At The Athletic ($), Will Sammon writes that Kris Bubic is popular in trade talks.
Darragh McDonald also talks about this article at MLB Trade Rumors:
As Sammon points out, another thing working in the club’s favor is that a lot of other pitchers with upside are seemingly unavailable. Recent reports have downplayed the trade possibilities on guys like Tarik Skubal, Paul Skenes, Hunter Greene, Freddy Peralta, Joe Ryan and Pablo López. It’s probably still fair to expect guys like MacKenzie Gore, Sonny Gray and others to be out there but every name that comes off the board gives the Royals a bit more leverage.
While I was over there, I also noticed the Royals were mentioned as a potential destination for St. Louis Cardinal Brendan Donovan:
Cardinals infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan figures to be one of the most sought after trade candidates this offseason. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Royals and Guardians are two of the clubs interested in acquiring him. Goold also mentions that the Yankees and Dodgers had interest prior to the deadline, which perhaps indicates they would be interested again.
Bobby Witt Jr had such an off year that he only finished 4th in AL MVP voting. Slacker!
The finish marked Witt’s second consecutive top-five finish in AL MVP voting following his runner-up finish in 2024. While the narrative surrounding this year’s MVP campaign rightfully zeroed in on Judge and Raleigh, Witt was still lurking, mainly because of his all-around talent. Witt’s 8.0 fWAR was third-best in the AL behind Judge (10.1) and Raleigh (9.1). Witt’s 7.1 bWAR also finished behind Judge (9.7) and Raleigh (7.4) as the top three in the AL.
Maikel Garcia also picked up a few votes for 9th and 10th place.
I feel like I’m stepping on Greg’s toes here. But how about a Blake Mitchell Arizona Fall League highlight?
The Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory gave George Brett their “Living Legend Award”:
Brett now joins other Living Legends like Jim Thome, Derek Jeter, Frank Thomas, Dave Winfield, Andre Dawson, Tony Gwynn, Ozzie Smith and more.
This was from yesterday, but I don’t think it’s been linked to yet. David Lesky ($) put out his “2025/2026 Royals Free Agent Target Guide”:
Again, I do think this list shows why they’ll be in the trade market for the big bat they need and can shop in this free agent market for the secondary bat. It’s a market filled with guys who could sign pillow deals. I remain consistent in saying that if someone lingers on the market for long enough, the Royals will start to sniff around them. And if they like the smell, maybe they do something like they did last year with Carlos Estevez. So while I do think the heavy lifting will be done with a trade, this free agent class is interesting.
At Royals Keep, former “Royals Reporter” Kevin O’Brien asks “Can Mason Black Be a Royals Success Story?”
The one thing that sticks out about Black’s history is that he is not just a student of the game, but an intelligent individual in general. Not only did he attend college at Lehigh, a pretty intense academic university, but he was also on the verge of entering medical school before getting drafted.
Black’s story and scientific approach to pitching were profiled in a short video segment from the San Francisco Giants back in 2023, when he was still a prospect in the Giants’ farm system. The Royals have seemed to thrive with pitchers who not only study their craft but are willing to make the necessary adjustments to their pitch grips and repertoires.
Caleb Moody at KOK: Royals News: KC hires new strength and conditioning coach, old friends in new places
Last week, we began our Asian baseball recap with the Rakuten Monkeys winning the CPBL. This week, it’s KBO time. Here’s a link to the season preview and our midseason notes.
Home runs took headlines this season in the KBO. While the total in the league was “only” 1191 (by comparison, there were 1438 in 2024), there were a couple of big home run related stories.
First off, former Marlin and current Samsung Lion Lewin Diaz had himself a year! Last year, he hit a modest 26 home runs between two Mexican League teams and the Lions. But this season, he became the first 50/150 player in KBO history with 50 HR and 150 RBI. The 50 HR was also a new record for a foreign-born player in KBO. The KBO single-season record is held by another Lion, Lee Seung-yuop, who hit 56 in 2003.
Then we have Choi Jeong. Last April, he hit his 468th career home run to become the KBO’s Home Run King. This season, the 38-year-old, who has spent his entire career with the SSG Landers (formerly SK Wyverns), became the inaugural member of the KBO’s 500 Home Run Club.
Closer Seung-hwan Oh, who had (has?) the awesome nickname “Final Boss”, announced his retirement during the season. He won KBO Rookie of the Year in 2005 and pitched 9 years with the Lions. Then he plied his trade abroad with the NPB’s Hanshin Tigers for 2 years and 4 years in MLB, split between the Cardinals, Blue Jays, and Rockies. He returned to the Lions in 2020 and finished his career with the franchise. He retires as the KBO career saves king, with 427. He also added 80 in Japan and 42 in the USA.
What about the playoff picture? Remember this from the mid-season check?
Um… what? Our rooting interest in the league has been the Hanwha Eagles, the perennial cellar dweller. In our 5 seasons following the league, they have finished 10th, 10th, 10th, 9th, and 8th. Today, I pop open the trusty MyKBOStats standings page to see our beloved Eagles in… 1st?!? And not just barely. They’re 4 games clear of everyone else in the league, the only team with a winning percentage over .600.
The LG Twins passed the Eagles for first, but our rooting interest will enter the playoffs as the second seed! For a KBO playoff refresher: they do a ladder playoff with the top half of the league. Lotte Giants, Kia Tigers, Doosan Bears, and Kiwoom Heroes? Better luck next year.
On September 20th, the NC Dinos were leading the Kia Tigers 4-3. But, in the bottom of the 9th, they gave us a single, walk, walk, walk, and walk to end the game on a literal walk-off. This was their 3rd straight loss and it dropped them to 62-67-6, just hanging around in 7th place. But they won 9 in a row and snuck past the KT Wiz for the final playoff spot.
So about that ladder playoff? The 5th-place Dinos played the 4th-place Lions in the best-of-3 Wild Card series. In the opening round, the higher seed starts with 1-0 advantage. The Dinos won Game 1. However, their magic ran out as Won Tae-in and 3 relievers shut them out in Game 2.
The Lions then faced the #3 seed Landers in the Semi-playoff. The Lions won Game 1 comfortably, but then the next three games were nail-biters. The Landers won Game 2 on a Kim Seong-uk walk-off home run. The Lions were leading Game 3 comfortably until a Ko Myeong-jun homer with nobody out in the 9th made it 5-3. But the Landers never got the tying run to the plate. In Game 4, the Lions scored in the 3rd and 6th. But the Landers tied it with 2 in their half of the 8th. In the bottom of the 8th, who else but Diaz? His 3-run homer sent the Lions on to face the Eagles.
In the (semi-final) Playoff round, the Eagles won a seesaw Game 1 at 9-8 and a close Game 3 at 5-4. The Lions won Games 2 and 4 handily, 7-3 and 7-4. This forced a decisive Game 5. I suppose “decisive” also describes the game another way. The Eagles crushed the Lions 11-2. The Hanwha Eagles advanced to their first Korea Series since 2006! Heck, this is only their 2nd playoff appearance since 2007! They have not won since 1999, the only title in franchise history.
Unfortunately, they were just no match for the LG Twins. The Twins destroyed the Eagles 8-2 and 13-5 in the first two games. The Eagles won Game 3 behind ace Cody Ponce. Former Royals farmhand Ryan Weiss gave them a chance to get back into the series. He held the Twins scoreless through 7 but tired in the 8th, leaving after 117 pitches. That runner would come around to score, but the Eagles still led 4-1 after 8. However, in the 9th, three relievers combined to give up 6 runs and essentially ended the series. Former Blue Jays farmhand William Tolhurst stymied the Eagles in Game 5. The Twins won 4-1 and won the series. This is their second Korean Series win in 3 seasons.
While I know there are quite a few KBO players who might come over to MLB this offseason, I’m going to save those for next week when talking about the NPB, which also has some high-profile players
I’ve used a couple of tracks from Mario Kart 8 and I love this little series of “The Music of Mario Kart 8”. Today’s song is Wild Woods.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.royalsreview.com ’
