KC Headlines: Royals Snap Losing Streak, Chiefs Cuts, John Kruk
By Ben Nielsen
Aug 9, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Ricky Stanzi (12) is pressured by New Orleans Saints linebacker Eric Martin (55) during the second half of a preseason game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Saints defeated the Chiefs 17-13. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
ABOUT LAST NIGHT…
Royals 6, Nationals 4
At least we didn’t get swept. AND snapped a seven-game losing streak at the same time! A productive Sunday, indeed.
Since taking three-of-four from the Red Sox two weeks ago, the Royals are 4-10 and firmly out of the playoff race. KC is 11.5 games behind Detroit for the division and seven games out of the wild card. Picking up seven games in the standings with only 33 games remaining in the season is not impossible but is improbable.
Finishing with a winning record is still very much in play, so there is still something to play for in that respect. It may not sound great – we all want the Royals to make the playoffs – but a winning season could help the Royals in free agency when they try to find solutions for their offense and in the rotation.
THE CHIEFS cut 14 players yesterday ahead of the mandatory 75-man roster limit for this stage of the preseason. KC has to make one more move left to make in order to get their 76-man roster down to the limit before Tuesday.
Four quick things to take away from this:
1. Tyler Bray, as expected, will make the team and be the third quarterback after the release of Ricky Stanzi. There are simply too many tools there to not take a shot with him.
2. Braden Wilson, the Chiefs sixth-round draft pick, was cut. The writing seemed to be on the wall for Wilson when the Chiefs traded Javier Arenas to the Arizona Cardinals for Anthony Sherman shortly after the draft in April.
There is a chance Wilson could be added to the practice squad after all of the final cuts have been made but generally players who end up on the practice squad do not get cut at this stage. Then again, there’s not a lot of buyers on the fullback market so Wilson could easily be the exception to the rule.
If Wilson doesn’t end up with the Chiefs – whether it is the 53-man roster or the practice squad – it will be hard to not look at the pick as a wasted one.
3. What the Chiefs do with the wide receiver position is going to be very interesting. Copper is gone from the mix now, which opens up a spot on the roster for someone. The Chiefs still have 10 receivers on the roster after the first wave of cuts. We know Dwayne Bowe, Donnie Avery, and Dexter McCluster are locks for the team. Devon Wylie probably isn’t a 100% lock but he is listed ahead of A.J. Jenkins and Junior Hemingway as the fourth receiver on the Chiefs depth chart. Josh Bellamy, Frankie Hammond, Jamar Newsome and Rico Richardson are all on the roster, too.
4. There are a lot of local players who are still on the Chiefs roster. Chase Daniel is a clear lock to make the team as the top backup to Alex Smith. Kansas State still has Zac Diles and Tysyn Hartman on the roster, with Hartman having the best chance to make the team. Kansas has two players as well: Bradley McDougald and Toben Opurum. Both are practice squad candidates.
IN OTHER NEWS…
– Sam Mellinger spent some time in the KC Baseball Vault over the weekend. (Kansas City Baseball Vault)
– Eric Hosmer is still going pretty strong. (Kings of Kauffman)
– Alex Smith: Leader? (Arrowhead Addict)
– /begin Jim Gaffigan voice/ Hooooooot Pockeeeet. /end Jim Gaffigan voice/ (KC Star)
—– Daniel Sams and Jake Waters
—– Jake Heaps
ELSEWHERE AND EVERYWHERE…
– A Kazakh soccer club sacrificed a sheep before a Champions League match versus Celtic. Kazakh won, of course.
– C.J. Spiller’s step-grandfather killed two people, injured two others, and then killed himself on Saturday.
– Bill Simmons Bingo. It’s a thing.
– John Kruk left the Dodger Stadium press box on a stretcher. He was diagnosed with dehydration and cleared to go back to the hotel.
GIF OF THE WEEK(END)
Preseason football.