Tonight we continue an exciting new venture for Kings of Kauffman and its podcast, the Royalman Report.

Jeff Logan of the Kansas City Baseball Historical Society joins forces with us to form the Kansas City Baseball Vault on Kansas City’s ESPN 1510 AM from 6-7 p.m. every Thursday night. Listeners can tune into traditional radio or streaming live on 1510.com.

Tonight’s first guest is “Diamond” Jim Gentile, a former All-Star and runner-up for Rookie of the Year in 1960 and an MVP candidate in the 1960s. He played in Kansas City with the Athletics in 1964 and 1965 after strong years with the Orioles.

We’ll also talk with Randy Herr, longtime Kansas City baseball fan and father of co-host Jeff Herr.

It all starts at 6 p.m. CST on ESPN 1510 AM in Kansas City or 1510.com if you’re out of the area.

Follow the Kansas City Baseball Vault on Twitter and Facebook for future programming updates. Also follow Kings of Kauffman for article updates, discussion and other information.

Cabrera was having a great season, challenging for the batting title while being a key part of the Giants offense, being selected to start the All-Star Game, and winning the exhibition’s MVP award. This followed up on a breakout year in 2011 when Melky turned an opportunity with the Royals into a career year, registering 200 hits, one of just five batters to do so.

Now, much of that is called into question.

Nobody knows when Cabrera may have started using an illegal substance. It certainly could have been one time and he happened to get caught. There will be suspicions though. Cabrera came into 2011 having lost a lot of weight and performed better than ever after a career of mostly mediocre to average seasons. Until other information comes out, I’m going on the assumption that he used one time, perhaps to continue the strong performance he’d happened upon in 2011.

August 31, 2011; Detroit, MI, USA; Kansas City Royals center fielder Melky Cabrera (53) in the dugout during the game against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

That’s not going to stop the questions, though. Cabrera had never had a season with an OPS above .752 in a season. He’d never surpassed 30 doubles until 2011. He had more than 50 additional hits than his next highest season. That sudden spike in performance won’t go unnoticed by those who want to point fingers. For the sake of giving someone the benefit of the doubt, I hope there’s only smoke and no fire, but I wasn’t the only one who thought his performance was a fluke most of last year (and at a certain point, I just had to accept what was happening despite my previous skepticism).

It’s unfortunate. Cabrera seemed to be a fit in the Royals clubhouse last year and fans took to him in San Francisco.

But he broke the rules.

The Royals traded Cabrera in the offseason for Jonathan Sanchez and while it looks like an awful trade today, at the time it was reasonable for both sides. Few expected Cabrera to maintain his success much less improve upon it, and Sanchez had shown potential in the past. It ended up going as badly as possible for the Royals with Cabrera’s big year, Sanchez’s awful season, and is only somewhat improved by getting good performances from Jeremy Guthrie after the Rockies took Sanchez off the Royals hands.

Some have said that this indicates that the Royals “won” the trade since Cabrera is out for the rest of the regular season.

They didn’t get any of Cabrera’s 159 hits in 2012 and the suspension sure doesn’t take away Sanchez’s stinkbomb starts. There turns out to be no winner in this deal and the Royals are fortunate to have gotten any kind of return to salvage anything after such poor results.

These situations tarnish the game and the accomplishments of the players involved. Last year, the Royals outfield performed as well as any in baseball history at the plate. It was one of few high points in another losing season. Now there’s a question mark over it. Still, no matter how disappointing it is to any 2011 Royals marks, it’s more disappointing to Giants fans and teammates, who are fighting for a playoff spot and now lost a key producer for a third of the year for something he may not have even needed to do.

Melky Cabrera - Dream Conqueror (Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak/USA TODAY Sports via US PRESSWIRE)

Here goes.

In my dream, it was the offseason, and 2011′s team was another stinker. However, the young talent that was slowly integrated over the past few months produced a 15-10 record in September and gave us all reason to believe. It seemed like the stars were beginning to align, and if a couple of pieces could fall into place, this town would have a winner.

The outfield situation was going to be a tricky one. Alex Gordon was a lock to stay in left field, but the other two outfield spots were something that GM Dayton Moore was going to have to wrestle with. The supposed Centerfielder of the future, Lorenzo Cain, hit .312 with 16 HR in Omaha. He was deemed ready to come up in 2012, so room needed to be made in order to let him blossom. Moore was going to have to trade either 27 year old Rightfielder Jeff Francoeur or the 26 year old who occupied Centerfield in 2011, Melky Cabrera. Now, neither one of these guys had deep roots in Kansas City, which is why Gordon wasn’t considered. They were both sort of picked up off the scrap heap in an attempt to squeeze some of the last remaining drops of talent out of their stirrups.

They both responded well, having revival years. Francoeur was a leader in the clubhouse, a fan favorite, and had his best year since 2007 when he hit .293 and won a Gold Glove. Cabrera, who brought with him four years of post-season experience with the Yankees and Braves, was sometimes thought to not be fully committed to the game. He found his groove though, and had an outstanding year. He led the Royals in hitting at .305, had over 200 hits, drove in 87 runs and played solid defense. When laid out on paper, the two were very comparable, and it would be tough to decide to get rid of one of them.

Ideally, this would have been the point in my dream where I wake up and realize that the Royals just decide to keep them both, bring up Lorenzo Cain, and have four solid outfielders on their big league roster. But no…the dream continued.

In November, the decision was made – like a long, drawn out Ryan Seacrest American Idol delivery, Jeff Francoeur………….was safe. Melky Cabrera would be traded to the San Francisco Giants. Kansas City fans shrugged, thinking it was sort of a toss up anyway. Despite Cabrera’s offensive numbers being better, and him having more upside that Francoeur, Frenchy’s rocket arm in the outfield and ability to mentor all of the young talent was what ultimately kept him in Royal Blue.

In return for Cabrera, the Royals would receive minor league pitching prospect Ryan Verdugo and Giants starting pitcher Jonathan Sanchez. For Royals fans, a cliff’s notes version of Sanchez’s career seemed to brew excitement. He’d thrown a no-hitter in 2009, won a World Series in 2010. We needed starting pitching, and this guy was a proven starter for a great team.

Again, my dream gave hints of misery, because it also told me that Sanchez had been injured for much of the 2011 season. Although he started out as the #2 starter, he had struggled mightily. Was he healthy now? A closer look saw many struggles in earlier years as well. ERAs over 5.00, three straight losing records, a league leader in walks allowed and HR per 9 innings. Scary stuff.

In My Dream, Jonathan Sanchez was a Royal (Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE)

Still, he was now a Royal and Melky was gone. Shipped off to the West Coast to most likely revert back to his un-productive self and never to be heard from again. Surely, this Jonathan Sanchez would be the new-found savior that would mold the pitching staff together to carry the Royals to glory in 2012. It was deemed to be “Our Time”.

In my dream, Sanchez took the hill for his Royals debut in Los Angeles for the third game of the year. He bent, but did not break, giving up 2 earned runs in 5 innings of work. He left with a 5-2 lead and the bullpen helped deliver him the win. Welcome to the Royals – we’re happy to have you. In the same game, I gazed upon our new phenom centerfielder. He went 0-3 with a walk, seeing his average slip under .100 for the young season. Growing pains, I thought to myself…

Then, just a couple of days later in a dark, empty, rain-soaked Oakland Coliseum, I watched the young Cain track down a long fly ball and make a great catch. Then, as I shook my head in horror, I watched him limp off the field, apparently ruining everything below the waist. My dream told me that we wouldn’t seem him again until after the All-Star break. We’d be left to fill the all-important centerfield gap with the likes of Jarrod Dyson, Mitch Maier, and Jason Bourgeois.

This transitioned into the frightening montage portion of the dream – as I tried to wake up and shake off this disaster, I watched the worst case scenario play out. Sanchez lost his control, and apparently all ability to pitch as he was repeatedly shelled on the mound. He had lapses in judgment, walked as many as 7 batters in one game (in only 4 2/3 innings), and gave up run, after run, after run. The Royals would only win two more of the games that he started during the first half of the season – he would not factor in the decision. Calls for him to be sent to the bullpen, sent to Omaha, sent to Mars were constant. Whenever he’d take the mound – even if he showed small flashes of talent – the fans were up in arms. When the dust settled in early July, he’d be 1-5 with an ERA of 6.75. He’d have 43 BB to 34 Ks. Not possible…

Meanwhile, out in San Fran, Melky Cabrera turned into some sort of cyborg-strength hitting machine. His consistency was breathtaking as his average only dipped momentarily below .300 early in the season. His average hovered around the .350-.370 mark and by the All-Star game, he was one of the most popular players in the National League. His team was fighting for first place in the NL West, and he had settled into playing left field. By mid-season, he found himself leading the majors in hits with 119 and was second only to Andrew McCutchen in Batting Average at .353.

The trade had gone horribly wrong. Nobody could have seen this coming…right?

While Sanchez feared for his professional life, Cabrera would be voted in as a starter in the All-Star Game. Deservedly so, he’d be returning to his short-term home that had dealt him away. It was a good story for Melky, but a tough pill to swallow for Royals fans. As my dream slowed down, it was suddenly All-Star time. The scene was grand and the festivities were countless. Kansas City cleaned up nicely and put on it’s best face for the baseball world. There was some sort of strange incident at the Home Run Derby, but it wasn’t worth remembering. That part of my dream was a little foggy.

When the game started, I was disappointed to only see one Royals player on the roster. I was also bummed to find myself watching it from my living room, but oh well. Melky got a nice round of applause from the Royals fans, who held nothing against him. When he came up to bat in the first inning, he had to face Justin Verlander. He calmly stroked a single to left. I’m telling you, he was like a mechanical hitting robot. His hit started a rally in which the National League would eventually bat around and score 5 runs off of one of the best pitchers in baseball. Clearly a dream – this would never happen…

In the top of the 4th, Melky came up for his third at-bat and drilled a 2-run bomb into the home bullpen. The Royals’ bullpen. He flashed his famous Melk-Smile as he trotted around the bases, having put his team up 8-0 over the American League. After the home run, an injured and miked-up Matt Kemp was featured, telling Melky, “You can hit…you can hit”. He was replaced in the 5th inning, capping a great inaugural All-Star performance.

As the final nail-in-the-coffin in my dream, Melky was awarded the All-Star Game MVP award. Through broken English, he hugged his maternal family, and repeatedly thanked the fans. Then, he climbed into his brand new 2013 Camaro convertible that was parked on the infield, and peeled out, throwing up two fingers as he barreled right through the Centerfield wall and flew away into the night.

I awoke in a cold sweat. It couldn’t be real…could it? There’s no way that this has actually happened. I’m going to go check the Active Roster…

Everything went great, unless your name was Justin Verlander or Matt Harrison.

The Melkman Delivered. Photo Credit: H. Darr Beiser-USA TODAY Sports via US PRESSWIRE

The National League used two big innings to roll over the AL 8-0, including a five run first inning off of Verlander that included a bases loaded triple by Pablo Sandoval. Harrison started the fourth inning and got two quick outs, but Rafael Furcal hit a soft liner down the right field line that Jose Bautista wasn’t positioned well enough to get to quickly enough and a Matt Holliday single brought in another run. Then Melky Cabrera put a ball into the left field bullpen (for old time’s sake) and made it 8-0.

The AL had some opportunities. In the bottom of the fifth, David Ortiz and Mike Napoli had consecutive one-out singles and Asdrubal walked to load the bases after a ground out by Curtis Granderson, but Ian Kinsler flew out to left field.

The next inning, Mike Trout singled to lead off against R.A. Dickey and promptly stole second base. Mark Trumbo struck out but Paul Konerko was hit by a pitch to put two on for Miguel Cabrera with Billy Butler stepping into the on deck circle. Cabrera grounded into a double play to end the rally, though and the AL left more runners on.

The AL never threatened again.

Melky Cabrera won the MVP by going 2-3 with two runs scored and two driven in and the game’s only homer. Of course, this was his first game in Kauffman Stadium since being traded away to the Giants last winter. It stings just a bit to see him win the MVP Award, but fans were generally appreciative of his All-Star season to this point.

Billy. Photo Credit: H. Darr Beiser-USA TODAY Sports via US PRESSWIRE

Billy Butler got the loudest support as Kansas City’s only All-Star player in the game. Royals fans really embraced him, giving a loud ovation and the look on his face was one of appreciation and humility. Chipper Jones, in his only appearance in Kansas City and last All-Star Game, didn’t even get as loud a response from the crowd.

Butler has always been a reluctant vocal leader despite being the most productive hitter on the team over the last few years. When Robinson Cano stepped to the plate, he was met with some leftover boos from Monday’s Home Run Derby, but also with chants of “Bil-ly But-ler”. Butler’s first steps into the on deck circle in the sixth met with an eruption of cheers.

Fans lived and died with each pitch, and in both of his at bats, Butler got to two strikes and fouled a pitch off. The relief felt by the crowd was palpable. Those kind of moments of fandom don’t come along often.

As a game, it really wasn’t much of a contest. Even though MLB says “it counts”, the game is still an exhibition and you’re still looking for moments. Maybe tonight won’t be like Bo Jackson‘s homer in Anaheim or Cal Ripken‘s homer in his last All-Star Game, but for Kansas City, the thought of about 40,000 people rising together to cheer Billy Butler will be a memorable moment.

Melky Cabrera, you are missed. (Photo Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-US PRESSWIRE)

I like to do what we all do as fans – prognosticate. This player will do this, but he’ll never achieve that. There’s no way this player can keep up this production. I’m purely confident that player will be a legend.

Well, I was wrong again. Melky Cabrera has made me into a fool.

For those of you that called it, congratulations. I know there were many of you and I applaud your sense, for it was a sense that I didn’t have. Jonathan Sanchez has not rebounded. That’s really a light way to put it. Sanchez has flopped. He’s done what many suspected he would. He’s walked more than he’s struck out, to the tune of the highest walk rate in his career and the lowest strikeout rate. That seems too mild, too. Sanchez has walked 22 in 25.1 innings and struck out 18, all while allowing 25 hits and 19 runs.

And then he got injured.

Now Sanchez is in Omaha (potentially back in the Kansas City rotation this week) and isn’t just flying along. His first start (5.2 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR) was pretty nice and created some hope. Then he threw a stinker last week (2.2 IP, 6 R, 6 H, 4 BB, 3 K, 2 HR) followed by a medially-successful game (5.0 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K, 2 HR). Anyway, for a guy that is on the verge of returning to the big leagues, it’s hard to say that he’s really nailed down his rehab.

So, that’s where we sit with Sanchez: waiting to get something great out of him. It may yet come, to be sure, but the outlook does not look promising.

Meanwhile, Melky Cabrera is hitting .364/.403/.531 (leading the NL in batting average) and is playing corner outfield spots, where he profiles better than center field. He plays for a team that has a winning record and is sitting at second in their division, behind the team with the best record in the MLB, the Dodgers. And we traded him for Sanchez plus a (current) AAA pitcher.

I can’t say I’m too thrilled, but I can say that I had hoped for better. I had predicted that Melky would fall back a bit to his normal levels, but that just hasn’t happened yet (he has a BABIP of .405 this season). I thought we would at least be even in the trade, with Sanchez providing a little more value than he has, but he just hasn’t gotten it done. And I figured I wouldn’t have to come out and say that I was wrong.

But I was.

So, I miss Melky Cabrera, especially as the best-batting Royal that’s not Billy Butler is Alcides Escobar (if you don’t count Irving Falu, of course). I especially feel it when our center fielder went out after five games and both Alex Gordon and Jeff Francoeur decided to be late to the party. And I really feel it when Sanchez goes to the mound and walks as many batters as or more than he strikes out, which happened in all but one of his six starts.

But I think what I miss most is the fun of a competitive outfield and having a guy that was surprising you with his ability and production. Escobar notwithstanding, the only others I can begin to say that about are Falu, Jonathan Broxton, and Jose Mijares, the latter two of which I suspected to produce well, but wasn’t extremely optimistic about.

All of that being said, injuries are a pain in the neck. Sometimes literally. And that’s probably the biggest difficulty of all. When you know the ability is there and the potential is there, but injuries and unseen factors destroy that fortune, the past’s difficult decisions become more apparent. And I think trading Melky was a difficult decision for them to make. It wasn’t for me at the time, but here we are. I guess what I’m saying is that the bad times make you think of all the “what if” situations you can find and exploit them to release frustration.

This is one of those.

I miss you, Melky, and the good times I remember with you in town. Let’s just ignore the bad times and think of the good ones, right?

March 12, 2012; Surprise, AZ, USA; Kansas City Royals center fielder Jarrod Dyson (1) steals second base against San Francisco Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford (left) during the fourth inning at Surprise Stadium. Dyson advanced to third base on a throwing error by Giants catcher Eli Whiteside (not pictured). Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

If you haven’t heard, Lorenzo Cain’s rehab was derailed by a hip flexor problem, and it’s going to take a few more weeks, perhaps even a month, to get him back into the Royals lineup. This is, of course, bad news for a team that doesn’t really need more bad news.

After a hot spring, people began hoping Cain could be a faster, more defensively sound version of Melky Cabrera. At the very least, he would be a defensive upgrade and a slight offensive downgrade—a trade the Royals were obviously willing to take at a key position like center field with Cabrera’s contract considerations.

I was of the belief that Cain had the potential to be a solid .280/.320/.480 guy who plays great centerfield in a ballpark that demands speed in the outfield. Some thought he would never hit that much, but his limited track record in the majors and his productive minor league career suggest otherwise. Forget what his swing looks like; it works.

Now, what are the Royals left with? Not much. For most of Cain’s absence, they used a mix of Mitch Maier and Jason Bourgeois. Neither was very productive. Recently, they sent Bourgeois down and brought up Jarrod Dyson, who looks every bit the bench outfielder with his inability to hit big-league pitching. He started Friday, and it looks like Ned Yost is going to give him a chance to start for a while.

Here’s the thing about Dyson. Right now his numbers suck—.231/.267/.308—but I love the way he’s trying to play the game. He saved the Royals some runs in Friday’s game with a terrific sliding catch on a ball many other centerfielders wouldn’t have gotten to. He keeps hitting the ball on the ground and drawing the infield in with bunt looks. I’ve watched a few Storm Chasers games with Dyson as well, and it looks like he has the ability to be a patient hitter as well. That’s very important as a leadoff hitter. Patient, slap-hitting, good defense, that’s his ideal game. He has to be that type of player to be successful in the big leagues.

If you’d like a comparison to Dyson, think Juan Pierre. Their games should be identical if Dyson wants to be successful. Pierre’s had a lot of success in MLB and helped a lot of teams win by slapping the ball around and running. He helped lead the Marlins to a World Series championship with that style of play. If Dyson can be like Pierre, hopefully with a better arm from the outfield, he can stick as a starting center fielder.

Will that be with the Royals? I don’t know. It looks like right now, this is his tryout. If he plays out of his mind and the Royals keep winning, this disabled list stint might be a curiously long one for Cain. If I had to put a percentage on it, I’d say there’s a 10 percent chance Dyson plays well enough to usurp the starting job from Cain. But Dyson would have to play better than he has ever indicated he can. Cain has so much upside and such a rare blend of speed and power it will be difficult to take that job from him before he has a chance to prove himself. Dyson is more of a one-trick pony, but a very important trick that the Royals don’t have otherwise.

We’ll see how Dyson does with his tryout. Soon, the Royals will have to decide what to do with that situation. If Dyson plays well, he may for the Royals into a very tough decision. If he doesn’t, let’s hope his play doesn’t facilitate another nose dive and Cain gets back in time to see the Royals reach .500.

You can stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed. Or follow me on Twitter @MarcusMeade.

At the start of the season they were just another team in the AL Central who was young and coming in with raised expectations. The Indians defeated the Royals 8-3 in the home opener dropping the team to 3-4.

But on Saturday night of the opening series, Jonathan Sanchez plunked Shin-Soo Choo sparking the first of two bench emptying moments. The second came in the bottom of the inning when Cleveland retaliated and Jeanmar Gomez hit Mike Moustakas. Jack Hanahan was ejected after getting into the middle of both incidents.

Three bench clearing incidents since last July, points that these teams aren't on the best of terms. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE

Choo and Sanchez have a history dating back to last year when the Giants and Indians played in interleague. Sanchez hit Choo resulting in him missing significant time, after getting plunked again it set him off and the benches cleared.

Last year the teams did get into a scuffle after Carlos Carrasco felt Melky Cabrera enjoyed his grand slam a little too much. When Billy Butler came up next Carrasco brushed him back which resulted in both benches clearing, so that’s three incidents since July of last season.

Kansas City wound up getting swept by Cleveland but the bad blood seems to be there as the crowds at the K booed Choo and Jack Hannahan the rest of the weekend. It’s hard to call something a rivalry when it’s as one-sided as the opening series. Missouri and Kansas fans can relate depending on the sport.

The Indians have had KC’s number the past couple years winning in various ways from blowouts to getting help from a flock of seagulls.  Both teams have gone opposite directions since they last met in Kansas City.

Cleveland came in blew the doors off the Royals which our boys in blue have yet to recover from wrapping up a 0-10 homestand and losing 11-straight. To be a rivalry the results usually have to be somewhat even right? Tonight at Progressive Field the teams meet again and it’ll be interesting to see how Tribe fans treat KC. I don’t think they’ll boo like at the K. Cleveland has won 7-of-9 since the last time they saw the Royals and are a game out of first place.

Adding to the simmering rivalry, Chris Perez riled up players and fans by declaring it to be Tribe Time not Our Time during the opening series. Perez had previously gotten on my nerves being a Jose Valverde lite but he also seemed to rile up others with his tweet. His words earned him a fine from MLB even.

A change of scenery hopefully helps the Royals after such a rough homestand, but how about having the motivation that the Indians made them look awful and started this losing streak? When Kansas City lands they’ll check in with this losing streak but more importantly I hope they want payback for what Cleveland did to them on the scoreboard.

Both teams are young and on paper should be duking it out for years within the AL Central, but to be a rivalry KC has to win and what better time than tomorrow night.

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Kansas City Royals designated hitter Billy Butler (16) hits an RBI double Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE

With opening day looming, I wanted to give a few of my predictions for this season.  This spring has been a roller coaster ride of injuries, disappointment, and excitement and I‘m trying to make some sense on how this season might fare.  There couldn’t have been too many folks predicting that Lorenzo Cain would be one of the best hitters in all of spring training, so that‘s what makes it confusing.  I believe this squad is certainly capable of building off of last year’s second half momentum but a few key injuries could hamper any further progression.  That’s why I think they will contend for a few months but the lack of experience and missing some key players, through injuries, will keep this team at 80 wins for the year, but I think most Royals fans will gladly take an 80 win season.  So, without further ado, here are my top 5 predictions for the season.

My first prediction comes out of the bullpen.  With Joakim Soria out for the year, the Royals will look somewhere else to fill the void of the former All-Star.  I believe Greg Holland will be the guy Ned Yost names as his closer.  While Aaron Crow and Jonathan Broxton snatch a few saves throughout the season, I predict Greg Holland as the full-time closer as he notches 30 saves.

I’ll stick with pitching for my next prediction.  The rotation won’t be the brightest spot for the team this year, but Luke Hochevar certainly will do his fair share.  Hochevar will continue his spring dominance and carry that into the regular season where he will win 15 games and finish with an ERA under 4.00 for the first time in the majors as a regular starter.

One of the more interesting things to watch will be how last September carries over into this year for Mike Moustakas.  I think we will see more power from Mous, but he still will show some struggles at times at the dish.  I look to see him hit 25 homeruns, which might seem like a lot, but it certainly is attainable for someone who has as much power as he does.  His average, however, will hover around the .260 mark throughout the season.

One thing is certain, I cannot wait to watch Lorenzo Cain roam centerfield at “The K”.  He has hit the cover off the ball this spring and has shown some good pop on top of that.  It is not out of the question that he hits 20 homeruns and finishes one stolen base shy of 20 steals, which is what I have him doing this year.  Just how Melky Cabrera had a very nice spring last year and relayed it into a great year, I think Cain will do the same thing this year for the Royals.

My final prediction is for a guy who has been a steady performer in his first few seasons in the big leagues.  He is always hitting for a good average but has been looked down upon, in the past, for his lack of elite power.  I had always thought it will take him some time to grow into his power, which I think in the second half of last season we saw a glimpse of what he is capable of doing.  I am, of course, talking about “Country Breakfast”, or Billy Butler.  A few more doubles in the past, will now turn into some homers for Butler, this season.  I believe he will hit .331 and finish 3^rd in the American League behind Miguel Cabrera and Robinson Cano in the batting title race.  Butler will continue to impress people with his consistency and he might even make a case for one of the top right-handed hitters in the game.

These are some of my thoughts and predictions for this season.  I hope everyone enjoyed reading what I think are realistic outcomes for the year and I’d love to hear some of your opinions regarding my predictions or if you have some you’d like to add.  It’s always fun to toss around some ideas on who we think will do what this year.  Oh and by the way, we are only two days away!!

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March 13, 2012; Surprise, AZ, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher

All that to say, It’s hard not to be timid when people ask me to assess a trade.* However, when we obtained Jonathan Sanchez for Melky Cabrera, it was hard for me not to feel like we’d done well on that deal. I don’t think anyone thought Melky could duplicate the year he’d had in 2011 and the return we got was a pitcher with upside who, while maybe not a dominant big-league starter, was definitely an upgrade to our starting rotation.

*I write that as if I have people come up and ask me about trades all the time. It’s not a regular thing.

Then once spring training started, things started looking rough. Sanchez was and is considered a lock for a starting job, but he struggled mightily out of the gate. In his first 2 starts, Sanchez line looked like this:

3 IP/7 H/7 ER/2 BB/2 SO

This added up to a 21.00 ERA. Not super promising. Then last night Sanchez put up this line:

5.1 IP/6 H/2 ER/3 BB/ 6 SO

And suddenly all was right in the world again. I breathed a sigh of relief last night as I listened to the game. Then I started to think about it objectively. Was one outing enough to make me feel as if Sanchez was in top form? Or, if you consider it even further, were the first 3 innings that Sanchez pitched really a cause for concern?

I think this is something that I really struggle with as a baseball fan. It’s so easy for me to live and die with each inning pitched, with each game played, and with each at-bat.

This is especially hard for me during spring training. It’s my first look at the team in 4 months and when someone struggles, I instantly think that things are going to turn out horrible.

An outing like Sanchez’s reminds me about sample size. How little the guy has actually pitched this spring and how I need to restrain my tendency for snap-judgement. It reminds me of how much stock I (somewhat foolishly) put in spring-training. This is the time that guys are getting warmed up for the season. They’re making an adjustment to their batting stance. They’re trying out a new pitch.

This doesn’t mean that spring training should be completely disregarded. I just think I take it too seriously. So I’m taking a step back for the next few weeks. Once spring training is over, I’ll make my assessments and decisions.

Thank you, Jonathan Sanchez, for showing me that I’m in regular-season mode a little too early. Let’s wait and see what happens.

In all seriousness, 2011 was a remarkable season for the Royals. Sure, they only finished fourth in the AL Central, but enthusiasm for the team hasn’t been higher since the summer of 2003. Unlike that crazy year, this time the excitement is based on something beyond smoke and mirrors (or at least we hope so).

It’s made for an exciting time in writing about the team, and as I reflect on the last 12 months, I’ve been reminded of many past articles that have shaped the narrative of the year, offseason and all. I wanted to compile those that I was particularly proud of. All of us here do this in our spare time – we have a group of regular guys who have jobs, families, classes (in some cases) and share our opinions and passion for the Royals because we can’t help it.

If you’ve had half the fun reading Kings of Kauffman in 2011, well, we’ve had twice as much fun writing as you have had reading.

If you’d like to take a trip down memory lane with me, check out a month-by-month rundown of our best links for the year:

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The Royals had a much quieter week.

They weren’t completely uninvolved. On Wednesday night, they traded Yamaico Navarro for a pair of minor leaguers. Thursday morning they selected Cesar Cabral – then traded him to the Yankees for cash.

Now, they have an open spot on their 40 man roster, a little bit of cash and the same roster they had on Saturday night
before everybody in baseball converged on Dallas.
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The Kansas City Royals will start with Lorenzo Cain in centre, but with concerns about whether the 25-year-old (42 career starts) will hit has the Royals looking at Colby Rasmus of the Jays.

After 2010, Lorenzo Cain had just finished a half of baseball at the major league level where he’d hit .306/.348/.415 for the Brewers and looked set to be their opening day center fielder in 2011.

Then Zack Greinke put the Royals in a position to trade him last winter and Cain was a key part of the package that sent Greinke to Milwaukee. It seemed he’d have a shot to start for the Royals, but there was one little obstacle. The Royals stated something about a “promise” to Melky Cabrera for playing time.

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The Royalman Report, LIVE Sunday at 7 p.m. CST

The big news last week was the trade between the Giants and Royals that sent Melky Cabrera to San Francisco for Jonathan Sanchez.

Along with Sanchez, the Royals received left-handed minor league pitcher Ryan Verdugo. He’s on Twitter at @teachmetodugi11 and is our guest tonight on the Royalman Report. He’s among the more active players on Twitter and worth the follow, and worth a listen tonight as well.

We’ll also cover the news and notes about the Royals as well.

As always, we’ll have our chat room up during the broadcast for any questions and comments and whatever discussion arises. You can also call 1-816-394-9578 and leave a voicemail or join in during the broadcast

The Royalman Report is brought to you by Kelly’s Westport Inn at 500 Westport Road in Kansas City, Missouri.  Tell them the Royalman Report sent you.

Live video feed is after the jump:

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The Royalman Report, LIVE Sundays at 7 pm CST

In the latest Royalman Report, we looked at the Melky Cabrera/Jonathan Sanchez trade and its implications for 2012 and beyond. We also guessed at what moves may be next for the Royals (if any).

We also covered what free agents might be options for the Royals and looked at trade targets. On top of that we discussed the possibility of moving Joakim Soria, the changing trade market as the offseason goes on and Royalman even said he’d welcome Zack Greinke back if it came to it. Breakthrough!

Next week, we’ll have an interview with the newest Royal in the organization and part of the Melky deal, left-handed pitcher Ryan Verdugo. That’ll be November 20th, so check back in then!

Click the embedded player below to listen to this week’s show or you can download the mp3.

If you want your business featured during breaks on the Royalman Report, contact us at 816-394-9578 or email royalmanreport@gmail.com.  

Kelly's in Westport - official sponsor of the Royalman Report

If you’re the type that prefers to see the in-studio video stream…check it out below:

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The Royalman Report, LIVE Sunday at 7 p.m. CST

The last week was pretty eventful. The Royals traded Melky Cabrera for Jonathan Sanchez, and Kansas City celebrated Buck O’Neil.

We’ll discuss both of those topics as well as other Royals speculation for the offseason and 2012. Lorenzo Cain and Bob McClure also figure to be part of the discussion tonight as well.

We’ll probably touch on the Chiefs a bit as well, as a big opportunity slipped through their hands today.

As always, we’ll have our chat room up during the broadcast for any questions and comments and whatever discussion arises. You can also call 1-816-394-9578 and leave a voicemail or join in during the broadcast

The Royalman Report is brought to you by Kelly’s Westport Inn at 500 Westport Road in Kansas City, Missouri.  Tell them the Royalman Report sent you.

Live video feed is after the jump:

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This is a move that had to be made for two obvious reasons: The Royals need starting pitching and they had an unfamiliar log-jam in centerfield that needed to be sorted out. I think my colleagues have done a solid job of analyzing the deal from the perspective of what the Royals got in Sanchez and Verdugo.

So, I’ll take a different approach and look at the underlying significance that the move entailed. The Royals decided to shop Cabrera at his highest value and hold on to Lorenzo Cain. As I alluded to in my previous post, I felt the Royals would have to make a decision on Cabrera/Cain and my preference was to keep Cain.

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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 (share this clip)

Mickey Brignall at Call to the Pen doesn’t see either team being burned down the line by this deal:

Clipped from: calltothepen.com (share this clip)

Meanwhile, Joe Soriano suggests the Giants have a slight edge on the deal, citing Sanchez’s drop in peripheral stats last year while noting that Cabrera fits the Giants a little better:

Clipped from: calltothepen.com (share this clip)

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 off the Royals. With a glut of outfielders capable of playing at the big league level – I’m thinking of Lorenzo Cain (who stands to benefit most from the trade), David Lough, Mitch Maier and perhaps Jarrod Dyson – and in need of pitching, the move makes sense for the Royals. Melky isn’t the best defender, not the most patient hitter, but he performed admirably in 2011. Sanchez has always had his warts. He walks quite a lot of batters but also strikes out a lot.

Upon further thought, it’s an even deal I think for both teams.

But what about Sanchez? What kind of pitcher is he, and what can Royals fans expect from him?

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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 ridiculously high level. Rather than turning him at the deadline, the Royals waited until their favorite time of year – a week after the season completely ended – to ship him off. And Moore completed a trade that seemingly can’t do anything but help the Royals in 2012 and beyond.

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Bautista holds off Ellsbury in American League

It’s just the way life works. It’s the same with religion or politics or science or whatever you want. There are always certain folks that either can’t wrap their minds around a new concept or don’t want to accept that what they’ve believed all this time has been wrong. So, they reject the new information.

I’m not one to tell people what to think. Or, at least I try not to do so. Instead, I want to talk about how to discuss the current Royals with these folks. How do you get across the improvements the team is making and the abilities of some of the players on the field without using newer stats? Well, I gave it a shot…

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I hated – HATED – the Melky Cabrera signing last December. Mere hours after Dayton Moore did the inevitable and signed Jeff Francoeur, they signed Cabrera as well.

Two former Braves coming off awful seasons.  It felt like another Jason Kendall/Mike Jacobs stopgap deal to me and at the time, the issue of blocking Lorenzo Cain wasn’t even applicable, because the Royals hadn’t traded Zack Greinke yet.

We’re in the last week of the season and I think I finally have to say it.

Dang.  I was way off.

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In 2008 the Royals September record was 18-8. Pretty remarkable when you consider the good vibes of that one good month was followed by a season of 65-97.

Winners of seven straight (before Sunday) the Royals September record for this season is a glistening 11 wins against just 6 loses. The kind of start to a month – if it was any other month – that should get fans excited for the games ahead. And I guess it has only, the games ahead, aren’t until next year when this team probably won’t look the same at all. But that hasn’t stopped Royals fans, myself included, from being over-the-top optimistic and brimming with anticipation for next April.

Being a fan of this franchise should be the cautionary tale for what expectations can do to you. Heck, being a fan of Kansas City sports in general should do that to you. So with the evidence of the past, and how things have gone for this team, looking forward to next year’s playoff push is asking for more heartbreak. We’re just not there yet. (more…)

• Continued development of the key prospects
• Alex Gordon plays all year in Kansas City
• Jeff Francoeur and Melky Cabrera aren’t OBP sinkholes
• Alcides Escobar hits. At all.

*Team Justin or Team Jered?….oh good grief I cant even use that without feeling guilty…I hate those stupid vampire books. (more…)

Today, in the seventh inning in the Royals game against the Blue Jays, the tide has shifted, as Gordon now leads the team with 17, Cabrera has just hit number 17, Francoeur has just 15 and out of nowhere, Billy Butler has 16 (he had just six and was yet two weeks from nickname greatness).

As we come lose to the final month of the year, I figured it’s worth a look to see if anyone is still on pace.

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It’s been a pretty busy week, so the Royals community was on top of things the whole time.

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Courtesy of Minda Haas

You may have heard the news that the Royals signed Jeff Francoeur to a two year extension today, a deal worth $13.5 million total and keeps the Royals right fielder in Kansas City through 2013.

If you’re on Twitter, you’ve no doubt seen the polarization over this deal, as some, buoyed by Francoeur’s demeanor, hustle and improved numbers in 2011, are ecstatic, while others, who point to his previous production pre-Royals, are less enthused.

Mostly, though, I don’t think anybody’s surprised.

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And so this is entirely speculation (isn’t every blog post?) about the state of a stuck-in-neutral franchise and how they go about doing things, but with increased chatter about how willing – if not darn-right eager – the Royals are to bringing back what would have figured to be two of the team’s more valuable trade chips, they seem to think both players better days are ahead them. That’s worrisome. (more…)

Billy Butler Has Been Eating His Wheaties (AP)

That strange, solid, thumping sound you hear is that of forged lumber smacking the crap out of leather baseballs. By the Royals. No, seriously.

On Friday night, the Royals put together their most complete game of the 2011 season. Before we get back to the thumping, it was Jeff Francis who held his own, throwing a gem the likes of which the team envisioned when they signed him. He threw eight scoreless innings, giving up only four hits while striking out six – two of those in the 8th. For a pitcher who came into the game with a 3-11 record and a 4.65 ERA, he had to have left the ballpark feeling like a king.

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What’s of interest for Royals fans is a mention of both Alex Gordon and Melky Cabrera.  Both have had exceptional seasons in 2011 basically from opening day to the present.

It’s difficult for me to call it a comeback for Melky Cabrera.  I’ll admit, that I was dead wrong coming into this season, but he’s not exactly coming back to anything. When your production entering a season was pretty slight, you’re not really coming back from a high level of production.

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As the July 31 trade deadline nears it appears the Royals might be content to stand pat and remain relatively inactive for the first time in several years. There are a few moves they will look to pursue, but there is a decent chance nothing gets done. I have a short list of moves that I would prefer to be made in order for the club to move forward with their youth movement.

1. Create space for Lorenzo Cain:

The Royals’ most likely trade bait, Melky Cabrera and Jeff Francouer, could remain Royals according to the Kansas City Star’s Bob Dutton.

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We discussed potential trades and the philosophy the Royals should take at the deadline this year and who might be shipped off.

We also ranted about Chris Getz and gave Billy Butler some love.

Click the embedded player below to listen to this week’s show or you can download the mp3 here.

Our music this week was performed by local band “Seasons of Pain” and you can follow them on Twitter at @seasonsofpain.

If you happen to be a musician and would like to have your music featured on the Royalman Report, contact us at 816-394-9578 or email info@royalmanreport.com.   (more…)

In a busy month, Dayton Moore traded off Alberto Callaspo, Kyle Farnsworth, Rick Ankiel and Scott Podsednik (he later shipped off Jose Guillen in August).  Turning over 20% of a team’s active roster over the span of a couple of weeks isn’t common, but it happens with rebuilding teams.   I don’t imagine it’s something a GM sets out to do before the season starts.

Until, at least, 2011.

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My hope is that Hosmer can reach 20 homers by year’s end.  For a 21-year-old, that’s not a bad way to announce your arrival in the big leagues.

At the same time, I wondered if it might be possible for all four to reach 20 homers.  And, if so, what’s that say in the context of Royals history?

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 As I’ve mentioned before, I live in an area of Missouri where it’s pretty difficult to actually get to watch the Royals on the tube so I’m often forced to watch the gamecasts from the website. The Royals website has significantly improved this experience this season, but it’s still not quite the same as getting to watch games. Sadly enough, the week we’ve had has been hard enough to watch on the gamecast, let alone in real time. After we got swept by the Orioles, I determined that it would just be too painful for me to write anything about the current state of the team this week. So I decided to go a different direction. (more…)

Lorenzo Cain (courtesy of Gage Matthews)

Watching the big league team, we get to see Alcides Escobar and Jeremy Jeffress with regularity.  Jake Odorizzi is destroying High A lineups – and was the Princes of Kauffman Pitcher of the Week for the second week in a row.

We haven’t heard much about Lorenzo Cain.

That will probably change after going 4-5 tonight in hitting for the cycle and driving in seven.
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After giving up eight homers to the Rangers in Arlington, the first game at Progressive Field featured more longballs.  The Indians hit five on Tuesday.  The first three were solo shots and didn’t do much damage, but they were also from the last two spots in the order.

Still, going into the seventh, the Royals were down just 4-3.

Then Luke Hochevar came back out for one more inning.

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For the first seven innings tonight, the Royals seemed resigned to let this one settled into the “50 losses” column.  Then, as has been the case over and over in 2011, they came back to win, scoring the tying and winning runs on a Melky Cabrera hit in the bottom of the ninth.

The win demonstrates the importance of the so-called “little things.”

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But amidst all this positivity we would all be very foolish to think there aren’t some very dark clouds forming in the distance.

The Process has been the topic of discussion, and the butt of all jokes, around these parts for a number of years, and with good reason. The Royals as an organization cling to the positives (18-11!) and the vision towards the future, while at the same time, glossing over the major weaknesses and red-flags of the current state of the team. As Royals fans, we’ve been guilty of this as well.

I’m guilty of it. My loyalty to the organization as a fan showed its ugly head because of 14 games of “good baseball” and the need to have something to cheer for, but game 15 was an awakening of sorts as the normal negative realistic parts of my fandom just can’t be kept down any longer.

The Process is still a scary thing. (more…)

I was finishing up my freshman year in college and with no real TV package for the Royals that gave them consistent TV coverage, I had Denny Matthews narrating the action.  In that early stretch, homework went by the wayside and on more than one occasion, my roommate at the time – also a Royals fan – and I would jump around our dorm room and holler like the Royals had won the World Series.

That team had Jermaine Dye, Carlos Beltran and Johnny Damon, three stars who are just as notable  for their departures from Kansas City as they are for their tenures here.

So far, with this evening’s walkoff win, there might be a freshman out there who is celebrating the combination of Billy Butler and Alex Gordon.

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Despite losing the season opener, Melky Cabrera, Jeff Francoeur and rookies Aaron Crow, Nate Adcock and Tim Collins all performed well.

The old guard, however, was up to their usual tricks.

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Unfortunately, you can’t just transfer spring stats to the regular season.  A player who burns up Arizona in March has to keep it up in April.  And May.  And June, and so on.

But hypothetically, if you could just project seasonal production from spring stats, what might it look like for the Royals?

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They knew.  Oh, yes, they knew that in our collective relief about the signing of Jeff Francoeur – no more worry or speculation, it was at least over – we’d never see something like signing former Yankees and Braves outfielder Melky Cabrera coming.

And now, for a while at least, I’m afraid we’re stuck with him.

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Pitchers and catchers reported and while some teams are set to show off their new faces by way of free agency or trades, the Royals still take up a lot of the narrative around the game because of the incredible farm system. Most baseball outlets, most recently AOL decided they should finally join the party, have named the Royals the possessor of the best minor leagues in all of baseball. With these accolades though, comes a lot of attention to Spring Training that wouldn’t normally be appropriate for a team that’s lost as much as they have the past decade.

While baseball and most Royals fans are fixated on the progress of Moustakas and Hosmer, or Montgomery and Lamb, and wondering just when the first batch of prospects will start to rise to the majors, there are still questions to be answered with the big league club that, while you wouldn’t think are all that important, have a lot of meaning for the team looking ahead to 2012 and ’13. (more…)

Apparently though, it also takes time, and lots of it.

With last week’s column there was a little bit a ruffled-feather with one of our loyal readers. I still have little reason to believe that the Royals’ Process needed or needs to take eight years to fully complete itself, but there it was in the comment section*, the reminder that it took the Minnesota Twins a lot of time as well. For this I must please ask one small favor to Royals fans and fans in general of any organization: stop pointing to the Twins as the lighthouse that shines the way to baseball supremacy. (more…)

So, when the Royals began increasing their payroll starting in 2007, it looked like their small market standards might begin including random free agent signings. In one year, the payroll increased from around $47 million to $67 million. Part of that resulted from the Gil Meche and Octavio Dotel signings in the previous offseason. Things kept rolling after that year, as the Royals signed Jose Guillen. The payrolls in the next few years were $58, $70, and $75 million.

Well, unfortunately, money doesn’t directly translate to wins. From 2007-2010, the Royals averaged 69 wins. While better than the three-year stretch before that, it’s not as productive as you would hope. From 2007-2009, the Twins had a comparable or lower payroll and won an average of 85 games. Basically, while the payroll didn’t create as bad of a situation as the Cubs’ did, it was still pretty frustrating.
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Between the typical platitudes you’re going to hear from a public address by a GM, there were a few nuggets of information if you were looking for them.

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Other than realizing just how happy I am to be rid of Jose Guillen, Rick Ankiel, and Yuni “Plus Hands” Betancourt, I noticed that in each of the games I watched the Royals used a different leadoff guy. Chris Getz, Gregor Blanco, and Jarrod Dyson made appearances at the top of the order in those three games.

I dug a little deeper and saw something that makes sense now that I think back: the Royals used seven different players to bat leadoff. For clarity, this is just the number of players that started off the game for the Royals. With the player turnover and new additions this offseason, things have been muddied a bit going into 2011. So, where does that leave the Royals to start out games?
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One of the roster decisions in front of me was the choice between organizational stalwart Mitch Maier and former Brave Gregor Blanco for one of the outfield bench spots (I have to assume either Melky Cabrera or Lorenzo Cain start in center). One of our readers asked me why I prefer Mitch over Blanco and at the time, I really had no strong basis for the decision.

I like to joke that it’s because I have a franchise on MVP 2005 for PlayStation 2 where I’d updated the minor league system to reflect minor league prospects and major league transactions (Mark Teahen has won the MVP award twice, by the way).  On that game, Maier had developed from a fourth outfielder to unseating David DeJesus in the starting lineup. Not really a good basis to keep  a guy off the real Royals roster though, huh? (more…)