Former Trenton residents Mike Arbuckle (of the Kansas City Royals front office) and Jerry Lafferty of the Royals Scouting Department were among Saturday’s participants in a coaches clinic and dinner hosted by the North Central Missouri College baseball program.
Arbuckle likes to promote traits that helped make the Royals successful in recent years:
Concerning the death of pitcher Yordano Ventura, who perished on Sunday, January 22nd when his SUV overturned in his native Dominican Republic:
Coming into the weekend, questions about the Royals starting rotation, particularly with the recent tragedy involving Ventura, were prevalent around the organization. On Sunday night, Kansas City signed former Cubs starting pitcher Jason Hammel to a two-year free agent contract, in hopes the 34-year old veteran will fill some of the innings lost to Ventura’s passing. Before the news broke on Hammel, Arbuckle spoke to KTTN Sports about some of the possibilities both inside and outside the Royals system the franchise was looking at for pitching help:
Although not mentioned specifically by Arbuckle, the starting pitching rotation is expected to include Danny Duffy, Ian Kennedy, and Jason Vargas, with Hammel now into that mix of veterans.
Nathan Karns, whom the Royals acquired from Seattle in the off-season trade involving Jarrod Dyson, is expected to be in the mix for the fifth-spot in the Kansas City 2017 rotation.
Arbuckle, a former student-athlete at both Trenton High School and North Central Missouri College, has returned to his hometown for several years, participating in various events:
Mike Arbuckle is the Senior Advisor to Royals General Manger Dayton Moore in the areas of scouting and player development.