I hope to get a more thorough post out on Wednesday before I leave for California for the holidays. However, I wanted to get in a quick “Jottings” post today, as there are a few things I wanted to highlight going on in the Royals and AL Central world.
Here’s a look at this edition of the “Reporter Jottings” as I look at the Royals’ latest 40-man clearing move; a new Royals-centric podcast I am a part of; and a look at some fantasy sleepers and busts for the upcoming 2024 season who play for the Chicago White Sox.
Royals Make Wacha Signing Official; Trade Heasley
On Monday, the Royals made the Michael Wacha signing official, as they introduced him in a press conference at Kauffman Stadium.
The press conference was pretty interesting, especially for Royals fans curious as to why he chose Kansas City this offseason after spurring them a year ago. Wacha mentioned reasons for his signing was the club’s positive projection, the passion of the city’s fanbase, and the opportunity to play with Salvador Perez, the Royals’ longtime catcher.
I will write more about the Wacha signing and his projection for 2024 in a more detailed post tomorrow or Thursday. While I initially was more in favor of the Royals signing Marcus Stroman over Wacha, and the Jesus Luzardo for Vinnie Pasquantino trade rumor seems more appealing to me the more I think about it, I think the Wacha transaction was the right move.
To make room for Wacha, the Royals announced a trade, as they dealt former 2018 draft pick Jon Heasley to the Baltimore Orioles for right-handed 18-year-old pitcher Cesar Espinal.
Heasley is the third Royals reliever on the 40-man roster who reportedly visited Tread Athletics to be moved off the 40-man roster this offseason (the others being Dylan Coleman and Collin Snider). Like Coleman and Snider, Heasley has flashed some potential over his career and there was some hope that Tread could help him harness his stuff, much like Cole Ragans (who famously visited them after the 2022 season).
Unfortunately, the numbers just haven’t been there for Heasley.
In 133.2 career innings, Heasley sports a career 5.45 ERA and -0.8 fWAR, according to Fangraphs. He pretty much pitched himself out of the rotation in 2022 and even though there was some hope that he could find a spot in the bullpen, he simply gave up too many home runs (22.7% HR/FB rate) and barrels (11.8%) to be effective even in limited innings.
After the success of Jorge Lopez and Ryan O’Hearn in Baltimore, I get that Royals fans have some apprehension about Heasley going to the Orioles and finally figuring it out like the former two.
That said, Heasley was going to have a hard time finding a spot in this bullpen after the additions of Will Smith, Nick Anderson, and Chris Stratton. Honestly, the Royals would be better off giving other younger arms like Steven Cruz, Will Klein, Jonathan Bowlan, Anthony Veneziano, and Rule 5 pick Matt Sauer a chance at the Major League level than Heasley, who hasn’t produced much in 36 career MLB games.
Heasley was a nice story in Kansas City, especially as an 18th-round pick out of Oklahoma State in that famed 2018 MLB Draft. He didn’t have anywhere near the prospect pedigree of fellow 2018 draft picks Brady Singer, Daniel Lynch, or even Kris Bubic, and he still made up to the Minors and pitched a decent amount in the Majors.
That should be celebrated, even if his career doesn’t amount to much in Baltimore and beyond.
New Podcast: “Kev and Cristian Chase the Pennant”
I have dabbled as a guest on podcasts before, but I have never actually been part of a regular podcast, whether it’s Royals or anything else.
That changed this week, as Cristian Martinez, who covers UMKC Roos athletics and has experience with KC Sports Network, and I launched the first episode of our new weekly show “Kev and Cristian Chase the Pennant.“
In the episode, we primarily talked about the Royals’ busy offseason and some initial thoughts on how they will impact the club in 2024.
We hope to talk about a lot of different items related to the Royals throughout the offseason as well as during the regular season, whether it’s of the advanced analytical variety or just as Royals fans based in KC. We also hope to bring other Royals or baseball content creators on as well, especially once we get closer to the regular season.
Royals fans can find the podcast on both YouTube and Spotify. Subscribe and check it out as we hope to bring a refreshing and positive outlook to Royals analysis on the podcast waves.
White Sox Fantasy Sleepers and Busts (And What It Means to Royals Fans)
In my first fantasy baseball post for Pitcher List this offseason, I took a dive into two fantasy baseball sleepers to target in upcoming fantasy drafts and two to avoid. Who those four White Sox players are can be found in the post below.
I decided to share this post in the “Jottings” for two reasons:
1.) To give Royals fans who also play fantasy baseball an idea of some names to pay attention to as they prepare for their upcoming fantasy drafts.
2.) To show how bleak things are in the White Sox organization.
Honestly, it was very tough to find sleepers from the White Sox.
Luis Robert, Jr. is obviously a top fantasy player who also is expected to impact the White Sox roster significantly for 2024. Dylan Cease should also be a top fantasy pitcher, as long as he’s still on the White Sox by Opening Day (which doesn’t seem likely as he is being tied to Atlanta and the Dodgers this offseason).
Other than that though, there aren’t a lot of surprises or players to be hopeful about. It was a lot easier to write about the “busts” than the “sleepers” unfortunately for any White Sox fans who follow this blog or me on X (and I follow a significant number of White Sox content creators as well; it’s a very solid community).
Barring something dramatic, this could be an ugly season for the White Sox which could get uglier should Cease or Robert be dealt away at some point either this offseason or by the August Trade Deadline.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jay Biggerstaff
The Royals Reporter 