Archive for November, 2011

Entering 2011, the Royals broke camp with a handful of rookies in the bullpen. As a Rule 5 pick, Nathan Adcock had to stay on the 25 man roster or be returned to Pittsburgh. Tim Collins, after rolling through Triple A, looked like a lock early in spring training, and Jeremy Jeffress, acquired in the Zack Greinke deal, had pitched capably for the Brewers for 10 innings in 2010. A surprising member of that rookie bullpen crew was Aaron Crow. Yes, Crow was the Royals first round pick in 2009, but after a 2010 where he was demoted from Double [...]

Here in the midwest, there are aftershocks being felt from Oklahoma and from the Royals front office. The first big trade of the offseason belonged to Royals and Giants. Our first coverage of the deal comes to you courtesy of Gage Matthews: Clipped from: kingsofkauffman.com (share this clip)   I felt the need to chime in with my thoughts as well: Clipped from: kingsofkauffman.com (share this clip)   On the FanSided Network, Frisco Fastball equated trading for Melky Cabrera with snagging one of those bargain HDTVs on Black Friday. Bryan was lukewarm at best on the deal: Clipped from: friscofastball.com [...]

By now, you’ve heard the news that the Royals have traded Melky Cabrera to the Giants for lefty Jonathan Sanchez. My initial reaction was excitement. I can’t tell you if that was due to a trade being made or for the content of the trade itself. It was just a reaction. On first glance, it looks like the Royals have traded an average hitter following a career year for a left-handed starter with hints of domination who might be an adjustment or two from being a breakout performer. The Royals didn’t rip off the Giants, nor did the Giants rip [...]

The Royals announced at about noon today via Twitter that they have traded outfielder Melky Cabrera to the San Francisco Giants for left-handed pitchers Jonathan Sanchez and Ryan Verdugo. The initial reactions were hugely positive from most Twitter-holics, but let’s get into the details to figure it all out. I think we all know what we had in Melky. He was a one-year deal that seemed to be nothing more than a flyer to spin off at the trade deadline for whatever Dayton Moore could find. Instead, he had a career year and jacked his trade value up to a [...]

Buck O’Neil’s birthday is next Sunday, November 13. Because of that, last week on the Royalman Report, we had Negro Leagues Baseball Museum president Bob Kendrick on the show to discuss what festivities are planned in Kansas City. Because we had Jason Parks scheduled as well, we didn’t feel that we got enough time with Bob, so he was gracious enough to accept our invitation to come in studio. So for the first segment of the show, it’s the usual Royals info with myself, Troy Olsen, Jeff Herr and Chris Kamler. After that, it’s the Bob Kendrick show and we [...]

August. Hot and unlucky. 10-19.

Last weekend, the Royalman Report sent correspondents to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum for a special tour from museum president Bob Kendrick. He was kind enough to join us on the phone on last week’s show and there was so much to talk about, we asked him to come back this week. Bob will be on to share stories of the Negro Leagues as well as to give more information on the celebration of Buck O’Neil’s 100th birthday next Sunday. If you have any questions for Bob about the celebration, the Negro Leagues or anything, you can follow the Royalman [...]

I hate to pile on, but I bet that at some point, at some ballpark, a fan who doesn’t know the Royals very well will turn to someone and ask if Johnny Giavotella is the bat boy. At 5’8″ and 185 pounds, it’s not an outrageous question, until you end up seeing him on the field. But despite that small stature, Giavotella rapped out nearly 200 hits as a pro in 2011, including 44 at the big league level. Clipped from: kingsofkauffman.com (share this clip)

Fear not sports fans, there is a baseball game on tonight. Not only that, the Royals are playing. OK, it’s not really the Royals, but the Royals will be represented. Since the beginning of October, the Arizona Fall League has been in full swing. This is an opportunity for young players to get some extra work in after the end of the regular Major League Baseball season. Now, it’s not to be confused with the Arizona Instructional League where Bubba Starling spent his fall. The AFL has been a breeding ground for future stars. In fact, the 2011 All-Star Game [...]

According to an entry on MLB Trade Rumors, the Royals have been in discussion with the Braves about starter Jair Jurrjens. What the post suggests is that Atlanta, unsure of if they’ll be able to resign Michael Bourn or not and with a glut of starting pitching, are looking at Wil Myers or Lorenzo Cain. The sense is that if there’s any inclusion of Myers’s name in these discussions, it’s coming from the Atlanta camp. So far these are mere rumors and they haven’t picked up much steam yet, but as teams begin to sign free agents in the coming days [...]

It was announced today that Bruce Chen received the Bruce Rice Pitcher of the Year award from the KC Chapter of the BBWAA as the best Royals pitcher in 2011. It’s a legitimate selection; Chen went 12-8 with a 3.77 ERA, leading the Royals in both wins and ERA despite pitching in fewer games (25) than Luke Hochevar and Jeff Francis (31 each). It was another good year for Chen, who was also surprisingly effective in his 2010 campaign. Now, I think that’s a fine choice. Chen was arguably the best starter for the Royals this season. What made me [...]

Over on Seedlings to Stars, FanSided’s minor league baseball blog, Nathaniel Stoltz has a series titled “The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of” which glances at minor league pitchers and their stuff (hence the title, of course). His most recent feature covers Kelvin Herrera. Herrera was under the radar for many. While he was ranked among the Royals top 30 prospects before the season by Baseball America, his history of injuries made him more of an honorable mention. So how did he do in the face of such skepticism? He did something very few players ever do – he skipped [...]