It feels weird to type "2019""Had a decent nu

mber of links today Cory Spangenberg Jersey , between new news and stuff that slipped through the cracks the last couple of days.Sam McDowell of the Star talked to Dayton Moore about the college pitchers the Royals drafted last year:A number of sites had “New Years Resolutions” (or similar) for the team.Drew Osborne at Royals Farm Report penned 10 resolutions for the organization.Leigh Oleszczak at KC Kingdom wrote 5 resolutions for the team. Slideshow Warning.Ty Bradley at MLB Trade Rumors listed “3 Remaining Needs” for each AL Central team:Anyone have the “Remembering Justin Grimm” article queued up? He signed a minor league deal with the Indians yesterday.Speaking of which, that’s where The Best of Royals Review (TM) is going today: The Ballad of Joe Randa.It doesn’t technically have the “Remembering” title and I’m not 100% certain this is the first one chronologically, but we’re going with it. The idea of this series is simple: once a player is done for the Royals, write a eulogy about their best moments and seasons, what they are remembered for, and put them into the context of the team at the time.The series runs the gamut from excellent serious entries about Mike Sweeney from both Will and Max to the historical (“In 1995 an alien invaded Gaetti’s body”) to the bittersweet (“like a long forgotten summer breeze, our beloved Ken Harvey was gone”) to the absurd (Terrence Long’s actually spans two entries).CBS’s Mike Axisa guesses who will be the top 50 players in 5 years. Guess which blue-clad team has no current or future players on the list?Jay Jaffe at Fangraphs is doing an in-depth looks at this year’s Hall of Fame ballot. Each of his two “One-and-Dones” articles includes an infamous former Royal.Miguel Tejada is inPart 1 and Part 2 has Rick Ankiel.And just because the Marlins are such a clown show and Sheryl Ring is so good, I’m linking to her latest update on Jeffrey Loria’s attempt to screw Miami-Dade County:We’ve already established that Sega’s a bit, well, weird (and I say that with all the love in my heart). I’m going to let wiki start this one: Why merely play Marble Madness when you can play Marble Madness with a monkey trapped in a plastic ball?Yes, you the player, guided a monkey inside a ball through an obstacle course where perspective changed as your monkey ball tilted on the course.You had to get your monkey to the goal before time ran off and without falling off the stage.So many dead monkeys must have littered the ground below these levels...I’ll grant the premise is a bit odd Eric Hosmer Jersey , but behind it all was a really well designed game.Sure, it had a simple premise but it had that “just one more level” quality that game designers strive for.It eventually ramped up to insane difficulty levels and I never got anywhere near beating the harder courses in the game.But you couldn’t really fault the game: the levels were well designed and the physics engine precise.But, as the player, you had to be perfect.Aside from the main game, there were six surprisingly deep party games that were basically Monkey Boxing, Monkey Pilotwings, Monkey Kart, Monkey Pool, Monkey Bowling, and Monkey Golf.This launch title would end up being one of the best party games for the Gamecube along with the peerless Super Smash Bros Melee and the Mario Party entries.Our video today is a play through of every single (single-player) level in Super Monkey Ball.Some of those levels, especially in the last 15 minutes, are unbelievably hard.They don’t necessarily look it because this Youtuber is really good Jose Pirela Jersey , but getting the timing and movement right in this game could be extremely difficult: OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Khris Davis led the majors in home runs, led the Oakland Athletics back to the playoffs for the first time in four years then received a $6 million raise this offseason for a 2019 salary of $16.5 million.Next up could be a long-term extension, if that is Davis’ top priority. It might not be. He put personal accolades aside last season, more determined to get his team to the playoffs for the first time since 2014.Davis is the top slugger in a power-hitting lineup that surprised much of baseball with a run to the AL wild-card game and a loss to the Yankees.“We never put sort of guidelines or deadlines on something like that,” general manager David Forst said. “We have continued that conversation and certainly through spring training we’re open to it. It’s open to the player if they want to continue into the season, but it continues to be an ongoing conversation.”Davis hit a majors-best 48 home runs while setting a career high with 123 RBIs. The 31-year-old Davis received a $10.5 million, one-year contract last January to more than double his salary after he beat the team in arbitration the previous winter.Davis and Jimmie Foxx from 1932-34 are the only players in Athletics history with three straight 40-homer seasons. Davis’ 85 homers in 2017-18 were second during that two-year span in the majors only to Giancarlo Stanton’s 86.Oakland will try to build off a 97-win season in which the A’s had a knack for late-game rallies and walkoff wins.“We were able to, through confidence, create the success, and now we have that kind of confidence to go into the season,” said AL Manager of the Year Bob Melvin. “We’ve turned a corner as a team and everybody’s excited about getting back to spring training because we feel like we can do similar things that we did last year.”Here are some things to watch for this spring with the A’s Kevin Kiermaier Jersey , who open March 20-21 against the Mariners in Tokyo:KYLER MURRAY: The A’s still expect Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray, the former Oklahoma quarterback and first-round Oakland draft pick, to show up at spring training. He would report right away to big league camp, too.While Murray declared for the NFL draft, Melvin hopes to manage him in Arizona.Drafted last June with the ninth-overall pick, the outfielder signed with Oakland for a $4.66 million bonus, of which $1.5 million was paid last summer. The remaining $3.16 million is due March 1.PITCHERS’ PROGRESS: Oakland re-signed right-hander Mike Fiers to a $14.1 million, two-year contract in December then added righty Marco Estrada in January for $4 million over one year. Those two give the A’s a pair of veteran, front-line starters in a rotation that remains thin as others recover from injury.Left-hander Sean Manaea pitched a no-hitter against Boston on April 21 in a bright start to a season that ended with the ace undergoing shoulder surgery in September. He is expected to be out until around the All-Star break.Jharel Cotton had Tommy John surgery in March, followed by three others who also underwent the elbow ligament replacement procedure: opening day starter Kendall Graveman, Daniel Gossett and top prospect A.J. Puk.ROOKIES TO WATCH: Ramon Laureano emerged as Oakland’s center fielder for the final two months and batted .288 with five homers and 19 RBIs with seven stolen bases in 45 games. That’s after Dustin Fowler played the position in May and June.Fowler played in 69 games for the A’s in 2018, his first season with the club after coming to Oakland from the Yankees in the Sonny Gray trade.THEY’RE SET: A pair of powerful Matts complement Davis’ big bat.Third baseman Matt Chapman is coming back from left shoulder surgery in December Alex Cobb Jersey , hoping to find the stroke that led to 24 home runs, six triples and 68 RBIs in his first full big league season.Matt Olson, meanwhile, played all 162 games for Oakland and hit .247 with 29 homers and 84 RBIs.ON DECK: Melvin went with an “opener” for one inning late in the season with the rotation reeling, and it worked. Other teams may try it, too, as Tampa Bay first did in 2018.“We are open to the opener,” Forst said. “It’s hard to do with a 25-man roster. It got a lot easier when we had an expanded roster in September. It’s not an easy thing to do on a consistent basis.”