Archive for October, 2011

This season there were just 8 in total. In 2010 there were just 6. In 2009 there were 13. In 2008, there were 11. A comment from Brilliant Reader PM* “royal_in_cincinnati” on my post a while back about Mike Moustakas really got me thinking as baseball turns its collective thoughts towards free agency. He said that while I was trying to preach a little patience with the younger players on the Royals roster, and not to jump to any conclusions about what level of production they will have next season, that he “still believe(s) Moustakas developes that 35-40 (home run) power…” [...]

As the offseason gets started and news starts to break, I want to be sure that the efforts of our staff don’t go unnoticed, so to that end, here’s what you may have missed recently on Kings of Kauffman: Royals vs. the Word (Series) – Ryan Wood Youth in Revolt: The 2011 Kansas City Royals (June) - Ethan Evans Speaking to the Old School Folks - Gage Matthews Free Agent Watch: Roy Oswalt - Kevin Scobee Five reasons towards 2012 Royal failure - Mitch Hall Making a Pitch: Part II (James Shields Edition) - Brett Christie So It Goes: Another Baseball Season Passes - Michael Engel [...]

Two significant news bits today: The Royals officially chose to retain Joakim Soria.  Technically, they rejected the $750,000 buyout which enacted the $6 million salary for 2012. Soria’s 2011 fell short of his usual expectations, and his 4.03 ERA was the highest of his career and he had stretches where he made every save an adventure. For a week of the season, Aaron Crow was technically deemed the team’s closer. Soria will look to improve on this year’s performance next season, and the Royals have said they intend to use him in spring training in longer outings, similar to how [...]

This week features a packed house in studio, with KC Royalman, myself, Chris Kamler and Jeff Herr. It’s for a good reason, too, since we had two special guests this week. After a recap of the week’s Royals news, we welcomed Bob Kendrick, the President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. He shared his experiences with growing the museum and moving it to 18th and Vine and the story the museum tells. We also discussed the upcoming celebration of Buck O’Neil’s 100th birthday, which will be marked by a city-wide celebration on November 13th. More information on the events and [...]

July was a little easier on the eyes for Royals fans. If going 13-14 can be considered “easier on the eyes.”

We have a huge show tonight with two special guests on the phone. After we catch up on the latest Royals news and commentary, we’ll be joined by Bob Kendrick, President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. We’ll ask him about the upcoming celebration of Buck O’Neil’s 100th birthday next month plus general discussion of the Negro Leagues and the museum. If you’re a baseball fan anywhere near Kansas City, you should make it a goal to get out there and see it. For directions and other information, you can visit their site. You can follow Bob Kendrick on Twitter [...]

Maybe it isn’t the most critical piece of news in the young offseason, but Ryan Lefebvre, play by play announcer for the Royals for 13 years, is listed as the front-runner for the lead radio position with the Minnesota Twins. No, the news isn’t as significant as if Denny Mathews announced he was retiring, but Lefebvre has been calling Royals games for nearly a third of the franchise’s history. That’s a sizable chunk of time, and while he has moments of exasperating calls, he’s shown to be a solid guy in the booth. Now, the headlines say he’s a front-runner [...]

And so begins another off-season of Royals Baseball. A friend just asked me if I was going to miss writing this weekly article now that the season was over. I think my response was, “are you kidding me?” To the true baseball fan, there is no offseason. In art, negative space is defined as the area surrounding the subject of an image. It is the forgotten makeup of the composition, the background. However, great artists (and those who properly critique it) know that the negative space can be the key to balancing the subject and making a good piece a [...]

It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops. A. Bartlett Giamatti from mason.gmu.edu (share this quote) I [...]

We’re getting to the point in these prospect reviews where even casual fans will recognize the names. In the case of Tim Collins, there’s a very good reason for that – no other pitcher made more appearances than the diminutive Collins who led the team with 68. He accumulated 66 innings and a 3.63 ERA. But, as always, numbers don’t always tell the whole story. Clipped from: kingsofkauffman.com (share this clip)

KEMP UNANIMOUS PICK FOR NL Stan Musial AWARD Bautista holds off Ellsbury in American League There were some outstanding performances this year in Major League Baseball.  However, one clearly stood out from the pack. Los Angeles Dodger outfielder Matt Kemp was named the National League Stan Musial Award winner for 2011 in voting held by the Baseball Bloggers Alliance.  Kemp received all 15 first place votes and completely dominated the rest of the voting field like he did in putting up almost a 40 HR/40 SB season for the Dodgers this year. Coming in a distant second was Milwaukee outfielder [...]

The Royals free agency spiel has been much maligned by the masses, as many who have been singing the simple sentiment of— “all we need is a pitcher and we can go to the playoffs!!”— have found out that there’s not much other than a few scraps available in that department. I am one of those. Other than C.J. Wilson, I really don’t think there is a pitcher worth going after in the free agent market. So it is time to begin examining some options that the Royals have in the trade market. James Shields: Complete-game-James is a very attractive trade [...]