We’re just going to go out there and do the best we can.”
More from the division…
- One Royals newcomer, veteran righty Chien-Ming Wang, is hoping to become the organization’s latest pitching turnaround success, as MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reports. The sinkerballer has thrown six impressive frames and worked into the mid-90s with his fastball after taking a different approach to his preparation over the winter. Wang, who will soon turn 36, has a May 1 opt-out date but is making a real run to crack the roster in the bullpen.
- Twins right-hander Trevor May is headed to the bullpen to open the season, writes MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger. GM Terry Ryan told reporters that May took the news “the right way,” though he may not have been privately displeased with the decision. Ryan went on to explain that he still believes May can start for the Twins in the future: “There are other factors in the decision and who is in the rotation and how they’ve done,” said Ryan. “But I don’t know why he couldn’t be a future starter in the Major Leagues. He’s got the pitches, he’s got the strength. He’s shown he can do it. But right now for this ballclub, the better fit is in the bullpen.” With May out of the rotation picture, Tommy Milone, Ricky Nolasco and top prospect Jose Berrios are competing for the final spot behind Ervin Santana, Phil Hughes, Kyle Gibson and Tyler Duffey. Nolasco, notably, has two years and $25MM remaining on his contract with the Twins.
- Michael Brantley’s accelerated recovery from shoulder surgery will take another step in the right direction tomorrow, as MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian writes. Brantley is slated to play four or five innings in the outfield and receive multiple at-bats in a minor league game, per manager Terry Francona. While Francona stopped short of calling Opening Day a possibility, Bastian notes that the opener continues to be Brantley’s goal. Francona noted that Brantley could return to the lineup in early or mid April, either of which would be considerably better for the Indians than initial projections on Brantley’s timeline. Bastian also breaks down the Indians’ potential outfield alignments in the event that Brantley does need to sit out the first couple weeks of the season.
Thank you! Although I have just gotten to the point where all I do is laugh when I see him posting lol.
Well I’m really sorry if I’m causing some kind of problem, I’m really just trying to be part of the community. I’ve been reading MLBTR for years now but my mom never let me comment until recently when I turned 16. Just really excited to be part of the MLBTR commenting family and really excited for my Sox and the new season. My bad if I’m being annoying, I’ll try to tone it down a little, sorry.
You’re good young man. Don’t let that guy get to you.
Humility is a great characteristic. I haven’t seen your posts but will applaud you for not being a sore buthurt and lashing out on everyone.
The issue that people have is just that you seem to laud the Red Sox organization on posts that don’t really seem to apply. A lot of commenters only focus on one team, but a post like “I like this player, but my Red Sox are too good for him so we’re not gonna take him” can rub people the wrong way. And, if you’re going to suggest a trade involving the Red Sox, a good habit (if you really want to propose what you believe to be a fair trade) is to flip the script and evaluate the trade from the other team’s perspective and see if you would be happy with it if you were a fan of the other team- just my advice
Enthusiasm is a good thing to have, for a young ball fan, and don’t ever lose that.
My advice, for what it is worth to you, is to just be yourself. Some people will like you, some will not. That is just life in general, truthfully.
What I think some people might take offense to, is just when you are speaking so highly of your team, the Red Sox, it can come off as downgrading someone else’s favorite team. Whether that is intentional or not, people will not really care, they will just see it as a slight to their team.
Other then that, keep on posting, and doing you.
As far as your Sox are concerned, best of wishes, it looks to be a very bright future for them, and their “future” very well could be now!!
It will just really be a dog fight within that division to rise to the top, but either way, as a fellow fan, best wishes for you and the Red Sox!!
That’s fine, and we’re happy to have as many commenters as possible here. That said, jumping into posts that have nothing to do with the Red Sox just to bring up the Red Sox or jumping into posts for no other reason than to trash the Yankees (as you did both in this post and in the earlier one on the Adam LaRoche news) is excessive.
Wanting to talk about the Red Sox is great, but they don’t need to be the focal point of every comment section here. As far as just trashing the Yankees in posts where they’re not even mentioned, that’s just asking for arguments.
Basically, just be respectful and don’t go out of your way to insult others or start an argument.
No one beats this tribe4life individual to me..wow…just caustic. Hard to even converse with people like that…and actually well beyond the previous moderation system. I haven’t had any personal interaction, but reading the comments on the LaRoche update was crazy.
I would also encourage people to consider who they might be holding a conversation with here. I’ve worked in social work mentoring teenage boys with autism spectrum. One in particular had Aspergers and he would patrol a college football site. He lived and died Iowa Hawkeyes and his posts and responses reflected his passion and his disability. Just the suggestion that Iowa would fire their head coach would make him upset.
I’m not implying this young man is suffering any disability. I’m just suggesting consideration, especially when dealing with those we know are young.
Maybe the Red Sox blog on SB Nation would be a better place for you. Nothing but Sox fans on there.
How does a mom prevent one from posting on the internet? At the very least couldn’t you have done on a school computer (if such things still exist?)
Doesn’t everyone have a phone these days anyways?! lol He could post on that, but I assume he listens to his mother when she tells him not to. Respect
Lol he’s not 16, he’s clearly trolling
You’re young man. You seem to be a nice kid. Don’t let that someone’s trash talk and arrogance get you down.
I hope Brantley is actually healthy enough to play and the Indians aren’t trying to rush him back to action. He has too much talent to risk getting injured again. And I need the help on my fantasy team.
The Indians won’t have a prayer without a healthy Brantley. Rushing him back risks injury, or worse, having him play at a diminished ability and never getting back to what he was, this year. The Tigers hurt their chances last year by playing a “somewhat” healthy Victor Martinez, and he never returned to form. Just because a player is able to play, doesn’t mean they are ready to play. They need to be cautious.
That’s exactly how I feel about it. I read something a week or so ago that said he wasn’t really that close to hitting or plying in a game. Now all of the sudden he is able to take BP and is playing in a minor league game. It really makes me wonder if they’re forcing him to come back.
“GM Terry Ryan told reporters that May took the news “the right way,” though he may not have been privately displeased with the decision.”
Not not?
Possibly because he was successful as a reliever. He may hope to be a starter,but he knows he can be a reliever and do well.
He probably understands the situation that he would make a better late inning reliever than Nolasco and Milone but it’s also likely he could be as good or better than a starter than either as well.