"The Royals have Jonathan Lucroy Jersey , perhaps unexpectedly, become the first team to make a notable transaction at the Winter Meetings, reportedly coming to agreement on a one-year deal with speedy centerfielder Billy Hamilton. Along with the signing of Chris Owings, the Royals have already spent more than half of the $14 million they committed to free agents last off-season.The Royals reportedly wanted to cut payroll down to around $85-90 million, down significantly from last year’s Opening Day payroll of $123 million. The Royals were able to cut much of that payroll through last year’s mid-season trades and allowing players to leave free agency. Their current obligations, even with the Owings and Hamilton signings, have them within their projected payroll range.Royals’ 2019 payrollPlayer2019 PayrollPlayer2019 PayrollAll figures from Cot’s Contracts.The Royals have 11 players signed to a total of $80 million. With the remainder of the roster filled out by pre-arbitration-eligible players, that would add about $8-9 million more, putting the projected payroll just under $90 million. The Royals have described their “break-even” point for payroll at $115 million, but that was assuming 2 million in attendance. However, even with fewer fans coming through the turnstiles, the club likely earns more each year from the huge national television deals signed in 2012, and can likely expect a big boost when they finalize a new local television deal in the next year. So there should be some flexibility with the payroll.Dayton Moore always seems to undersell his budget, then make a few late signings as opportunities to arise. The Royals will still need to fill holes in the bullpen, and may even want to add a starting pitcher or upgrade at third base.Let’s take a look at the organizational depth chart right now. This isn’t officially how the Royals view things http://www.rockiesfanproshop.com/authentic-chad-bettis-jersey , it is just my best guess at the depth chart. An asterisk (*) indicates the player is on the 40-man roster.Royals projected depth chartPosPlayerPlayerPlayerPlayerPosPlayerPlayerPlayerPlayerOwings can play all around the infield and the outfield, will that make Rosell Herrera redundant on the bench? Nicky Lopez will almost certainly begin the year in Omaha, but could be in Kansas City before the end of the year. Cheslor Cuthbert will compete with Hunter Dozier for the third base job, but Dozier offers more positional versatility. The signing of Billy Hamilton raises questions on how playing time in the outfield will be alloted. Hamilton is likely to start in center, Alex Gordon in left, so that leaves three candidates for the right field job between Brett Phillips, Jorge Bonifacio, and Brian Goodwin, assuming Jorge Soler spends most of his time at DH. Dozier, Phillips and Bonifacio all still have an option year remaining, while Cuthbert, Herrera and Goodwin do not. The first four spots in the rotation seem like locks, with Heath Fillmyer, Jorge Lopez, and Eric Skoglund likely to compete for the fifth spot DJ LeMahieu Jersey , with perhaps Jesse Hahn involved if he is healthy at the start of the year. The bullpen is pretty much wide open. Wily Peralta is probably the only lock at this point. Expect the Royals to bring in some more options here.What do you expect the Royals to do the rest of the off-season? ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — There’s no secret to the success of the Tampa Bay Rays.Strong pitching, sparkling defense and timely hitting have served them well for years and have the budget-minded club off a fast start this season.“It’s awesome,” Kevin Kiermaier said Monday night after homering and driving in four runs in a 7-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies.“We sit here and we talk in spring training about how good we can be,” Kiermaier added. “This is the start we wanted to get to.”Employing the opener strategy that has been an integral part of the team’s success since it began using relievers to fill in for traditional starting pitchers last May, the Rays won for the fourth straight time since a season-opening loss to Houston — matching the best five-game start in franchise history.Opener Ryne Stanek got it started before a crowd of 10,860, with Ryan Yarbrough (1-0) following and allowing one run and three hits over 4 2/3 innings. Relievers Wilmer Font, Jalen Beeks, Jose Alvarado and Diego Castillo finished up.“It starts with the pitching,” Kiermaier said. “It’s not a surprise to me. They gave us a taste last year of what they can do collectively as a unit. … It’s fun playing behind these guys.”The Rays are 4-1 for the first time since 2012, allowing just 10 runs — the fewest through five games in club history. The bullpen has a 0.43 ERA, limiting opponents to one earned run in 21 innings.With the fast start, Tampa Bay matched its win total from the first 17 games of last season, when the Rays rebounded from early struggles to finish with 90 wins — most among non-playoff teams.“We are playing some really good baseball and having a lot of fun out there http://www.rockiesfanproshop.com/authentic-chad-bettis-jersey ,” Yarbrough said.Brandon Lowe hit a two-run homer in the fourth and Kiermaier added a three-run shot in the sixth to inflict most of the damage against Colorado starter Chad Bettis (0-1), who allowed six runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.Nolan Arenado’s RBI double in the sixth snapped a 17-inning scoreless streak for the Rockies, who’ve dropped three straight after winning the first two games of the season at Miami.“We can’t seem to get anything going,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “We can’t string any hits together, and when that happens you’re not going to score.”Yarbrough led major league rookies with 16 victories last season, 14 of them out of the bullpen — the most by a reliever since Toronto’s Mark Eichhorn and Roger McDowell of the New York Mets had 14 in 1986.It was the most wins by a lefty reliever since Detroit’s John Hiller won 17 in 1974, and Yarbrough also led AL rookies in innings pitched and strikeouts.The Rays used an opener 55 times in 2018, going 32-23 in those games in which a reliever started and typically faced between three and nine batters.Stanek thrived in the role, making 29 starts — just two fewer than club leader and AL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell.The 27-year-old reliever allowed one hit — Arenado’s two-out single — and struck out three in one inning Monday night.Yarbrough was sharp, too, until running into trouble in the sixth, when he hit Charlie Blackmon with a pitch and gave up a one-out single to David Dahl before being replaced by Font. The next batter, Arenado, doubled down the left field line to trim Colorado’s deficit to 3-1.The Rockies had not scored since the sixth inning of Saturday’s 7-3 loss at Miami. The Marlins shut them out 3-0 on Sunday.“We know we haven’t performed the way we want to. … But we’ve only played five games,” Rockies shortstop Trevor Story said. “We’re 2-3 Todd Helton Jersey , and I’m sure we’ve had worst starts than that. There’s no panic here. We’re very confident. We know just a couple big hits, that will turn us around.”TRAINER’S ROOMRockies: INF Daniel Murphy was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left index finger fracture that occurred Saturday. Black had no pregame update on Murphy, who was scheduled to see a hand specialist Monday. … Black said RHP Jon Gray, who left his start Sunday with right calf cramps, is fine.Rays: INF Joey Wendle went on the 10-day IL with a strained left hamstring. Hurt on Sunday, Wendle said it’s hard to know how long he’ll be out until he gets back to working out at full speed.NO THANKSBlack said the Rockies feel pretty good about their five starters and their ability to get into the sixth or seventh inning and that there would not be any advantage to starting someone out of the bullpen over a member of the rotation.“I think if you have those types of pitchers and personnel that it sets up for and maybe you’re not as deep in your rotation, then it makes sense to have a situation like what the Rays do,” Black said.UP NEXTIt’s a matchup of opening day starters Tuesday night, when Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-0, 1.29 ERA) faces Snell (0-1, 7.50). Freeland has a nine-game winning streak dating to last Aug. 6.
