Everything Royals

I'm back!

2010-01-22T14:29:00.002-06:00

Hey guys, after a long layoff I'm back to blog about the Royals again in 2010. I'm sorry for the delay, but I needed a break after the dud that was 2009.
As you know, a lot has changed in the course of a year within the Royals organization. The team hired future manager Ned Yost recently - that's another post in itself right there - and has pumped plenty of new blood into the powder blue's yet again.
But before you get excited about this season, let me warn you: this team is a trainwreck waiting to happen. Like a lot of people, I was one who was excited about the possibility of competing for the division crown before last season. Then the team got off to a good start and all was peachy. That is, until reality set in.
Most everyone suspected Kyle Farnsworth would crash and burn - but I could probably count on one hand the people who figured Juan Cruz would have it as rough as he did. Mike Aviles, Coco Crisp, Alex Gordon, The Mexicutioner...the list goes on and on with the players who got hurt and missed significant time. I still don't buy that as an excuse from the Royals, however.
After such a great start, perhaps Royals fans should have known the team would trip over the first hurdle and be out of the race a few paces in. It is in our bloodlines, you know.
Gone are Mark Teahen, Crisp, Mike Jacobs, Miguel Olivo, John Buck, etc., etc. In are superstars like Chris Getz, Josh Fields, Rick Ankiel, Brian Anderson and Jason Kendall (I say 'superstars' sarcastically, of course).
If you believe this team will be very good, give me a call, I want to sell you something. Even with Zack Greinke on the hill every fifth day, they're doomed.
Anyways, the things I've just mentioned will all be brought up again in future posts leading up to the season. I just wanted to get on here and tell you guys that I haven't given up yet. I mean, my wife doesn't know a lot about sports, so I have to rant and rave somewhere, right?

I got the Royal BLUE-s

2009-08-02T11:32:00.003-05:00

Seriously folks, I'm not sure what to write here. I'm kinda flying by the seat of my pants with this post. Quite frankly, what is there to say about this team anymore? Sure, I could throw stats at you all day (you all know I don't like to dive too deep into the advanced statistics) but it's not going to divulge anything that you guys don't already know about this pathetic team.

It's sad, really.

The fact of the matter is - and being such a true-blood Royals geek - it pains me to even write anything about this team anymore. I still watch every game played, but I don't want to ever say anything when it's over. It's like every loss makes me more and more introverted ... to the point that I start wondering why in the Sam Hell I put myself through the misery EVERY FRIGGING DAY.

I know I haven't been posting on here often anymore. I'm sorry for that. But I just can't find the motivation to drag myself in front of this keyboard and gripe about what's going wrong every day. And God knows there's nothing remotely right with this club to brag about.

I check in on every Royals minor league affiliate every day to see the progress they're making down on the farm. It's encouraging to see five of the six top prospects in the organization at Hi-A Wilmington. That still means, however, that those guys are at least 2-3 years away. But what's even more depressing is to watch the struggles of Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer this year. Neither player has hit much - though Moose does have 12 dingers at this point and is hitting over .300 in his last 10 games.

I think Moustakas needs to get the call to Double-A within the next couple of weeks. He's hitting in a horrendous park right now at Wilmington, and Arvest Ballpark in Springdale would be a much more hitter-friendly park as he takes off in the second half.

For some reason, I just can't bring myself to gripe today. Keep checking in with me, hopefully I will explode here in the next few days and just let all that I've bottled up out. It just might happen if these yahoo's don't finally get Zack a win tonight.

Cortes arrested days before trade

2009-07-15T11:01:00.003-05:00

Former Royals farmhand Dan Cortes was arrested in Arkansas just days before he was traded to the Seattle Mariners for Yuniesky Betancourt. If you don't know by now, Cortes has a very checkered past as far as substance abuse goes.

A quick search of his name in Google images will bring up some very disturbing pics of the kid smoking a bong and being passed out butt naked on the toilet. That happened while he was a White Sox farmhand (before the Royals got him) and before he was 21.

This is certainly a pattern that alarmed the Royals. Plus, as I recently noted in a previous post, he's not very coachable and had a pretty sour attitude. Not something you want to see from a prospect trying to work his way to the bigs.

Anyways, here's the story from the AP. This was a big topic around Arvest Ballpark in Springdale yesterday.

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Pitcher Dan Cortes of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals has been arrested.

Police took Cortes to the Washington County Jail early Wednesday morning after he was allegedly caught urinating on a fence near a bar on Dickson Street in Fayetteville. The 22-year-old Cortes is charged with public intoxication and disorderly conduct. He's free on $655 bond.

Cortes is regarded as a top prospect. His record is 5-6 with a 4.00 ERA. Last season he was recognized as the Kansas City Royals' top minor league pitcher, posting a 10-4 record with the Naturals and a 3.78 ERA.

Naturals manager Brian Poldberg says any discipline will have to come through the Royals front office. The Naturals play in Springdale and are a Class AA affiliate of the Royals.

A little Betancourt/Gordon scouting

2009-07-14T18:57:00.003-05:00

I just got home from Springdale where I watched the Naturals take on the Corpus Cristi Hooks at Arvest Ballpark. I'll say this, it was a hot sucker out there but a great game nontheless from Northwest Arkansas.

As you know, both Alex Gordon and newly acquired Yuniesky Betancourt are rehabbing for the Naturals, so I figured now was a good a chance as any to see how they're progressing. I'm reporting this to you: I wasn't OVERLY impressed with either guy.

I was disappointed to see that Gordon didn't play in the field, rather DH'ing instead as Kurt Mertins took his spot at the hot corner. Betancourt, on the other hand, did play and was sort of so, so. Yuni made two nice plays and two more that kinda made everyone go, UGH!

He looks fluid and sharp on balls hit to his right. He made a nice stab on one hit deep in the hole between shortstop and third and threw the rather speedy Drew Locke out by a couple of steps. Then again, he struggled on balls hit to his left (up the middle). He and second baseman/shortstop of the future Jeff Bianchi turned a nice double play, but Betancourt quickly followed that up by fumbling a slow roller to his left. As it turned out, he botched the play so badly it didn't even warrant a throw.

Now it was rather obvious neither Gordon or Betancourt were giving it 100% out there today. They are on a rehab assignment, let's not forget. Still, both players seemed to cash it in as the game went along.

Betancourt and Gordon both singled and scored in the first inning, but they didn't do much more than that. Betancourt had two hits. Gordon struck out looking twice. The picture of Betancourt sliding into home is one I took of him on a play at the plate in the first inning. Thought it was the perfect shot to put on here. I may make a post sometime of the pictures I took. Y'all let me know if that would interest you in any way. Right now, there isn't much to write about.

Royals trade for shortstop

2009-07-10T15:07:00.004-05:00

Within the past hour the Royals pulled off a big trade that will send young pitching prospect Dan Cortes and A-level minor league pitcher Derrick Saito to Seattle for shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt.

It has long been speculated that Dayton Moore has coveted Betancourt, ever since there were rumors a couple of years ago that the Mariners requested Billy Butler as compensation for Betancourt. Well, the Royals got to keep Butler and now Moore has his man.

Betancourt, who is batting .250 with two homers and 22 RBI this season, is currently rehabbing from an injury at Triple-A Tacoma. The Royals will continue his rehab assignment at Double-A Northwest Arkansas, in Springdale. Cortes, who was the Royals minor league pitcher of the year last season has struggled mightily with his control this year despite going 6-6 with a 3.92 ERA.

I personally witnessed Cortes' last outing at home (he was scheduled to pitch again tonight against San Antonio) and he was very, very wild. He's having lots of trouble controlling his 95-96 mph fastball, and thus has walked nearly as many as he has struck out this year - and he's having trouble striking out guys as well.

I came away from the outing with the sense that the Royals really needed to trade Cortes now while he still has some value. I know that sounds crazy when you look at his ERA and consider how hard he throws, but if you watch him with your own two eyes he will drive you crazy. He's madly inconsistent at times and - while he still is only 22 and has plenty of time to turn things around - he suddenly looks like a high-risk, high-reward guy right now. The Royals did the right thing in adding the shortstop they need.

Also, there is no need for Tony Pena Jr. on this team anymore. So that should make fans happy when the club releases him to make room for Betancourt in the coming weeks. IF the club doesn't drop Pena Jr. then I will go ballistic on here. Betancourt will now be the everyday shortstop, thus the club can use Bloomquist to fill in there if Betancourt needs a day off. Pena is NOT needed. Moore won't need to worry either, Pena almost surely won't be claimed off of waivers should they DFA him, thus they could keep him and send him to Omaha where he belongs.

By the way, Saito - a former 16th-rounder - is just an extra body in the deal. Not a real prospect.

This was a good move IMO.

Royals should target Escobar

2009-07-04T11:29:00.005-05:00

If ever Dayton Moore has wanted to make a deal with his former club, the Atlanta Braves, then now should be the time.

The Braves are looking for trade partners and all indications are that they would love to trade both pitcher Javier Vasquez and shortstop Yunel Escobar. Point blank, the Royals should be IN on Escobar. In fact, they should be cutting to the front of the line to take Escobar off of Atlanta's hands. Apparently Escobar and manager Bobby Cox don't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things and thus Escobar has landed in Cox's doghouse.

Fair enough, we'll take him. Let's face it, the Royals aren't scared to take on guys with character issues. Word is the Braves are seeking an outfield bat. Sounds like they need Jose Guillen to me. In fact, word is today that they have discussed Guillen and he IS an option for them. I say that's a good one-for-one swap. A player they no longer want for a player we no longer want. They get their outfielder and we get a shortstop. And a dang good one too.

I say dang good loosely. He's dang good compared to Tony Pena Jr, Luis Hernandez and Tug Hulett (who's originally a second baseman). He can hit and field it. Plus, he's a better runner than any of the other three, though not a speedster by any means.

-------------------------------

Also out there in the rumor mill is that the Giants, Cubs, Red Sox and Angels are showing interest in Mark Teahen. All four teams - and possibly more - have contacted the Royals about Teahen, and the Giants seem to be showing the most interest right now. The Cubs have been kicking Teahen's name around for three years now, so they might make a move on him.

I'll admit, I'm feeling a bit gun shy...

2009-07-04T09:51:00.004-05:00

...this whole Rany thing has my nerves on edge. Seriously, I'm so angry right now at this team I could very easily write something much worse and more to the point than Rany did, but I would ensure myself of not attending another Royals game as a credentialed member of the media.

For those of you who have never gotten the opportunity to do what some of us wackos who write about sports for a living have, it's hard to explain to you why our credentials are so important to us. Especially those of us who aren't "nationally recognized" media members. The national writers can really say what they would like and get away with it. Why? Because there's more backlash from fans if the team tries to reprimand them. It's a PR thing. Yeah, the nationally known writers have it much easier - and the pay is WAY better, of course.

Now I'm not trying to say those guys don't have it rough now and then as well. They do have to face the people they write about day in and day out - as opposed to a writer like me facing them far less than that. And let's face it, the players probably don't pick up a copy of the Joplin Globe every morning with their coffee.

Anyways, over the years I have had much more access to the team than Rany ever thought about. (For those of you who don't know, Rany is a dermatologist from Chicago.) But I can clearly tell you the man is on to something. The points he brought up (if you haven't read about it do so at ranyontheroyals.com) about the training staff are valid and very worthy of being noted.

Now let me say I don't always agree with what he writes. It's hard for a guy who isn't around the team AT ALL to say what's going on there. It's pure speculation, but he readily admits to this. Still, what the Royals organization did to reprimand him is classless and irresponsible. Some say his journalism is. That could be fair too. Still, I'm not knocking anyone for writing their opinion. We all do it every time we comment on a blog or story post. To be honest, I'm not sure why the organization felt it needed to start a beef with the man. Reader's know he isn't a beat writer, yet they also know that there is a lot of truth to the numbers he threw out there. It's hard to deny statistics.

Believe me, they know he's on to something and they're trying to shut him up. They do have tickets they're trying to sell, you know.

I've been biting my tongue for a while with this team. That's not necessarily from fear of the Royals, but for a number of reasons. Of course, I being the glass half-full guy I am, have been waiting on this team to break out. I mean, they can't be THIS BAD right? Also, I admit I don't want to lose my credentials. Being at the games and on the field is one of the few perks of my job that keeps me doing it. I hope you all can understand that. It's something not everyone gets to do and I want to do it as long as I can. Cause when it's gone, it's gone, ya know?

So I've come to the conclusion that I'll bash them anyways. If they don't like it they can kiss my butt. If I lose my credentials I'll not have to put up with the losing year in and year out. There are other teams out there I can cover. We have a lot of other minor league clubs around here I can watch make the same kinds of stupid errors that we've come to love from Alberto Callaspo and the rest of these goons.

Guess my anger is starting to boil over...

1, Mike Jacobs is a joke, needs to be traded/cut.

2, Kila Ka'aihue needs to be called up.

3, Trey Hillman sucks at his job right now.

4, Gibbons contributes nothing as a coach.

5, The training staff DOES suck.

6, John Buck needs to be planted on the bench.

7, Aaron Crow should have already been signed, sealed and delivered.

8, Dayton Moore needs to realize this team is what it is and cut his losses.

9, Tony Pena Jr./Luis Hernandez/Tug Hulett.

10, Holy crap!

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Why do I do this to myself?

Aviles done for year

2009-07-01T15:10:00.002-05:00

Apparently all of the doubters, including myself, who wondered aloud whether Mike Aviles was really hurt or not have gotten their answer. The Royals announced before Wednesday's game that Aviles will have elbow ligament replacement surgery - or Tommy John surgery - soon and will miss at least 9-12 months. So, basically, we can look for Aviles to be playing baseball again about this time next season.

With that being said, the Royals better do something sooner rather than later to fix the shortstop position. Because they have no clear everyday player at short (nor can they hit: TPJ, Hernandez, Hulett, etc.) now is the time for the Royals to act. They have another shortstop at Triple-A Omaha in Mario Lisson, but even he iis barely breaking .200 at the Double-A or Triple-A levels this season - though he does have seven homers.

The club needs to make a trade and scrap this season. It's over and has been for quite a while. It's only getting worse.

Olivo suspended

2009-07-01T14:57:00.003-05:00

Miguel Olivo was suspended for one game by Major League Baseball for an altercation he had with home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi last week in Pittsburgh. Olivo was ejected in the ninth inning of a game last week for arguing a check swing call and apparently bumped Cuzzi - Olivo claims Cuzzi initiated the contact by bumping Olivo first.

Olivo didn't appeal and is serving the suspension in today's game against the Twins.

Royals ink Nicaraguan prospect

2009-06-28T18:47:00.003-05:00

Nicaraguan prospect Cheslor Cuthbert, a 16-year old star third baseman from the country, has signed a professional contract with the Royals worth an esitmated $1.5 million bonus. Several teams have been hot after Cuthbert since he was 14-years old, and many people around baseball suspected he would sign with the Pirates until the Royals swooped in and grabbed him up.

This should be a good sign for Royals fans. This move shows that they are making a serious effort to become movers and shakers internationally.

WARNING: Jeff Bianchi is the real deal

2009-06-28T14:09:00.003-05:00

I have been going to a lot of minor league baseball games lately, trying to get an eye for players who may be available through trades, and to scout some of the Royals farmhands. We all know the Royals are in a desperate need for a shortstop right now, and I think the organization is getting a good idea who that player might be; Royals 2006 2nd-round pick Jeff Bianchi.

I have seen Bianchi on multiple occasions now this year, and let me tell you, the kid is putting things together in a big, BIG, way. Not only did he tear up pitching at Hi-A Wilmington this year (to the clip of .300 BA/4 HR/28 RBI/12 doubles/2 triples/12 stolen bases versus being caught only twice/and 6 errors: all of this in 60 games) but as you can see he also runs well and - considering he plays at a high-risk defensive position at shortstop - has played good defense.

After being slowed with injuries that have kept him trapped in A-ball the past three years, he's managed to stay healthy the past year and recently earned the call-up to Double-A Northwest Arkansas about a week ago. Impressingly, the jump hasn't slowed him a bit. I was at Saturday night's game in Springdale for another look at Bianchi and he was amazing. After smacking an RBI double in his first at-bat to right center, he followed that with three more hits before blasting a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th inning to propel the Naturals to a 4-3 victory over the Arkansas Travelers.

Before the game I asked Bianchi if he'd noticed how desperate the Royals are for a competent shortstop who can hit. "Yeah, I've noticed they could use some help," he said with a big smile. Then he went out and went 5-for-5 with 3 RBI and the game-winning blast. Not a bad way to record your first Double-A homer.

Also, I am VERY impressed with his defense. He made several nifty plays and completed a couple of nice throws from short. Albeit, only one of the plays he made was particularly difficult - although he did make a pair of nice throws from deep in the hole to record outs. He is doing a tremendous job going with pitches and driving them to the opposite field. At the same time he's also pulling balls that need to be pulled. One of his singles skidded through the left side and the homer went to deep left center. Both balls were center-in on the plate and he wasted little time turning on them.

I'm not an irrational fan who can't grasp the importance of player development, but Bianchi looks ready for Triple-A. He's too good to even be at Double-A right now. Believe me, scouts were taking notice last night.

So far he's 19-for-34 since getting called up with 5 doubles and the homer. He has seven RBI in his first eight games and is hitting .583/.794/1.377. Now I realize that's a very small sample size, but it should open some eyes as the jump from Single-A to Double-A is a sizable leap - especially in the Texas League. He's already faced some of the best pitching the Texas League has to offer and he hasn't skipped a beat. And the Texas League is widely considered one of the best leagues in all the minors. The league is littered with the game's best prospects. I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

Keep your eyes on him.

Royals moves avoiding the real problem

2009-06-21T12:23:00.004-05:00

I was at Friday's debacle - you know, the one where Kyle Davies imploded on himself and was quickly shipped to Omaha aferwards - and believe me, it was worse than it looked on TV*.

By the way, I was on the field shooting pictures for the first five innings, so if you watched the game on Fox Midwest you can easily find me as the camera guy wearing the orange/blue striped shirt. At the start of the broadcast I walk right in front of the camera - can't miss me.

I only bring this up because I know I've gotten several e-mails from people wanting to know what I look like. And since I won't e-mail pictures of myself, you can see me if you DVR'd the game.

OK, back to my rant.

The Royals made the right move in sending Davies down. He clearly has not been able to harness his potentially outstanding stuff, and is just as inconsistent as he was when the Braves traded him to KC for Octavio Dotel. It's starting to get to the point where I seriously begin to doubt whether KD will ever figure it out up there.

He short arms his pitches, and doesn't repeat his delivery very well. Thus, he can't locate his fastball for crap. Clearly, his mechanics aren't the only issues though. He's got to harness his stuff mentally. That has been his biggest issue.

My gripe though is that the Royals organization is focusing too much on the pitching staff and hiding the real problem - the offense. At this point in the season it isn't going to matter much that the bullpen is razor sharp - in a bad way. I'm talking the kind of razor sharp that has the razor sliding across your neck - they're creating the bleeding when they should be the bandage that stops it.

Truth is, the pitching staff could give up two runs or twenty thousand runs and it wouldn't matter. The offense can't score enough runs to keep them winning. I've heard the arguments that the team is banged up, but I can easily counter that argument.

Allow me.

Alex Gordon? Well, he was batting .094 when he went down. Mike Aviles hovered around .183. Mike Jacobs, wait ... guess he isn't hurt but he's sucking bad enough you might think he is. Same goes to Jose Guillen. You see? They weren't helping much either.

Albert Pujols has 24 homers folks ... twenty-four. The top two in homers for the Royals, Miguel Olivo and Mike Jacobs, have 10 apiece. Do the math. David DeJesus hit his fourth dinger on Friday. So, basically what I'm saying is that Albert Pujols accounts for the home run total of THREE of the top Royals starters this year while his combined batting average is WAY higher than theirs.

So the losing streak isn't going to stop by the club shuffling the pitching staff around. Heck, Bruce Chen deserves to be in the big leagues right now. He's thrown shutouts in three of his past four starts at Omaha. But even Chen isn't going to help this team. He'll show up and start taking his losses and no-decisions right away. Doesn't matter how well he's throwing the ball right now, the offense can't score enough runs for the pitching to make a difference.

Oh yeah, the Royals defense has committed the 2nd-most errors in the AL. Whew.

It's sad to watch, really.

My Royals thoughts through this horrible stretch

2009-06-13T12:40:00.002-05:00

OK, this is going to be a totally random post with a lot of mix-and-matching going on.

1, It has been very hard to find the motivation to make any posts about the Royals right now. The term, "If you can't say anything nice..." applies here. So anyways, the Royals won a fantastic game Friday night thanks to a tremendous pitching performance from Luke Hochevar. Of course, the offense managed just six hits - big surprise.

2, Understand, I'm not a glass-half-empty guy. But from being around this team it's pretty obvious that the egos are keeping the Royals down. One guy is getting under my skin right now. Mike Jacobs, signed to boost the offense, is actually HURTING this team with his macho ego. Allow me to explain.

Jake is a guy who will adamantly tell you that he is what he is and WILL NOT change his approach at the plate. What that means on the bottom line is that Jake is more of a Jake player than a team player. Now that statement will ruffle some feathers, no doubt. Jake is a good guy and all, but the attitude that it's OK to hit .249 and strikeout a billion times in order to hit 20-25 homers is what's killing this lineup. No, I'm not singling Jacobs out, but I am attempting to rake him over the coals.

You see, teams put the shift on EVERY TIME Jacobs steps to the plate. You know, the same one teams put on for other lefty sluggers like Adam Dunn, Victor Martinez and Jim Thome. The problem is that Jake isn't nearly as dangerous as any of those guys and profiles better as a rally killer. He's a dead-pull hitter who has good power, but he's not in the class of Dunn, Martinez or Thome.

So the Royals are down 4-1 in the 9th inning and Jacobs steps to the plate. Instead of getting on base to start a meaningful rally he instead swings out of his spikes and whiffs on three pitches. The home run is meaningless at that point ... in cases like that a homer is actually a rally killer. It doesn't matter though, Jacobs is a glory hog. He would rather have the meaningless homer in the ninth.

We knew what to expect when we got Jacobs. It's no surprise that he strikes out this much, but at the same time you would like to think a guy would be willing to try a new approach now and then to win his team a game. I think even Dayton Moore has been a little surprised by how little he's been willing to change.

3, Trey Hillman has to be blamed for a great deal of the misfortunes this year. He's in his second year managing this club and has long since worn out his mulligans of a first year coach. He's certainly done enough to warrant being fired. I wouldn't complain one bit if Moore canned him tomorrow. Dayton isn't going to fire him anytime soon, however.

It is now understood that he has no clue how to manage late-game situations. In fact, I'm not sure what bench coach John Gibbons is contributing to this team either. Gibbons is supposed to be the little bird in Hillman's ear to help him along. Obviously, both guys have whiffed on several decisions this year (like bringing Kyle Farnsworth into ANY situation with the game on the line). They both warrant being FORMER Kansas City Royals, if you know what I mean.

A few nights ago the Royals lost to the Indians when a Shin-Soo Choo walk-off single took out a seagull in Cleveland. The real sad part of that game came well before the bird got flogged. Actually, the Royals set themselves up for a loss when Hillman chose to pinch hit for Tony Pena Jr. with the game tied 3-3 in the ninth inning with suspect Indians closer Kerry Wood on the hill.

The move to hit for Pena Jr. wasn't the problem. That was obviously the right decision. The problem was in Hillman's selection process.

On the bench were a pair of guys who are making more than $3 million this season to hit the baseball. All Hillman needed to do was pick one and go with him. Hell, rock-paper-scissors for the at-bat for all I care. Not to mention, both of those guys bat left handed versus Wood being a righty. Not to mention, both $3 million men homered off Wood in a Royals comeback victory a few weeks before. Hillman's tough decision should have been an easy one either way. It was OBVIOUS he would pick Mark Teahen or Jacobs either one in that situation.

He went with Luis Hernandez, a veteran of less than 200 major league games and a guy who can't hit his weight. WOW. I rest my case.

In surprising fashion Aaron Crow falls to Royals

2009-06-09T18:57:00.004-05:00

From the Royals press release:

KANSAS CITY, MO (June 9, 2009) -- The Kansas City Royals have selected Aaron Crow, a right-handed pitcher, with the 12th overall pick of the June Free-Agent Draft. The 6'3", 195 lb. Crow was selected 10th overall by the Washington Nationals in 2008, but did not sign.

Crow, a native of Wakarusa, Kan., was the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and a Golden Spikes Award finalist in 2008 after going 13-0 with a 2.35 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 15 starts for the University of Missouri. Crow has pitched in each of the last two seasons for the Fort Worth Cats of the independent American Association.

This season, Crow posted a 1.06 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 17.0 IP with the Cats. He is the second Fort Worth pitcher to be selected by the Royals in the first round, following Luke Hochevar, the 1st overall selection in 2006.

- My take -

I'm pleasantly surprised that Crow fell to the Royals at No. 12. Dayton Moore seriously had to be doing backflips when Crow was sitting there for the taking. Many scouts and team executives had Crow pegged to go in the top 5 picks after having a stellar start to the season at Fort Worth - where he flashed major league caliber stuff.

Already a year into professional baseball, plus the fact he went through college, Crow is advanced enough that he will likely shoot through the minor leagues and contribute to the big league club soon. Royals fans should be excited.

The cupboard is bare at Double-A

2009-06-02T11:12:00.005-05:00

Sorry for the long stretch in posts lately guys, but I've been busy going to games and such and wanted to take some time off to just reflect on what I've witnessed with this Royals team and its minor league affiliates.

The results aren't good. I'll make a post on the big league club in the next few days. It will be long and rambling - I'm warning you.

Just as I was planning this post, I noticed that Sam Mellinger wrote a story today about the farm system - quoting Dayton Moore saying how much better the system is now compared to when he arrived. He's absolutely right, but the top of the tree is stripped clean. And I'm not joking.

Having seen lots of minor league games throughout the past several years, I do have to say that I can't remember a time that I watched a team and had real doubts that ANY player would ever contribute at the big league level. That is until I started scouting the NW Arkansas Naturals this year.

The Texas League is certainly one of the most talented leagues in all of the minors. It's full of some of the top prospects in the game from Justin Smoak to Jhoulys Chacin. Yeah, pretty big prospects. The best power hitter the Naturals have is journeyman Corey Smith - a former 1st-round pick of the Indians - who has no real position and the body of a DH. He's been bouncing around the minors for quite some time after being released by the Indians and Angels after spending a couple years at Arkansas with each of them. He's a Juan Richardson type player (if you don't know him look him up) as bad as I hate to say it. Smith, at 27 years old, is batting .246 with 9 homers. He's seen little time above Double-A.

There are other players like John Suomi, Jordan Parraz, Cody Strait and Brian McFall who all are hitting well for the Naturals, but all of those players have their faults. Parraz, who was obtained from the Astros in the Tyler Lumsden trade, probably has the best chance of reaching the big leagues, but it would likely be in a reserve outfielder role as his bat doesn't play up to a corner outfield position (where he plays for the Naturals) in the power department. Suomi is going on 29 years old and is way too old to be considered a prospect. I would be more optimistic about him if his .329 average with 7 homers this year was being turned in at Triple-A Omaha. As it is now, he's splitting time behind the dish with Jeff Howell.

Strait is another guy like Parraz, only he plays center. He just turned 26 last week and is in his first year at the Double-A level. He still needs seasoning and isn't considered a prospect. As for McFall, the guy can rake. The problem he has is that when he actually does play the field he's a first baseman. Most of the time he's a DH. He won't hit with enough sock to warrant playing over Butler, Jacobs, Guillen or even Ka'aihue.

The pitching staff is loaded with just as many question marks.

Prospect Dan Cortes is spinning his wheels to the point that some scouts are saying he may need to move to the bullpen to reach the big leagues. That would be a blow to the Royals and their envisions for this kid when they traded for him in the Mike MacDougal deal in 2006. He's had horrendous control issues so far this year going 2-5 4.01 with 36 strikeouts and 32 walks. He's regressed poorly in his last two outings alone with 10 walks and seven strikeouts. Blake Wood (another highly touted prospect) is carrying a 6.31 ERA and has allowed 7 homers in 45 innings. He also is being tabbed as a future reliever by scouts.

As the scout told Mellinger, there is help for the Royals in the future, but it's two to three years away ... at least. There isn't much other than Ka'aihue, Hochevar and Carlos Rosa at Omaha. Rosa has been hit hard this year and may be demoted soon.

They club needs to make a trade to kick-start the offense, but they have next to nothing to deal that teams would want. I'll talk about that more in the coming days.

Soria news

2009-05-28T13:13:00.003-05:00

Royals closer Joakim Soria pitched off of a mound on Wednesday in Arizona. Soria threw only 15 pitches (his allowed limit) at the Royals spring training complex. The club didn't release any further details other than to say that he didn't report any discomfort afterwards.

Royals make a string of roster moves

2009-05-23T22:19:00.002-05:00

After Saturday's 5-0 shutout loss to the Cardinals, the Royals optioned Luke Hochevar to Triple-A Omaha and placed both Mike Aviles and Robinson Tejeda on the 15-day disabled list. To fill those roster spots the Royals recalled lefty reliever John Bale (from his rehab assignment with Northwest Arkansas) as well as infielder Tug Hulett and righty reliever Roman Colon from Triple-A.

I am a bit shocked that Hochevar was optioned, especially after pitching much better Saturday and having just received backing statements from Trey Hillman and Dayton Moore. It's not the worst thing though. He has struggled since being recalled. I still think the club messed up his confidence by starting him at Omaha this year. Again, just my opinion.

Hulett has been doing well with the bat this year but has limited big league experience. We'll see how this pans out. I still think the club needs to make a trade in the near future.

The Royals are in need of some Hawaiian Punch. Nevermind...

2009-05-19T21:20:00.004-05:00

Trey Hillman says his club is going to have to do something to find some offense real soon. We already knew coming into this year that the club would not lead the league in scoring, but I think Hillman's patience is starting to grow a little thin in the run producing category.

The Royals are stocked with first basemen, but the one putting up the best numbers is in Omaha. (No, this doesn't call for a Luke Hochevar comparison.)

Kila Ka'aihue (yeah, I think this is the first post I've made on him this season) is about as hot as you can get right now at Triple-A where he entered Tuesday's game batting .292 with 11 doubles, a triple, 7 home runs and 23 RBI. Not bad considering he started the season with an average barely touching .200. Here's the deal though ... while his average wasn't hot, he was drawing walks by the tons and has maintained a hefty OBP for the entire season. As of Tuesday he's drawn 37 walks compared to 30 strikeouts. His OBP is .450, he's slugging .575 with a 1.025 OPS.

In his last 10 games Ka'aihue is batting .444 with 7 doubles, 4 homers, 11 RBI, nine walks and five strikeouts.

I know the Royals aren't likely going to do anything different with Butler/Jacobs, but at some point in the next several months he may force them to find a position for him in the big leagues. At least they can afford to let him continue to develop in the minors. At this rate he may force their hand.

-----------------------------

***As I'm writing about Kila Ka'aihue I just witnessed something very un-Royal-like unfold right in front of my very eyes. The boys just scored four in the bottom of the ninth against Kerry Wood for an amazing 6-5 comeback win over the Indians, after trailing 5-1 in the 6th. Maybe they're going to figure it out afterall.

Jose Guillen grounded out to lead off the bottom of the ninth, before Jacobs and Mark Teahen went back-to-back to make it 5-4. Miguel Olivo followed that with a walk and Hillman replaced Olivo with Mitch Maier on the basepaths (good move). Then David DeJesus tripled to tie it, 5-5, and scored the game-winner on Willie Bloomquist's sacrifice fly to right field. WOW.

It's way too early, but here's an outlook on the trade deadline

2009-05-18T22:26:00.006-05:00

As a request of one of our great everythingroyals readers, I decided to make a post about what we can expect from the club in a few months when the trade deadline rolls around.

While there has been much speculation about the offense, or lack thereof, by the Royals this season, I really am having a hard time believing Dayton Moore is going to make any major splashes at the deadline. There are several big names that will become free agents in 2010, but some of the bigger ones will certainly not get away from their respective clubs. One of the biggest fish in the pond (as far as I'm concerned) is Tampa Bay's Carl Crawford. Yeah, you can already forget about that one...he won't get away from the Rays. They have a $10 million club option that says he isn't going anywhere. Same for Jason Bay and Josh Beckett of the Red Sox.

There are some bats that can be had, but they aren't likely going to be Royals. Rick Ankiel is one of them (the Cardinals have been dangling his name for some time) but he strikes out a whole bunch and has struggled with the bat as of late. Plus there's that Crisp guy in Kansas City. Others are Matt Holliday (who certainly will be moved from Oakland but will require a big haul) and Mark DeRosa of the Braves.

Here's a list of who could be available and their contract status:

Catchers:
Ramon Hernandez - $8.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout.
Victor Martinez - $7MM club option with a $250K buyout
Bengie Molina

First basemen:
Carlos Delgado
Adam LaRoche

Second basemen:
Mark DeRosa
Placido Polanco
Brian Roberts
Freddy Sanchez - $8MM club option with a $600K buyout

Shortstops:
Bobby Crosby
Khalil Greene
Miguel Tejada
Jack Wilson

Third basemen:
Adrian Beltre
Chone Figgins
Chipper Jones
Melvin Mora
Ty Wigginton

Left fielders:
Jason Bay
Carl Crawford - $10MM club option with a $1.25MM buyout
Johnny Damon
Matt Holliday
Hideki Matsui

Center fielders:
Rick Ankiel
Coco Crisp - $8MM club option with a $500K buyout

Right fielders:
Jermaine Dye - $12MM mutual option with a $1MM buyout
Brian Giles
Ken Griffey Jr.
Vladimir Guerrero
Xavier Nady
Magglio Ordonez - $15MM club/vesting option with a $3MM buyout

Designated Hitters:
Jason Giambi
Aubrey Huff
Gary Sheffield

Starting pitchers:
Josh Beckett - $12MM club option with a $2MM buyout
Erik Bedard
Justin Duchscherer
Rich Harden
Tim Hudson - $12MM mutual option with a $1MM buyout
John Lackey
Cliff Lee - $8MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Brett Myers
Brandon Webb - $8.5MM club option with a $500K+ buyout
Todd Wellemeyer

As you can see, I didn't even put closers in there. Pretty sure we don't need one of them. Obviously, there are lots of names on this list that in no way will be traded by their clubs. Then again, there are guys who likely will be gone in the blink of an eye.

The one player I am interested in is Baltimore second baseman Brian Roberts. Now there is an intriguing player that would look great in a Royals uni. Don't get too excited though, I don't see Dayton Moore doing much even if the club is in contention at that time - and they should be. He has adamantly said that the team won't mortgage its future for any quick fixes. I agree with him. Of course, a lot can happen between now and then, and there will certainly be other players who will be available. Possibly even some young Triple-A prospects will be tossed about as well. It's too early to tell.

Royals streak has fans jumping off bandwagon

2009-05-14T22:43:00.002-05:00

Well, If there is one thing the Royals losing streak has accomplished, it's that the fair weather fans who jumped on board during all the wins have now begun to disperse as the team continues this God-awful losing streak. I think it's kind of funny to see people claiming the sky is falling at Kauffman Stadium. There are some out there who are already writing this team off and penciling in the Twins as the AL Central champs again. It seems that all of the losing in years past has left us expecting the big one. The 10, 12, 14 game losing streak that all but writes the Royals in the cellar for the rest of the season.

It's very possible this Royals team isn't going to be as good as we once thought. It was obvious the pitching staff couldn't hold up the amazing pace they were on to start the year. The team was once on pace to win 105 games ... uh, yeah right. But it's not out of the question that this team winds up winning seven or eight in a row at some point in the year and wins the division by several games. I guess then we'll see those fans jumping back on the wagon.

The difference this year is that while this losing streak continues to build, all you have to do is look at their record to see that they are still currently above .500 and are right in the thick of things in the division. So, while they may or may not reach the playoffs in 2009, there's no doubt this team is better than the one's we've witnessed in a long time. (2003 was indeed a fluke)

Something else caught my attention too, and I wanted to bring it up.

After Mike Jacobs crushed his seventh homer of the season the other night in Oakland, there were cries that he isn't worth the money the team is spending on him. Some people even argued that he only goes yard when the score doesn't matter - and that he strikes out too often with runners in scoring position in tight games. Those last two arguments are fair enough, but to say that he isn't worth the money the team is paying him is ludicrous. Right now, we should be happy that he's still hitting bombs. That means he's seeing the ball well at the plate and at least gives us a hint that he can bust a game open when it's on the line.

Hey, at least he hasn't been what David Ortiz has been for the Red Sox this season. He appears to have totally lost his mojo. At least Jacobs is driving in runs. Plus, he's better than anything we've had in the power category for quite some time. I'll take him in my lineup even though the strikeouts hurt. The fact is we all knew Jacobs strikes out a ton. So there is absolutely no reason for us to gripe and complain that he K's too often. True Royals fans KNEW he would. I guess that's why it's the fair weather fans who are griping about it.

Look, I'm not knocking us true fans who have complaints with this team. There has been plenty to gripe about so far. But with all the gripes, we've also got to be pretty happy that we finally have a team that can go on such losing streaks and still be in the hunt.

Here's some of my gripes...

Trey Hillman has made blunder after blunder managing this team, and it makes one wonder what John Gibbons role actually is on the bench. He's supposed to be Trey's right-hand man. Guess that's why he's a former manager of the Blue Jays.
Mike Aviles can't hit his way out of a wet paper sack. He may spend a few weeks at Omaha soon to see if he can kick-start his offense.
Jose Guillen is killing this team defensively. He lolly gags in right field and has become a liability out there and on the base paths. There's a guy not worth what he's getting paid.
Gil Meche appears to be hurt and hasn't been the same guy since injuring his back three starts ago.
The offense remains punchless against no-name pitchers without great minor league track records.

You guys chime in on these subjects. Tell me your concerns. Let me know if you see things differently. Fair weather fans need not to respond. Only serious fans here please.

Hoch gets the call, Soria to DL

2009-05-10T21:28:00.003-05:00

Well, the inevitable finally happened ... on both fronts. The Royals finally decided to place all-world closer Joakim Soria on the Disabled List with a strained rotator cuff and recalled Luke Hochevar to take his spot on the 25-man roster.

Now I can quit whining about Hochevar.

Soria, as you well know by now, hasn't been right for the past 2-3 weeks. The club has been trying to nurse him through this by calling his injury a "sore arm". Yeah, not sure if they duped anyone with that one. The problem was obviously worse than that.

Hoch has been electric at Triple-A Omaha this year with a 5-0 0.90 ERA in six appearances. He will pitch against the Athletics on Tuesday night while the Knight from Aruba will shift to the 'pen.

Soria says he won't likely miss more than the 15 days he will sit out for the DL stint - which is retroactive to Friday. I could see the club giving him a rehab outing or two before he returns. That way they can bring him along in a more cautious manner.

My first day as a Seattle Mariner didn't go too well. We knew what was coming and still couldn't hit it.

2009-05-07T23:15:00.005-05:00

Note: I apologize for the delay in posts, but a nasty storm knocked the power out here and we just got back up and running. Anyways, here's how my day went on Thursday at the K. I have to admit, it was one of the funnest work days I've ever had.

If you're wondering how good Brian Bannister was on Thursday, well, even the Mariners (despite knowing exactly how Bannister would attack them) couldn't score on him. You see, I know this because on Thursday I was a Seattle Mariner. Yes, I crossed over into the dark side, spending more than three hours just hanging out with the M's before the game. Let me explain.

To make a long story short, my boss and I were at the game to do a story on the Mariners hitting coach Alan Cockrell - a local standout from southwest Missouri. Alan, as you can imagine, has had his hands full lately trying to get his young players hitting again after a hot start to the season.

Anyways, he invited us inside the indoor batting cages just behind the visitors clubhouse to get an up-close and in-person feel for his job and the guys he works with. Needless to say, I spent the next three hours watching Ichiro and his teammates crush pitches, tell stories and fall into a state of shock when it was revealed that Manny Ramirez had been suspended for 50 games.

Caught up on some conversation with Royal great Mike Sweeney too. Mike, who has always been one of the most pleasant players I have met through the years, immediately rushed over and shook our hands - my boss and I - thanking us for being there and telling us how great it was to be back in Kansas City. He probably took 50 cuts in the cage before rushing off to get ready for the game.

As Mike was hitting he kept telling us how he had stayed up the night before until 1:40 a.m. watching film on Bannister, just hoping he'd get his shot in front of the K.C. crowd one more time. Well, he wasn't the only one studying Banny. Alan himself had done his scout work and came to a conclusion everyone else has as well - Banny has scrapped his four-seam fastball in favor of a cutter and has become hard to hit.

This was the story AC told all of the Mariners hitters that day. Out of respect for AC and the Mariners, I won't disclose everything that was said and worked on that day. But I can tell you some of it.

AC repeated like 150 times to those guys that Banny would throw "70 percent cutters, and his curveball would be back door, every time". He told them there would be very few, if any, four seamers - that Banny had scrapped that pitch.

He beat this through every starter that came into the cages. They asked him tons of questions about Banny and what he would do. AC told me, "The thing is, we KNOW what Bannister is going to do. We know what he's going to throw, but he's going good and we still might not hit him."

They DID know what he was going to do. He did EXACTLY that AC said he would do. It was no secret. It was no surprise to even the average fan. Everyone knows what Banny is going to do these days. Sure enough, the Mariners didn't hit Banny well. Ichiro took the advice. So did Griffey. The rest of the team had no chance. Banny was that good.

I have to admit I certainly took a different perspective from that game after knowing what the Mariners were looking to do at the plate. I mean, you can speculate but it's totally different when you actually hear what the approach is going to be from what the coaches say in the cages. It just opened my eyes even more about what Bannister accomplished in this outing.

The awards are already rolling in

2009-05-05T20:18:00.002-05:00

Think the rest of MLB is noticing what Royals ace Zack Greinke is doing this year?

Well, on Tuesday he was named April's American League Pitcher of the Month after going 5-0 with a 0.50 ERA with 44 strikeouts in the month. Greinke will receive a 52-inch Sharp Aquos TV and a trophy as recognition for his achievements.

He has been quick to shoot down any comparisons to Fernando Valenzuela thus far. Instead, he's pointing all the attention to his coaches and teammates. It's nice to see the kid has remained so humbled. He's a rare commodity.

Royals retain catcher

2009-05-05T20:09:00.003-05:00

Well, the Royals lucked out today. It seems that Brayan Pena managed to slip through the cracks of the waiver wire afterall and will remain a Royal as the club outrighted the right handed hitting Pena to Triple-A Omaha.

Pena, who broke with the big league club out of spring training as the third-string catcher, went 2-for-7 with a pair of doubles and an RBI this year at the plate while seeing time mainly in mop-up duty. He has shown to be a valuable commodity for the Royals depth chart should Miguel Olivo or John Buck go down to injury this year.

Like the Royals, I myself am also surprised he went uncliamed. Good deal.

Simply amazing

2009-05-04T21:39:00.004-05:00

Zack Greinke continues to amaze me. The stud righty took his whipping stick out on the White Sox tonight and tossed his second career complete game shutout (both coming this season) as the Royals blanked the Sox 3-0.

Greinke moves to 6-0 with the victory, and has become the first big league pitcher to reach six victories this season. He struck out 10 and didn't walk a batter. His ERA is an amazing 0.40. I'm smelling a CY Young award. Apparently, ESPN's Buster Olney is thinking the same way. He wrote as much in his blog this week. You should check it out.

David DeJesus cranked his third homer of the season off of Bartolo Colon in the third inning. Mike Jacobs added a double in the game as well.

Still, I can't get over Greinke. I mean, we all have witnessed how well he's pitched since he returned from his stint at Double-A Wichita a couple years ago, but I think we'd all be lying if we said he'd be THIS good. No disrespect to the great Royals pitchers that have come before him, but I'm getting the feeling Greinke is already establishing himself as the best that Kansas City has ever seen. By the time it's said and done, I'm certain he will be.

Here's his line for the season:

6-0 / 0.40 ERA / 6 games / 3 complete games / 2 shutouts / 45 innings pitched / 30 hits / 3 runs / 2 earned / 0 home runs / 54 strikeouts / 8 walks /... holy crap.

I wonder who the Royals all-star will be this year?

Royals farmhands worth noting...

2009-05-03T18:09:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to point out some hot/not-so-hot starts to the 2009 season from some notable Royals farmhands. Obviously, I didn't name everyone on this list. There are other's worth mentioning, but I thought these few stood out the most. Feel free to chime in on this one.

Hot:

1.) Clint Robinson (Hi-A Wilmington) -- The 2007 25th-round pick out of Troy University is off to a fantastic start for the BlueRocks this season - batting .380/.424/.658 with 4 homers and 10 doubles in 79 at-bats.
Robinson, a 6-foot-4, 225 pound first baseman who I chronicled often last season, has mad power and really can become an intriguing player for the Royals in the near future. Since turning pro all the kid has done is hit. Last season, in the pitcher friendly Midwest League, Robinson hit .264 and crushed 17 homers with 22 doubles, 3 triples and 64 RBI. Those are impressive numbers considering virtually no one hits well in the Midwest League. In 2007 he was named the Pioneer League's Most Valuable Player after hitting .336 with 18 doubles, a triple, 15 homers and 66 RBI.
Keep your eye on this kid. He could be fun to watch.

2.) Jeff Bianchi (Hi-A Wilmington) -- Bianchi finally seems to have gotten rid of the injury bug that plagued the start of his pro career and the numbers are starting to warrant his 2nd-round selection in the 2005 Draft. The second baseman/short stop is hitting about as well as the Royals could imagine through 22 games this season with a .346 average, 8 doubles, a triple, 2 homers and 11 RBI. Bianchi has also committed four errors in the field in 22 games.
It's also encouraging to see some discipline at the plate from the youngster, as he has struck out 18 times and walked 11 in 78 AB's. If he wants to have a shot with the Royals he's going to have to continue to hit, because another Royals 2nd-rounder - Johnny Giavotella - is going to push him at the position.

3.) Mike Moustakas (Hi-A Wilmington) -- Can you sense a pattern here? Yep, I'm sticking with the Wilmington kids here as they have really had some good offensive numbers to start the year. Moose has jumped out of the box with a .275 average in 21 games. In that stretch he has 8 doubles, 4 home runs and 18 RBI with only two errors in the field. His start at Wilmington has been a very pleasant one considering how horrible his 2008 start went at Burlington (granted, it was his first pro season). We'll keep a close eye on him.

Honorable mention:

Blaine Hardy RHP (Low-A Burlington) -- The right handed relief pitcher has gone 1-2 with a 2.38 ERA through six games with 28 strikeouts versus no walks in 22 innings of work. He was a 22nd-round selection in 2008 from Lewis-Clark State.

Nick Francis RF (Low-A Burlington) -- He's the only Bees hitter not to fall victim of the Midwest League plague thus far in 2009. He's off to a great start with a .297 average, 5 doubles, a triple, 4 home runs and 14 RBI. He's a 15th-round pick from 2006.

Omaha Royals lineup -- They're all hitting. That's nice to see.

Not-so-hot:

1.) Eric Hosmer (Low-A Burlington) -- In 70 at-bats Hosmer is hitting .214 with five doubles, no homers and a lowly 7 RBI. Of course, it's still early in the season and it's a no-doubter Hosmer will eventually catch on and start to hit. First things first, Hosmer needs to get his first career homer out of the way so he can focus. Through 24 games as a professional the 3rd overall pick in last year's draft has yet to go deep. Don't worry; the sky isn't falling.

2.) Any hitter at Burlington not named Nick Francis -- Other than Francis, the next closest batting average (minimum 10 games played) has a .231 average. Yeah, not too pretty.

3.) Dan Cortes (Double-A Northwest Arkansas) -- A notoriously slow starter, Cortes went 10-4 with a 3.78 ERA in the Texas League last season despite a slow start. Here's hoping 2009 will yield the same results. But if that's going to happen Cortes better shape up in a hurry.
He's already lost four games this year as he stands at 0-4 with a 5.96 ERA, 17 strikeouts and 11 walks in 22 innings on the bump. He's also given up 27 hits and opponents have turned in a .293 clip against him.
Those are hardly efficient enough numbers to put a pitcher on the fast track to the bigs. Hopefully he can turn things around soon. He has the stuff, but is severely lacking in the maturity department. He still has a ways to go. Look for him to repeat Double-A again in 2009.

Seitz called it

2009-04-30T14:13:00.002-05:00

Before Wednesday night's game against the Blue Jays, Royals hitting coach Kevin Seitzer said he had a "feeling" Billy Butler was going to break out of the funk that has plagued him thus far in 2009. Seitzer couldn't have been more precise with his timing as "Big Bill" crushed two homers and a double in going 4-for-5 with four RBI.

All four hits came against Frank Viola look-alike Brian Tallett as he crushed a laser to right center and another booming blast to left center. Big Bill is seeing the ball really, really well right now. He's laying off of bad pitches and hitting all the fat ones. It's about time. He entered the game with a .193 average. With the return of Jose Guillen to the lineup, Butler's stick could help do a ton of damage.

GMDM...it's time

2009-04-28T11:01:00.003-05:00

OK, so all you guys have heard me do lately is gripe and moan that Luke Hochevar needs to be called up from Triple-A Omaha. I'm sure you're probably tired of hearing me speak on the subject, but I can't help myself. He is off to a scorching start for the O'Royals, and the big league club is missing out.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the Royals are one transaction away from having the best rotation in baseball. They may not have all the "names" that teams like the Yankees and Red Sox have, but they are quickly going to become household names if they continue to tear through lineups at this pace.

I never thought I'd hear myself say it this soon, but Dayton Moore has put this team on a fast track to a championship. They can easily win the division this year if the starting rotation can stay intact. Yes, I say that despite the fact that the offense hasn't been particularly stunning thus far. Add a couple more bats* next season and this team could contend for a crown.

*Jose Guillen stepped up with two monster homers last night - his first two of the season - and history has shown that when he gets on a tear the rest of the lineup follows. It was no surprise they won 7-1. Miguel Olivo homered as well. Maybe nights like that can jump-start the offense.

Hochevar tossed six innings, struck out seven, allowed four hits and walked two as Omaha drilled Oklahoma City 8-1 yesterday. He improved his record to 4-0 with a 1.44 ERA in 25 innings on the hill. Clearly, he's figured something out working with Bob McClure this offseason, and appears to have worked out the kinks in his delivery.

We all know he has outstanding ability on the hill. We have already witnessed flashes of dominance from the kid in the big leagues. There were times he would stifle hitters, then get his brains bashed in the next inning. That's what many young pitchers do. Greinke did it his first three years in the bigs. Hochevar figured some things out during his time in the big leagues last year, and he was very good this spring. He seems to have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that he is ready for the call.

Scouts project Hoch to be a darn good No. 2 or 3 starter in the bigs. This year he won't have the pressure of living up to those expectations because of the outstanding performances of the top three in the rotation (Meche, Greinke and Davies). That is fantastic for Luke. Two years ago he would have been expected to be one of the top three. Kyle Davies has taken that pressure off of him. This is the perfect situation for his growth in the big leagues.

Another factor is the emergence of Brian Bannister. Since being recalled from Omaha he has turned in two solid performances. He is showing signs of returning to his 2007 form, when he nearly won AL Rookie of the Year. Banny knows he won't always get away with allowing one run when he walks six batters like he did in his last start, but when your pitch to your spots and miss bats (to the tune of allowing one hit through six innings) you are going to have success.

Also, Sidney Ponson has been a serviceable guy thus far in the rotation. I understand he probably hasn't done anything to rile Royals fans yet - he's turned in two "quality" starts so far - which is a pleasant surprise for the club. But realistic baseball people know what Ponson is. He's been mediocre throughout his career, and that's exactly what his stats have shown thus far.

To be fair, Ponson hasn't received much run support at all in his starts, and he should have a couple more wins already. Regardless, his ERA is over 5.00 and is going to hover in that range all year. A lot of teams would be happy with that. Any other year and the Royals would have been ecstatic if their No. 1 guy could give them that, but not in 2009. These Royals pitchers are a new breed.

Look, I am not naive enough to think that Hochevar will post a sub-2.00 ERA in the big leagues. But you would be naive to think that he wouldn't be an upgrade over Ponson. Ponson could move to the pen and give this team a shot in the arm, in that respect. As far as I'm concerned Banny could move to the 'pen. That might be the better move. It would limit his exposure every fifth day, and keep Ponson in the rotation at No. 5. That would also work. Anything to keep Horacio Ramirez in the 'pen would be great.

But to leave Hochevar in the minors when he's pitching this good is a waste. If they wanted to let him dominate and boost his confidence, fine. It's been accomplished. I'll admit it has been a luxury for the big league rotation to be solid, because has kept the organization from rushing Hochevar. They don't REALLY need him right now, but any team would be foolish not to find a way to fit a guy like him in somewhere.

So, GMDM ... it's time. He's ready. Reward the kid. Let's get to the playoffs.

Royals fans be warned ... all hell could break loose

2009-04-26T11:59:00.003-05:00

Well, here we go. With a team that is hovering close to the .500 mark, and playing pretty good baseball to this point, there has been plenty to cheer about for Royals fans so far in 2009. But while the year is still young, it's not too early to panic that all-world closer Joakim Soria could miss several weeks with what is being called a "sore" right shoulder.

This could spell disaster for the Royals if the offense doesn't start scoring runs in bunches pretty soon. Of course, it remains to be seen just how long Soria will be out. For right now they're not putting him on the DL, but he certainly has caused some concern in the organization that has the club taking every precaution to keep his condition under wraps. That should tell us something.

Soria had an MRI a couple days ago and the results came back negative. That doesn't mean a lot since he's experiencing what teams like to call a "dead arm". That means we won't be seeing him on the hill for a little while.

There is just no way to tell when a pitchers arm will rebound from an issue like Soria's. Being a former pitcher who experienced arm troubles myself, I can tell you that Soria will miss longer than five days. There's simply no way they will allow him to pitch before that time. Guaranteed, and that's a good thing.

I'll explain it this way. There's a difference between pitching with a sore arm and pitching with an injury. Basically, you can pitch with a sore arm. You can work soreness out with some long toss, stretching, ice and a day of rest. Sore arms, while they do result in pain, and regardless of popular thinking, do not mean you're injured. Pitchers throw with sore arms every day. Therefore, Soria has more than a "sore" arm. This has been going on for at least a week now.

That means Ron Mahay, Juan Cruz and Kyle "Gas Can" Farnsworth are the likely closers for at least a couple of weeks. Cruz and Mahay I can live with, but God forbid Farnsworth steps on the mound in a close game in the ninth. I'm getting an ulcer thinking about it right now.

I pray to DeJesus that the offense carries us through.

Jose Guillen returns, Pena cut

2009-04-25T18:58:00.002-05:00

Jose Guillen returned to the lineup today against the Tigers after a 15 day sting on the DL for a right hip labrum injury.

Meanwhile, the Royals designated catcher Brayan Pena (yes, I'm thinking what you're thinking: why not Tony Pena Jr.?) for assignment, which could very likely end his playing days in Kansas City.

The Royals are interested in re-signing Pena, but will only be able to do so if he clears waivers, and it would be somewhat of a surprise if he does. Pena was shocked by the news, telling reporters; "It hurts man."

As a Royals fan it does hurt. I wish it would have been the other Pena.

Banny goes ... cha ching!!!!

2009-04-22T20:58:00.004-05:00

Brian Bannister was money in his first big league start of the season. In fact, it was reminiscent of 2007. *Sigh*

Banny tossed six innings, gave up four hits and didn't allow a run as the Royals shut out the Indians 2-0. He matched 2008 CY Young Award winner Cliff Lee pitch-for-pitch throughout the contest as Lee was dazzling himself. Lee was the tough luck loser, falling to 1-3 on the season, after going eight innings and allowing nine hits with two runs. Bannister walked two and struck out one.

He was also backed by several defensive gems throughout the game as well. Willie Bloomquist and David DeJesus each added nice running grabs to save potential runs in the game.

"I know my role this year," Bannister said. "I know I can be up and down (between the majors and minors) this year, but I'm fine with it. Whatever I can to to help the team win. I'm fine with my role.
"We played great defense. It was just a good all around game for everybody."

Trey Hillman was ecstatic with the performance.

"(Bannister) was outstanding," Trey Hillman said. "Doesn't matter what combination you're throwing ... to hold these guys down like he did was pretty impressive. He pitched a great game."

Coco Crisp opened up the scoring when he doubled and scored on a DeJesus sac fly in the first. Mike Jacobs singled and scored in the seventh on a Bloomquist single. Jamey Wright came on in the seventh and pitched two dazzling scoreless innings. They escaped a jam in the ninth when Joakim Soria struck out Trevor Crowe with a curveball on a 2-2 pitch with runners at second and third to end the game.

The Royals are now 8-3 and three Farnsworth's.

So I was in Springdale, Ark. yesterday...

2009-04-22T15:00:00.005-05:00

...and got a good look at new Royals pitcher Anthony Lerew - the former Braves top prospect. Lerew, who I begged the Royals to sign several weeks ago, is still attempting to bounce back from major elbow surgery after getting cut by the Braves. Lerew spent a brief time in the bigs with the Braves before being cut, and the Royals picked him up quickly. After all, Dayton Moore and J.J. Piccollo were responsible for his draft and sign with Atlanta in the first place.

Anyways, he looked brilliant against the Corpus Christi Hooks (Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros) on Tuesday. In front of the fourth largest crowd in Arvest Ballpark's brief history, Lerew tossed 6 2/3 innings against the Hooks and struck out six while allowing eight hits, three runs and a walk.

Lerew served up a controversial two-run homer to Mitch Einertson in the seventh, shortly before his exit in the game. The ball hit the top of the wall in left center, and after a long chat by the umpires it was ruled a homer. The only other run he allowed in the game came on a solo shot to Chris DeLome in the sixth. He started leaving the ball up in the sixth, clearly as a result of fatigue.

Still, Lerew looked really good. The Royals should be excited about what this kid can bring to the organization. His ERA currently stands at 3.07 and he's showing signs of re-gaining his old form. Center fielder Jose Duarte banged two doubles in the game, and looks like a much improved player over the guy I saw last season. He appears to have added some much needed bulk, and was swinging the bat very well.

Mario Lisson has moved from third base to shortstop, and looks like he is still adjusting to the move. He's played there before, but lacks a great deal of range at the position. He played pretty well though. Plus, the Royals feel he will hit. He has the body type to resemble Alex Rodriguez. With six years of steroids he may hit like him too. Bad joke.

Shame on me.

NW Arkansas won the game, 9-7, after Gilbert De La Vara (who was taken by the Astros in the Rule 5 Draft, but returned to Kansas City before the start of the year) nearly Kyle Farnsworthed the game with a horrible day on the mound. He allowed four runs and couldn't get out of the 9th. Chris Nicoll came on and slammed the door, stranding the tying run at first. The Naturals allowed four runs in the ninth.

I got some good pictures at the game that I will add when I do posts about these guys in the future. Got this shot of Lerew. Think I'm going to print it and have it signed. What do you guys think?

I'll be attending several more Naturals games all over the midwest this season and I'll keep you updated on how the young guys are looking.

By the way, Dan Cortes got hammered on Monday night. He's struggling to start the year.

Bannister recalled, gets Wednesday start

2009-04-21T20:14:00.006-05:00

It didn't take long for Brian Bannister to make his way back to K.C. as he was recalled from Triple-A Omaha to make his first big league start of the season against 2008 A.L. Cy Young winner Cliff Lee on Wednesday.
Bannister is off to a decent start at Triple-A (for stats on him see the previous Hochevar post) and the Royals only allowed him to throw two innings in his past outing in anticipation of this move. They didn't call up Hochevar because he threw eight innings on Monday. Relief pitcher Doug Waechter is headed to the DL with a lateral strain in his right elbow.
By the way, the Royals fell 8-7 tonight.

Hochevar off to hot start at Omaha

2009-04-20T20:12:00.004-05:00

If Luke Hochevar is trying to prove that the Royals made a mistake in demoting him to Triple-A to start the season, he's doing one helluva job. The right hander has started off in tremendous fashion this season as he improved to 3-0 with a 1.89 ERA after the Royals defeated Albuquerque 7-2 today.

Hochevar tossed eight innings, scattered five hits, allowed one run, walked two and struck out four to earn the victory. He threw 72 of 107 pitches for strikes, and picked off Xavier Paul at first base. For the season, Hochevar has given up four earned runs in 19 innings with nine strikeouts and four walks. Meanwhile, Brian Bannister is 0-1 with a 3.46 ERA with five strikeouts and a walk. He has tossed 13 innings for the Royals.

Greinke earns honor

2009-04-20T19:58:00.002-05:00

Zack Greinke, who has accumulated 14 scoreless innings on the hill this past week, has earned recognition from Major League Baseball for his outstanding effort on the hill thus far in the season. It was announced on Monday that Greinke and Texas Rangers second baseman (and former Mizzou star) Ian Kinsler will share AL Co-Player of the Week honors.

Zack gets a new watch as his prize for pitching so well. Hopefully, he can add a world series trophy as a prize at the end of the season for a job well done. ;)

Same old song and dance: 'Gas Can' blows it up again

2009-04-19T17:12:00.003-05:00

I can't remember seeing such horrible management in all of my life. Why in the sam hell would any manager bring in his worst pitcher in a tied game in the bottom of the ninth inning? Especially when you have arguably the best closer in the game warm and ready to rock in the bullpen. Well, without further ado...here's Trey Hillman - Kyle 'Gas Can' Farnsworth's best buddy.

Just like Hillman's love affair with Ross Gload (and I'm not bestowing the same resentment on Gload that I have for Farnsworth) the past two seasons, Hillman has fallen in love with yet another player who shouldn't be on the Royals roster. Meanwhile, the team is paying for it. Plain and simple, Joakim Soria should have been in the game in that situation. He hasn't pitched in six days, the Royals have an off day on Monday and you are trying to go into the day off with the momentum of sweeping the second best offense in all of the American League.

Yet, hang on a second. Hillman makes the million dollar decision to keep his star closer on ice and instead bring in the dweeb who has already picked up two of your teams losses in the early season and is pitching like a big pile of (add your own "item" here). And there you have it, Farnsworth serves up a fastball right down the middle and it gets swatted for the game-winning homer to Michael Young on the second pitch of the inning. Royals, who had a 5-3 lead going into the 8th, end up losing 6-5.

Absolutely incredible decision making, Trey. I applaud you and you're king sized kahones. At this rate, you'll pull off one of those Runelvys Hernandez disappearing acts. You know, where you're gone and no one ever hears from you again.

I can't hardly blame Farnsworth on this one...he sucks. He can't help it they keep giving him the ball. He knows he sucks, but they're giving him $9 million bucks! Can't blame the guy for taking the ball (and the money) when it's tossed to him. My issues are with the people who keep giving him the ball. They can end this all right now by putting him in blowouts that he can't screw up too bad. Yasuhiko Yabuta didn't get this many chances to prove how badly he sucks. Hillman needs to step it up and quit this crap. It's killing the team.

Gordon to DL

2009-04-16T21:55:00.003-05:00

Alex Gordon hit the disabled list today as he will undergo hip surgery for a problem that's been ailing him since Saturday and has helped contribute to his .095 batting average to start the year. Gordon, who has a right hip labrum cartilage tear, has been playing sparingly the past few days as the injury has worsened. He is 0h for his last six at-bats with four strikeouts. He is 2-for-22 on the season with a homer.

Gordon will have surgery on Friday in Vail, Colo. by doctor Marc Philippon - the same doctor who removed the cyst from Alex Rodriguez's hip during spring training.

The Royals have called up outfielder Mitch Maier from Triple-A Omaha to split time in right field with Willie Bloomquist while Jose Guillen remains out with his own hip injury. Mark Teahen will shift to third while Gordon is out.

It appears there is a good chance Gordon will miss more than 15 days. The club won't know just how long he is expected to miss until the surgery is completed and they can assess the situation. Expect word withing the next few days.

Buck homers twice in Royals romp

2009-04-14T22:16:00.005-05:00

John Buck hit two mammoth home runs, including an 8th inning grand-slam, as the Royals pounded the Indians 9-3 on Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium.

Buck hammered a solo shot in the fifth off of Indians starter Carl Pavano to give the Royals a 3-2 lead. Buck put the game away in the 8th when he hammered a Vinny Chulk offering into the visiting bullpen to cap the five run inning.

Royals starter Kyle Davies went 5 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and a walk. Davies ended the night with a 2.13 ERA. He exited after his 98th pitch of the game when Kelly Shoppach reached on a single to move Ben Francisco to third. Trey Hillman summoned Robinson Tejeda from the bullpen and he promptly bailed Davies out by striking out Trevor Crowe on three pitches.

Juan Cruz struck out three and allowed one hit in two scoreless innings of relief. Doug Waechter finished things out with a scoreless ninth.

Kansas City broke out the bats to the tune of 11 hits. Seven of those hits went for extra bases. Mike Jacobs, Alberto Callaspo and Mike Aviles each doubled; Coco Crisp and David DeJesus each tripled; Buck added the two homers.

The Royals improved to 5-3 this season and to complete the sweep against their AL Central rivals in a 1:05 p.m. CT game on Wednesday. Sidney Ponson will square off against Aaron Laffey in that game.

Signs point to Royals win on Tuesday

2009-04-14T09:21:00.004-05:00

If there was ever a game primed and ready for a Royals victory, Tuesday is the one. Last night the Royals got yet another outstanding pitching performance from Zack Greinke and the Royals held on late to outlast the Indians 4-2.

Mike Jacobs led off the fourth with a homer and Joakim Soria picked up his third save of the season by stranding the tying run at second.

Fast forward to Tuesday and there is no reason why the Royals should lose this game. Kyle Davies, who was outstanding in his first outing of the season, is on the hill against Carl Pavano...yes, you heard that right.

Pavano, who used to be good before injuries ravaged his career, gave up nine runs in one inning of work last week and could be pitching for his job tonight. If the Royals are looking for a good excuse to break out the offense they probably just found it.

Clearly, the Royals have caught the Indians at the most opportune time. Their pitching is horrible. Let's just hope they don't blow it.

Offense still a no-show as Royals lose

2009-04-10T18:41:00.003-05:00

Sidney Ponson gave the Royals six quality innings, but the offense failed to give him any run support as the Yankees downed the Royals 4-1 on the home opener of the new (and very beautiful) Kauffman Stadium.

Ponson had a few stretches where it appeared he would let the game get out of hand, but he reeled back and shut down the Yanks to escape danger. He really pitched better than the four runs that were on the board when he came out before the seventh. Had the Royals defense been better in the first inning Ponson likely would have only allowed two runs. He struck out five and walked three.

Mike Jacobs whiffed on a hard-hit ball right at him at first that accounted for two runs. Jacobs was not charged with an error on the play, and rightfully so as the ball was smoked by Jorge Posada. Mike Aviles also misplayed a hard hit ball at short, but he also escaped being charged with an error.

In the same inning, right before the Posada single, Alberto Callaspo made a bonehead decision that cost the Royals an extra run. On a grounder to second Callaspo fielded the ball and had Mark Teixeira standing right beside him for a potential tag-em-out-throw-em-out double play to get out of the inning. Instead, Callaspo opted not to go after Teixeira and instead threw out the runner at first. That allowed Teixeira to move to second and scored on Posada's hit.

"I'm still not happy with the way I pitched," Ponson said after the game. "Even though I gave them six innings, I'm still not happy with the way I pitched out there."

Ponson also declined to blame his teammates on the miscues in the infield. Opting instead to blame himself for letting those balls get hit so hard.

After taking an awful booing during player introductions before the game, Kyle Farnsworth came on in the seventh and struck out the side. Jamey Wright followed with two scoreless innings and struck out three while allowing one hit. He promptly picked off that runner.

Billy Butler doubled and scored in the second inning. Mike Jacobs doubled to score Butler. The Royals only had four hits in the game. Besides Butler's hit, Mike Aviles and Mark Teahen also added a hit.

You're welcome, Mr. Farnsworth

2009-04-10T15:31:00.002-05:00

Wow! What a welcome Royals fans just gave Kyle Farnsworth when he was introduced during pre-game ceremonies before today's game. Farnsy was welcomed with a hail of boos from the crowd, and he was certainly put in a pickle. Seriously, I'm not sure one single person cheered the man. I'd be willing to bet Joe Girardi and the rest of the Yankees were even standing over there booing him too.

Obviously, fans haven't forgotten the opening day meatball he served to Jim Thome. I'm sensing a shaky relationship from the outset. Haha. I wonder what Dayton Moore thought of that? I'm guessing that will be talked about after the game.

Whad did Farnsworth do? Just smiled and downed his head, of course.

Here's a big surprise...(sarcastic voice)

2009-04-10T14:37:00.002-05:00

Before today's home opener against the Yankees the Royals placed Jose Guillen on the disabled list after he partially tore his right hip flexor while running out a grounder at first. (Yes, I know, he was running it out!).

Anyways, Guillen's injury saved someone their big league job (at least temporarily) as the club needed to make a move today before the game to make room for starter Sidney Ponson to join the 25-man roster. I would imagine Guillen will miss several weeks with this injury and could miss an extended period of time. His hips have given him a lot of trouble the past few seasons.

Coco's the hero

2009-04-09T15:45:00.005-05:00

No wonder the Royals front office wanted to get their hands on Coco Crisp so badly this offseason. Crisp jumped all over White Sox closer Bobby Jenks in the top of the ninth and rammed a two-run homer well over the wall in left and the Royals defeated the Sox 2-1.

Crisp came up big defensively in the bottom of the 8th with a nice running catch on a ball hit by A.J. Pierzynski in the right center gap to save a run. He then deposited the first pitch he saw from Jenks in the 9th to break a 0-0 tie. Crisp's blow came right after Alberto Callaspo drilled a double to the wall in right center with one out in the inning.

Joakim Soria made things interesting when he came on in the ninth and surrendered a lead off double to Carlos Quentin. Quentin moved up to third on a Jim Thome ground out and scored on Jermaine Dye's ground out to short making it 2-1. Soria then walked Paul Konerko and Alexei Ramirez reached on an Alex Gordon error to put runners at first and second. But Soria rebounded to strike out pinch-hitter Wilson Betemit on a back-door curve to end the game. The save was Soria's 2nd of the season.

Royals starter Kyle Davies was nothing less than stellar in his performance as he tossed seven innings, allowed three hits, struck out eight and walked two. Together, Davies, Greinke and Meche gave Royals fans a glimpse of what the starting rotation - at least at the top three spots - could be like this season. Together they allow only one run and combined for a 0.43 ERA in the series. Ron Mahay (1-0) picked up the win after tossing a scoreless 8th for the Royals.

"I'm not sure I've ever seen that kind of consistency from a rotation over the course of a series like that," Royals manager Trey Hillman said. "It was really amazing to see. I am really pleased with that."

The Royals (2-1) open at home tomorrow against the Yankees at 3:10 p.m. CT. The much anticipated home opener will be a grand re-opening of Kauffman Stadium after it has gone through an extensive renovation over the past two seasons. Andy Pettitte will start for the Yanks while Sidney Ponson gets the nod for the Royals.

The Royals will have to make a roster move before tomorrow's game to make room for Ponson. Reserve infielder Tony Pena Jr. could be the odd man. The Royals must trade, release or option a player to the minors to make room for Ponson on the 25-man roster.

Sorry for the delay, here's my analysis from Wednesday's 2-0 win

2009-04-09T12:25:00.002-05:00

I want to apologise to you guys for not getting something posted on here sooner about last night's Royals game in which they took down the White Sox 2-0. I do have an excuse though, I am battling a horrible stomach pain that has put blogging on the bottom of my to-do list.

Anyways, before the Royals start today's game against Chicago I just wanted to point out a few things about the game last night that I'm sure you have already heard about by now.

First of all, Zack Greinke is a friggin stud. He tossed six innings of Josh Beckett baseball and completely bamboozled Sox hitters all night. Jermaine Dye (sorry Jermaine) looked like I did at the plate when he whiffed horribly at a 12-6 curve that he missed by about three feet. Greinke also roasted Alexei Ramirez and Jim Thome on some filthy sliders as well.

Mark Teahen made a very nice play at second on a ball hit hard to his right. He's admittedly had trouble all spring with that ball up the middle, but has been making huge strides in that department. If you haven't seen the play (it may not look too hard when a gold-glover is fielding it, but it's a very tough play) Teahen backhanded the ball and made a strong throw to first in one motion to get the runner by two steps. That was good to see.

Juan Cruz was electric (as expected) in two inning of hitless relief. He retired all six batters he faced. Joakim Soria was his normal self as well. Striking out Dye to end the game on a filthy curve.

Anyways, I don't feel like writing much more. Again, I apologise. I'll try to have something on today's game when it ends. We're about to get underway. Go Royals!

Royals add another IF at Omaha

2009-04-09T00:13:00.003-05:00

So it looks like this "plan" that Dayton Moore has concieved to bring the Royals back to greatness involves stockpiling your team at pitcher and ... wait for it ... first base!

Umm ... huh?

Yeah, the Royals added yet another first baseman to the mix at Triple-A Omaha (where the club already has sluggers Kila Ka'aihue and Ryan Shealy) when they picked up Travis Metcalf off waivers from the Rangers today. Metcalf, a Kansas native, hit .249 with 11 homers and 35 homers in 80 games for the Rangers over the last two years.

Note: Metcalf is listed as a third baseman, but he does not project as a big league third baseman. He is pretty rough at that position, and it is almost certain that he will eventually be moved to first. He likely won't be moved there right away with the Royals, but eventually I see it happening. He has some pop, but strikes out a ton. Alas, Mike Jacobs. So I'm calling him a first baseman.

I kind of like this move, but I wonder how they are going to split the at-bats down on the farm?

After sleeping on it, here's my ranting Opening Day analysis

2009-04-08T10:10:00.003-05:00

I didn't want to say too much yesterday after watching Kyle Farnsworth do his normal song and dance which led to a Royals 4-2 loss. As dumb as this sounds I was crushed. I was down and out. Yes, I know there are 161 more games to be played. I know that it's only one game in a long season. I know all the cliche's by now. I used to play the game myself back in the day.

Still, it sickened me to watch what was unfolding right in front of my very eyes. I hate to bash Trey Hillman too much on this one (he's the manager and we're stuck with his decisions, after all) but I think Trey was the ONLY person in the entire world who had confidence that Kyle Farnsworth would get the job done. Just like last season, he was the ONLY person in the world who thought Brett Tomko was somehow going to figure it all out when he put on the blue uniform and be a dominant force. Just like he also thinks Sidney Ponson was worth keeping in the rotation over Luke Hochevar (you already know how I feel on that one).

Trey said after the game that he doesn't try to "guess what the fans think". So, basically, he's saying screw the fans and he's gonna do what he wants. Well, if it works, that's all fine and dandy. That's what he's making the big bucks for. But so far it hasn't worked. Yabuta didn't work, Tomko didn't work, Gobble (a great lefty specialist) was misused and tanked. Ramon Ramirez did work and so did Leo Nunez. The fact is Ramirez and Nunez had pretty good track records before becoming regulars in the bullpen last year and we all had hope they would do well. Nunez was pretty good coming through the system. Ramirez showed flashes of brilliance with the Rockies. So that wasn't a big shock. Everyone knew that Tomko was a joke.

So far, Trey hasn't shown me one ray of genius.

I like the guy and I think that he COULD be a good manager someday. The problem that I'm afraid is going to crush him and leave him unemployed is his conviction in guys who have been consistently pathetic throughout their careers. He made comments after the game that Mahay and Cruz were warming in the pen because he was afraid that Farnsworth might be wild. WHAT!? WHY THE HELL WOULD ANY MANAGER PUT A PITCHER IN A ONE RUN BALLGAME IN THE 8TH INNING IF HE'S AFRAID HE'S GONNA BE WILD!? That makes no sense at all. You can't tell me he honestly felt that Farnsworth was going to do a better job that Cruz or Mahay? That's just plain stupid.

Sorry for the all caps, but that just drives me nuts! It's as if you're trying to be so brawn that you're willing to risk the team's success to make a statement. Why doesn't he think about Gil Meche for a change? Meche fell victim to (I wish I had the exact numbers in front of me right now) countless decisions like the one made yesterday and ended up with countless no-decisions on games he exited with the lead. Gil's record should have been MUCH better last season if Hillman would have managed his bullpen correctly.

Trey also said that Ron Mahay isn't a lefty specialist. That he's a sixth or seventh inning guy. What does that mean? The last time I checked it doesn't matter what inning it is when it comes to making quality pitches to get outs. He last time I checked the Royals are paying Ron Mahay a pretty nice salary to get guys out - something he did with great effectiveness last season. Lefty specialist or not, his title isn't going to decide the outcome of whether he gets Jim Thome out in that situation. Quality pitches will. Any scout will tell you that Mahay is the better pitcher in that situation.

Sucking yourself into a trend where "this guy can only pitch in this inning, and this guy in that inning" is like pouring gasoline on your arm and waving it over a fire. Pretty soon, well, you know what I'm getting at.

If Hillman wants to be a big league manager for very long he's going to have to quit trying to be a genius and MANAGE the game. He had room for excuses last season - his first in the big leagues. He no longer has that extra link in the chain. He's going to realize that sooner than later, because media and the fans are going to eat his lunch for questionable decisions in 2009. It's a good thing he wasn't hired to manage the Yankees last season. Right now, he'd be unemployed.

Farnsworth blows it in 8th, Royals lose 4-2

2009-04-07T15:32:00.004-05:00

Well, that didn't take long. For those of you questioning the Royals signing of mad-man Kyle Farnsworth, you got just the ammunition you needed to back up those arguments as Farnsy gave up a three-run jack to Jim Thome with two outs in the 8th to give the White Sox their first lead of the game and a 4-2 victory.

Farnsworth, who loves his 98 MPH fastball a little too much, threw nothing but heaters to Thome until he deposited a 2-1 pitch well over the wall in left center.

That effed up a previously solid game by the Royals all the way around. The only real blemish for the team was the fact that they stranded 11 runners on base. Gil Meche started and was fantastic through 7 innings of work. He blew away Alexei Ramirez on his last pitch of the game to leave some wondering if he would return for the 8th. I wish he would have.

Alex Gordon rammed his first homer of the year to dead center in the second inning off of Mark Buehrle. Bobby Jenks got the save for the Sox in the 9th.

Just one question....

2009-04-07T13:07:00.001-05:00

...are you ready for some baseball??????

Royals minor league rosters....Class A Burlington

2009-04-06T21:52:00.001-05:00

The players are linked to their Bio's. Feel free to click on their names and check them out.

Coaches
Jim Gabella (Manager)
Pookie Wilson (Batting Coach)
Jerry Nyman (Pitching Coach)

Pitchers
Manauris Baez
Barry Bowden
Bryan Casey
Luis Cota
Brent Fisher
Justin Garcia
Blaine Hardy
Ivor Hodgson
Riquy Pena
Zach Peterson
Sam Runion
Derrick Saito
James Thompson

Catchers
Jose Bonilla
Sean McCauley
Salvador Perez

Infielders
John Alfaro SS
Eric Hosmer 1B
Antonio Jimenez 3B
Kyle Martin DH
Alwin Perez 2B
Juan Rivera SS
Jason Taylor 3B
David Wood 1B

Outfielders
Nicholas Francis RF
Patrick Norris CF
Wilson Tucker RF
Nick Van Stratten RF

Royals minor league rosters....A (Adv.) Wilmington

2009-04-06T21:17:00.002-05:00

The players are linked to their Bio's. Feel free to click on their names and check them out.

An interesting note: Mike Moustakas is listed again as a shortstop, rather than third baseman. Maybe it's a technicality, but it could be worth watching to see which position he works at for most of this season.

Coaches
Brian Rupp (Manager)
Justin Gemoll (Batting Coach)
Steve Luebber (Pitching Coach)

Pitchers
Alexander Caldera
Chris Chavez
Daniel Duffy
Jason Godin
Aaron Hartsock
Ray Liotta
Eduardo Paulino
Craig Rodriguez
Mario Santiago
Brandon Sisk
Ben Swaggerty
Everett Teaford
Kelvin Villa

Catchers
Joe Billick
Ryan Eigsti
Matthew Morizio

Infielders
Jeff Bianchi 2B
Johnny Giavotella 2B
Mike Moustakas SS
Clint Robinson 1B
Anthony Seratelli 1B

Outfielders
Jarrod Dyson LF
David Lough OF
Paulo Orlando RF
Adrian Ortiz LF
Derrick Robinson CF
Jamar Walton OF

Royals minor league rosters....AA NW Arkansas

2009-04-06T20:51:00.002-05:00

Each player is linked to his Bio so you guys can read up on them if you'd like.

Coaches
Brian Poldberg (Manager)
Terry Bradshaw (Batting Coach)
Larry Carter (Pitching Coach)

Pitchers
Dan Cevette
Dan Cortes
Kyle Crist
Gilbert De La Vara
Chris Hayes
Greg Holland
Blake Johnson
Matthew Kniginyzky
Anthony Lerew
Victor Marte
Chris Nicoll
Carlos Sencion
Blake Wood

Catchers
Jeff Howell
John Suomi
Vance Wilson

Infielders
Josh Johnson 3B
Mario Lisson 3B
Ed Lucas 3B
Chris McConnell SS
Brian McFall 1B
Kurt Mertins 2B

Outfielders
Joe Dickerson
Jose Duarte
Jordan Parraz
Cody Strait

Royals minor league rosters...AAA Omaha

2009-04-06T20:34:00.004-05:00

As you can see, there are way too many guys listed on this roster. I've added Luke Hochevar to the roster even though he was not "officially" listed there yet. There are too many players currently listed on the roster, so there are still some finishing touches that need to be made to round it out. But it's close enough to being accurate, so here it is.

Oh, and each player is linked to his Bio so you guys can read up on them if you'd like.

Coaches
23-Mike Jirschele (Manager)
00-Tommy Gregg (Batting Coach)
14-Tom Burgmeier (Pitching Coach)

Pitchers
Carlos Arias
Brian Bannister
Bruce Chen
Jairo Cuevas
Brandon Duckworth
Luke Hochevar
Dusty Hughes
Devon Lowery
Josh Newman
Luis Ortega
Brett Richardson
Carlos Rosa
Matt Wright
Yasuhiko Yabuta
Luke Hochevar

Catchers
Todd Balduf
Matt Tupman

Infielders
Cory Aldridge DH
Brian Buchanan DH
Jorge Gutierrez SS
Tug Hulett 2B
Kila Ka'aihue 1B
Ryan Shealy 1B
Mike Stodolka 1B

Outfielders
Brett Bigler RF
Chris Lubanski LF
Mitch Maier CF

I'm miserable today...

2009-04-06T12:45:00.002-05:00

Well, this Opening Day sure hasn't gone the way I'd planned. First of all, I go to bed last night sick as a dog, woke up sick, and then I get the word that the Royals game has been postponed due to inclement weather.

I'm the kid of guy who has patience for everything EXCEPT when baseball games are involved. I absolutely hate postponements. Looks like the one thing that could have made me feel better today is not gonna happen. I'll get my medicine tomorrow I guess.

ESPN is lovin' on the Boys in Blue

2009-04-04T21:57:00.002-05:00

Bored and flipping through channels the past couple of days, I came across a couple of things that sort of made me realize just how the baseball world is starting to notice the improvements the Royals have made lately.

I came across ESPN on a couple of separate occasions, and, surprisingly, they weren't talking about Boston or New York, but rather the Royals. First, Buster Olney - a well respected baseball guy in this business, pegged Royals No. 3 starter Kyle Davies as the guy most likely to affect his teams success/failure this season. I kind of found it hard to believe (I mean, he's gonna make an impact, albeit a good or bad one, in their success - but really?) that Davies is THE MAN to decide the Royals fate - let alone have more of an impact on his team than anyone else in the league. It's a bold prediction.

Then, on Saturday, I saw Tim Kurkjian say that Alex Gordon is the junior most likely to have the most success this year. Rather than instill the sophomore slump tag on anyone (I hope Mike Aviles is immune to that disease) they picked the third year player (junior, get it?) that is most likely going to put it all together in a big way this year.

Kurkjian and Olney both are warning clubs to look out for the Royals this year. It's finally nice to see the rest of the world seeing better days ahead for a change.

Shealy clears waivers, sent to Omaha

2009-04-03T16:52:00.002-05:00

The Royals sent first baseman Ryan Shealy to Triple-A Omaha this morning after the slugger cleared waivers. It was a bit of a surprise Shealy, who has shown flashes of power in his short major league career, actually cleared waivers. The Royals now have 31 players remaining in camp. They will need to cut that number down to 25 by 2 p.m. Sunday.

Gload traded, Peralta cut

2009-04-01T20:20:00.002-05:00

Some Royals fans are rejoicing today after the club cut reliever Joel Peralta and traded veteran utility man Ross Gload to the Florida Marlins.

Gload, who many Royals fans respected but hated when he was in the starting lineup, was sent to the fish along with cash for a player to be named later at an unspecified date. In an expected move, the club also sent starter Brian Bannister to Triple-A Omaha to begin the season.

Pitchers Sidney Ponson and Horacio Ramirez will fill the final two slots of the starting rotation, though Ramirez will start the season in the bullpen until the team incorporates the fifth starter into the rotation a few weeks into the season.

Gload figured to be the odd man out anyways this season, with Billy Butler, Ryan Shealy and Mike Jacobs all vying for the starting job at first base. The Royals, with 32 men remaining on their spring roster, will need to trim seven players from the roster within the next couple of days to meet the leagues 25-man requirement by April 6th.

Am I reading too much into this?.....

2009-03-31T16:12:00.003-05:00

But in yesterday's game against the Cubs I started thinking about something that caught my eye and got the gears turning in my head (FINALLY!).

Mark Teahen started the game at second base and made all of the routine plays (including one that wasn't so routine when Mike Jacobs deflected a diving stab at a liner to Teahen, who was in perfect position to field it and throw the runner out at first). Then, late in the game Willie Bloomquist came off the bench ... to play left field.

Maybe I shouldn't read much into this, but I thought it was a little funny that this close to Opening Day Willie Bloomquist is suddenly playing the super-sub role while Teahen plays the entire game at second. Look, Teahen came into this spring as a long shot, but has been a pleasant surprise with his bat AND defense for the Royals. He has made great strides from his horrid first game at second to now.

In no way will he ever win a Gold Glove at second. He may never be above-average, but if he keeps hitting the way he has, turns the double play, and makes the routine plays, well, routine - it looks like he'll win the job.

Stupid move: Royals send Hochevar to Omaha

2009-03-31T15:10:00.003-05:00

Excuse me as I hop on my soap box for a minute. What the heck are the Royals thinking with their pitching staff right now? With Tuesday's demotion of Luke Hochevar in favor of the Aruban Knight Sidney Ponson I can't help but think something is wrong between Hochevar and Trey Hillman. I cannot fathom why this club would do this. It's insane. It's asinine.

Yes, I understand my recent rotation prediction for the club had Ponson as the fourth starter and Hochevar as the odd man out in the five spot. The prediction was right on the money. Horacio Ramirez is the long reliever in the bullpen. Still, I don't agree with it.

Look, I think the Sidney Ponson signing was a really good one. I think he's certainly worth making this club over guys like Bannister and Ramirez. The fact is, left hander or not, Ponson would have been a better option than Horacio Ramirez. Ramirez, despite the excuses this spring, has been horrible. Absolutely H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E. Ponson isn't anything special. He's mediocre at best. But he's a better option than Ramirez, in my opinion.

What else did Hochevar need to do to make this team? I'm absolutely baffled. He was arguably the best starting pitcher in camp this spring, and did everything he needed to do to make the club. The kid has made strides from a year ago, and is progressing into a pitcher who looks like he will be dominant on the hill very soon. He should be the No. 4 guy.

I wrote my predictions knowing that Hillman and Moore had some infatuation with Ponson being their No. 4 guy. They have treated him like a god since he signed on. He's reliable, but far from the future of this club.

It's not even looking like Hochevar will be the No. 5 guy when they expand the rotation to five guys in about a month. Right now, all of the talks are that Ramirez will be moved into that role when it's expanded.

Hochevar, if he's indeed going to be a key cog to the rotation for years to come, needs to pitch against MAJOR LEAGUERS and prove his metal. I'm not sure what the hell he has to prove pitching against minor leaguers every fifth day. Let's face it, Triple-A is NOT the same as the big leagues. The kid flashed all sorts of signs of breaking out this year. I think the Royals are in danger of killing his confidence and stunting his growth with this bonehead move. They are showing no confidence in him at all.

I know Luke has a good head on his shoulders. He reminds me of Teahen in the sense that he can shake these things off and keep moving forward. Still, just like Teahen, there comes a time when young guys begin to question their worth to an organization. And when you lose some guys you will never get them back. He's going to sit down at some point today and think, "Am I not good enough in their eyes to beat out Sidney Ponson and Horacio Ramirez?"

Bad move.

Meche dominates, still questions in Royals rotation

2009-03-27T23:37:00.004-05:00

Gil Meche finally put it all together in his outing against the Dodgers on Friday. Sporting a 10+ERA going into the game, Meche tossed seven innings, struck out six, walked one and allowed only four hits. The Royals won the game 4-1.

It's old news now that Meche will be the Opening Day starter in Chicago on April 6. He will certainly be followed in the rotation by Zack Greinke, and most likely Kyle Davies will be the No. 3. But from there it gets rather cloudy. Brian Bannister, Sidney Ponson, Luke Hochevar and Horacio Ramirez are all vying for the final two slots in the rotation, and it appears to be a close race.

It appears the Royals would prefer to have Ponson in the rotation, and at this point I think it's likely he earns a spot as the No. 4 guy. Bannister appears to have pitched himself right out of the rotation and into the minor leagues with a less than desirable spring. He has options remaining, so he's likely out.

Luke Hochevar also has options remaining, but he's pitched pretty well this year and will likely make the club as well. Ramirez, on the other hand, hasn't pitched entirely well as of late - though he and the team quickly pointed out the injured fingernail on his pitching hand as the excuse. He allowed three booming homers in two innings pitched during his last outing. In his defense, those came in miserable pitching conditions with the wind blowing some 30 MPH. I still think they would have gone out, regardless.

Anyways, you guys may not agree with me, but if I were Trey Hillman and had to decide today (wishful thinking) here's my rotation.

No. 1 -- Gil Meche
No. 2 -- Zack Greinke
No. 3 -- Kyle Davies
No. 4 -- Sidney Ponson
No. 5 -- Luke Hochevar

Just my opinion, but doesn't that look like a major league rotation for a change? Oh, and Ramirez does make the club as a long reliever. Again, just my opinion.

Some things to keep your eye on throughout this season

2009-03-24T16:02:00.004-05:00

For the true-blue Royals fans out there I decided to put together a list of things to watch for this upcoming season that could very well determine how this club shapes out in the coming years. Some of what I am about to point out isn't going to surprise you. The position battles are certainly something most all of us know about already, but here goes regardless.

How will Zack Greinke bounce back from last seasons performance?
Can Gil Meche continue to be well worth his salary?
Who wins the first base job?
Will Billy Butler and Alex Gordon step up and answer the call this season?
Where does Mark Teahen fit in on this club?
Is Mike Aviles the real deal?
Can Daniel Cortes break into the big leagues and contribute?
Will Luke Hochevar find consistency?
How much does the beer cost at Kauffman this year?
I wonder if they have a larger beer selection this year?
How will Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas progress?
Will anyone sign Mark Grudzielanek (thus giving the Royals a supplemental pick in the June Amateur draft)?
Can I take a leak at Kauffman (in the bathroom, fellas) between innings without missing half the game?
Who will Royals TV guy Ryan Lefebvre pick another fight with this year (i.e. Milton Bradley)?

This is just a short list that we will get to see answered this year. It's going to be interesting to see how things play out. If you guys have more questions that need to be answered feel free to post a comment on it.

Teahen, Jacobs continue to rake

2009-03-18T22:54:00.003-05:00

If Mark Teahen doesn't earn the starting second base job by impressing with his defensive play, he just may do it by hitting himself into the position. Teahen continues his sick offensive binge since returning from playing for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic by mashing his fifth homer of the spring on Wednesday night in a 9-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners.

Teahen mashed a no-doubter to straight away center field to give the Royals their first run of the game. More impressive was the fact that Teahen hit the homer off of an established lefty in Jarrod Washburn. Quickly following his antics (and not to be outdone in leading the team in spring homers) Mike Jacobs stepped to the plate and absolutely wasted a Washburn offering that went completely out of the stadium to make the score 4-2. It was also the fifth homer of the spring for Jacobs.

Zack Greinke started the game and took the loss on the hill after getting shelled for six runs in five innings with 11 hits. He basically worked with a watered down approach (fastball, slider and change). He kept his 12-6 hammer curve in his back pocket and never threw one in the game.

Greinke did elevate too many pitches and suffered by giving up a pair of homers (one of which was a two-run shot on a hanging slider to Wladimir Balentien - the other to Mike Wilson). He obviously wasn't in mid-season form, but there is little to be worried about here. He was obviously doing his best not to show off everything he's got before the season starts. Still, his slider looked absolutely sick and his fastball climbed as high as 95 on the radar gun.

Billy Butler also collected a pair of hits as did Teahen.

No turkey: Royals to part with Gobble - sign Lerew

2009-03-18T17:10:00.003-05:00

Dear Dayton Moore,

Thank you so much for answering the call of everythingroyals and signing my new main man Anthony Lerew! As you may have read on this blog last week, I have been calling for you to ink the young man who was once the top pitching prospect in your old system - the Atlanta Braves. I'm sure J.J. Picollo called you up as soon as Lerew became available - being the scout that signed him to his first professional contract and everything.

I just wanted to say thanks for getting him. As you know there was little risk in this signing and much to gain. Wouldn't it be nice if he could someday soon earn a spot in our rotation with Kyle Davies? That would be quite a story to write about!

Anyways, I also wanted to point out that I completely understand you cutting ties with Jimmy Gobble - the last significant piece of the Allard Baird debacle. (No, I don't consider John Buck a significant piece of that anymore.) While we Royals fans love and respect Gobble for his great attitude toward the organization and its fans, his departure had been expected for several years now.

Look, it would have been interesting to see if he could have morphed back to the dominant force against lefties that he was in 2007, but if this team is to move on and make the playoffs it can no longer take the old habit 8+ERA's we have come to expect each and every year. I have no doubt Gobble is a major league pitcher, but I do have doubts that he will ever be consistent enough for managers to rely on him in crunch time. He has the makings of a journeyman. When he's good, he's real good. When he's bad, he's worse than Brett Tomko. Yeah, that makes you throw up, right?

In conclusion, these are the right moves for this vastly improved organization Mr. Moore. Have you fished in Atlanta's pond too many times? I don't think so. As long as you're willing to throw the bad ones away (Tony Pena Jr. ??) then I say, why not? You're doing a fine job.

Sincerely,
Tug

Royals continue to add depth

2009-03-17T22:54:00.005-05:00

On Tuesday the Royals added more depth to their pitching staff by signing veteran right hander Sidney Ponson to a minor league contract. Ponson, who broke into the big leagues with the Baltimore Orioles, has bounced around in recent years - spending parts of last season with the Rangers and Yankees.

Ponson has said that as recently as Saturday he had yet to receive any offers from big league teams, though he had received a few inquiring calls from around the league. What seemingly interested the Royals in Ponson was his recent success pitching for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic. Ponson's outings in the Classic this season have been impressive to say the least.

This could potentially be a great signing for the Royals. Yes, I understand the Knight from Aruba has had some issues with the law and drinking in the past, but on the mound you know what you are getting from him. He's far from top of the rotation quality, but as a potential No. 4 or 5 guy he's what you're looking for. It is likely he will start the year in Omaha with the potential to pitch his way back to the big leagues if Horacio Ramirez or Luke Hochevar should falter.

I'm back, Pimentel is out, and other Royals tidbits

2009-03-16T21:39:00.004-05:00

Hey guys, I made it back from the family business I was tending to and boy did I miss the blog while I was gone. I managed to keep up on most things Royals while I was gone, but unfortunately wasn't able to get any fresh content on here during that time.

Anyways, for those who haven't already heard, Royals pitching prospect Julio Pimentel is going to miss at least a month and a half with bone spurs in his elbow. The 23-year old righty didn't fare too well at AA Northwest Arkansas last season, but he is projected by scouts as a future upper rotation arm with lots of potential. It remains to be seen if he will actually need surgery or not until he gets a second opinion on the elbow. If surgery is needed he will likely miss a large portion of the season.

Among other menionables from the Royals camp this weekend is the hot streak Mark Teahen is on since returning from playing for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic. Teahen, who is trying to win the second base job in Kansas City this year, hit his 4th homer of the spring (tying him for the team lead) after hitting two dingers on Saturday.

Mike Jacobs is also slugging the ball this spring with four dingers. Doug Waechter threw a bullpen session and all went well as he attempts to return from a mild injury. John Bale is also mending from yet another injury. Both players should see game action this week - barring setbacks.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to reading your comments again and I hope you guys haven't left me yet! I'll be posting more regularly now that things are squared away.

Just Lerew it

2009-03-12T23:36:00.007-05:00

Hey everyone, I know I haven't been posting regularly over the past week and a half and I hope you will forgive me of that. My wife lost a dear member of her family this week, so blogging has been pushed to the back burner on the to-do list. I'm sure you guys understand.

Anyways, we are going out of town for a few days and I promise when I get back I will be posting much more often. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

I just wanted to make a post real quick about something that should be an intriguing interest the Royals will take a look at in the next few days. The Braves (you know, Kansas City East) recently outrighted former star prospect Anthony Lerew off of the teams 40-man roster, meaning he will likely be joining a new team in the near future. The Royals should, and likely will, take a chance on this kid.

Lerew, a 6-foot-3, 200 pound right handed pitcher, got axed to make room on the 40-man for the ageless wonder - Tom Glavine. He's only 26.

You can obviously connect the dots here with Dayton Moore and his time with the Braves, but what you may not know is that the scout responsible for signing Lerew when he joined the Braves as an 11th round draft pick in 2001 was none other than J.J. Picollo - Moore's right hand man and assistant general manager in Kansas City.

For those of you who don't know about Lerew, he was highly regarded as the top pitching prospect in the Braves system after quickly rising through the organizational ranks. Lerew was a dominant force in their system until undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2007 (after reaching the big leagues) and missed all of that year and nearly all of 2008 while rehabbing. He did return to Triple-A last season and went 1-4 with a 4.14 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 37 innings. He is still working out the kinks of the surgery, however, as he did walk 20 as well.

Still, the guy is yound and well worth a shot. If he turns out to be anything like his old self the Royals could have one heck of a pitcher on their hands. It's low risk - high reward. He can start the season at Omaha and see where he goes from there. No one is going to give him a big league job yet, and he likely won't make much money. So he likely would welcome a return to the Royals and reunite with Moore and Picollo. It's an intriguing situation.

Oh yeah, and as a side note: Lerew was expected to join Kyle Davies as the key pieces to the Atlanta pitching staff. Now, wouldn't that be quite the coincidence?

Over/under German to Astros

2009-03-10T03:47:00.002-05:00

Esteban German clared waivers and was released by the Royals on Monday. With this being expected for the past 10 days, a buddy and I have been debating how long it will take before he signs with the Houston Astros. After all, it seems nearly every former Royal of the past three years has ended up going to Houston (especially pitchers). So what do you guys think on these two subjects?

*Over/under 5 days before he signs with Houston.

*Over/under he gets 150 major league at-bats this season.

If you have any clever over/unders you guys wanna throw out on this one please feel free to go for it.

Is Mark Teahen on the move?

2009-03-05T16:48:00.003-06:00

OK, let me preface this by saying this is pure speculation on my part but hear me out - it makes sense.

With word breaking that A-Roid could possibly miss up to four months of the regular season with a cyst and torn labrum in his hip, the New York Yankees could very well be calling up Dayton Moore in the coming days to inquire on the availability of Mark Teahen, a former third baseman.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman told reporters today that the thought of seeking a replacement "hasn't yet crossed into my mind". Well, it will soon cross his mind.

He said they are approaching Rodriguez's situation on a "day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month" basis. Still, the Yankees really do not have any options in their system that make as much sense as Teahen would at third. Most free agent third baseman that could make any sort of impact have already signed on with new clubs this offseason*.

*I bet Nomar Garciaparra is wishing he would have held off a couple of days before signing with the Athletics.

There is speculation behind the scenes that they could zero in on Scott Rolen as well as some other veteran infielders that could be plugged in at that position. Still, Teahen is probably the best option for the Yankees. He has hit well over his career playing third, but the Royals aren't necessarily looking to deal him right now. He likely won't be a starter in Kansas City (barring an unforseen injury) so they certainly WOULD deal him with the right offer.

Another consideration is what the Yankees would be willing to give up in any trade for a guy who would essentially be a two-to-four-month rental as a starting third baseman, before shifting into a super-utility role. It's old news that their minor league organization is about as depleted as Kansas City's, but they could be willing to shake loose a prospect or two if they start to feel the Rays and Red Sox breathing down their neck.

Certainly, Teahen isn't their only option - they could go a million different ways with this - but he's probably the best one right now.

A little tidbit on Alex Gordon

2009-03-04T17:33:00.002-06:00

Hey guys, as you can tell I haven't been posting about each individual spring training game this year and there is a reason for that. We all know that wins and losses in spring training doesn't really mean jack once the season starts, so instead I'm just going to make posts about how players themselves are performing and such. Once the regular season starts I should have a post on almost every game. So for now you will just get tidbits on what's going on around Surprise Stadium.

There has been much speculation that 2009 could be the year that Alex Gordon and Billy Butler break out and start producing the kind of numbers that the Royals expected when they drafted them. So far it appears Gordon could be starting to show signs of doing just that.

Gordon paced the Royals with a no-doubt monster grand slam on Tuesday, and followed that up on Wednesday with his second homer in as many days. Of course, we are talking about him hitting a pair of meaningless spring training homers, but could it be flashes of the year to come?

Royals add lefty

2009-03-02T20:32:00.003-06:00

The Royals agreed to terms with free agent lefty Bruce Chen on Sunday.

Chen, 31, is a 10 year major league veteran with nine different clubs. Most notably, Chen began his career in (where else?) Atlanta. He went 13-10 with a 3.83 ERA with the Orioles a few years back as a starter, but he has since been converted to a full-time reliever.

Chen didn't pitch last season after undergoing successful elbow surgery. He will likely be competing for a spot at Triple-A Omaha, though there is an outside chance he could make the big league club. Chen will not immediately report to spring training after electing to pitch in the World Baseball Classic with Panama - his native country.

Royals add RHP, cut infielder

2009-02-28T20:55:00.004-06:00

The Royals have signed veteran relief pitcher Juan Cruz to a 2 year, $6 million contract. Included in the deal is a club option for a third year as well. To make room on the 40-man roster the Royals designated Esteban German for assignment which gives the club 10 days to trade or release him. I'm sure some Royals fans are now rejoicing, but I'm wondering why it wasn't Ross Gload who was cut?

An eight year major league veteran, Cruz went 4-0 with a 2.61 ERA last season with 71 strikeouts in 51 2/3 innings. Yeah, as you can see the dude cooks with gas. That's some serious punch out ability. For his career Cruz is 29-31 with a 4.00 ERA. He has spent the past three seasons with the Diamondbacks. Cruz has also notably pitched for the Athletics, Cubs, and Braves throughout his career.

There are some side notes with this signing. Assuming the Royals can't trade German within the allotted 10 days they will owe him $197,000 in separation pay. Also, the club will now surrender their second-round draft pick for signing Cruz, who is a Type A free agent. Normally, Type A free agents require the signing team to surrender a first-round draft choice, but teams that pick in the top 12 of the first-round are only required to give up their second rounder and the team that loses the player will receive a supplemental pick between the first and second rounds.

Finally, the Royals will pay $2.25 million to Cruz this season, so as you can obviously see, they have gone above their $70 million payroll originally scheduled for the 2009 season. This is a potentially huge signing for the club and helps shore up the void left by the trades of Leo Nunez and Ramon Ramirez this winter. In fact, Cruz is better than either one of those pitchers.

Royals pound Giants

2009-02-27T19:41:00.002-06:00

Ryan Shealy pounded a three-run homer in the sixth inning to pace the Royals to a 6-1 thumping of the San Francisco Giants on Friday at the Giants' Spring Training complex.

Shealy's shot came off former Angel Ramon Ortiz with no outs and Mike Aviles and Billy Butler aboard. The homer gave the Royals a 5-0 lead and was all the support the pitching staff would need.

Seven Royals pitchers combined to allow just one run on five hits. Zack Greinke was the winner after tossing two innings and allowing 0 runs on 0 hits, 0 walks and struck out a batter. Joakim Soria tossed one inning and had one strikeout. Robinson Tejeda and Jamey Wirght each had holds with a scoreless inning apiece out of the 'pen.

Shealy finished 1-for-2 with 3RBI. Mike Aviles went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Miguel Olivo finished 2-for-3.

Randy Johnson took the loss for the Giants. He gave up a run on one hit through two innings of work.

NOTES: Despite the win, the Royals stranded 16 runners ... Stranding runners was a problem with last year's club, so you can bet Trey Hillman didn't like what he saw on Friday ... Miguel Olivo threw out a basestealer, but was also caught stealing as well ... The Royals didn't commit an error defensively.

Royals struggle in first Cactus League outing

2009-02-26T00:02:00.006-06:00

It wasn't a pretty start to the Cactus League season for the Royals on Wednesday at Surprise Stadium. Royals starting pitcher Horacio Ramirez, fresh off a free agent contract that guarantees him $1.8 million, couldn't get out of the first inning. Mark Teahen, well, he looked like a guy that is re-learning how to play second base and had a very shaky game. And Yasuhiko Yabuta picked up where he left off last season by allowing at least one run per outing.
Mix all of that together and you have the Rangers whipping up on the Royals, 12-7. Not all went wrong for Trey Hillman's squad though.
Newly acquired slugger Mike Jacobs belted a 3-run homer - his first in a Royals uniform - in the third inning with the Royals trailing 9-1. Later, Mitch Maier - who is vying for a spot on the team as the fourth outfielder - drilled a two-run dinger in the ninth.
The damage had already been done. The Rangers scored six times off of seven hits in the first against Ramirez. Despite the late-inning comeback, the 9-1 lead Texas built by the second inning proved too much.
"You never want to get hit around like that," Ramirez said. "But I’ll take it for what it is. I’ve just got to tighten the screws a little bit."
Teahen committed two errors, and he looked like a guy with some jitters at second. He threw an out away early in the first and failed to turn a potential inning-ending double play. There were a couple of other plays where he seemingly started late on the ball and failed to make the play. One of those misplays resulted in another error.
Still, it's only the first outing of the spring for these guys, so Hillman isn't sweating it.
"We didn’t win, but I saw some good things," he said. "I saw some good swings. I saw some great takes. More walks than strikeouts. We just didn’t pitch well. The errors, obviously, affected the early innings."
Teahen, known as guy who likes to crack a joke now and then, managed to make light of the performance at his new(est) position.
"There’s no point of peaking in the first game," he cracked.

Please tell me DeJesus won't be batting third

2009-02-23T15:31:00.004-06:00

Allow me to address, in my own opinion, the saga surrounding the Royals and the three spot in the batting order. Right now, buzz around the Royals camp seems to be focused on who is going to hit third, presumably in front of Jose Guillen, in '09.
Undoubtedly, some of you will disagree with me on this one, but it just scares me that the swirling word is David Jesus will be the guy. Hear me out on this one. I'm not going to throw a bunch of stats in your face that half of the baseball world doesn't even understand. Rather, I'm just going to talk baseball sense here.
As much as I respect DD, in no way is he made to be a three-hole hitter.
For a guy who is coming off a year in which he reached a career plateau with 12 dingers, I can put together a pretty good case here. Some of you are going to throw out guys like Joe Mauer (who hit third in the lineup with 13 homers while the Twins went to the playoffs) at me and try to compare DeJesus to him, but it isn't going to convince me.
I have heard the Mauer comparison already. Heck, a buddy of mine just tried using that excuse on me this morning after reading the national papers, and our conversation quickly turned into a pretty fun debate.
My response was: "How many titles have the Twins won with Mauer batting third?" Frankly, I don't give two craps about winning the division or all of that other garbage. Yes, you want to be a team that makes it to the playoffs, but it doesn't mean jack when you get tossed out in the first round each time you get there.
DeJesus needs to be in the two spot in this lineup - right behind Crisp leading off. The reason I say this is that DeJesus is a gap-to-gap shooter that can spray the ball all over the field. Is he going to suddenly hit more homers batting third in the lineup? The answer is no. In fact, at that position in the order you begin to see more and more breaking balls and the likelihood that DeJesus hits 12 home runs again is very unlikely. He's just not a power guy. Never will be. That's fine when you hit .300, but not for a guy at No. 3 in your order.
Yes, you want a consistent bat at the three spot. Royals new hitting coach Kevin Seitzer said as much on Monday. Over the course of his career Jose Guillen has been pretty consistent with the bat. He's your No. 3.
Getting back to my point about DeJesus at No. 2, let me use an example of what it could do for a lineup. Even though he is a great hitter, it has long been obvious that DD is NOT a leadoff hitter. Dayton Moore also believed this and that's why he went out and got Crisp. The thing is his speed. Leadoff guys get hits, draw walks and steal bases. Crisp will fill the void on the basepaths that has been lacking for years at the top of this lineup.
A coach of mine once told me to do what he called "going to the movies" before every pitch. The theory was that if you see it happen in your head then you will be prepared to make the play when it happens in real time.
Let's "go to the movies" together, shall we?
Imagine Zack Greinke has pitched a really good game (seven innings, two runs, five hits, eight K's) but the team is trailing 2-1 in the top of the 8th with the leadoff spot coming up in the order, and Greinke is on the hook for the loss. Kyle Farnsworth is warming in the pen, so Zack won't be coming out for the bottom of the inning. The Royals need a rally.
Crisp steps to the plate and homers to tie it. No, no, NO. Hang on, that screws everything up. I was trying to make a point. Let's see.
OK, so let's say that instead of a homer Crisp gets drilled in the leg by a pitch and takes first. Let me tell you, he got drilled so friggin' hard in the calf that there is no way he's running (even if John Buck is the one trying to throw him out). Oh, SNAP!
Anyways, DeJesus is at the dish now and flips a liner into left center that allows Crisp to shake it off and take third easily. Jose Guillen does his famous "homer-in-a-silo" routine and allows Crisp to tag up and score from third. Mike Jacobs grounds into a double-play and pretty soon the inning is over, tied 2-2.
In the bottom of the inning Farnsworth tackles the entire opposing team after drilling their leadoff guy in retaliation for Crisp getting hit. Suddenly, he's ejected and Joakim Soria has to come in and clean things up - Mexecution style. Somehow the Royals win in this mess.
Holy crap, my imagination runs wild. I'm sure someone is gonna want to call me out on this one. I'm being unprofessional. Better straighten up my act here. There's no need to stress and flip out on me here; I'm fully aware that there are a countless amount of combinations (good or bad) that can come from DeJesus hitting at No. 2 or No. 3. I know I am being ridiculous, and am sure somewhere in this column that I'll be accused of being too "fantasy" on someone.
The point is, DeJesus sitting behind Crisp gives this team many more opportunities to score runs. Yeah, if Mike Aviles is in the two spot and DeJesus is hitting third then that could just add to the fun. But what if Aviles doesn't return to the caliber of play that had him in Rookie of the Year discussions all over baseball last season?
The guy looks the part of being the surest of sure things, but we just have no way of knowing how he will respond in his sophomore season. Major league pitchers adjust to young guys. Ever heard the term "sophomore slump"? There's a reason it gets tossed around the neck of every second year player who had any sort of success in his inaugural year.
I expect Aviles to be really good again this season, but there's just no way to be sure. Yeah, he could have a good spring. I still think it would be a wise decision to hit him behind Guillen, Jacobs, Gordon and Butler. Down in the order he sees more fastballs which will help ease his transition into year two. The last thing this team needs to do is kill his confidence and the hot streak. If he steps in and hits then you can move him into the two spot. Just keep DeJesus out of the three-hole. Hit him down in the order.
Billy Butler and Alex Gordon need to put on big boy pants and prove themselves to be the middle-of-the-order guys they were projected to be. Hit one of them at No. 3 if you want to and make him prove himself. Just don't try and imitate a team that is ready to win by putting a guy with a career high of 12 homers in the middle of your lineup. Pitchers thrive off of confidence that they can handle opposing hitters. No pitching staff is going to take you seriously with David DeJesus batting third.

Tug is now a Royal

2009-02-19T14:01:00.006-06:00

Yes, you heard it here. Tug signed with the Royals today. But have no fear everythingroyals bloggers, it's not this Tug.

Rather, the boys in blue signed former Mariners infielder Tug Hulett today and designated left handed reliever Neal Musser for assignment - meaning the club has 10 days to trade or release him.

Hulett, a 25 year old native of Springfield, IL, hit .283 last season at triple-A Tacoma with the Mariners and made hit big league debut on June 12 last season at, where else - Kauffman Stadium, and hit .224 with one homer and two RBI in limited action. He is a left handed hitter who can play second, short and third in the infield. The move gives the Royals more depth as they struggle to find cap room to sign veteran second baseman Orlando Hudson.

He was a 14th round draft pick by the Texas Rangers in 2004 out of Auburn University. Hulett was traded to the Mariners in 2007 for Ben Broussard and made his big league debut after the M's released Richie Sexson.

Hulett's father, Tim, you may recall, was a 12 year big league veteran for the Cardinals, White Sox and Orioles. Hulett will likely begin the season at triple-A Omaha.

Moore remains perfect 0-0 in arbitration hearings

2009-02-17T22:38:00.003-06:00

If Dayton Moore has his way, no player will ever have to duke it out with the club in nasty arbitration hearings. With that being said the Royals and Mike Jacobs, the club's last remaining arbitration eligible player for '09, came to terms on a 1 year, $3.275 million deal on the eve of their scheduled hearing.

Jacobs, recently acquired from the Marlins for reliever Leo Nunez, bopped 32 homers for the fish last year despite hitting just .247. He will likely split first base duties with Billy Butler in '09. The deal came to fruition with many thanks to the recent signings of arbitration eligible boppers Ryan Ludwick, Andre Ethier and Nate McClouth. Both Jacobs and the Royals were waiting to hammer out a deal until seeing what kind of money was awarded to each of those players.

Royals Spring Training ticket info

2009-02-16T10:46:00.002-06:00

2009 Kansas City Royals Spring Training ticket info. (Just for you, Mark!)
(Ticket prices)
Lower Dugout--$23
Upper Dugout--$20
Infield--$17
Plaza--$13
Lawn--$7
*Individual ticket pricing includes free parking
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Tickets may be purchased at the Suprise Recreation Campus - Surprise Stadium Ticket Office, located at: 15960 N. Bullard Ave. Surprise, AZ 854374
You can also order online at www.royals.com.

Tickets should be easily attainable at the stadium box office.

Full and partial-season tickets are also available for purchase. See royals.com for more info on that.
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(Opening weekend) Saturday, Jan. 3: 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 4, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

(Jan. 5-Feb. 24) Monday - Friday: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

(Feb. 25-April 2) Monday-Sunday: 10 a.m. - 30 minutes before game time.

Royals farmhand to receive suspension; story from AP

2009-02-15T00:44:00.003-06:00

Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Kansas City minor-league outfielder Jarrod Dyson was suspended for 50 games Saturday after testing positive for an amphetamine. The penalty will begin at the start of the season.
The 24-year-old Dyson hit .260 with 24 RBIs and 39 stolen bases for Class A Wilmington of the Carolina League last year.
He is the sixth minor-leaguer suspended this year under the program, the fifth for performance-enhancing drugs. One was banned after a positive test for a drug of abuse.

Royals interviews part 4/4

2009-02-11T12:24:00.003-06:00

Here is my last installation - for now - of the four-part Royals interview series that has successfully ran us into the start of Spring Training '09. This time around I caught up with former Royals great Dennis Leonard, a Royals Hall of Famer. Leonard spoke about his recently completed tour of duty as an amabassador for the Royals in their annual caravan trips across the midwest.

Q: Talk about what it's like still getting out and representing the Royals after all this time?

LEONARD: "Basically, it's been a long time since I played, and the Royals initiated those caravans in the days that I played. Transportation is a lot different. I remember when we used to pile five or six guys in a mini-van and take off to different things like schools and banks because they were ticket outlets.

About five years ago the Royals asked if I'd be interested in doing them again taking some of the new (players) and putting them together with a little bit of the old (players). For me, I have the free time and it's enjoyable. It's really amazing on some of these (public appearances) that I see some people that I seen 30 years ago and haven't seen since.

It's a lot of fun to meet the people, and I think this is important because these are the people that support the team and come out and watch you play. It's fun to be able to be in their hometown. They're not watching you on TV, they're not at the game watching you on the field. It's a chance to interact with these people just to let them know you're human just like they are."

Q: Being out of baseball for a few years and watching this teams ups and downs, tell us what you expect out of this team in 2009?

LEONARD: "Obviously, they've had a lot of downs. They've had a few ups. It's just a situation where the farm clubs were depleted. I look back towards the tail-end to when John Schuerholtz was there and Mr. Kauffman was still alive. They tried to build a championship team for him before he passed away, and to do that they got some older veteran players, but they had to trade away a lot of the younger talent.

When Dayton Moore took over a couple years ago, the first thing he did was try to re-build the farm system. He traded away some pitchers like (Mike) MacDougal, and (Andrew) Sisco, and (Ambiorix) Burgos and (Jeremy) Affeldt who had a lot of upside, but they didn't exactly get things accomplished in the two or three years they were here. In return, he's gotten a lot of young pitchers to put in the minor league system, give them some seasoning, and hopefully they will get (to the big leagues).

Not only that, they've went out and spent a little bit more money. Pitchers like Zack Greinke and Luke Hochevar, there's a bright future for the staff. I think most teams would agree, and most people, you're gonna build a winner around good pitching. The Royals are starting to do that. Obviously, they have some needs which they tried to fill getting (Mike) Jacobs trying to hit some home runs. But they need some people to step up who 'haven't reached their potential yet.' They need to reach it pretty soon. As long as they keep their confidence and keep going in the direction they're doing it's not going to be a miracle, nothing over night. I think they'll have a good chance to compete again."

Q: How are you enjoying retirement?

LEONARD: "Retirement is both good and bad. Especially through the spring and through the summer and into fall. When I look out the window and there's no wind and it's a nice day I say, 'It's time to go fishing.' There's other days - especially in the winter - when I look out the windown and say, 'I don't even want to go out.'"

Q: What are you doing to keep yourself busy?

LEONARD: "The wife and I own two Hallmark stores in the Kansas City area. I keep myself busy. In the early spring I help coach a high school baseball team in Raytown, Mo. and I get my little fix of baseball for two and a half months. The Royals have been gracious enough to ask us occasionally to go do some baseball clinics. So I stay busy, but I can always can find time for a little bit of fishing and a little bit of hunting."

Royals add depth with new, old pitcher

2009-02-10T19:27:00.005-06:00

The Royals have added some extra depth to the pitching staff on Monday by inking former Royal Jamey Wright, 34, to a one-year deal with a Major League invite to Spring Training.

Wright, a 13 year vet of the Royals, Rockies, Giants, Rangers and Brewers, went 1-2 with a 4.26 ERA with Kansas City in 2003. He went 8-7 with a 5.12 ERA in 75 relief appearances with Texas last year - his first since pitching exclusively in relief.

Wright, 6-foot-5, 230, boasts a 79-110 career major league record. He will be competing for a long relief role in the bullpen in 2009.

Teahen avoids arbitration

2009-02-08T23:52:00.002-06:00

The Royals and 3B/LF/CF/RF/1B/2B Mark Teahen came to terms this evening on a one year, $3.575 million contract that will allow the club and himself to avoid arbitration. Teahen, who will be competing for the starting job at yet another position, second base, hit .255 with 15 homers and 59 RBI last season.
Since Dayton Moore took over the reigns from Allard Baird the Royals haven't had to go to arbitration with a player yet. Newly acquired first baseman Mike Jacobs is the lone player eligible for arbitration with the club this year.

Royals interviews Part III: Kila Ka'aihue

2009-02-05T13:45:00.000-06:00

Sorry, I know it's a day late but here's part three of four Royals interviews leading us up to Spring Training '09. I caught up with Kila Ka'aihue, A.K.A. "Hawaiian Punch", to talk about his amazing ride to the big leagues in '08 and what may come of the logjam at first base in Kansas City. Despite being a Nebraska Cornhusker, Kila is a pretty cool customer, I'd like to note.

Q: What has been the most shocking thing about being a Kansas City Royal?

KA'AIHUE: "One of the things that some of the guys have explained to me is that we have a lot of fans in the Midwest region. I didn't realize we had this many fans. I'm new to the team. It's been really fun, its been exciting (meeting the fans)."

Q: You have some experience in the big leagues now. What are you expecting to see out of the league this year?

KA'AIHUE: "You know, I'm not sure? I'm just going to Spring Training and I'm gonna to try to win the job (at first base). At least battle for it and see what happens. It's crowded over there (at first), and I'm just hoping for the best."

Q: There's a lot of young talent still on this team. Just the moves you guys have made this offseason has got to excite you guys - first of all the competition against each other, and then to just see what this lineup could possibly do?

KA'AIHUE: "I think Dayton is doing it the right way. He's keeping a lot of the guys together that he's drafted, and we have all played together. We were on teams together (in the minors) at some point and we are still together ( in the majors). He's brought some guys in where he felt that there were some holes. Hopefully it just keeps getting better. It seems like we have been. September was just awesome in whatever we did there. We're just hoping for the best this year."

Q: You obviously have a baseball background in your family. Talk about what that was like last year getting called up to the big leagues and the support you got from your family.

KA'AIHUE: "You know, it was real exciting. My dad played (in the minors) for 11 years and never got his chance. He was there and they all saw my first hit, my first home run, they saw me play the field. I mean, it was just a family thing. It was great."

Q: Does what Tampa Bay did last year give you guys some hope that you can get it turned around too?

KA'AIHUE: "Hopefully! Nobody expected that out of Tampa Bay, and nobody expects a whole lot out of us. I'd rather be in that situation than to be in a situation where New York feels like they have to win every single day or if they don't it's a failure. It's been our role, we've just been that team. We've been at the bottom of the division, we've been at the bottom of the league. It's fun. I mean, we get to go out there and do what we did in September and spoil a lot of teams chances to be in the playoffs. We just get to have fun. We get to go out there and do what we get to do.
We're hoping for the best. What Tampa Bay did would be great for us, but that's not our goal. We're not out there trying to be Tampa Bay. We just want to win our division first, get into the playoffs, have a chance to play in October. Then we can talk about what Tampa Bay did. Right now we're just trying to take it game by game and hopefully we (succeed)."

Q: Zack mentioned he felt it was close enough that any team could win, or lose, the division this year. Do you see that as well with how tough this division could be?

KA'AIHUE: "I think the major leagues is just like that from top to bottom. I mean, everybody in the major leagues is good. Any starting pitcher can go out there and beat any lineup one through nine. It's a day-to-day game. The hardest part about baseball is just the daily grind. You've got to keep yourself ready to play every day. Yeah, we could be first, we could be last again, we could be second or third. Nobody knows.
That's why we go out there and play. We're hoping that we win the division. That's our first goal. We're just trying to get to the playoffs and we'll take it from there.

Q: Talk about the whirlwind season you had last year. Double-A you tear it up. Triple-A, a lot of players seem to suffer a slow down when they're called up but you didn't, and then when you get to the big leagues and kept hitting. Talk about what that was like.

KA'AIHUE: "It's been a long road. I mean, it's taken me six years to do what I did. I wish I'd have gotten off to a better start in my career. I wasn't that fortunate, but I think that helped me eventually. When I did get my chance to go to triple-A I was ready for it. I got my chance to go to the big leagues and I was ready for it then too.
It's taken me a little bit longer, but there are guys that have taken a little bit longer too. Aaron Guiel, I think, played 10 years in the minors before he got his chance with us and he never looked back. I'm very fortunate. I've had my chance, I've been blessed. I'm on the roster now. I've got my opportunity. I'm just a phone call away. I literally am. So I'm just hoping for the best. Last year was incredible. I did what I needed to do to put myself in this situation, and I'm hoping that I continue to do that."

Another arbitration case avoided

2009-02-04T10:28:00.000-06:00

This morning the Royals and pitcher Brian Bannister came to terms on a 1 year, $1.7 million deal for the 2009 season. Bannister, who along with Mike Jacobs and Mark Teahen were the only players still in danger of going to arbitration, will get a reported $25,000 bonus if he pitches at least 200 innings this year.
Bannister is likely to be the Royals No. 3 or No. 4 starter in the rotation again this year.

There's not a lot of news right now

2009-02-03T11:39:00.001-06:00

Well, we've almost made it to the dawn of a brand new big league baseball season. Right now could be the most excruciating time of the year for me personally, however. This three week lull in-between the free agent frenzy and the start of Spring Training is taxing on a writer, in the sense that once your team is done making moves there is little else to write about until pitchers and catchers report.
On that front I can tell you that some of the Royals pitchers and catchers have made plans to report early (I'm talking earlier than the usual early) to Spring Training again this year (they did this last season too). Zack Greinke told me that he and a few of his teammates would begin reporting on Feb. 2, to get some early work out of the way so that they can dial it up on Feb. 14 (the mandated day for pitchers and catchers to report).
So I have been really bored lately and decided, "Hey, let's do a mock up of the Royals Opening Day lineup." Yes, I actually said that to myself aloud. Anyways, I understand that guessing who will take the field in two months is pretty unpredictable because so many things can happen before the start of the year -- injuries, trades, etc. But hey, this is my blog and I can do what I want, right? Maybe not, but here goes anyways!!

Tug's projected Opening Day lineup:

1. Coco Crisp, CF
2. David DeJesus, LF
3. Jose Guillen, RF
4. Mike Jacobs, DH
5. Alex Gordon, 3B
6. Billy Butler, 1B
7. Mark Teahen, 2B
8. Mike Aviles, SS
9. Miguel Olivo, C

**** I'm going all out here and saying that Mark Teahen sticks as the club's starting second baseman. I hit Butler in front of him to break up three lefty's in a row. Billy is my starting first baseman, because well, a slimmed down Billy Butler is a better fielding first sacker than Mike Jacobs (who would probably have better offensive numbers if he's not spending as much time still trying to learn how to play first base).
Crisp is my leadoff man because he obviously is going to steal more bases than DeJesus, and will likely be on base just as often. This should allow the team to score some runs with DD being the gap-shooter he is. God willing, Guillen should hit much better in this lineup because he's got DeJesus and Jacobs surrounding him for protection. I know that's still a far cry from the Papi-Manny days, but still. I like the balance of lefty-righties in this set. Make a post if you have a different variation to what I have and explain your reasons.

Mariners ink former Royal

2009-01-29T22:44:00.000-06:00

Former Royals great, and five-time all-star, Mike Sweeney, who played for the Oakland Athletics in 2008, was signed on Thursday to a minor-league contract by the Seattle Mariners. Sweeney, a likely shoo-in for the Royals Hall of Fame one day after spending 13 years in the organization, is holding out hope he can again be a productive player in the big leagues. It's likely Sweeney will DH for the Mariners as he appears well past ever being a full-time position payer again. It has been speculated that if Sweeney doesn't crack the 25 man roster coming out of Spring Training he will hang up his cleats for good.

Royals interviews: Part II with Brian McRae

2009-01-28T21:02:00.002-06:00

Here is the entirety of my interview with former Royals, Cubs and Mets great Brian McRae. In this discussion McRae talks about the keys to success this season for the Royals, the Mark Teahen situation and what he's up to these days.

Q: You get to see a lot of this team, obviously. Just talk about what you see out of this team this year in regards to the direction they're taking.

McRAE: "Well, with how they finished the season last year and with the editions they made you hope that they can continue to get better. I think that with Gil and Zack at the top of the rotation, and with Soria at the back of the bullpen that they have those positions pretty much locked up and they're as strong as any team in the division (at those positions).

Offensively, Billy Butler and Alex Gordon are going to have to take a step to the next level and do the things that they are projected to do. They might have been rushed to the big leagues and that's why they have struggled a little bit, but they're not really young players anymore. They've had some significant time in (the big leagues). For (the Royals) to do bigger and better things offensively I think it's going to start with what they're able to do with Billy and Alex. If they swing the bat well and are productive then I think that's going to make the whole lineup a lot better and be a lot more consistent.

I think the keys to the lineup are going to be what those guys do.
I think you're going to have typical seasons out of about everybody else. The wild card there is just how much better are Billy and Alex? They have some question marks as far as who is going to be the extra first baseman. They have an extra outfielder, so they have some chips to trade when they start assessing what they need in Spring Training.

They have some parts that (other teams) may want. I think Ryan Shealy is out of options, Kila (Ka'aihue) has put himself on the map, so he's got a shot at making the ballclub. If he don't make the ballclub out of Spring Training he could come up very soon. They have to find somewhere for him to play if he's still swinging the bat well and being very productive, because offensively they don't hit a whole lot of homeruns. So you can't keep a guy like that down too long."

Q: That's kind of a good situation to be in too, right?

McRAE: "It's a good situation to be in if you make the right decisions. You know, Mark Teahen has got to play somewhere. He's not a bench player. And the outfield seems like it's set with Guillen, Coco Crisp and DeJesus over in left. So where is Teahen going to play? How is he going to get his at bats? Because I don't think he's going to be productive if he plays twice a week. I don't think he's going to be happy because he's not a twice a week type of guy and he's made a lot of concessions (for the team).

He's moved from third base to right field, from right field to left field. He's done things at the teams request that might have hurt him offensively. You know, now it's time for the team to help him out a little bit and either find him a place to play, or get rid of him so he can go play somewhere else."

Q: Right, because I can see a lot of teams that would love to have a player like him?

McRAE: "Right. That would love to have a guy like him. So they have some parts that they can trade for upgrades that they may need either in Spring Training or down the line once the season starts. That's something they didn't have before. They have a lot of talented players, and the competition in Spring Training is going to be one of a talented player battling against another talented player - not just a plain guy.

The competitions (they used to have) in Spring Training were between guys that couldn't play. Now they have big league players that are backing up big league players and that's when you can tell the depth of the organization is better when you can have a good player backing up another good player, and they're both qualified to make the big league roster.

I think their (minor league) system is getting a little bit better. Some of the guys in double-A and triple-A are close to being big league ready, and that's the sign of an organization doing some of the right things. They made some good trades, good drafts. On the field side that's something to be excited about.

Off the field, with the renovations they're doing, and I heard some people in the organization say it's not a renovation project - it's a whole new stadium. That's good for the fans to be able to come out and experience that, and have fun coming out to what a lot of people believe is one of the best ballparks in baseball. But you have to have some good product on the field, because the stadium (itself) is only going to bring people in for a short period of time if the talent on the field and the results in wins and losses don't get better."

Q: Talk about yourself personally. I know you've done some radio and TV stuff. How much do you enjoy still being able to be around baseball a lot?

McRAE: "I like being around the game. That's why I continue to be doing what I've been doing. Been doing some radio work, helping the Royals with some clinics and camps. It's fun for me to be around the game. It's fun for me to go to the ballpark and watch baseball. I follow it that way and travel to different ballparks. I'm just a big fan. I love the fact that a lot of times my office is at the ballpark watching a baseball game. I get to go to Spring Training and things like that. That, for me, is just a thrill to be around people that want to talk baseball or watch baseball and enjoy it as much as I do."

Q: Have you ever thought about getting into coaching? Has your dad (Hal McRae) given you any advice on getting into anything like that?

McRAE: "I'm not ready to do that yet. I've been out almost ten years now, retired in 2000, and I'm enjoying not having February through October or September locked up. For right now I'm not seeing myself wanting to coach (professionally). I coached summer league ball a little bit. I help out with a sixteen and seventeen year old team in the Kansas City area a little bit. That's three or four days a week I do that. For right now that's good enough for me. I did enough in the fifteen years that I played pro ball.

Being gone that long and being locked into, 'this is what you have to do from Spring Training to the end of the season' - I don't know if I'm ready to go back into that lifestyle. I kind of enjoy having off the 4th of July, going to the lake if I want to on Memorial Day. Just doing things that normal people get to do. Baseball, you're locked in and that's a big time commitment.

Maybe down the road, maybe five years from now, I'll want to do that when things slow down as far is what I'm doing. For right now this suits me pretty good."

Another tidbit on the Greinke front

2009-01-28T11:43:00.000-06:00

Just a little something extra to throw in about the Greinke contract. It appears Greinke will receive 'MINOR' trade protection throughout the first two years of the deal. However, when the contract shoots up to $13.5 million starting in 2011 he will have 'NO' trade protection. This deal sounds better and better all the time.

R's ink reliever

2009-01-28T11:33:00.000-06:00

I just learned the Royals have signed former Astros reliever Oscar Villareal to a minor league contract.
Villareal, who posted a 5.02 ERA in 37 2/3 innings last season for Houston, will get a 1 year, $400K deal. Also included in the deal is an agreement that the right hander can get out of the contract (request his release) if he doesn't break the 25 man roster by May 15 or June 1.

Numbers on the Grienke deal

2009-01-26T17:01:00.002-06:00

Here we go guys. The way the Greinke deal shakes down is that Greinke will make between $36-38 million over the course of the deal with him making what is believed to be $13.5 million over the final two years of the deal. Sorry, in my initial post the details were just emerging and early indications were that he was to make $13.5-16 million in each of the final three years. Obviously, he wasn't only going to make just $13.5-16 million over the entire length of the deal. My mistake in writing. I admit I'm human.
Too bad we don't blogs don't come with copy editors.
Also, the deal goes through 2012 rather than 2013. Apparently the deal kicks in this season rather than going with his arbitration figure and then extending it. Anyways, as goes the news business when you're in a hurry to get it out there first, sometimes we mess up.
Thanks for pointing out my mistakes.

As the Teahen turns

2009-01-25T21:10:00.000-06:00

Wow. I don't think this saga is never going to end. Mark Teahen, God bless his soul, has agreed to again switch positions for Kansas City this season. This time the 3B/RF/LF/CF will give second base a shot. As if the poor guy hasn't wasted the past four years getting jerked around from position to position by the club, Teahen seems to be ready to take another lump for the team.
Look, I know some of you guys aren't big Teahen fans. I understand I'm likely in the minority on this one, but I honestly feel for the guy. Yeah, yeah, I know the Royals pay him a lot of money to play baseball. But I honestly feel his slump in offensive production has had everything to do with the fact that every year he's spending so much time learning a new position.
Brian McRae more or less said the Royals need to crap or get off the pot with Teahen. I think all of us fans would agree. McRae, like myself, feels Teahen is an everyday player and should be in the lineup regularly. He also agreed that the team should leave him alone and reap the benefits of his offensive game, or trade him to someone who will. You can read the entirety of my interview with McRae in the coming weeks. It's possible that you will see the McRae interview posted on Wednesday.

Follow me fellows

2009-01-23T12:33:00.001-06:00

I just added a new 'followers' tab to the right of the column (just over the poll question) and would like it if all of you in ROYALS NATION would join in. Just click it and sign in and off you go! Thanks!

Q&A with Royals No. 1 starter Zack Greinke

2009-01-21T23:42:00.003-06:00

OK everyone, sorry for the delay but I now have up the first of four interviews that I will post in the coming weeks. Right now my plan is to post one interview each week, on Wednesdays, for you guys to enjoy. That should take us into spring training when more news hits the airways.

Let me preface this Q&A session by pointing out that Greinke doesn't hold back anything when he speaks to the media. What I respect about the kid is that everything he says is 100 percent what he believes and isn't coached up or watered down words. Whether you agree with him or not is like comparing apples to oranges, but regardless he pretty much seems to hit the nail on the head. Also, Zack and his agent exchanged arbitration numbers on Tuesday. Zack is asking for $4.4 million and the Royals countered with $3.4. They will likely settle around the $3.9 mark.

Anyways, you've waited long enough and I thank you for that. I think he had some interesting things to say, and the comments about Japanese baseball did raise my eyebrows a bit. Here's a full transcript of what was said. I hope you enjoy!

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Q: What was your approach on the mound last year?
GREINKE: "Just focus on every pitch. Not really take any game for granted or any outing. Just give 100 percent mentally and physically and hopefully it will work out like that again this year."

Q: I know you live in Orlando in the offseason, can you feel any of the excitement this year around this club, or in general with things in Kansas City, with the moves Dayton Moore has made and the things you guys have done the past couple of seasons?
GREINKE: "Last year we were excited too. We just thought we were going to do better than we did after we signed Jose Guillen. It didn't work out for us throughout the whole year, but at least at the end we kind of (finished) strong. And hopefully we will do it again.....
GREINKE: "Oh, the excitement? I remember the question now...(long pause)...actually I forgot it again..."

Q: That's alright. I know you live in Orlando in the offseason can you just talk about the fans and everything...
GREINKE: Oh yeah, yeah. Um, at the FanFest, that's when I really saw (the fan support). Not really so much on the caravan trips. At FanFest all of the players are there so you get a chance to talk to them and get their viewpoint on it. Then there's probably thousands of people at FanFest just there for us, and it seemed a little more exciting than last year. Last year I just felt is was kind of just something we were doing. This year I kind of felt the buzz a little bit."

Q: Can you talk about what it's like playing for Trey Hillman?
GREINKE: Um, he's kind of in between both our managers that I've had so far. I had Tony Pena and Buddy Bell. Tony was just like a big joking guy always having a good time and Buddy was more serious and real fiery. Trey is a real happy guy like Tony, but at the same time he has a mean streak to him. He's like a real honest guy to where if you're not doing good he'll let you know your sucking and you'll be sent down, or traded, or released or whatever if you don't start doing better. Just stuff like that. If your not executing on the bunts and hit and runs, or even the signs he'll get real mad at you and let you know that you've got to do better than that."

Q: Is there more of a sense, like with a comfortability, with him this year between the players and everything knowing that second time around he'll be more comfortable this year?
GREINKE: "Well, the season hasn't started yet, so you don't know for sure. I mean, I guess it's always tough the first year for managers, but he did fine. Last year it was his first year managing (in the big leagues) so he probably learned some things and he'll be better than last year."

Q: What about the division?
GREINKE: "I think (the offseason) has worked out nice for our team. It seems like the teams that were more talented last year haven't improved, and in some instances have got a little worse - on paper. Of course, that doesn't mean a whole lot. The Indians seemed to have improved. I mean, you never really know. The Twins are the same team they always are to where you don't think they are any good but they end up winning all the time. Our team has improved. In my honest opinion I think all five teams have an equal shot of winning (the division), and all five have an equal shot at being the worst team in the division when the season starts."

Q: With the Yankees spending all of that money is that going to turn into wins?
GREINKE: "Um, it will probably turn into some wins. You get better players you're going to win more games. But when the playoffs come it's just a five game series or a seven game series. The Royals, when we were as bad as we were, we swept the Yankees in a three game series. When the playoffs start I don't think it makes much of a difference. Because I thought the Angels and Boston were the two best teams last year and obviously that didn't work out. This year if the Yankees are the best team it still does not mean that you are going to win."

Q: Can you guys see yourselves being like a Tampa Bay team last year? Maybe a team nobody expects to win a lot, but then kind of comes out of nowhere and wins a lot of games?
GREINKE: "It could definitely happen. People say Tampa came out of nowhere. For like the past three years or whatever every spring training we're like, 'Maybe this is the year Tampa breaks out.' They have so much talent on that team and you knew it was going to happen. Last year it happened for them. They were so talented. If you watch baseball you couldn't argue with the talent they had. Our team has some of that young talent, but our whole team is not full of that talent. We have some older guys mixed in and we have a little bit less than what they had. But we also don't have to play Boston and New York 18 times."

Q: Did you guys as a pitching staff feel a little bit ripped off that Trey invited the infielders to play on the ranch this year and you guys got left out?
GREINKE: (Laughs) "Naw, we get to stay home and they've got to go work in the middle of the offseason. I'm glad we're allowed to do whatever we want now. But we have to go into spring training like seven days before we're even supposed to and the hitters are like another five days after that, so they're spending their time there, but we're going to be in spring training about 12 days early just by ourselves. So we end up having to make up for it."

Q: Does he use any of his Japanese experience with you guys?
GREINKE: "It's two completely different leagues. Not even close. Triple-A and the major leagues are way closer than Japanese, especially for a manager. The Japanese way doesn't work over in the United States and there's a reason for that. If it did we'd be doing things like the Japanese. That's not how we run baseball over here. Whenever he's tried to do that it hasn't worked real long because we're stubborn. We've been playing baseball the same way our whole careers and when something changes that quick it makes it tough."

Q: Talk about some of the additions to the team this year. Is Farnsworth more of an addition to the bullpen because of his pitching ability or because he's like an extra bodyguard out there in the bullpen? Isn't he?
GREINKE: (Laughs) Yeah. Our team's a pretty tough team this year. We've got Olivo who's a pretty tough guy, Farnsworth, Jose isn't afraid to go after people and I guess Crisp's dad used to be a professional boxer so now we've got four guys who mean business out there. Not too many teams will be excited to get in a beanball war with our team."

Q: Does it give the starters any more confidence to fling it inside more often?
GREINKE: (Laughing) Well, when Olivo's catching you don't have to worry about anything. You can hit 10 guys in a row and know no one is ever going to make it out to you because Olivo is looking forward to that. When a fight starts out he just want to protect the pitcher, number one. He enjoys letting you know that he has your back no matter what."

Royals players interviews coming

2009-01-20T17:41:00.002-06:00

Hey guys, keep an eye out for some Royals players interviews I will be conducting in the coming days. I hope to have the first of at least four interviews posted tomorrow evening. Keep checking back to see what the players have to say.

Peralta and Buck sign

2009-01-20T17:36:00.002-06:00

On Tuesday the Royals came to terms with reliever Joel Peralta and reserve catcher John Buck. Peralta will earn $650,000 in '09 while Buck will earn a staggering $2.9 million after hitting just .224 with 48 RBI. Peralta went 1-2 with a 5.98 ERA last year.

Gobble signs one year deal

2009-01-19T19:44:00.002-06:00

On Monday, lefthanded specialist Jimmy Gobble agreed to a one year, $1.35 million contract to remain with the Royals. Gobble, who was 0-2 with an 8+ ERA last season will likely remain in the same capacity he had last season with the team.

The Royals have six remaining players eligible for arbitration.

Royals invite five

2009-01-12T21:22:00.002-06:00

Today the Royals signed and invited to big league spring training camp catcher's John Suomi and Jeff Howell, outfielder's Derrick Robinson and Jose Duarte and infielder Cody Clark. Suomi was a Rule 5 Draft pick this season from Philadelphia while the rest of the group are 2008 members of the Royals farm system.

Davies agrees

2009-01-09T21:31:00.002-06:00

Kyle Davies was the first player to avoid arbitration and sign with the Royals this offseason. The young righty will earn a hefty raise with a one year, $1.3 million agreement. The Royals risked paying Davies closer to the $2 million mark had they not come to terms within the coming weeks. Davies is the favorite to win the No. 5 spot in the starting rotation this spring.

Royals' plan B..loomquist

2009-01-09T21:19:00.004-06:00

As I previously reported in my "Plan B" post (and no, there were no typos) the Royals had indeed shifted their focus to David Eckstein and Willie Bloomquist. The team came to terms with the latter today on a two year deal.

Bloomquist, a light hitter, has never proved himself as a starter in the bigs. If nothing else, Bloomquist will platoon with Alberto Callaspo this season. Sorry Otis, I know you would have loved for me to be wrong on this one. The team couldn't get a reasonable response from the Rangers regarding Young. I'm sure you'll try to say I was imagining this Bloomquist deal too.

R's ink C Wilson

2009-01-07T14:37:00.003-06:00

Kansas City announced today an agreement with free agent catcher Vance Wilson on a minor league contract. Wilson, 35, is trying to re-kindle his career as a backup after playing in only three games the past two years due to an elbow injury. Wilson is a career .250 hitter with 25 homers in 402 career games with the Tigers and Mets. Due to ongoing rehab the team announced Wilson will not be a spring intvite.

Just so you know

2009-01-07T14:02:00.002-06:00

I've had people screaming at me the past couple of days that actually want to know the names of the sources I use for my stories. Just so you know they aren't imaginary and it would be stupid of me to tell you their names.
I can understand why some of you want to know who these people are, but in the journalism world you have to build trust with the insiders that give you info. In many cases these people can get fired for telling writers what they know because they aren't authorized to speak. So that is why I will not be telling you who my sources are for any story. If it would make you feel any better I will start using the stupid terms "high ranking baseball official with knowledge" or "a person close to the situation" but in all reality that tells you squat!
Newspapers and other publications use those terms freely to dummy down the situation and try to keep your panties out of a wad. If you sit down and think about it those terms really don't tell you anything. Just like this post. I just felt that I needed to explain this situation because some of you understandably aren't aware. So what I WILL tell you is that I used the same source that Ken Rosenthal used when he reported the same things I did about Michael Young. You can go knock on his door, but good luck getting Ken to tell you who the source is as well.
On a side note, I am making no money from this site. It is being done purely on my free time and sometimes my work schedule at the paper does not allow me the time to post rapidly. I do not get paid for my time on this site like most writers do nowadays. What that means is that at times I will post whatever is on my chest. I'm an open book. You may get a crappy column and you may get something real useful. Hopefully it will be the latter.
Also, understand it is the offseason and there isn't much news out there. I hate posting about rumors but some of you need the fix and so I will talk about what is being whispered around the league. Mellinger isn't posting right now and I am trying to make an effort to keep you guys in the loop. If someone asks me to write on something I'm going to do my damnedest to do it for you guys as quick as I can.
I do my best and I know I'm not going to please everyone. My intentions are to promote the Royals and all that goes on in the organization. I hope you and I have a better understanding of what this site is about now.

Royals, barring a trade, are shifting focus to Plan B

2009-01-06T19:57:00.002-06:00

Barring a trade for a middle infielder the Royals are said to be showing interest in free agent middle infielders David Eckstein and Willie Bloomquist. Neither player is considered to be the player Mark Grudzielanek currently is, despite being several years younger than the 39 year old.