NEWS » The deal is one that benefits both the team...

On Monday http://www.redsfanproshop.com/authentic-cliff-pennington-jersey , it was made official, as the Kansas City Royals and Whit Merrifield came to an agreement on a 4-year deal worth a guaranteed $16.25 million. "WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Royals Trade Rumors & Hot StoveRoyals Minor Leagues & ProspectsRoyals Review ClassicRoyals Review Users GuideThe 100 Greatest Royals Of All TimeWe have taken Whit Merrifield for granted these past two seasonsNew,29commentsESTShareTweetShareShareWe have taken Whit Merrifield for granted these past two seasonsPeter G. AikenOn Monday, it was made official, as the Kansas City Royals and Whit Merrifield came to an agreement on a 4-year deal worth a guaranteed $16.25 million. The deal is one that benefits both the team and the player, and it would appear keeps Whit in Kansas City for the foreseeable future.But what this deal will also do is really force us to appreciate what Whit Merrifield has done so far in his major league career. While we have praised him and been in awe of his productivity over these last couple of years, the honest truth is we took him for granted. Yes, we haven’t really admired and valued him the way we should have.This doesn’t mean we haven’t loved watching him perform on the diamond or been impressed with what he has accomplished. As a fanbase, I feel we have done that and we’ve embraced him as one of us, a true Royal. But there is a line where you can enjoy watching and cheering on a player but not really grasp what your eyes are seeing. There is a point where you are not really appreciating what stands before you.We all know how impressive it has been that Whit, at the age of 27, made his major league debut, an age that normally doesn’t guarantee success. Since that debut, Whit has posted a 3 WAR season, a 5 WAR season and has accumulated 11 bWAR over his career. Great numbers for a guy who no one saw as more than a bench player, let along a top prospect.In fact, Merrifield has been compared to former Royal Ben Zobrist when it comes to his versatility and it’s not just his ability to play all over the diamond that feeds the comparison. Zobrist made his major league debut at the age of 25, but didn’t really stick in the big leagues until his age 28 season. That year saw him pile up 8.6 bWAR and an OPS+ of 149. While Whit hasn’t quite up the power numbers that Zobrist did in his prime, there is enough statistical comparisons to see that the two have very similar trajectories.Both were late bloomers and that pushed us to believe that Whit was an anomaly. After the 2017 campaign, many of us (myself included) felt that the smartest play for the Royals was to trade Merrifield. The belief was that his value was never going to get higher and there was no guarantee that he would be able to duplicate what he did during that season.So what did he do? He just came out and hit .304/.367/.438 while leading the league in hits and stolen bases. He racked up 5.5 bWAR and proved himself to be one of the top second basemen in the game, despite the fact that the Royals were still moving him around the field like a chess piece. Whit defied the odds and continued to improve his production.Even after what he did in 2018, many felt the smart move to was to trade him this winter. As someone who used to be in that camp, it’s easy to see the logic. Here is a player who is entering his age 30 season, coming off of a 5 win season Ken Griffey Jersey , playing for a team that doesn’t appear to be contending for postseason play for at least a couple more years. Using the rebuilding playbook, it would make sense to see what you could get for Merrifield and make a deal for younger players who could help the team in their contending window.Makes sense, right? To me, this is where we have been taking him for granted. We’ve been so focused on Whit’s fall from grace and how he will be nearing his mid-30’s by the time the Royals are contending that we haven’t focused on how he can help this club get there in the first place.While a young team can strive based on talent alone, there is always a piece of the puzzle that could and should be filled by the veterans that lead them there. Go ask the 2014 Royals about Raul Ibanez and what he meant. Go ask the 2015 team about Jonny Gomes. Keeping Merrifield around to be an influence on the players moving up through their system can only be looked at as a positive for Kansas City.Just look at his story. The guy was left off the Royals 40-man roster a few years back, available for any team to take in the Rule 5 Draft. Luckily, he wasn’t taken, worked himself back to reach the big leagues, was left off the Opening Day roster in 2017, returned to Kansas City and has turned himself into an All-Star caliber player. If you are a young player who has struggled or is struggling, Whit is motivation that anything is possible if you set your mind to it.That hard work, the work ethic, will find a way to rub off on the players we will see over these next couple of years. It’s easy to see Merrifield taking a more prominent leadership role moving forward and possibly even replacing Alex Gordon as a shining example of the hard work put into honing your craft.Even if Whit drops off a bit these next few years (and that is possible as he gets closer to reaching his regression years), it doesn’t appear as if he is just going to drop off the board entirely. Even a 2-3 WAR season is more than adequate for a guy looking to build up a team that is rebuilding. Whit’s value at this point goes beyond the numbers on the field as he looks to be a cornerstone for the Royals moving forward.So we now know that Whit is not going anywhere and we can really start focusing on all that makes him great. We can focus on the speed, the skill, the unselfishness and even the leadership. Rather than focus on what the Royals can get for him, we can turn our attention to how he can make the team better.Dayton Moore is a big believer in loyalty and when he has that devotion he pays it back in spades. Whit has been loyal to the organization and on Monday he was shown that loyalty back. While we sometimes scoff at the manner in which Moore handles matters on the field, there is something to be said for focusing on players with high character.But that character has to be met with productivity to truly work. Hopefully Whit will reward the organization’s loyalty with the same output we have seen these last two seasons. It’s time to start paying attention to what Merrifield really means to this team. It’s hard to bet against the guy who has defied all the odds up to this point.————————————————————————————————————————————————On a side-note, this will be my last post on Royals Review. I have enjoyed my time writing here and interacting with fellow Royals’ fans. Unfortunately, life beckons and I just don’t have the time necessary to write for the site in the manner that is necessary.A big thank you to anyone who has ever read something I have wrote. Whether you loved or hated it, I appreciate anyone taking time out of their day to read something I wrote. So thank you.Also, a thank you to Max Rieper and everyone else here at the site. They are a great group of writers here and I feel fortunate to say that for awhile I was a part of that group.Hopefully I’ll be able to occasionally poke my head in and be a part of the conversations. I’m hoping that from time to time I am still able to be a part of the wonderful community that has been built up here over the years.So thank you for everything. Let’s hope the Royals give us more positives than negatives to discuss in the upcoming season! The Oakland Athletics are going into Yankee Stadium Wednesday night and hope to ruin the potential drama of a postseason series between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.The A's and the Yankees will go at it Wednesday night in the American League Wild Card Game, and the winner will play the Yankees in an American League Division Series.The Red Sox will host the first two games of the series, and they will also host a fifth game if the series goes that far. The Cleveland Indians and the Houston Astros Tony Perez Jersey , the American League's last two participants in the World Series, will meet in the other ALDS. The Astros have the home-field advantage in that series.Postseason ScheduleAmerican League Wild-Card GamesWednesday, October 3, A's at Yankees, 8 p.m. ET, TBSDivision SeriesALDSFriday, October 5, Yankees/A's at Red Sox, Game 1, TBSFriday, October 5, Indians at Astros, Game 1, TBSSaturday, October 6 Yankees/A's at Red Sox, Game 2, TBSSaturday, October 6, Indians at Astros, Game 2, TBSMonday, October 8, Red Sox at Yankees/A's, Game 3 http://www.redsfanproshop.com/authentic-cliff-pennington-jersey , TBSMonday, October 8, Astros at Indians, Game 3, TBSTuesday, October 9, Red Sox at Yankees/A's, Game 4*, TBSTuesday, October 9, Astros at Indians, Game 4*, TBSThursday, October 11, Yankees/A's at Red Sox, Game 5*, TBSThursday, October 11, Indians at Astros, Game 5*, TBS*If necessaryAll postseason games can be live-streamed on MLB.TV.The Yankees will send Luis Severino to the mound in an effort to shut down the home-run hitting attack of the A's.Severino was one of the best pitchers in the American League through the first half of the season, but he struggled quite a bit after the All-Star Game.However, he closed the season by winning his last two starts, and he had a 19-8 record and a 3.39 earned-run average this season. Severino is looking forward to his starting opportunity in the wild-card game."I just want to win David Ross Jersey ," Severino said, per Coley Harvey of ESPN.com. "Whatever happens, if I can go four good innings and then the bullpen comes, that would be great. I just want to win and move up and go to Boston and try to win there."The A's are planning to make this a bullpen game, as Australian-born Liam Hendriks will be the opener. Hendriks had an 0-1 record this season with a 4.13 ERA. Hendriks is not likely to go more than an inning, as he pitched 24 innings in his 25 appearances, eight of which he started.The A's will depend on the slugging of American League home run leader Khris Davis (48 home runs), along with Matt Olson (29 homers), Stephen Piscotty (27 home runs), Matt Chapman (24 home runs) and Jed Lowrie (23 homers).The Yankees depend on the power bat of Giancarlo Stanton, who belted 38 home runs in his first season with the Bronx Bombers. Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Didi Gregorius and Miguel Andujar hit 27 homers each for Aaron Boone's Yankees.The winner will play Game 1 of the ALDS at Fenway Park Friday night. The Red Sox are led by MVP candidates Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez, and left-handed ace Chris Sale will get the start.Betts led the American League in hitting with a .346 batting average, and he joined the 30-30 club with 32 home runs and 30 stolen bases. Martinez bashed 43 home runs and drove in an American League-best 130 runs.Sale was troubled by shoulder issues in the second half of the season and his velocity was down in his last start. Still, Sale had a 12-4 record with a 2.11 ERA and 237 strikeouts. The Red Sox are hoping he returns to the form he had in the first half of the season.The Indians are another slugging team capable of wrecking any pitching staff. Jose Ramirez had 39 home runs, 105 RBI and a .552 slugging percentage. Shortstop Francisco Lindor tallied 38 home runs and Edwin Encarnacion blasted 32 homers and knocked in a team-high 107 runs.Corey Kluber is once again the ace of the staff with a 20-7 record, 222 strikeouts, a 2.89 ERA and 0.99 WHIP. He is joined by starters Mike Clevinger, Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer.Houston Astros astrosCount 鈥榚m! 鉁?6U3zAfpqlbThe Astros are led by Alex Bregman, who hit a team-high 31 home runs with 103 RBI and a .532 slugging percentage. George Springer added 22 home runs while Jose Altuve battled injuries but still hit .316 with 84 runs scored.Houston's pitching staff is led by Justin Verlander, and he is joined by Dallas Keuchel, Gerrit Cole and Charlie Morton. All four started 30 or more games for Astros manager A.J. Hinch.