That being the case, I went through and constructed a roster of players made up only of those players the Royals traded at the deadline. For this purpose, I considered a “deadline trade” anything within three weeks of the deadline (prior to 1986, the deadline was June 15 each year).

Warning: Some of the names to follow are painful memories of awful teams, bad deals, and it’s not for the faint of heart:

C – Matt Treanor (1997)

Before his 2011 stint with the Royals, Treanor had been drafted by Kansas City in 1994. On July 29, 1997, the Royals traded him to Florida for left-handed pitcher Matt Whisenant, who made 142 appearances as a Royal with a 5.05 ERA.

1B – Matt Stairs (2006)

Stairs was a part of some of the worst Royals teams ever, hitting 39 homers from 2004 until July 31, 2006 as a Royal. The Royals got right-handed pitcher Jose Diaz from Texas for him. He threw 25 innings in the Royals organization before going to Japan.

2B – Mike Aviles (2011)

July 15, 2012; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox shortstop Mike Aviles (3) hits a 2-run home run in the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Last year, Aviles was struggling with the Royals and his defense was suspect. With Alcides Escobar and Johnny Giavotella around, the Royals found him expendable and sent him to Boston for infielder Yamaico Navarro and right-hander Kendal Volz. Aviles went on to produce a .775 OPS for Boston the rest of the year and started out hot in 2012 as well.

Volz pitched in Double A before retiring earlier this month. Navarro didn’t fit within the organization and had some character problems (he was arrested for a DUI earlier this month) and was flipped to Pittsburgh for Brooks Pounders and Diego Goris.

SS – Rey Sanchez (2001)

Sanchez didn’t have a lot of power, but when he was with the Royals he showed he was fine as a contact hitter and provided solid defense at short. After two years in Kansas City, Sanchez was traded to Atlanta at the deadline in 2001 for minor league outfielder Alejandro Machado and pitcher Brad Voyles.

Machado would be traded in a deadline deal in 2003 for Curtis Leskanic as the Royals found themselves in contention.

3B – Alberto Callaspo (2010)

When he started his Royals career, Callaspo looked like he might develop into a potent bat at second base. In 2009, he hit .300 and had 60 extra base hits. In 2010, his name came up in trade talks and the Royals, with other options to play third base (where Callaspo had played more and more starting that year), they dealt him on July 22, 2010 to the Angels for righty Sean O’Sullivan and lefty Will Smith.

O’Sullivan pitched as a spot starter and long relief guy for the Royals until being traded to the Blue Jays for cash. Will Smith has surfaced as a member of the Royals starting rotation after injuries and solid work in Omaha.

OF – Tom Goodwin (1997)

The Royals grabbed Goodwin off waivers in 1994 and put him in their lineup starting in 1995 where he proceeded to steal 150 bases in two and a half seasons.

On July 25, 1997, they traded him to Texas, getting Dean Palmer in return. This is an example of one of their more successful deadline deals, as Palmer went on to hit .278/.335/.487 in over 200 plate appearances the rest of the year and hit as a Royal in 1998. Goodwin went on to play until 2004, carving out a decent career for himself.

OF – Jose Bautista (2004)

If you blinked in 2004, you missed Bautista’s Royals career. He played a grand 13 games with the Royals in a season where he made appearances for four different big league teams.

He’s in here because he’s a fun name to include – the move a the time was of little significance to anyone. Nobody though he’d go on to lead the American League in homers two years in a row. He wasn’t even a full time player until 2010. On July 30, the Royals sent him to the Mets for an infamous name among Royals fans – Justin Huber.

OF – Jermaine Dye (2001)

Jun 11, 2009; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox right fielder Jermaine Dye (23) before the game against the Detroit Tigers at US Cellular Field. The White Sox won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

Ugh.

That’s almost all you can say about this one, right? The Royals turned a young All-Star and Gold Glove outfielder into Neifi Perez. I don’t even want to talk about this move. It’s too painful. At least in the other notable trades of Johnny Damon and Carlos Beltran, the Royals got something of value (though barely) – Perez is among the worst everyday players in recent memory.

July 25, 2001 is a painful memory.

SP – Kevin Appier (1999)

This one hurts, but after 1998 was lost to shoulder surgery, it doesn’t hurt as much as Dye’s trade. Appier wasn’t the same after the surgery but still ended up in demand at the deadline. On July 31, 1999, the Royals sent him to the A’s for Jeff D’Amico (NOT the former Brewer), Brad Rigby and Blake Stein, all right-handed pitchers.

Appier wasn’t much more effective for the A’s and ended up bouncing around the league before returning to the Royals in late 2003. D’Amico and Rigby both put up ERAs above 9.00 as Royals, though Stein at least approached league average as a pitcher for Kansas City until disappearing from baseball after 2002.

RP – Octavio Dotel (2007)

The Royals signed Dotel to a one-year deal and it wasn’t a surprise when they looked to move him at the deadline in 2007. They put him in 24 games where he earned 11 saves but they didn’t need a closer very much in a year where they lost 93 games and had Rule 5 pick Joakim Soria pitching well enough to take over the role.

Dotel’s time with the Royals is just a blip on his nomadic radar (13 teams in 14 years). For 7.2 innings of work, the Braves sent Kyle Davies to Kansas City on the last day of the month and the rest is history.

Other notable deadline departures:

• Jon Lieber to Pittsburgh (1993)
• Mark Davis to Atlanta (1992)
• Jeremy Affeldt to Colorado (2006)
• Kyle Farnsworth to Atlanta (2010)
• Mike MacDougal to Chicago (2006)
• Wilson Betemit to Detroit (2011)
• Tony Graffanino to Boston (2005)/Tony Graffanino to Milwaukee (2006)
• Buddy Biancalana to Houston (1987)

If Marlon Byrd was half a foot to his left or if Cody Ross took a split second longer to secure the ball, the Red Sox very well may have won on Wednesday night.

Instead, both were involved in misplays that led to three Royals runs in the first inning off of nemesis Jon Lester with two outs. Jarrod Dyson grounded out and Alex Gordon struck out against Lester, who owned a 1.30 ERA in seven career starts against Kansas City, including the last no-hitter against the Royals.

Then the Royals got Billy Butler on base with a walk. Jeff Francoeur singled. Johnny Giavotella, recalled Wednesday afternoon from Omaha, hit a hard tailing line drive to Byrd in center, but the ball went off his glove and bounced away from him. Butler scored and Francoeur went to third.

Brayan Pena beats the tag as he heads back to second on a strange double in the first inning. Photo: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE

Brayan Pena doubled deep to left and Ross seemed to have caught the ball at first, but as he continued his stride, it came loose, left his glove, hit the left-field wall before he pulled it back in. The umpires ruled that he hadn’t secured the ball completely so when it hit the screen over the scoreboard on the wall, Butler and Giavotella had scored and Pena scurried back to second for a double.

The Royals left the first with a 3-0 lead and racked up 38 pitches.

Bruce Chen was solid in 6.2 innings, finding trouble in the top of the third when he loaded the bases but snuck a fastball past David Ortiz for the second out. Adrian Gonzalez doubled into the gap to clear the bases and tie the score, but they didn’t threaten Chen any other time.

The Royals added a run on an Alcides Escobar double that scored Irving Falu and Aaron Crow and Jonathan Broxton held the 4-3 lead.

The breaks went their way for a change, both at bat and in the field. A hard liner by Ortiz was right at Escobar. After Broxton gave up a single to Ross and walked Jarod Saltalamacchia, Byrd laid down a bunt to put the lead run in scoring position. Alex Gordon was positioned nearly perfectly to make a sliding catch of a Ryan Sweeney line drive, popped up and threw home to keep pinch runner Darnell McDonald at third. Broxton induced a Mike Aviles ground out to shut the door.

This is the kind of game the Royals would typically lose (and without Eric Hosmer or Mike Moustakas in the lineup too), but they caught a little luck. The result gives them a winning homestand, a breath of fresh air after their 0-fer to start the season. Winning two out of four games against the Yankees and taking the Red Sox series could start some positive momentum as the Royals head back on the road with a series against the White Sox starting on Friday.

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Billy Butler has been crushing the ball this season, but he's not likely to make the All-Star team. Image: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE

But, barring a historic run over the next month, he won’t be the All-Star representative of the Kansas City Royals*.

*Sure, it’s still possible for the Royals to earn more than one All-Star selection. But for now, I’ll still refuse to dignify that notion. Answer me this: how many unbiased observers do you expect to check a member of the AL-worst, 6-15 Royals on their respective All-Star ballots?

If the American League roster were announced today, that honor would be bestowed upon shortstop Alcides Escobar.

Escobar has been one of the most improved hitters in the major leagues this season. For some perspective on the evolution of Alcides, consider his performance this April versus what he compiled in April 2011.

April 2011 Escobar:.221/.248/.260 with a .507 OPS, four extra base hits, and a 44 OPS+

April 2012 Escobar: .295/.329/.449 with a .778 OPS, nine extra base hits and a 113 OPS+

While Escobar’s credentials may not look great compared to Butler’s, the truth of the matter when it comes to All-Star selections is that, often times, the biggest factor is a player’s position of eligibility.

Butler faces a murderer’s row of preposterously talented and high-performing sluggers at the designated hitter position. Among those registered as DH’s on MLB’s official All-Star ballot are perennial All-Stars (David Ortiz and Michael Young), oft-injured and possibly rejuvenated stars (Justin Morneau, Adam Dunn, and Travis Hafner),  a young upstart (Jesus Montero),  and a wild card (Edwin Encarnacion).

Of the above listed players, Encarnacion and Ortiz have posted a higher OPS than Butler, while Hafner, Morneau, Dunn, and even Young are nipping at their heels. Along with production, there are a lot of established names on that list.

Conversely, shortstop might be the weakest offensive position in the American League. Among Escobar’s chief competition for a roster spot are one perennial All-Star and mortal lock to start the game (Derek Jeter),  a one-time All-Star who broke out in 2011 (Asdrubal Cabrera), a thought-to-be washed up vet who found new life in 2011 and now looks washed up again (Jhonny Peralta), a thought-to-be washed up former Royal who is having an almost assuredly fluky hot stretch for a playoff contender (Mike Aviles), a young up and comer who isn’t quite there yet (Elvis Andrus), and a plethora of coulda-shoulda-woulda stars who are currently performing like 2011 Alcides Escobar (Yunel Escobar, Erick Aybar, Alexei Ramirez, J.J. Hardy).

As mentioned above, Jeter is a foregone conclusion. No need to belabor that point. Cabrera has performed well in the follow-up campaign to his breakout 2011 season. Andrus is a dark horse who could secure his spot with a strong offensive showing in the next month.  Aviles is a non-concern, because he is past due for an 0-21 streak with 12 strikeouts and everybody knows it.

Alcides Escobar could be the first Royals shortstop to make an All-Star team since Kurt Stillwell in 1988. Image: Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE

Alcides Escobar is right in the mix. His offensive numbers trail only Jeter, Cabrera, and Aviles, while his five stolen bases are tied with Andrus atop AL shortstops. Defensive metrics are difficult to gauge at this point of the season, but Escobar’s reputation with the glove surpasses all of the contenders except perhaps Andrus. The 23 year old Andrus would, on account of his national exposure and expectations of grandeur, be a logical choice to squeeze past Escobar for a spot on the team, except for one fact: The Rangers already have a boatload of incredibly awesome players who are more deserving of places on the team, including Josh Hamilton, Adrian Beltre, Nelson Cruz, Young, Neftali Feliz, and Yu Darvish.

Cabrera is a more reasonable option, as he is plying his craft on a Cleveland Indians team just waiting to get exposed. But with Alcides posting comparable offensive numbers, his defensive advantages could make this comparison a wash.

Remember, the Royals need someone to represent the team in their home ballpark over All-Star weekend. The case has been made against Butler. The only other legitimate option, third baseman Mike Moustakas, is up against stalwarts Evan Longoria, Adrian Beltre, and Alex Rodriguez. So that’s not happening, barring injury or miracle. Escobar is shaping up to be the best candidate.

Now that you’ve seen the case for Alcides Escobar, consider what his offensive emergence means for the Royals. If he can continue to hit the ball with authority, that 4 year, $10.5 million contract extension he signed (with two team option years) will look like highway robbery for the Royals.

And if Escobar’s efforts are recognized with his first All-Star appearance, he will become the first Royals shortstop to make an All-Star team since, gulp, Kurt Stillwell in 1988.

Now consider that for a moment.

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Dayton Moore hasn’t been quiet, but he’s reached a point, I think, where he’s confident in the team he’s assembled. A crop of highly-regarded prospects showed that they belong in the big leagues last year and the hope is that they’ll be the future for the next few years.

It’s causing Royals fans, we happy few, to get a bit more optimistic than we’re used to.

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But the well-rounded staff we have would be nothing without your readership. Kings of Kauffman consistently sets new records for monthly traffic and comments, and that’s a direct reflection of the readers. Blogging is no different than any other writing/journalism medium: without the readers, there would be no writers.

Because of your interest in the things that we do, and your ridiculous and loyal fandom for a franchise that has been a losing one for the better part of three decades, we’re able to do the things that we do and have some fun along the way. All of us have jobs outside of blogging that take up a lot of our time, so what free time we do have is spent trying to come up with content that you, the reader, will enjoy and keep you coming back.

So as a “thank you”, I’ll start doing a monthly (or however often makes sense with the feedback we get) mailbag to give you guys a chance to ask, vent, rant, and make fun of us. Just please remember, we’re all still Royals fans, no matter how much we may disagree on things.

If you want to join in on the fun, drop us a line at KoKMailbag@gmail.com. Now, on to the emails: (more…)

Yamaico Navarro Takes Batting Practice Before His Royals Debut

It was the end of a wild week for Navarro.

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Not all trades are blockbusters.

The Royals traded infielder Mike Aviles to the Boston Red Sox this afternoon for infielder Yamaico Navarro and minor league pitcher Kendal Volz.

Aviles had struggled for most of 2011 with a few hot weeks.  He was sent to Omaha with the promotion of Mike Moustakas and hit well enough to return when Wilson Betemit was traded last week.  As a Royal, he hit .286/.317/.417 in 1218 plate appearances in the big leagues with the Royals while playing second base, shortstop and third base.  He was the Royals player of the year in 2008 after hitting .325/.354/.480 and finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting.

He had recently expressed disappointment in being shuffled into a utility role with the Royals since coming back from the minor leagues.

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Royals fans knew that 2011 was going to be a bumpy ride.  After trading Zack Greinke, the starting rotation was held together by the fragile hope that Luke Hochevar could live up to his draft selection and that veterans would have career years.

Dayton Moore banked on hungry free agents signing for the opportunity and performing to showcase their abilities, either for a future contending Royals team or, more likely, for a playoff contender come July.  With a crop of the game’s best prospects behind them, the veterans started out performing as well as could be expected and it seemed like everything had fallen into place.  Jeff Francoeur led the majors in WAR for a few days.  Melky Cabrera looked like the best bargain of the winter, and Jeff Francis, though shaky in a few opening innings, was throwing well but getting no run support to show for it.

Well, we’re past the halfway point of the season and the Royals are now just 4.5 games ahead of Houston for last place in the entire major leagues.

That’s not acceptable, but it’s less so, considering that they’re blowing opportunities to get better players into the game and showcase them for potential trade partners.

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Royalman was finally back in the Royalman Report studio after a couple weeks of family and other commitments and we were glad to have Kevin Scobee call in to discuss his article from last week on Billy Butler being miscast in the Royals lineup:

Clipped from: kingsofkauffman.com (share this clip)

The discussion was going so well that we kept Kevin around for the final two segments as well where we discussed such things as:

• Potential roster moves as interleague play approaches and pitchers get healthy
• Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas‘s California bromance – and their potential career paths
• Mike Aviles vs. Chris Getz vs. Johnny Giavotella – with a run in by Jeff Bianchi

And much more!

Listening and downloading information is available below:

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A few weeks ago, I wondered about the impact of events and their symbolism in regards to the progression of the Royals.  Eric Hosmer‘s call-up generated national attention as the first big name prospect from the vaunted Royals system.  That was on another Thursday afternoon following an afternoon game.

After Thursday’s win, Kansas City announced that Mike Moustakas would be joining Hosmer in the majors.

It’s fitting that during the same week of the MLB draft, Dayton’s Moore’s first draft pick is brought into the big leagues.  Mike Aviles, struggling for most of the season with the exception of a couple of weeks, was optioned to Omaha.

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Looking back it was probably too much to put on the kid. Heck, at the time it was probably too much to put on the kid. For someone that had never played a game above Double-A miracles and amazings were expected, and there was little room for error.

The story since that first at-bat strikeout has been well documented. Alex Gordon went from receiving a standing ovation in his first career plate appearance, to being the poster-child for a decade of failures and why this franchise hasn’t been able to turn it around in the last five. He is the ultimate polarizing Royal – you either love him, or hate him, there is no in between.

It seems more than a little odd, and perhaps a bit funny, that the fans of a franchise that has known little more than heartbreak and losing for nearly twenty seasons – or heck, nearly thirty – would allow themselves to head down that road again with another player in that can’t miss line towards superstardom, Eric Hosmer. (more…)

Eric Hosmer got his first major league hit – a single through the hole at second.  He was also intentionally walked in the bottom of the ninth.

And for the sixth time this year, the Royals won in walk-off fashion.

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I’m excited, you’re excited.  Royals fans all over are excited.

Attendance should be pretty strong tomorrow night to see his major league debut.  Think of how many eight-year-olds can say in twenty years that they were there for Eric Hosmer’s major league debut.  If this group of prospects leads us to the promised land, that’s going to be a special memory.

I went digging to find some other prominent Royals (and some who are just scary) to find out how their major league debuts went.  I stuck with hitters, as I figure there are opportunities later this year to examine pitchers’ debuts.  Also I only looked at a few players who made debuts as a Royal, so that knocked out Amos Otis and Cookie Rojas among others.

Hopefully, Hosmer’s debut goes as well as Mark Quinn‘s where he went 3-4 against the Angels, hitting two homers and driving in four.  Hopefully, Hosmer’s career fares better.

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After two weeks off for other commitments and travel and such, we were back in studio for a new installment of The Royalman Report.

In this episode, we wax ecstatic about the sweep of the Twins, bemoan the starting pitching struggles and talk quite a lot about Jeff Francoeur, Chris Getz, Mike Aviles and Kila Ka’aihue.  In the process, we added a feature segment called the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly – you can probably guess what we cover there…

To listen to myself, Troy “Royalman” Olsen and Brian McGannon of Royals Kingdom, go to RoyalmanReport.com.  You can also download the episode on iTunes or directly as an mp3 here.

There’s also the option to listen on the embedded player below:

You can follow The Royalman Report on Twitter at @RoyalmanReport (simple, eh?) and visit the site for show updates.  Send any questions, comments or ideas for discussion there.  If you want to call in and leave a voicemail (that may be played on the air) call the Royalman Hotline at 1-816-394-9578.

We’ll be back next week live at 7 p.m. central time for more Royals discussion.

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Madness.  Cats and dogs living together.

So they went 3-3 on the week, scoring 33 runs and allowing 32.  Considering how they started the week, I’d have never guessed that would be the result.  The Royals got good performances by a few hitters and good enough performances from their starters in the process.  How good?  Check out the numbers below:

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Turns out, it was just what the Royals needed.

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Think of the walkoff hit that brought the Royals within a game of first place.  Think about that rookie pitcher picking up his second win.

Think of last Thursday, when the Royals were 12-7.  After a three game sweep at the hands of the Rangers, the Royals dropped the second of a three game series to the Indians.

That’s bad enough, but they weren’t even in this one from the start.

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Time, you would think, is on the side of the Royals because the 2011 season isn’t happening anyway. It doesn’t count. I’m not sure if anyone got the notice in the off season, but MLB officials released a statement that all 2011 games, while they would be played, didn’t matter and would not be counted in the history books. The Royals, and more importantly the Mission 2012 subscribers, were overjoyed to hear the news of the season being deemed irrelevant, that they have decided that losing games and playing far-below replacement level players isn’t that big of a deal. Why? Because 2011 doesn’t matter anyway, that’s why.

We’ll start with the easy, surface level stats. They’re eye-popping. They’re extraordinary.

Through 92 plate appearances Chris Getz has 18 hits. Not that good.

Through 92 plate appearances Chris Getz has 10 walks. Okay, we can do something with that, at least.

Through 92 plate appearances Chris Getz has two extra base hits. Two. Extra. Base. Hits. (more…)

It was a bit of a different story this week.

In two series, the Royals went 2-5, including their first series loss, a three game sweep at the hands of the Rangers.

Some of the breaks the Royals got in the first two weeks weren’t happening this week, but it wasn’t all bad.  Alex Gordon and Jeff Francoeur extended hitting streaks, Mike Aviles and Kila Ka’aihue woke up (a bit) after early struggles.  And Kyle Davies – dare I say it – looked like a real major league starter.

But 2-5 is still 2-5 and excepting a walk-off win on Thursday, they could have come away with just one win.  We’ll see why after looking at the numbers:

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Despite scoring five runs in the last three innings, they dug a hole that was too deep to climb out of, allowing six runs in an ugly fifth inning that sent ten Rangers to the plate.

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Backed up by some great defense and working out of a couple of jams, O’Sullivan went five innings, shutting out a feeble Mariners offense.  The bullpen combo of Tim Collins, Jeremy Jeffress and Aaron Crow came in for the final four innings, striking out six and maintaining the shutout.

The Royals have now won four in a row and are 10-4.

Today, there were a lot of heroes:

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He’s still sitting on an ugly 5-32 start, but he showed better at bats on Tuesday night, working a sacrifice fly and drawing a walk.  Baby steps.  Chris Getz and Wilson Betemit continued to produce, so Aviles may still have to scrap for at bats, but Kila Ka’aihue‘s struggles against lefties might mean more DH starts for Betemit or Aviles.  Today, he was a big part to their 10-5 win over the Twins.

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The Royals look to take another series in this young season, traveling to Target Field to take on the despised Minnesota Twins.  Is it me, or are the Twins kind of like the haughty, arrogant characters often played by Greg Kinnear or Ted McGinley (who, coincidentally played a pompous manager of the same Twins in Major League: Back to the Minors) in almost every film or television role they get?  They walk in with their pitchers who don’t walk people and hitters who move runners over and solid defense.

Pssh.  Twins.  I say bring ‘em on!

To be honest, I’m mildly terrified of this starting rotation.  I feel like it might fall apart at any moment, and a Twins series is usually when these things happen.  Hopefully, Jeff Francis can keep his momentum going and Kyle Davies can figure something out.

The Royals should have opportunities – Brian Duensing isn’t exactly a world-beater, and Francisco Liriano is having command issues.  The newfound approach at the plate could net the Royals more walks than they usually seem to get against the Twins and more baserunners means more scoring chances.  It’s just up to the Royals to come through.

Some solid pitching wouldn’t hurt either.

In the spirit of providing a balanced preview of the series, so my second-place-Royals-homerism doesn’t run rampant, Wally Fish, Senior Editor at Puckett’s Pond and I are collaborating on this preview.  He was my predecessor here at Kings of Kauffman, so he’s one of the good Twins fans.  (He grew up in Minnesota – let’s cut him a bit of slack.  But just a bit.)

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In this space last season, I would review the week for the Royals, trying to observe any kind of trends that might pop up as the year goes on.  With most games ending early on Sunday, it seems like the best time to cut things up, so look for this column Sunday nights.

The Royals jumped out to a hot start, winning 6 of 9 games, including three in walkoff fashion and another in their last at bat.  If not for a Joakim Soria blown save on Wednesday, they would have went 7-2.  As it stands, they’re tied in the AL Central with the White Sox for second place.  They both trail … the Indians.

Yeah, weird week.

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Mike Aviles makes the play. (Minda Haas)

I’ll confess that I’m a big booster for Mike Aviles, Kila Ka’aihue, Alex Gordon, and all the other guys that have toiled in Omaha when they likely could’ve warranted a roster spot in Kansas City. With the likes of Rick Ankiel, Jose Guillen, and Yuniesky Betancourt spending time on past Royals rosters, it’s been hard for me to watch the younger guys get shoved down to AAA. I think many other fans can agree with me.

So, it was fun to see those guys get a shot in the second half of last season. Even though they didn’t completely succeed as much as I had hoped, it was still nice to get them time in the starting lineup.

Aviles was one of the Royals that finished 2010 with an extremely hot streak. Through September and October, he hit .333/.364/.568 with 13 extra-base hits in 27 games. Even though his BABIP over that streak was way over average, it’s still an impressive performance. And, as always, people started to hope it would carry over to the next season.

Well, as of six games into the season, it hasn’t.

But why?
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While I’m sad to see that college basketball is on it’s way out, I think that the trade of Bill Raftery’s voice for Denny Mathews’ play-by-play is one we can all appreciate. I love me some Denny and I’m sick of hearing Bill.

As the season began I was running spring training results over in my head, thinking of all the things that happened. There was Melky’s surprising consistency (keep it up and boost that trade value), Hosmer’s short, yet solid performance in his first big league spring training, and even the (fashionably) late appearance of Alex Gordon‘s bat.

All of these things are great, but something that interested me (and others I’m sure, it wasn’t exactly a secret) was the furious clip at which the Royals stole bases. In spring training they stole 55 bases in 75 attempts, giving them a 73% success rate. All of this was in 30 games. Now, I know it’s spring training and managers are having players try new things, show more aggression at the plate/on the basepaths, etc. I still don’t think that means we shouldn’t note that if the Royals could keep up the same rate of basestealing they’ve showed us in the spring, by the end of the regular season they’ll have stolen 297 bases giving them 1.83 stolen bases a game. (more…)

Photo Courtesy of Minda Haas

Someday I’m going to have to own-up to the fact that I’m an Opening Day vagabond. After growing up in a state with zero major sports teams, switching my allegiance after the age of 30, and moving around the country – somehow the biggest baseball fan I know (me) has never been to an opening day game in his life.

My best opportunities have come over the past nine years after settling in Kansas City. Back in 2003, I still considered myself a Houston Astros fan, having worshipped Nolan Ryan as a kid, so I didn’t really even consider going to the Royals Opening Day festivities. I was still a bit naïve to the spectacle & was happy to catch a game or two on ESPN that day. Besides, the Royals were coming off a 62-100 record in 2002, so I don’t recall there being much buzz around the event. The Royals won that day, starting a two-year streak of Opening Day victories against the White Sox at home. The 2004 game was probably the most exciting in the club’s history & featured their only Opening Day walk off home-run. An incredible six-run rally in the bottom of the ninth in front of 41,575 people made me wish that I had been there in person instead of in my apartment.
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What will go overshadowed is a fantastic debut by Jeff Francis.

After the first two innings, Francis settled down, brushing off a Howie Kendrick homer to center in the first inning to go seven strong innings, walking none and wearing out the infield grass with grounder after grounder.

Robinson Tejeda and Joakim Soria added two scoreless while Soria got the win after Kila’s late-inning heroics.

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Treanor takes one for the team. (via David Holtzman on Twitter)

What a game, huh?

I watched Opening Day. Had I been in Kansas City, I would’ve gone. However, I had to settle for MLB.tv, which is fine for me.

I love Opening Day. It creates so many hopes while squashing so many others. It’s a truly decisive day for no other reason than it’s the first game of the year. Based on the fact that so many base so much on this initial game, though, I started thinking about judging the whole season through the eyes of this one game.

So, what would the 2011 season be like if it played out like Opening Day?
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They should play one game a year in suits. (vertilcalar.com)

I was in Baltimore for a conference this past weekend and beginning of the week, which left me with almost no internet access, so I’ve been trying to catch up with all of the Royals stories. There’s a surprisingly large number of them for this time of year, but one this morning caught my eye.

The Royals are interested in acquiring a young catcher.

Now, maybe this isn’t all that surprising. Many thought the Royals might sign another elderly catcher over the offseason to fill Jason Kendall‘s spot until he returned. I originally bought into this, but it soon seemed like that wasn’t the plan. With Brayan Pena, Luke May, and Manny Pina all either at the major league level or close enough to play, it didn’t seem that bringing in another catcher would be necessary. Still, here we are.

I was left shaking my head and asking “Why?” when I read the story.
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He’s one of the best hitters in the game, both for power and average, while playing a defensively-focused position, and doing it well.  With a career .293/.380/.514/.894 line and a 2010 Fielding Bible Award at second base on his resume, he’s a big piece of what the Philadelphia Phillies hope will be a world championship team.

That’s the hope.

The reality, however, is quite different.  Baseball greatness aside, Utley’s hurt and might be for some time.  Nobody really knows yet.  The words “knee” and “surgery” are floating around, so the timetable for recovery could be months, precious months the Phillies – who just won the Cliff Lee sweepstakes and lost top prospect Domonic Brown to hand surgery – can’t afford to be short-handed.

Will they be calling Dayton Moore about fan favorite Mike Aviles?

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*No pun intended, though it fits so, so well.

I touched on this subject a little bit last month, but with actual games going on now, I think I can look a little deeper into if aggressiveness on the basepaths will be a trend or if it’s something that’s just being looked at in spring.

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There isn’t a lot to extrapolate from one game, but hey, let’s give it a try anyway:

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With our powers combined, we have created an offensive lineup of the AL Central’s finest – with one exception.  We can’t come to a conclusion at third base.

That’s where you come in, so at the bottom of this post, you’ll have an opportunity to vote to help us out.

Originally, Wally Fish, lead writer at Puckett’s Pond and myself voted for Danny Valencia of the Twins.  Steve Kubitza of Deep Left Field and Zac Snyder (a contributor at Motor City Bengals and lead writer at SideLion Report, FanSided’s Detroit Lions blog) voted for Brandon Inge.  John Parent the lead at MCB, filled in for the Southside Showdown contingent (who are breaking in new staff)  and voted for Kansas City’s Wilson Betemit.
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Dayton Moore said it’s a “depth” move, citing injuries to Mike Aviles and Alex Gordon in the past that left the Royals short of infielders.  Personally, I hope that’s all it turns out to be.

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That is, if it weren’t absolutely terrifying.

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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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Mike Aviles is ready to prove his rookie season was no fluke

Last year, as you’ve probably heard by now, the Royals were second over-all in the Majors in team batting average, but ranked twentieth in runs scored. At the same time, the team dominated the basement of all pitching statistics (28th in quality starts, 29th in ERA, WHIP, and BAA).

In short, the Royals could hit the ball, they just couldn’t score, protect a lead, or defend very well.

The addition of defenders who can actually make plays like Alcides Escobar, and (I know, I know) Jeff Francoeur should help out a team that has had to suffer through the woeful defense of Yuniesky Betancourt, Jose Guillen and Alberto Callaspo. But our rotation, which will probably be one of the worst since 2005 when Jose Lima, a young Zack Greinke and Runelvys Hernandez combined to win 18 decisions out of 94 starts, isn’t going to do us any favors.

So again the slim chance of the Royals playing respectable baseball falls upon our offense. I’ve taken a look at our best offensive players who finished 2010 strong and could keep the momentum going into 2011.

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So, to help you look forward to what to expect this spring, I thought I could take a look at some of the battles being waged for a big league roster spot. There’s a lot to look at around the field. Austin already ran down the starting pitching situation and Mike looked at the small quarrel between Mitch Maier and Gregor Blanco, so I want to take a gander at the infield situation.

By position number, the catchers are up first:

Catchers:
Candidates: Brayan Pena, Luke May, Manny Pina, Jason Kendall (injured)

Admittedly, this likely isn’t much of a competition. Kendall should be out for the whole of Spring Training and likely part of the beginning of the season. They might rush him a bit to get him some plate appearances before the season starts, but I would hope not. I went over that situation a while back, though, so I want to just briefly talk about the other three guys.
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After a last place finish in the AL Central and a 67-95 record, the Royals had to have felt disappointment with their 2010 season.  Alex Gordon, once hailed as the next George Brett, spent half the year in Triple A learning the outfield.  Zack Greinke, 2009 Cy Young Award Winner, came back to earth.  David DeJesus, the face of the franchise, was having his best season yet and looked to be a solid trade chip in late July, except he tore a ligament in his thumb and was lost for the season a week before the deadline.

There was hope, though.  Former first-round picks Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer earned mid-season promotions and represented the organization in the All-Star Futures Game, starting at the infield corners for Team USA.  John Lamb cruised through two lower levels of the minors and landed in the upper echelon of left-handed pitching prospects.  Wil Myers, a product of an aggressive draft strategy by General Manager Dayton Moore in the last few years, tore up High A pitching as a teenager.  Altogether, the Royals may have had an awful 2010 at the major league level, but in the minor leagues, they were thriving.  The Northwest Arkansas Naturals, Double A affiliate of the Royals, won the Texas League Championship and were named Baseball America’s minor league team of the year, boasting blue chip prospects Mike Montgomery, Danny Duffy, Everett Teaford, Moustakas (until July), Hosmer (starting in July).  The performance of the minor league teams earned Kansas City wide praise and has them atop most publications’ prospect lists.

It’s all part of what Moore calls “The Process”.  What does that mean for the big league club in 2011?  Let’s examine:

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That could be a good thing, or it could be a bad thing.

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Also, the Royals signed Melky Cabrera.

They aren’t all blockbusters, folks.

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On top of that, Ned Yost was out and about and discussed a few things about 2011.
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When last we joined our Royal blue crusaders, we were examining the current 40 man roster and I was offering potential solutions to managing it.  The first installment focused on pitchers.  This installment features the position players.

Let’s dig in.
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But come on, we knew that would be the case going into 2010. I think I’m among the more optimistic (at times) Royals fans out there, and I never gave us much of a chance to compete this year. There was an outside chance we might finish third in the division, but not much more than that. In our season preview on Kings of Kauffman back in April, Wally predicted a 68-94 finish, I predicted a 75-87 finish and Jon Twibell predicted the Royals to finish 67-95. So both Jon (who nailed it) and Wally (who was quite close) had a more realistic view going into the season.

And that’s fine. That’s what being a fan is, enjoying your team how you choose. I chose to hope for the best and the Royals let me down. I’m getting used to that.

Despite the poor record and another last place finish, there were bright spots. I’ll try to glance at a few of them now, and confine my focus to the major league roster, as the advancement of the minor leagues has been discussed enough for now (though I still enjoy it every time).
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As all fans do, I have some preferences for who we should keep on the big league roster, and who we should jettison as we look toward next season: (more…)

As the trading deadline loomed, the Royals had already traded Alberto Callaspo, and added to the shuffling by trading Scott Podsednik, then at the last moment, announcing a trade of Kyle Farnsworth and Rick Ankiel.

Salvaging three games while moving some dead weight off the roster (and getting some intriguing prospects in return) — that’s not a bad week (just, er, ignore that Twins series…)

Oh, and Dayton Moore graduated the first member of his draft classes to the big leagues.
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