Is Joakim Soria on the Trade Block? (AP Photo)

You’ve probably heard the news that some teams have inquired about the availability of Joakim Soria.  Most recently, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox have expressed an interest, there are rumors about the Angels, and there may be others we don’t know about.  It’s obvious the Royals are shopping him around and if you’re like me, you’re both excited and highly concerned about what the Royals might receive in return for him if they pull the trigger on a trade.

While Soria is not yet a candidate for the Hall of Fame, he is arguably one of the top ten Rule 5 draft picks of all-time, he owns career marks of 2.40 ERA / 181 ERA+, 9.7 K/9, 1.043 WHIP (these numbers aren’t from his best season, I’m talking about his entire five year major league career), he averages 37 saves per season, he is a two time All-Star and his name has appeared on Cy Young and MVP ballots.  In other words, he’s pretty stinkin’ good.  Would the Royals seriously consider trading a young, successful pitcher whose best days may still be ahead of him?  Believe it or not, there is precedent for the Royals to do just that. (more…)

It’s not terribly uncommon for a high-level prospect such as Moustakas to come up to the major leagues and immediately struggle. In fact, it is quite normal. There are far more Matt Wieters out there than Evan Longorias, or to relate it to the Royals, there are far more Alex Gordons than Eric Hosmers. Highly touted prospects don’t always catch on right away for a variety of reasons. Managers and general managers know there is a learning curve that young players have to go through and most reasonable fans understand this—if you’re a Royals fan, you’ve come to expect it.

However, it’s not Moustakas hitting .198/.262/.252 entering Wednesday night’s contest that bothers me. It’s the fact that he has been able to accumulate those abysmal stats in yet another lost season, while the Royals best trade-bait, Wilson Betemit, had his rear end firmly planted on the bench.

**The Royals traded Betemit before Wednesday night’s game against the White Sox to the Detroit Tigers for two guys who, by early expert accounts, have slim chances of making it to the big leagues—otherwise known as left-handed pitcher Antonio Cruz and catcher, Julio Rodriguez. ESPN’s scouting expert, Keith Law, referred to their value as “Two warm bodies.” That tells you all you need to know.**

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Photo by Carlos Osorio/Toronto Star

Most of the rank and file Royals fans have reacted with resigned disgust. There’s a terrible feeling of having seen this before. To many, this trade seems like another Johnny Damon or Carlos Beltran experience where our most beloved player got wrenched away from us for a nothing more than a handful of magic beans. But as most of the blog-reading public knows, there was really no way of keeping Greinke around for long.

The Royals and the fans will miss Greinke immensely. He gave us four amazing years after he came back from a mental breakdown and brought home the AL Cy Young after an putting up an amazing 2.16 ERA in the 2009 season. He was adored by the fans, put butts in the seats and made every 5th game a must-see event.

Then Greinke started to show his doubts about the team’s direction, stopped putting in 100 percent on the mound and publicly demanded a trade. I guess I can’t blame the guy for wanting to win and being tired of sitting through losing season after losing season, but I can blame him for giving up on his team.

Through May and April of last year, Greinke stayed on line with his previous campaign and posted a 3.33 ERA, but as the team fell out of contention his monthly ERA steadily rose until it topped out at 5.92 in September.

By the end of the year, his talk matched his play and the pitcher who said, “I don’t want to play anywhere else,” only a year before looked like he would rather be playing anywhere but Kansas City.

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