Archive for December, 2010

This week has been a lot more calm than last week. There are still the Greinke rumors and discussions going on, but not as intense as during the winter meetings. The most suspense other than Zack’s team in 2011 lies in who gets shuffled away to make room for Melky Cabrera once he passes his physical. That being said, and after a long day of helping Christmas shoppers, I’m going to share the things I found interesting out in the Royals world over the past couple of days. But first, a fun story.

2010 will stick in the mind of many as the year that Jason Kendall was allowed to take control of the starting catcher position for much longer than necessary. Until he was finally taken off of the 25-man roster after the August 30th game, Kendall had started 118 games at catcher to Brayan Pena’s 13. Six of those 13 were in August when Kendall was experiencing the pains of his injury. Without looking up the stats, I can tell you that the percentage of Kendall’s innings at catcher out of the total catcher innings up to that point were more [...]

With the signing of Jeff Francoeur and selection of Nathan Adcock in the Rule 5 Draft, the Royals had 41 players for 40 roster spots.  As a result, someone had to go and earlier today, Philip Humber, former first round pick, was that player.  Humber signed a minor league deal with the Royals last winter.

Right now is an awkward time of the offseason.  The winter meetings have concluded.  The Royals 40 man roster is full (and technically we’re waiting to see who gets trimmed to make room for Jeff Francoeur and Melky Cabrera), and the Royals aren’t reportedly in on anyone else at the moment. With Cliff Lee‘s agreement to sign with Philadelphia last night, the Zack Greinke trade market could heat up with both the Rangers and Yankees – considered the two frontrunners for Lee – left wanting.  Obviously, he’s a big focus for those two teams and others, so there’s a lot [...]

I’m beyond the point where I’m asking myself IF Zack Greinke will be traded, but WHEN it will happen.  It’s been a quiet offseason so far for the Royals but the rumors are still out there, loud and clear.  Greinke’s in demand and Dayton Moore is fielding offers. I’ve come to the conclusion that if the Royals are going to trade Greinke, it should be before spring training’s on the horizon.

SeatGeek to Power Team Schedule Pages To Help Fans Find The Best Deals On Tickets December 7, 2010 (New York, NY) - SeatGeek, the leading ticket search engine, today announced a partnership with FanSided, the fast growing sports blog network and fan community. SeatGeek now powers theSchedule pages for FanSided’s professional sports team blogs including football, baseball, basketball, hockey, and more. Each team’s Schedules page displays the team’s recent record, gives users the ability to purchase tickets to upcoming games on SeatGeek.com, and includes SeatGeek’s proprietary “fan sentiment” data.

At various points this offseason, Gage, Wally and myself at Kings of Kauffman will be collaborating to reminisce a little bit about a wild 2010 season and the things we’ll remember most.  The goal is to apply some 20/20 hindsight to events of the past to remember our opinions at the time and how they may have changed since. Today, we’ll take a glance at Alex Gordon and his demotion to Omaha in May 2010.

Kings of Kauffman is a member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, and December 10 is noted as a day where BBA members are helping get the word out about the group. The BBA is a community of baseball blogs, founded by Daniel Shoptaw, whose goal is to foster connections between blogs for networking, brainstorming, collaboration, debate, discussion and general rabble-rousing. As a community, the BBA has completed such projects as predicting preseason standings, naming All-Star team selections, voting on postseason awards and currently we’re conducing Alliance-wide voting on the Hall of Fame. There are many, many blogs out there, and [...]

Dear Mr. Moore, My name is Gage Matthews and I am a baseball fan. Specifically, I’m a fan of your Kansas City Royals, but for this purpose, I am a baseball fan. Why do I say that? I’ll explain in a bit. First, I want to say a couple thank you’s. Thank you for building a capable and inspiring minor league system. Without this farm system, you can surely believe that Royals fans would be dwindling even more than they already have. The farm system has given a fan base hope, even for those especially critical spirits out there. I [...]

Before the winter meetings even started, the fireworks were already going off in the baseball world, as the Nationals signed Jayson Werth out of nowhere and the Red Sox acquired (after some jostling) Adrian Gonzalez from the Padres.  Once the meetings began, Cliff Lee entertained various teams calling about his services, Carl Crawford cashed in and a bunch of shortstops played musical chairs. Also, the Royals signed Melky Cabrera. They aren’t all blockbusters, folks.

In this morning’s Rule 5 Draft, the Royals selected right-handed pitcher Nathan Adcock out of the Pirates organization with the fifth overall pick.  Adcock was part of the Jack Wilson/Ian Snell trade between the Pirates and Mariners in 2009.

Add another former Brave to the pile.  The Royals have signed outfielder Melky Cabrera to a one year $1.25 million major league contract.  Cabrera, 26, has spent most of his career with the Yankees before heading to Atlanta in 2009. He has a career line of .267/.328/,379/.707 and 40 career homers in 2660 plate appearances.  He’s a switch hitter who throws from the left side.  He’s not particularly good at any one thing, but compared to Francoeur, he can actually take a walk and doesn’t strike out much. Cabrera’s signing is a bit confusing since the Royals aren’t even 24 [...]