Arbitration figures, FanDuel Sports Network update, Matt Strahm praise

As the offseason rages on Kansas City still has their hands full in trying to continue their already strong winter momentum.

And beyond the usual Hot Stove storylines, the Royals have had an all around had a busy week, much like many teams in baseball.

From Thursday’s arbitration deadline leaving a few major names heading for hearings, to the their uncertain broadcasting future, to a “new” name singing high praise of the organization, there’s plenty of headlines the Royals faithful ought to be aware of.

Royals News: Initial arbitration figures revealed for pair of unsigned names

The Royals’ arbitration decisions on Thursday garnered plenty of headlines, whether it be from the names they avoided arbitration with to the one’s headed for hearings later this winter.

However, beyond exploring what missing out on a contract means for the two names headed for arbitration, what may’ve been initially overlooked in the moment is the figures that the team and players initially filed at.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan revealed said figures that Kansas City and both Kris Bubic and Vinnie Pasquantino came in at in their negotiations.

According to Passan, there was a $1 million gap between Bubic and the team, with the southpaw filing at $6.15 million and Kansas City at $5.15 million. And for Pasquantino, there was a $500,000 gap with the Pasquatch filing at $4.5 million and $4 million.

Royals News: KC among MLB teams to cancel contract with FanDuel Sports Network

Continuing on with the dramatic FanDuel Sports Network and Main Street Sports Group saga, the Royals were one of nine teams to cancel their contracts FanDuel Sports Network this week.

After Main Street Sports Group missed a payment to the St. Louis Cardinals last month, the Royals deal with them suddenly looked as though it was in jeopardy.

As Evan Drellich of The Athletic reported, backing out of the contract means the Royals “safeguard themselves from the possibility Main Street files for bankruptcy”.

Drellich also reports that similar to how these teams reworked their deals with the then Diamond Sports Group, when they were going through their financial issues a few years ago, they could end up renegotiating deals in the future should things start looking up for Main Street.

While an original deal between Main Street Sports group and DAZN looks unlikely at this point, the Sports Business Journal reports that Fubo could be in the running to purchase them now.

Royals News: Newest KC reliever Matt Strahm sings high praise of organization

Rounding things off on high note, one of the “newest” Royals had some glowing remarks for his “new” team.

Reliever Matt Strahm returned to the Royals last month as a result of a pre-holiday trade with the Philadelphia Phillies, after being initially drafted by them, coming up through their farm system and then having a two-year stint with them at the beginning of his big league career.

And after making an appearance this week on Foul Territory, Strahm reflected on his previous time in Kansas City and discussed his fondness for the organization.

“Couldn’t be more excited to be home,” Strahm said. “If feels like a movie you know, that’s who drafted me, who brought me up.”

“The Kansas City Royals do an unbelievable job of not only producing major league athletes, but they produce men,” he said.

That’s the mantra, he said, that former general manager Dayton Moore instilled in everyone in the organization and was carried out in all the details.

“They do it the right way,” Strahm said.

“10:30 ground balls means Rusty Kuntz was hitting that fungo at 10:30,” he said. “It wasn’t at 10:35 because we’re waiting on [Eric] Hosmer. Hosmer was there five minutes early.”

It’s certainly a refreshing thought that ahead of a season where Kansas City is trying to get back to postseason, that every member, no matter how new, is bought in and excited about playing Royals baseball.