At that point in his career Getz had a .254/.315/.307 line that would suggest he should be little more than a back-up, if a back-up at all. With just 46 extra-base hits total (!) in those plate appearances, a rather overrated glove at second base, and an inability to play any other position on the diamond, it isn’t as if Getz brought some extreme trait to the table that suggested he should remain an option.

Yuniesky Betancourt entered the 2012 season with 3,641 plate appearances (3,446 at-bats), and a .268/.291/.391, an average of 40 extra-base hits per year, and an 82 OPS+. His defense was atrocious, his base running was bad, and on top of it all he was being asked to play other positions, something he had never done.

In each of those players the Royals saw potential, saw the possibility of improvement, or at the very least stability at a position the organization has been weak at* for a number of years.

*Well, one of the many.

Entering the 2012 season Johnny Giavotella had 187 plate appearances, or just 178 at-bats. He was called up on August 5^th for a game in Detroit after having a terrific year in Triple-A posting a .330/.391/.438 line with 9 homeruns and 34 doubles. He was always a tad suspect with the glove, but what he could do was hit, hit for some power, and get on base. All of those things that neither Getz nor Betancourt had proven capable of to that point in their careers.

What Giavotella didn’t do though in his first 46 games of his career in 2011, or in Spring Training 2012*, is hit the ground running.

*It is still one of the more ridiculous notions in baseball that a good or bad Spring Training can either win or lose a position battle.

By the time he got his chance again in 2012, fans and the organization had already written Giavotella off as a failure in a big league uniform. Of course, he didn’t help matters much when he finally did get his chance again and in 21 games  (71 plate appearances) went .210/.260/.261 from May 9^th to June 10^th. Then after being recalled on Aug 18^th and going .250/.276/.330 in the seasons final 32 games, that seemingly was all she wrote for the career of Johnny Giavotella.  The Royals signed Miguel Tejada for the role as the “veteran backup”, Chris Getz is still “mistake free” and this year might actually hit a homerun, and Giavotella is the guy that just can’t make it in the major leagues.

Except, there’s that whole “1,000 at-bats” thing.

Dayton Moore has made a habit of using that phrase as his benchmark for how long it takes a player to fully establish who he is, and what he will be as an every day player. Chris Getz was at that mark before 2012 and couldn’t do enough wrong to be removed from contention as the starting second baseman despite having just 46 extra-base hits. Yuniesky Betancourt was at that mark during the 2007 season, had already established himself as one of the worst position players in baseball, and the Royals had just acquired him for the second time.

In a recent interview with Sports Radio 810, while Moore was talking about Giavotella and praising him for what he could be, he interrupted his thought to make sure he mentioned Chris Getz and how much he’s going to continue to improve. The question had nothing to do with Getz. He then went on to say: “We know it (takes) 2-4 years of playing every day at the major league level to become a consistent producer.”

If an organization doesn’t think a player is talented enough to get the job done, for one reason or another, that’s one thing. It’s something completely different to continue to prop up that player who has proven to be mediocre-at-best performer by using some arbitrary measure, and then not apply that same measure to develop another player who has a greater history for success.

Johnny Giavotella may not ever amount to much in a Royals uniform. He may not ever amount to much in any big league uniform. But, he was a second round pick that did nothing but produce in the minor leagues, and is 600 at-bats away from the mythical proving ground that is 1,000. And yet he’s the one that still has so much to prove.

It’s quite the double standard.

Better times. Photo Credit: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE

Betancourt was signed in the offseason to be a sort of utility player and a right-handed hitting option. The Royals said he’d only play a couple days a week to spell infielders, but after an injury to Chris Getz and with the Royals suspect of Johnny Giavotella‘s abilities, he started through most of June and July.

The Royals cited an unwillingness to accept his role, which had diminished with Chris Getz playing adequate baseball and left Betancourt on the bench more often. Nevermind that his WAR ranked him among the least valuable players in baseball.

That leaves the Royals with Chris Getz assuming the everyday second baseman job right now, and he’s running with it. He’s doing just what he needs to do, and that’s be okay. He’s hitting alright. He’s fielding alright. He’s not hurting anything. He’s the equivalent of oatmeal for breakfast. Sure you’d like the stack of pancakes, the bacon and eggs, but oatmeal, well, it’ll hold you over. My gut is to be upset about his playing time, but he’s effectively inert right now, and given the struggles of other players, Getz doesn’t deserve my complaints.

Now, it’s a waiting game to see when (if?) the Royals will call up Johnny Giavotella. Yes, he’s struggled in the majors so far, but the Royals haven’t committed much energy to finding out if their second round pick from 2008 can adjust and learn at the major league level. Maybe he never pans out, but what do they have to lose right now in the middle of August? I think that if they can give Betancourt TWO stints in Kansas City and can stick with Getz through the first mediocre 700 plate appearances of his Royals career, then they can at least let Giavotella have more than 260 to show that he might be able to handle the job.

Regardless, our best wishes to Betancourt. We’ll always remember the magic grand slam season of 2010, the sideways one-handed popup flubs and the statement “plus hands and plus hands“.

Prior to the recent trading deadline, conventional wisdom indicated the Royals were seeking major league ready starting pitching to help their struggling staff.  The Royals possess the trading chips that could have secured a big name such as the Cub’s #1, Matt Garza, but they were unwilling to part with them.  When all you’re offering is Yuniesky Betancourt, Jeff Francoeur, Jonathan Broxton, and/or Jose Mijares, you aren’t going to get much in return.

This lack of movement provides us with a clue that it’s unlikely the Royals plan to open up the prospect vault and trade any of their blue chip minor leaguers anytime soon.  This leaves us with the hope that one of the Royals promising pitchers on the farm will suddenly develop into a superstar, which is not likely anytime soon, or maybe, just maybe David Glass might finally consider writing a check during free agency for a legitimate arm to lead the club.

Based on experience, I realize it’s unlikely the Royals will pursue any truly big names, other than the slight possibility that they might go after Greinke.  However, there will be a few “affordable” pitchers available in the coming free agency period who I think the Royals should consider next off season.  I’ll give you my short list showing the current status of these pitchers, and with the exception of Greinke and possibly Jackson, I don’t think the Glass family can make the excuse that any of these guys are too expensive.  Any one (or better yet – two) of these players could provide a positive impact for the club in 2013.

Zack Greinke                   LAA      28 yrs    $13,000,000     9-4 W/L           3.61 era

Brandon McCarthy         OAK     29 yrs   $4,275,000        6-3 W/L             2.54 era

Anibal Sanchez             DET      28 yrs   $8,000,000        6-8 W/L             3.99 era

Edwin Jackson              WSN     28 yrs   $11,000,000      7-7 W/L            3.57 era

Colby Lewis                  TXR      33 yrs   $3,250,000        6-6 W/L             3.43 era

Shaun Marcum              MIN      30 yrs   $7,725,000        5-3 W/L             3.39 era

Joe Saunders                ARI       31 yrs   $6,000,000        5-7 W/L             3.62 era

Almost every one of these athletes carries some type of baggage.  Greinke has his famous personality disorder, Brandon McCarthy has experienced shoulder problems, Colby Lewis is out for the season, etc., etc.  But I’m still confident any one of these players would represent a significant upgrade for the Royals staff.  (I realize that isn’t saying much.)

Now that the race for the pennant is over, at least for the Royals, we need some new story lines to keep us interested.  The decisions regarding who will play a role in the Royals starting rotation in 2013 is destined to be one of the most interesting story lines and probably the issue that will either make or break the team next year.

On today’s episode, I talked with host John Ackeren about the Royals, their recent moves, who’s on the hot seat, as well as some of the minor league talent still making its way up the pipeline. Also on the show are Michael Castillo of our USC site Reign of Troy and Josh Lobdell of Detroit Jock City.

FanSided Radio is geared towards you, the sports fanatic. We bring you the shows and content you are looking for in sports podcasts. FanSided Radio is your way to listen to great sports talk, whenever you want to listen!

There were still those, though, that didn’t quite believe. There were holes in the offense – poor plate discipline out of key figures; still very little power; terrible base running – and relying on young pitching usually brings more headaches than high fives. No matter the amount of negatives however, the amount of positives coming from both a good September, 2011 record, and a great spring for a number of players, left just enough positive vibes to make fans and columnists anoint this season as the completion of some kind of “mission”.

Except, this is the Royals, and #Royaling is what they do.

It’s fallen apart. A house of cards built on intangibles and indefinable buzzwords like “the right way” and “process” has once again turned back into a pumpkin; back into a bumbling laughing stock worthy of the late night shows. Only this time, because this narrative is too old, too worn, too used, not even the good late night shows will have a run at it.

Before the season began the Royals signed Yuniesky Betancourt. A player that has been so bad throughout his major league career that writers have called him – not the lowly “bloggers” everyone loves to loathe – the worst everyday player in baseball. A player that, just a year ago, the Royals themselves knew just how bad, how below average, how much of a drain he was on their lineup because of his shear tonnage of outs created, the sieve he was on defense with his incredible lack of range in the infield, because he played for them. He played for them, and played poorly enough to amass a mere 0.9 fWAR, while playing in 151 games.

But that didn’t matter. Why? Because when the Royals signed Betancourt before the spring of 2012, they did so with the “intention” that he would be a backup. A backup, for multiple infield positions of which he had either rarely or never played, making $2 million on a team strapped for cash.* He was signed as a guy that could bring some right-handed pop to the lineup out of a backup role, and he was a good fit in the clubhouse. No, seriously, that’s the exact quote.

*We know the Royals are strapped for cash because they never stop telling everyone how strapped for cash they are.

Flash-forward to yesterday and Betancourt is no longer on the team. Designated For Assignment, relieving the fans from having to watch his uninterested, mediocrely-talented demeanor on the field in a Royals uniform again. But for all the good that comes of Betancourt being released comes the same red flags that have been surrounding the organization for the past six seasons, and beyond.

There’s speak of a process, a method of evaluation and determination that would set the Royals apart from all the other small-market-excuses of a mess of the past three decades. But as the Mission comes to an end, there’s seemingly little difference of this season from the last, or the many before it. And if you’re of the opinion that there’s an end in sight, a true end in sight, then the writing on the walls just isn’t the right shade of glowing neon for you to see.

As the goalposts continue to get moved further and further down the line of success, more and more head scratching moves of wasted money and market missteps continue.

Jose Mijares, a talented (at least somewhat), and presumably useful left-handed bullpen piece having a good season on an incredibly affordable contract, was placed on waivers and claimed by the San Francisco Giants. At the time of posting this, the details of the transaction are not fully known, but it appears the Royals gave Mijares away for nothing. There could always (and usually are) things that no one in the general public knows, but for the purpose of the Royals, for the purpose of how things have been both this season and the five before it, what reason would anyone have for giving the Royals the benefit of the doubt this time?

There’s talk of trying to “change the culture”. It’s a nice, cute thing to say. In any normal circumstance, in any other organization, a phrase like that could (and possibly should) be taken seriously. But this is year six of this regime’s run with changing the culture of losing, why is it still around at all?

Eli’s coming. Something is brewing – or at least, that’s how it seems at the moment – with the Royals. And if change is truly coming, some sort of alteration of the culture, then fans may yet have hope that the light actually is somewhere at this end of the tunnel.

But for six years-to-two-decades Royals fans have been promised change and continually get handed pennies in exchange. Let’s hope this time, for once, it’s actually meaningful.

The Good

Since returning from the DL, Lorenzo Cain has hit .325/.372/.506 with 4 stolen bases and played a pretty good defensive outfield at multiple positions. Not too shabby.

Given Cain’s swing and approach at the plate, his overall numbers probably won’t reflect this kind of production over the long term, but at the very least he seems to be the kind of player that can be penned into in the lineup somewhere in the foreseeable future.

Cain’s inclusion into the lineup has shown how much he was missed over the two months he was away. Jeff Francoeur has struggled (even by Jeff Francoeur standards) and being able to give him a day off to save the lineup for his almost certain four outs with Cain’s bat and base running would have been a welcomed addition.

Moving forward the question is, and always will be, if he can stay healthy. Health being one of the hardest player attributes to evaluate and predict we may never know how many games he’ll be able to play in a year without breaking down. But for the time being, Cain looks like an athletic, above-average-to-better defender that’s going to provide the lineup with some much-needed production for next season.

The Bad

This horse was beaten long, long ago. But if there weren’t enough question marks already about Dayton Moore and his ability to put together a 25-man, major league roster, there should be now. And no one should be able to argue otherwise.

Things don’t look to get much better before they get worse, and moves like the Betancourt signing and the trade for Humberto Quintero are at the forefront as why.

Perhaps a trade of one of the team’s better players is what’s needed. Perhaps either Billy Butler or Alex Gordon needs to be shopped in the offseason. Perhaps.

Let’s just not forget that the two best players on the team, those two, are also two that are leftovers from the previous regime that supposedly caused all this losing culture to begin with.

The Upcoming

The Royals hit the road with three games against the White Sox and four against the Orioles. A seven game stretch that, even if the team was playing well, would be tough. At the very least, fans get to see Camden Yards.

Following a sweep-saving, extra-innings win by the Royals over the Rangers witnessed by the Royalmen from a Kauffman Stadium suite, we talked about Ned Yost’s ultamatum and the DFA’ing of Yuniesky Betancourt and the firing of Doug Sisson. Seems that the entire team is fixed now, right? Might’ve been a bit of sarcasm there. Regardless, we talked about it all and caught up with the rest of the minor leagues and reset several other storylines around the team.

Don’t forget the Royalman Report is on every Sunday at 7 and catch our new show, The Kansas City Baseball Vault on ESPN 1510 AM Thursday’s at 6.

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The Royalman Report is hosted by Troy “Royalman” Olsen with co-host Michael Engel and features Chris “Fake Ned Yost” Kamler and 610 Sports blogger Jeff Herr and airs  live Sundays at 7 p.m. central time at RoyalmanReport.com as well as on Livestream.com/RoyalmanReport.

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Thus ends a notorious period of questionable defense, low on base percentages and general scorn from fans. Betancourt was signed this offseason to a $2 million contract for 2012 with the goal of using him as a utility player.

To fill his spot, the Royals called up Tony Abreu, who played shortstop mostly in Omaha. He’s hitting .322/.347/.492 as a Storm Chaser in 453 plate appearances.

After the game, Ned Yost said that Betancourt was wanting more playing time and his attitude wasn’t fitting in the locker room.

Jul 4, 2012; Toronto, ON, Canada; Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost (3) looks on from the dugout against the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-US PRESSWIRE

I use to have this football coach who was a little bit kooky, a little bit nutty in a down-home-Midwest-drill sergeant kind of way.  He had a flattop haircut decades after that was something people were still doing. He use to pad up and play scout team quarterback with us, which felt odd even at the time. He also had these incredible sayings that kind of made no sense. The one that’s sticking in my mind at this moment is “If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got.”

It seems true enough even if it’s completely false. Sometimes, you can in fact just keep doing what you’ve always done with differing results because the circumstances surrounding that action change. For example, a large group of people in New York continued to back mortgage futures into the mid 2000s, at first making billions of dollars and then losing billions of dollars when the housing bubble burst. Same doings, differing results.

That said, I think it might help Ned Yost to learn my old, zany coach’s lesson a little bit. Recently, he made a statement to Bob Dutton, my favorite beat writer of all time, that Dutton put in an article about Yost’s “steady as she goes” approach to losing many baseball games: “You don’t do crazy stuff that you wouldn’t do if you were winning ballgames. You try to stay as even-keeled as you can. You stay positive. You keep working. We don’t change anything.”

I read this, and immediately, the voice of my old coach popped into my head, “If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got.” Yes! Of course! When you experience sustained losing, you must change something or you will continue to lose. That seems like the most basic sports principle of all time, and yet, it alludes Yost. The principle behind Yost’s philosophy, I’m guessing, is to not be overly swayed by small sample sizes. Statisticians know the perils of this. But the Royals are 41-60. They’ve lost 21 of their last 27. That’s not a small sample size. It’s in fact a very healthy sample size when the question is should something be changed? Abso-freaking-lutely something should be changed!

There is a point when patience becomes impotence, when faith in the ability of your guys is clearly misplaced. As Royals fans, we know where that faith is misplaced: Jeff Francoeur and Yuniesky Betancourt. Are the Royals a winning team, even with an optimal lineup of the organization’s best players (yes I used “organization” intentionally as our best second baseman and right fielder are currently in AAA)? Maybe, maybe not. But to consistently repeat an action, like playing two players who are not effective, and expecting changing results when the circumstances surrounding that action never really change is willful ignorance (Some call it insanity; too me, that’s a slight on the truly insane like myself and Donald Trump).

Is Yost stupid? I don’t know for sure, but I doubt it. I’m guessing he’s a decently smart baseball guy. He’s just not wise. He’s clearly not a big picture guy, and that’s just crazy when the biggest picture he should be concerned with is doing whatever it takes to win baseball games. It feels like he’s more concerned with getting players to play well. It would seem like these two things are connected, but they really aren’t. He needs to get the team to play well. Sometimes, that means changing the team so it doesn’t include dead weight. And yes, he needs Dayton Moore’s help to do this.

Moore showed some signs that he might be a little wiser than Yost. He made a change today, trading Jonathan Broxton for a couple of solid minor league arms. Kudos for Moore for taking a player who had some value to other teams but not really to the Royals and turning it into some value for the Royals. Now, he and Yost need to figure out how to do that with players inside their own organizations or both of them may learn what the brutal winds of change their so hesitant to bring about feel like when they’re sweeping them away.

And as the Royals fade into oblivion yet again, there are rumors (aren’t there always?) that Dayton Moore is in talks with just about every team, about every player, as the trade deadline approaches. Of course, with those rumors always comes the caveat that the Royals need to be compelled to trade any of their players.

Yeah, because as this roster is currently constructed, contention is imminent, and trading players would negatively affect the future.

Aside from the obvious reasons to not hang on to a mostly untalented roster, there’s a stiff breeze blowing from the south from a franchise that’s wide-open for trading business, and looks intent on sending everything packing that’s not bolted firmly to the floor.

Jeff Luhnow took over the Houston Astros’ GM position in December – leaving the Cardinals organization and being a major player in their rising success over the past few years – and immediately became the (new) jewel of the saber-community eye. He interviewed Keith Law. He hired Mike Fast.* He immediately started unloading his over-valued, over-priced players nearing the end of their contracts.

*An admitted Royals fan. Poor guy.

And as this season’s trade deadline is nearing, the Astros have traded their closer (ahem), their first baseman, their third baseman, and their best starting pitcher. What each deal brought in return doesn’t matter as much as the reasons for doing so.

The Astros are a bad team, and holding on to players who a) can easily be replaced by a minor leaguer (Chris Johnson) b) serve little purpose on a losing ball club (Brett Myers) or c) just aren’t that good anymore past their recognizable name, would be a huge mistake (Carlos Lee). Huge.

Granted, where the Astros are in their process of rebuilding is (presumably, at least in narrative) different than where the Royals currently are in theirs. But the correlation between each of those causes for trades with Houston and Luhnow serves as a stark reminder of the missteps so far with Dayton Moore during his regime, and ones that hopefully he’s not repeating as the clock ends the deadline tomorrow.

A)   Jeff Francoeur, Yuniesky Betancourt: two players currently on the roster that can, and most assuredly would, be more than adequately replaced by younger, cheaper players currently in Triple-A. Of course, at this point, another team would have to want either of these players, and there’s little reason to think any objective mind would care to have Francoeur wounded-giraffing his way around their outfield and swinging at everything that moves at the plate, or Betancourt Betancourting everywhere.

B)   Jonathan Broxton, or, Joakim Soria redux: the “closer” is a largely overrated role on a pitching staff anyway, but especially one on a regime that has yet to finish a season less than 10 games under .500. There’s no place for Broxton on this team anymore, given how bad that been over the past month-plus, and now would be the ideal time to find out if Aaron Crow, Greg Holland, Tim Collins, or Kelvin Herrera can step in to fill the role in order to prepare for next season.

C)   Jeff Francoeur, again: this one is just too easy.  Francoeur at this point in his career is quite possibly the worst everyday player in baseball. His negative 1.7 fWAR is the lowest in the major leagues, and there’s no amount of contrived leadership or naked batting practice that can make up for that. The contract offered to Francoeur was a mistake then, and remains a beacon for the reason teams should never pay for a player coming off a career year, before his positional market establishes. Dayton Moore beat the market to the punch when he signed Francoeur to his 2 year, $13MM deal, and the market punched back with a right-hook from hell.

If the Royals really wanted to be daring they would take this opportunity of over-valued relievers, and float the idea of a Broxton-plus package that consisted of both he and one of the other very cheap, and very young, bullpen arms.

Losing Holland, Collins, Herrera, or Crow could be a tough pill to swallow simply from a salary stand point, but there’s few other players currently on the roster that the Royals could flip in exchange for actual talent, and not have it be a major setback to the overall goal.

No matter the case, whether the Royals choose to be daring or practical as the final hours of the deadline approach, they cannot afford to stand-pat. Patience in The Process has been preached each year at this time, and because of that, moves that could have made a dramatic impact on the roster haven’t been done.

For this season, one in which more questions were raised than answers given, it would be nice if the Royals took a page out of the Houston playbook and made a concerted effort to trade everyone that doesn’t look to figure into the 2013 roster plans.

The Good

Well, um, there’s…well there’s…and there’s…

Billy Butler was named AL Player of the Week? Yeah, I guess that works. In his last 21 games Butler has been – well he’s been Billy Butler.

If it weren’t for Butler (.378/.440/.561 in his last 21 games) and Alex Gordon (.352/.406/.473 in his last 21 games) there would be little reason to watch the Royals on a nightly basis. Heck, probably even a weekly basis.

The Bad

Where’s a good place to start? The Royals have lost 21 of their last 27 games and the optimizing that was brewing at the start of June, has quickly faded back to the normal KC-fan despondence. The Twins, whom all Royals fans got pleasure in (finally) being able to mock to start the season, have climbed ahead of the Royals in the standings by slugging their way to victories despite missing Justin Morneau and Trevor Plouffe for a handful of games.

Yes, Buddy Bell was right.

Is there anything to look forward to? Heck, who knows? The quick answer would be “yes” because with each passing day the Royals are that much closer to calling up Wil Myers, but because that roster move has been inexplicably put-off for over a month now, it’s more likely that it won’t happen until September.

The Royals keep using the argument that a spot needs to be created for Myers before he can make his trek to Kansas City, but when the player he’s replacing is Jeff Francoeur, that would be like a TV network saying they just can’t find a place for the new Louis C.K. pilot because they already have ‘Whitney’ in that time slot. A change is a necessity, not a burden.

The Upcoming

The Royals next six games are against a Cleveland team that’s looking to unload some of its veteran, high-cost players, and a Texas team that’s likely to come into Kauffman Stadium and hit 27 homeruns in their three-game set.

So, a mid-summer home stand watching an (again) basement dwelling team on a massive losing stretch? That sounds super fun.

They’ve made it apparent that Jeff Francoeur, Yuniesky Betancourt, Jose Mijares and Jonathan Broxton are the key names available.

Now it’s a matter of turning those names into something of value. That’s the goal, right? Trade the veterans for other players, usually younger, and continue loading up during this rebuilding stretch.

But here’s where I’m worried. The Royals as an organization have shown that they can scout players and identify solid draft picks. They’ve loaded the farm system with talent and potential. They aren’t always good at evaluating the problems with players they currently have on the roster and I think it’s going to cloud their minds during the deadline.

Francoeur in a good moment. Photo Credit: Kelvin Kuo-US PRESSWIRE

Jeff Francoeur is a great guy. He’s active within the community, takes rookies out to dinner, shows them how to conduct themselves after the game and he’s almost always got a smile on his face. Unfortunately, those kinds of things aren’t so important that they add anything to the score during the game. Leadership only goes so far until it has to be supported by performance. Last year, he might have hacked at some bad pitches but he was hitting the ball. Sometimes they were choppers but often, those hits turned into doubles. Bad habits can be overlooked when a player is going good. And in 2011, Francoeur was going good.

But players don’t change their ways usually and performance leaks catch up. In Francoeur’s case, he looks lost at the plate, swinging at bad pitches, taking good ones, and hasn’t produced much of anything.

That hurts his trade value severely. He already carries a stigma that his leadership can’t overcome and his contract is a burden as well.

Now the Royals have to try to get something for him.

Betancourt has the same kind of issues. The Royals will talk about how he has right-handed pop, but even in the last two years when he’s reached double digit homers, his slugging percentage was barely around .400. Combine that with a reputation for bad defense and the same poor pitch selection as Francoeur and there’s a player who’s tough to trade off for a prospect.

The Royals say both are on the trade block, but both could just as easily be on the waiver wire this time next month with their lack of performance. What teams are going to give up value for that? There’s little point to trading anything of significance for players who could end up on the scrap heap in a few weeks. Either they’ll be essentially free or they won’t be of use to a contending team.

Where the Royals are most deluding themselves, though, is with their pursuit of a return for Jonathan Broxton.

Yes, he has 23 saves in 26 attempts this year, but teams aren’t blind.

While Broxton used to be the behemoth setup man and closer for the Dodgers, regular overuse by Joe Torre led to injury and he hasn’t been good since 2009. Now and then he can hit the upper 90s with his fastball, but he’s not the dominant force he used to be. His strikeout rate is nearly half of his career rate and it wasn’t much better last season. He’s always walked around 3.5 batters per nine innings, but he’s also much more hittable since his struggles in LA.

The Royals tell teams they want a young starting pitcher who’s ready to be in the big leagues for him.

Newsflash: Every team wants that player. Dayton Moore knows of this principle. In January 2011, bloggers at the Digital Digest asked him how he can claim to look for on base percentage players but how he doesn’t end up signing players who have that scouting profile. His answer was that the market created that challenge – that other teams wanted those kinds of players and you had to “take what you can get“.

Now, nobody can blame Moore for trying to see if a team will give up a pitcher who’s close to becoming a mainstay in the rotation, so if it’s a calculated approach to snag a bit more value, great. If they can pull it off. At a point, though, they’ll have to take what they can get, and if that’s a diamond in the rough, so be it.

It smacks of the same kind of tunnel vision Allard Baird had when trying to trade Carlos Beltran. He made it clear to everyone that he wanted a third baseman and a catcher. Nevermind if there might have been a solid outfielder who could have turned into a star. It didn’t fit the positions he was fixated on. There are rumors that Robinson Cano could have been had for Beltran, but he wasn’t a third baseman, so no dice.

In this case, Moore has to approach it as if it’s a draft. In the draft, you don’t draft for need unless you know the player is going to produce immediately. That’s a rare occurrence. Draft the best talent and you’re better off. In this case, if there’s any talent and it’s not the stated requirement of “MLB-ready young starter” then the Royals need to jump on it.

Betancourt and Broxton are on one-year deals. The Royals get nothing if they ride them out for the rest of the year. Betancourt isn’t going to return much at all but he’ll get something, some fringe minor leaguer who might turn into something. That’s enough. Francoeur’s contract would have to be absorbed to move him and again he might not get much, but they have to do it. Broxton’s most likely to move, but not if the Royals hold out for that pitcher. They’ll either end up with something subpar, like a Vin Mazzaro, or they’ll end up with nothing.

They’re treating Broxton as if his 23/26 saves mean something. It’s not often that pitchers with a 1.402 WHIP are treated as hot commodities. Teams know the numbers. They’ve seen how often he puts a runner on to lead off the inning (40% of the time). They know he’s put the tying or lead run on base 16 different games in 31 games where he’d entered with the lead. Would any other GM want that for their closer? Nevermind that most of the contending teams have a closer already or options who are in the same class as Broxton.

Sooner or later, Broxton’s tendency to let runners on will catch up to him and teams don’t want it to be during a meaningful game. If they have to settle on some A-ball prospect, they have to make the trade.

Moving Francoeur and Betancourt have the added benefit that whatever you get for them almost doesn’t match the benefit of simply taking their combined .277 on base percentage out of the lineup (which is just the same as saying they make an out in 72.3% of their plate appearances) and injecting Wil Myers and Irving Falu or Johnny Giavotella (who’s hitting .402 this month and has a 21 game hitting streak for Omaha) into the lineup.

It’s time to recognize that some dead weight needs to be cut and some pieces need to be moved for whatever’s out there. The Royals have the bullpen reinforcements to absorb Mijares or Broxton leaving and Myers can’t be much worse than Francoeur at this point. I’d take the opportunity to go with a full youth movement and bring up Jake Odorizzi and Mike Montgomery just to get what you can out of them. See what they can do. Let them learn at this level and see who rises to the challenge. Heck, start them in the bullpen even. Manage their appearances as best you can to build them up slowly the rest of the year. Try something a bit different – the current way isn’t working.

But that won’t happen. Dayton will sit on Broxton and say later that the right match didn’t materialize, when he was focused on what he had to have and not what he could have. Frenchy’s leadership will be valued over his performance and Betancourt – well I really don’t understand Moore’s obsession with Betancourt. Moore has acquired him twice – on purpose – and nobody’s going to confuse Betancourt for a good baseball player. There’s still time for Falu or Giavotella to learn to become one.

It’s a tough game, and only one team is happy at the end of the year, but the Royals have to position themselves better just to avoid being the most miserable. It’s time to make some moves. Maybe it’s just being impatient, maybe it’s frustration. Yeah, the pitching is a problem and the Royals have to address it this offseason (and get something at the deadline if they can), but that doesn’t mean they can’t fix the other problems on the roster and in their approach to building it.

Alcides Escobar is one of the Royals most exciting players in 2012 (Credit: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE)

I got the idea for this story while watching Alcides Escobar jolt two no-doubt home runs in the same game while batting from his new home in the two-hole on Saturday, July 14 during a 6-3 Royals victory over the first place White Sox.  By the end of the game, Escobar was batting .311 and was surprising all of us with his ability to hit for power and average.

Think about how excited the clubhouse gets when Moustakas belts a home run.  They meet him at the top of the dugout steps, they high five and chest bump each other.  Now, think about what would happen if Chris Getz ever hits another of his “every blue moon” dingers.  (Getz hasn’t had a home run in any park – major or minor league – since 2009 during his stint with the White Sox.)  The team would meet him at home plate, they would pick him up and carry him back to the bench.  They would drown him in Gatorade.  Why?  Because it wasn’t expected.  When a player exceeds your expectations, it truly makes the game a thrill to watch.

Alcides Escobar came to us in the Zack Greinke trade.  Milwaukee packaged him with Jake Odorizzi, Lorenzo Cain, and Jeremy Jeffress to get our former Cy Young pitcher.  In addition to Greinke, the Royals tossed Yuniesky “Boomerang” Betancourt into the deal as well for good measure.  Unfortunately, Yuni didn’t stick, and he came back to us again this year.

The players the Brewers traded to the Royals were the best prospects they had to offer.  Lorenzo Cain would have been the Brewers starting Centerfielder, Jake Odorizzi is considered to be a future solid contributor from the starting rotation, and Jeremy Jeffress is a former 1^st round pick who is still developing.

Alcides had also garnered some significant accolades, particularly for his defense.  Beginning his career as an Amateur Free agent in 2003, he’s always hit for average in the minors (.293 career over 6 seasons), but his bat has consistently been overshadowed by his glove, and as we all know, offensive prowess doesn’t always translate as well from the minors to the big leagues the way defensive ability does.

Alcides Escobar demonstrates his superb defensive skills. (Credit: David Richard-US PRESSWIRE)

Prior to assuming regular duty with the Brewers in 2010, Escobar was ranked as the #1 prospect in the Brewers system by Baseball America, and Sports Illustrated claimed he was the 17^th most promising prospect in all of baseball saying, “Escobar has the arm, infield actions, hands and range to win Gold Gloves at shortstop. He makes the routine plays and the tough ones, too. Plus, he has speed that impacts the game offensively, and his swing’s not so bad either.”  Saying his swing is “not so bad” isn’t exactly the greatest compliment, but there is no doubt that everyone recognized Escobar’s dynamic defensive potential.

Escobar struggled somewhat in his first full season in the majors with the Brewers.  He hit a light .235 (which unfortunately is still a few points above the “Hosmer line”) and experienced some difficulties defensively too.  He committed the 3^rd most errors of all National League shortstops, and had the unfortunate luck to mishandle the ball with incredibly bad timing.  Brewers fans claimed Escobar suffered from a “lack of focus” and had a habit of committing costly errors at exactly the wrong time.  This disappointing performance may have been why the Brewers were willing to include Escobar in the trade.  Lucky us.

After the Greinke trade, the only note MLB.com included about Alcides in their story was that he had “the tools to be an extremely exciting defensive player” but he struggles at the plate.  ESPN said almost exactly the same thing.

So, what did we think we were getting when Alcides Escobar trotted out to man the left side of second base to begin the 2011 season?  We thought we were getting a light hitting defensive whiz who needed to work on his concentration and focus to be successful at the major league level.  And in 2011, that’s exactly what we got – a .254 batting average, 4 home runs, and 15 errors, but he was at least as good or a little bit better in almost all areas over his previous season.   So, we were pleasantly surprised as his performance mildly exceeded our expectations.

To begin 2012, I believe most of us were expecting another similar season out of Esky.  We expected him to play strong defense, and to hold his own on offense, but we didn’t think he could be a game changer or even a player that we could count on for a key hit.  Escobar has met our defensive expectations with some of the most exciting infield defense most of us have ever witnessed, but on offense…  he’s surpassed our wildest expectations.

If you think Alcides Escobar can't hurt you with his bat, you are mistaken. (Credit: Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE)

Think back to last March as we were contemplating the season opener.  What would you have predicted about Alcides Escobar?  Would you have ever dreamed he would be mentioned in the same breath as Derek Jeter on offense?  Jeter and Escobar have been jousting for the league lead in batting average among shortstops.  Jeter has 7 home runs, Esky has 4.  Jeter has 27 RBI, Escobar has 29.  Escobar has far, far better range and defensive skills than the always dependable but long-in-the-tooth Jeter, making plays on balls that Derek would only waive at.  And Escobar is providing this production for the Royals at a $15 million discount over what Jeter is charging the Yankees.  Stunning, but true.

A few nights ago, Brad Brickell tweeted (@BradBrick) that the Royals win the Greinke trade on Escobar alone, and I agree with him, at least to this point.  Greinke is a great pitcher, and I’d love to have him back again when he hits free agency later this year.  But up to this point, I think it’s clear that Alcides has easily exceeded our expectations, and he’s a key factor in our bright hopes for the future.  Hopefully, all baseball fans will realize this when they’re voting for the All Star players in 2013.

Jun 27, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of Kauffman Stadium during the game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Kansas City Royals. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE

Tuesday night, when the Royals laid a beating on the Rays 8-2, I had an opportunity to hang out in the Fox Sports Kansas City suite at Kauffman to watch the game. To give you a sense of how unique this opportunity is for someone like me, let me state that I’ve spent many a night sleeping on the floor. I’m a person of the floor, both figuratively and literally.

I was granted the opportunity by Geoffrey Goldman of Fox Sports to check out the new version of Game Connect they’ve launched—to be clear he invited Michael Engel who couldn’t go so I called dibs. Until very recently, I hadn’t heard of Game Connect but apparently it’s a free supplemental program run through the Fox Sports Kansas City website that allows fans to get a TON of extra cool information while watching the game.

Walking in I saw a group of guys huddled around their lab tops about 10 minutes prior to the first pitch. Craig Brown of Royals Review and Bill Ivie from I-70 Baseball were talking about something Royals related with a few guys from Fox Sports. Game Connect sat on each of their screens and they talked about all the information that it provides.

Real quickly, I’ll give you the four things I like most about Game Connect:

1)   Pitch count tracker – One of the things that bothers me about the TV broadcast is that there is no permanent pitch counter. Game Connect has a pitch counter AND stats on how many pitches a pitcher throws on average per outing. It comes in the form of a gas gage that lets you know when the pitcher is ‘gassed’.

2)   Great stats – Almost anything you could want to know about a given moment statistically in on Game Connect. It gives numbers on a given pitcher-hitter matchup. It gives different splits. It gives clutch-hitting stats. It gives player salaries … which blew my mind and I love.

3)   Game talk – Game Connect has a feature called “Game Talk.” Using fancy-dancy computer stuff that I don’t understand, all the tweets that have something to do with the game, either team, any of the players, and so on come up in a feed so you can read what people are tweeting about the game. It’s awesome. It’s like watching the game with the planet, including fans of the other team.

4)   Usability – I’m terrible with computers … much better with books. So, that Game Connect is very graphics oriented and easy to use is really important to me. If it were overly complex or demanding I wouldn’t use it.

Here’s the link to try it out (click on ‘Game Connect’ just below the photo): http://www.foxsportskansascity.com/pages/royals

What the Fox Sports guys stressed, and what I found out the more I used it, is that Game Connect isn’t like MLB Gameday. It’s not ANOTHER way to watch the game. It’s a supplement to watching the game. You use it while watching or listening to the game to get all the information you wish you had while watching the game. I’ve watched two games and listened to one using it, and it enhances that experience.

But walking into the Fox Sports suite I wasn’t really thinking about baseball. I was wondering when someone who looked like a Secret Service agent was going to tell me I was in the wrong place and ship me to Guitmo. It just looked too nice in there. Free food, free drinks, my choice to sit inside or out just behind home plate. This may seem old hat to people who experience this regularly, but to a guy like me it was like being invited to stay in the Lincoln bedroom at the White House.

The night was filled with highlights really. Talking to Craig and Bill, both very nice and smart guys, about baseball was a lot of fun. Meeting Joel Goldberg and Jeff Montgomery and talking baseball with them was cool. But probably the greatest moment was standing in the suite with those guys and seeing my twin brother Mike catch Yuniesky Betancourt’s homerun on TV. He has season tickets, and when I saw the ball headed for his section, I thought Wait, that’s headed for Mike I think. Next thing I know, he’s barreling through old ladies and children to get to the ball (George Costanza style).* I must have jumped like a gazelle screaming “That’s my brother! That’s my brother!”. I know, right? How professional.

*Note: My brother did not actually knock over people to get to the ball, but that is how I will tell the story for the rest of my life. He also gave the ball to a kid per the laws of human decency.

Now that my time among the mighty has passed, I will move back to the seats of the general populous. It was a nice vacation, a great place to visit, and I’ll take that opportunity whenever I can. But really, is there any bad way to watch a game. My brother was down in the stands where he always is, just beyond the Royals bullpen. When I saw him after the game, he was elated. He’d caught a homerun. He’d watched a great game. He’d experienced a beautiful night in Kansas City. And when he left the stadium, just like me, he was smiling.

Vin Mazzaro gets the start in the opener against the Cardinals as the I-70 Series shifts to Kauffman Stadium this weekend. Photo Credit: John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE

Records: St. Louis Cardinals (35-35) @ Kansas City Royals (31-36)

Season Series: Royals 2-1 (won series in St. Louis June 15-17)
June 15 – Kansas City 3-2               WP: V. Mazzaro                LP: K. Lohse        S: J. Broxton
June 16 – St. Louis 10-7                   WP: M. Boggs                    LP: T. Collins       S: J. Motte
June 17 – Kansas City 5-3 F/15     WP: J. Broxton                 LP: E. Sanchez

Recap of last weekend: In game one the Royals took a 3-0 lead on the Cardinals before St. Louis scored twice in the seventh innings. Jonathan Broxton had an adventurous ninth before Mike Moustakas threw out Tyler Green at home to end the game. On Saturday the Cardinals won 10-7, the home team roughed up Bruce Chen taking a 6-1 lead after two innings. KC stormed by scoring the next six-runs taking a 7-6 lead in the seventh before the Redbirds countered with three in the bottom of the inning. The finale on Father’s Day went 15-innings with the Royals winning 5-3 when Yuniesky Betancourt hit a two-run homer in the top of the fifteenth inning.

Since they last they met: KC went to Houston and took 2-of-3 against the Astros after losing the first game of the series. St. Louis traveled to Detroit in a rematch of the 2006 World Series but lost the series to the Tigers two games to one, winning the middle game.

Central Standings:
AL Central                                                           NL Central
Cleveland Indiana (36-32)                             Cincinnati Reds (38-30)
Chicago White Sox (36-33)           0.5          Pittsburgh Pirates (36-32)             2.0
Detroit Tigers (34-35)                     2.5          St. Louis Cardinals (35-35)             4.0
Kansas City Royals (31-26)            4.5          Milwaukee Brewers (32-37)        6.5
Minnesota Twins (27-41)              9.0          Houston Astros (28-41)                 10.5
Chicago Cubs (24-45)                      14.5

Sal is back!: Tonight Salvador Perez will make his 2012 season debut for the Kansas City Royals. In addition ex-Royal Carlos Beltran is back at the K for the first time but wearing red and white. Beltran in his career is a .299, with 60 homeruns, 268 RBIs and 95 stolen bases at the Kauffman Stadium.

Turning it around at home: Kansas City is 11-20 at home this season but did sweep the Brewers in their quick three-game home stand last week. Since starting 0-10, the Royals have played better winning six of their last nine at home.

Probable Pitching Match-Ups (All Times Central):     

Friday, 7:10 pm – Joe Kelly (0-0, 2.89) v. Vin Mazzaro (3-1, 2.57)
Saturday, 1:10 pm – Adam Wainwright (5-7, 4.46) v. Luis Mendoza (2-3, 4.69)
Sunday, 1:10 pm – Lance Lynn (10-3, 2.80) v. Jonathan Sanchez (1-3, 5.70)

Let me give you an example.  I was recently looking at the Royals team history page and discovered something interesting.  If you review the column of “Top Players” you’ll see a number of recognizable names of athletes that contributed mightily to the success (or relative success) of each specific season.  You’ll find Alex Gordon, Amos Otis, Bret Saberhagen, Carlos Beltran, David Cone, Johnny Damon, Kevin Appier, Zack Greinke, John Mayberry, Dan Quisenberry, Willie Wilson, Joakim Soria, etc. and of course George Brett – a veritable who’s who of Royal’s history.  You’ll also see Jose Offerman, Mark Teahen and a couple other mild surprises.

This made me think…  What is, or what should be, the definition of the Top or Best player?  Baseball Reference defines the Top Player as the individual with the highest WAR (Wins Against Replacement) rating of any player on the team.  WAR is a tangible analysis that takes both offense and defense into account, but it doesn’t make any attempt to measure leadership or intangibles, and it seems to favor pitchers slightly in my opinion.

5 time All Star Mike Sweeney was never the best player on the Royals according to Baseball Reference (Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE)

Let me give you an example of the lack of leadership skills and intangibles in the WAR calculation.  Remember Mike Sweeney?  There is a lot of mixed opinion about Mike, and deservedly so, yet he put up some dynamite offensive numbers for a few years combined with the ability to hold his own at first base, and he was the undeniable leader of the Royals during his time as Captain.  Yet this 5 time All Star who hit .333 with 144 RBIs, 71 walks, and a league leading 15 HBPs in 2000, and a 2002 season that saw him hit .340, .563 slugging, and 148 OPS+ was never the “Top Player” for the Royals according to Baseball Reference and his WAR rating.  In 2002, that honor went to Paul Byrd.

What do you think of that?  Was Paul Byrd a more important piece of the puzzle for the Royals in 2002 than Mike Sweeney and his .340 batting average? (.340 is 2^nd only to George Brett’s .390 in 1980, and how would you like to have a .340 hitter on the Royals right now?)  In 2002, Paul Byrd was 17-11 with a 3.90 ERA and he led the league with 7 complete games – he was definitely a very valuable pitcher, but I don’t think his performance could be defined as “dominating.”  Paul Byrd appeared in 33 games.  Mike Sweeney played in 126 (less than a full season due to the beginning signs of his many recurring back issues), had the first straight steal of home by a Royal in over 20 years, was named to his 3^rd consecutive All-Star game, led the league in defensive assists by a 1^st baseman – and he was the Captain of the team.  But this wasn’t good enough to be the Royals “Top Player.”

Obviously, my definition of the best player on the team is going to differ from other fans, and from other experts as well.  My subjective definition simply asks, “Who was the player the Royals could least afford to do without?”  In 2002, I believe the answer has to be Mike Sweeney.

Before the 2012 season began, who did you think the Royals’ best player would be this season?  If you’re like most of the rest of us, you may have thought, or at least hoped, it would be Eric Hosmer.  If so, those hopes were dashed weeks ago as we’ve witnessed one of the most dramatic sophomore slumps in recent memory.  A few of you may have predicted Alex Gordon, or maybe Joakim Soria prior to his injury.  Predictions are based on hopes, and as a Royals fan you certainly know that hopes are often dashed.

If you said Billy Butler, you were pretty much on target.  (Although according to WAR rating, Alex Gordon is on top for the second year in a row – I don’t agree in 2012.)  However, I am hesitant to name a DH as the best player citing the same reservations many have for naming a pitcher as MVP.  And unless a Royals pitcher is completely and utterly dominating (see Steve Busby, Dennis Leonard, David Cone, Zach Greinke, or Bret Saberhagen) I have similar misgivings.

For 2013 we have several potential candidates for best player.  I’ll list my nominations below and include the odds that I think I’m right.  And, I’ll also acknowledge that there’s no possible way any reader will agree with me 100%.

Could Mike Moustakas become the best player on the Royals? (Credit: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE)

Mike Moustakas:  The improvement Mike has shown from 2011 to 2012 has been nothing short of breathtaking.  He is much more comfortable at the plate this year, and in the field he doesn’t even look like the same player.  I believe Mike’s personality has many leadership qualities and he’s maturing into a presence that will almost certainly make him the best player on the team at some point in his career.  For 2013, I’d say the odds of Mike being the Royals best player, the guy they can least afford to do without, are about 3 to 1.

Eric Hosmer:  Although he hasn’t come close to fulfilling our expectations this year, Hosmer’s potential is so tantalizing that I have to put him near the top of the list.  I believe Eric is just a tweak or two away from “righting the ship” and getting back on track to becoming the offensive powerhouse we all know he can be.  His defense is still solid, but it may take a while for his personality to mature into a true clubhouse big dog.  I’ll put Hosmer’s odds of being the best player in 2013 at 5 to 1.

Alcides Escobar:  If you told me I could only watch one play from each Royals game, I would pick the inevitable web gem that Esky turns in virtually every night.  It is truly a thrill to watch Alcides display his otherworldly defensive skills while protecting the left side of the diamond.  I’ll go out on a limb and say that after watching him for less than two seasons he may not be the absolute best defensive shortstop I’ve ever seen, but I don’t believe I’ve ever seen anyone better than him.  Escober is hitting around .290 at a premium position and I believe the only thing that could potentially limit his ability to be a great club house leader are his English language skills.  Alcides is my dark horse candidate for best player in 2013 and he’s my favorite to watch play in 2012.  I’ll put his odds at 10-1.

Jeff Francoeur:  I believe Jeff is the closest thing the 2012 Royals have to a clubhouse leader and his rocket arm and intangibles are great.  Who’s the guy you see chest bumping his team mates every night and cheering them on with one of the most upbeat personalities in the majors?  It’s Frenchy.  Who else tosses baseballs wrapped in $100 bills and gets into hilarious mock disputes with opposing mascots?  Frenchy’s power numbers are way down this year and his average has dipped, so his on-field performance is not trending in the right direction which makes him a risky wager.  I also wouldn’t bet on Jeff being “da man” in 2013 due to the fact that he may not even play in a Royals uniform.   If he is still wearing Royals blue in 2013, I would put Francoeur’s odds at 15-1.

Wil Myers:  At some point in 2012, no matter how hard the Royals brass try to hold him back, he’ll force his way to Kansas City.  And he may light it up offensively when he arrives, but his defense still needs work and there’s almost no way anyone can be a true clubhouse leader in his first or second year.  Odds 30-1.

Billy Butler:  Great DH, one of the best in baseball.  But as I explained earlier, I just don’t think a DH can be the best player.  If a DH is your best player, then your team is in trouble.  Odds 30-1.

Jake Odorizzi:  See “Wil Myers.”  Odds 50-1.

Alex Gordon:  Gold Glove defensive left fielder who has been a disappointment at the plate this year.  He’s a solid contributor and I want him on my team, but he’s not a vocal clubhouse leader and has little chance to be the best player on the team in my rating system.  In 2013, I’d rate him at 50-1.

There are a few other players who have a shot at being the best player, but all of them have significant question marks either because they may not recover from injuries (Joakim Soria and Danny Duffy), they haven’t played in the majors long enough for us to get a good sense of their performance (Salvador Perez), or because Dayton Moore hasn’t traded for them yet or signed them as a free agent (Zach Greinke – hint, hint…)

And don’t get me started about relief pitchers.  Unless you are Mariano Rivera, Dan Quisenberry, or Joakim Soria in his prime, you can’t even be considered the Top Player on the team.  It would be the same as voting the field goal kicker as the top player on an NFL team – it’s not going to happen.

Could Yuniesky Betancourt be the best player? Haha, just kidding! Almost got you, didn't we? (Credit: John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE)

Yuniesky Betancourt:  I’ll just skip straight to the odds.  10,000,000,000 to 1.  I had to throw him in just for kicks.

The biggest reason we have difficulty selecting the potential top player is because the Royals are so young.  Most of the time I believe that’s a good thing and not a bad thing, but it causes them to be inconsistent as they go through the struggles of figuring out how to succeed in the big leagues, and most of them simply have not matured into the true leaders that they will hopefully one day become.

I still believe that we are two solid starting pitchers away from being a contending team and I’m holding on to hope that we find these hurlers somewhere, either in the farm system, through trades or free agency, before the start of the 2013 season.  When this happens, we’ll find our team playing in October, and this is the time when true clubhouse leadership emerges and performance on the field has a historical impact on your team and your legacy.   When we play in October, that’s when we’ll definitely learn who is the best player on this team.

Who should be the scapegoat for another year of disappointing Royals baseball?  Whose head needs to roll as a result of the team’s poor showing?  Dayton Moore? Kevin Seitzer?  How about Rex Hudler?

Should Ned Yost be the scapegoat for what has been a disappointing season so far? (Credit: Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE)

One of the interesting aspects of social media is that it provides a real time peek into the thoughts of hard core sports fans.  Every evening you can sit down at your computer and watch the commentary during the game.  One of the most frequent themes on Twitter has been that Ned Yost is to blame for this disappointing season and that he should be taken to the nearest bus terminal with a ticket to Anywherebuthere Town, USA.  But I say – not so fast.

Before I explain my thoughts, let’s take a peek into the world of social media and look at just a few of the many thousands of comments concerning Ned Yost:

• Aaron Stilley @Royal_Heritage – You may say Yost is a by-the-book manager, but today I saw him pioneer the use of a late inning defensive downgrade while leading!
• Scott Thomas @hosmermania – Ned Yost=Hank Hill. Old fashioned grumpy guy who hunts. Never does anything new. Very predictable.
• Mike Engel ‏@michaelengel – How many people in uniform were surprised by the bunt? One? The left field ball boy? #Yosted
• Josh Green ‏@Jashg84 - As long as Yost is in there, it will continue like this unfortunately
• 1Yankh8r ‏@1Yankh8r – Can’t wait to see how the Spin Doctors in the Yost camp sell last night’s debacle. #FireYost

#FireYost has become a popular hashtag.  So is #Yosted.  And fans are right to be upset.   Some of Yost’s decisions this season on the surface appear to be nearly inexplicable.  But let’s take a closer look.

I think the best way to judge a manager is to evaluate what he is doing with the talent he has been given.  For instance (I realize this is a very unrealistic example, but I’m trying to make a point), what if one participant in the Indy 500 was forced to ride a bicycle – how well do you think this person would do and where do you think he or she would finish?  You would expect him to finish last because the race wasn’t fair, he wasn’t given the same sleek expensive race car to drive as all the other competitors.  You know what I’m getting at, don’t you?

The Royals payroll is about $61 million.  That’s about $2.5 million per victory so far this year.  Wins are going for about $5 million each in Detroit and Los Angeles (Angels) this year, and almost $6 million in Boston.  By comparison, if higher payroll means greater talent, then Ned Yost isn’t playing all that badly with the hand he’s been dealt.  The Rays do an awesome job at less than $2 million per victory.

Are the Royals going to bunt again?!? (Credit: Scott Rovak-US PRESSWIRE)

Still, how do you explain all the crazy managerial decisions Yost has made?  There have been times I’ve wanted to tear out what little hair I have left every time I watch Yuniesky Betancourt trot out to 2^nd base or yet another failed and ill-advised bunt attempt go awry.

The Royals have been caught stealing more than any other team in the American League except one.  This is pretty remarkable considering 10 teams (in the American League alone) have stolen more bases than the Royals.  Just imagine how bad this statistic would be if Jarrod Dyson hadn’t been playing recently.  Aren’t the Royals young and athletic?  Don’t most of them have average speed or better, with the possible exceptions of Billy Butler and Humberto (why did we trade for him again?) Quintero?  Are the coaches sending the green light at the wrong time?  Are the players using poor technique?

How many times this year have you seen a Royal caught napping and picked off the bases?  Many more times than I care to recall.  Is poor coaching to blame?

There are a couple schools of thought regarding a stable lineup.  Some people say it’s beneficial to a player to always know his role and where he’ll bat when he comes to the stadium.  Yost obviously didn’t attend this school.  Yost believes in juggling the lineup as if it were a bowling ball, a power saw, a flaming torch, and a butcher knife.  Unfortunately, when you play with fire, somebody is going to get burned.

I wish I knew why many of the Royals are slumping at the plate this year.  Is this Ned Yost’s fault?  Last year, Kevin Seitzer was considered to be a hitting guru on the level of Charlie Lau.  This year, Hosmer was unable to hit his way out of a paper bag for six weeks, Alex Gordon is on track for 12 home runs compared to 23 last year, and the team is trending toward scoring about 100 fewer runs than last season.  Is this Kevin Seitzer’s fault?  Is he not providing the same quality guidance and instruction as last year?

So how good are these Royals and how much talent does Ned Yost have to work with?  There’s really no way to know.  With acknowledgement that some may disagree with me, the 2012 Royals may have one of the major’s best defensive shortstops in Alcides Escobar, one of the best defensive catchers (when Salvador Perez returns – please hurry), the best defensive left fielder in Alex Gordon, the strongest outfield arm in Jeff Francoeur, possibly the major’s most improved player in 3^rd baseman Mike Moustakas, the player with the greatest potential in Eric Hosmer, the speediest bench player in Jarrod Dyson, one of the top hitters in a position loaded with talent, DH Billy Butler, the hardest throwing relief pitcher Kelvin Herrera, and a very capable bullpen. But without decent starting pitchers, there is simply no possible way to know how good this team is.

The pitching anchor of the 2012 Royals is Bruce Chen.  Just let that soak in for a moment.  On opening day this season, we sent Bruce Chen to the mound in Anaheim to face Jered Weaver.  Weaver was an All-Star and 2^nd in the Cy Young balloting last year.  Chen’s heater is about 84 mph.   The Royals brought a knife to a gunfight that day and they were shutout 5-0 in a swift 2 hours and 22 minutes, the 2^nd shortest game of the season – it was merciful and quick.  This isn’t the way you want to start a season and it set the tone for what was to come.

Bruce Chen is the Royals #1 pitcher. No really, I'm not kidding. (Credit: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE)

I don’t blame Bruce Chen.  Bruce is a very likeable guy who gives it everything he has every time he walks to the mound.  But he shouldn’t be in a position where a team looks to him as the stopper.  Chen earns $4.5 million per year.  Weaver earns $14 million.  It’s like sending your funny cousin Joey into the ring to face Mohammed Ali in his prime every five days.  Who would do that?   Why are the Royals doing it?  It’s insane!  How can we blame Ned Yost for this injustice?

I believe it all boils down to pitching.  Pitching is the lifeblood of a baseball team.  Wins and losses begin with the guy who takes the mound in the 1^st inning.  Pitching holds the other team down, keeps your side in the game, and provides your teammates with a chance to win.  A baseball team simply cannot be successful without strong starting pitching.

When you watch a team play that has poor starting pitching (aka The Royals), anything else you see on the field is an attempt to make up for this shortcoming.  Everyone else must extend themselves and try to do things they aren’t capable of doing.  They must try to steal when the timing isn’t right.  They constantly bunt in a desperate attempt to move runners into scoring position.  They try to hit 6-run homers when nobody is on base.  The manager flip flops the lineup trying to find a winning combination that will overcome the lack of talent on the mound.  He’ll move the potential All-Star 1^st baseman into right field trying to squeeze one more drop of offense out of a team that must overcome a mishmash hodge podge rotation cobbled together from castoffs, 2^nd level trades, and Independent Leagues while waiting for the top prospect hurlers in the minors to one day, some day, fulfill their potential.

So, who’s fault is it that the Royals don’t have a major league caliber starting pitching rotation?  In my opinion, it isn’t Ned Yost’s fault.  He can only manage with the team he’s been given.  He doesn’t draft, he doesn’t make trades, it’s not his main responsibility to evaluate talent and bring prospects up from the minors.  It’s his job to coach the team on the field.  No doubt he overcompensates and ends up doing things that look stupid in retrospect, but many of these decision are made in desperation while attempting to surmount the overwhelming pitching handicap the Royals have been saddled with.  All things considered, it simply isn’t possible or fair to call Ned Yost the worst manager in the major leagues, and we won’t be able to make this assessment accurately until and unless the Royals Front Office provide him with a competitive rotation.

You may say the Royals can’t afford to compete in the free agent wars and their small market revenue stream places them in an unwinnable position.  Well, no doubt it makes things more difficult, but I don’t see anyone in Tampa making excuses for their low payroll, and they are winning.  And by the way, they’re winning with an abundance of talented young pitching.  Just sayin’.

How will Kansas City greet Zack Greinke Tuesday when he returns to Kauffman Stadium for the first time since being traded. Photo Credit: Benny Sieu-US PRESSWIRE

At this point many probably feel the Brewers got the better of the deal since they made the postseason with Zack and were two wins from the World Series last fall. Another reason Royals fans feel like the trade didn’t work out is because Betancourt was brought back this past offseason. It also doesn’t help that since the trade Greinke’s 23-8 during the last two seasons. During those two seasons Kansas City could’ve used a number one starter.

Saying his time in the city of fountains was up and down is an understatement because he only had two seasons with a winning record, one .500 season, lost 17-games in 2005 and dealt with a social anxiety disorder during his time in KC. As for the bright spots he did strikeout 15 Indians on August 25, 2009 which broke the team’s strikeout in a game record, previously held by Mark Gubicza.

His crowning achievement was winning the 2009 Cy Young award with a 16-8 record and 2.16 ERA for a team way removed from the postseason. That season he represented the Royals in the All-Star Game in St. Louis striking out two of the three hitters faced.

How will the crowd react Tuesday night? I expect it to be a mixture of cheers and boos when he takes the mound likely in a navy blue Brewers jersey. Royals fans never got to say goodbye and with Zack being a free agent this winter I think some people are holding out hope he returns since he and his wife still own a home in Kansas City.

When I heard that he was scheduled to pitch during this brief homestand there was no doubt that I’d drive down from Omaha to see the “return” of the former hero. I was there for the wins and losses in addition to the night where he toyed with Cleveland, I won’t boo but it will be bittersweet seeing him in another uniform.

Maybe if he’d stayed KC they’d be further in the “process” than they are now but there would also be no Alcides at short or No Odorizzi, no Cain (who could still contribute if he can stay healthy), no Jeffress (who might get back to KC at some point). In addition who knows if Greinke becomes the guy he is right now, the one who is nearly unbeatable at Miller Park and 7-2 this season. It’s possible that if he remains might of continued had he not got the change of scenery due to the struggles of 2010.

So if you’re at the K on Tuesday, it’s understandable if you root for the Royals while remembering the good times we had with number 23 throwing for Kansas City. However once Zack throws his first pitch to Alex Gordon your emotions might change a bit.

Last week on Twitter I was challenged to write 7,500 words on Yuniesky Betancourt and why he isn’t the best option for the Royals to be playing second base. I’m sure I could come up with a few descriptive things to say about Betancourt, and I’m sure if pressed into action, I could come up with 7,500 on why he shouldn’t be on the Royals roster. I’m sure of it. But there’s little reason to go there now, that horse has been beaten dead for a while.

The first acquisition of Betancourt via trade was at least justifiable from the standpoint of there not being any other shortstop in the system capable of playing the position, and there was at least some buy low characteristics of the deal. In the end, it wouldn’t prove to be a complete disaster because at the very least Betancourt’s ability to stay healthy allowed the Royals to buy time to find his replacement.

The second acquisition last offseason made little-to-no-sense given his history as a below-average defensive shortstop, his history with the Royals as a negative-2.1fWAR(!) in 2009* and 0.9 fWAR in 2010, and the Royals really already had someone on the roster capable of doing what he does in Johnny Giavotella. Oh, that, and he creates a whole lot of outs offensively.

*Admittedly part of that season was with Seattle

Sure the fans were told that Betancourt was only being acquired to be a backup (which was a laughable argument) and that good backups cost money, especially ones that were coming off a year they were starters. The Betancourt signing was simply a move to create depth on the major league roster.

Flash forward to today and because of the injury to Chris Getz, Betancourt has supplanted Johnny Giavotella as the normal second baseman. The problem with Betancourt receiving most of the playing time isn’t so much that he’s actually playing, it’s that he’s getting the majority of his plate appearances by batting second in the order. No seriously.

We know enough now through lineup studies that the batting order holds less significance than we originally thought in terms of where guys bat, but the one caveat to that is that at the very least, batters at the top of the order have to make less outs than players at the bottom, because they will bat the most often. It’s pretty simple.

Betancourt will enter tomorrow night’s game with a .309 OBP on the season, and a career on-base percentage of .292.

Two. Ninety. Two.

No matter what you think a No.2 hitter looks like, or having one that can do all the “little things”, there is no hitter in baseball that can make up for having a .292 on-base percentage and be valuable batting second. It just doesn’t happen.

The subject of Betancourt’s playing time, or even his roster spot, has probably been hashed around enough at this point that there’s probably little need to go further than that. Any argument to Betancourt’s viability can immediately be countered with “.292”, and the argument would be over.

That wasn’t quite 7,500 words, but I think the point still remains: Betancourt’s playing time should still be strictly as a backup, if at all, if he can’t avoid making so many outs.

The Good

Well, the bullpen. And the bullpen. Have I mentioned the bullpen?

The Royals bullpen has thrown the most innings in all of baseball this year and has the sixth best ERA. That’s doin’ somethin’.

Led by Tim Collins, one of the strengths heading into the year has really been just that. The worry of course is how long they can keep it up.

At 225 innings through the team’s first 58 games, it’s hard to imagine the group either a) staying effective for a full season or b) not having multiple guys breakdown with injuries. The starting rotation was known to be the weak link of the roster to start the season, but I don’t think there’s anyone that could have foreseen this bad a performance, and it’s putting a lot of pressure on the bullpen to log so many innings.

If the group could keep up this production for a full season, given the workload, it would be nothing short of remarkable. Though, as good as the bullpen has been, I think everyone wishes they’d been called upon a little (a lot) less.

The Bad

While it would be nice to write about a 12 for 18, 3 homeruns, 3 doubles week for Alex Gordon, hereby officially busting him out of his year long no-power funk, I am not and the offense continues to struggle. What was thought to be one of the major strengths of this team coming into the season has proven, yet again, to be a major annoyance as there’s been no consistency, and the same hack-away style at the plate and give-away style on the bases approach is still being implemented.

The numbers have been beaten to death at this point but they always bear repeating: the Royals are 7^th in the American League in batting average (.258), 11^th in on-base percentage (.314), 12^th in wOBA (.309), and 13^th in runs (224). That 13^th place ranking in runs, mind you, is only ahead of the Oakland A’s, who consistently get made fun of for how bad they are offensively.

So what’s to blame? At this point in the season it’s too late to continue to fall back on the lack of production from Gordon or Eric Hosmer, or the injuries to Salvador Perez and Lorenzo Cain. Remember, there were doubts a year ago of Cain’s ability to hit at the major league level, and there have always been doubts of his being able to stay healthy. That isn’t to say giving him the starting centerfield position was a bad idea – in many ways it was the right call – there just should have been a better option to replace him than Jarrod Dyson if the need arose. Which is was almost assuredly going to happen.

Even though the struggles of the two more potent bats in the lineup hurt, that isn’t necessarily the reason to the overall production of the lineup being so bad. The fundamental flaw of the Ned Yost era – or, in fairness, baseball in general – is the complete disregard for offensive outs and the willingness to give them away without contention.

This isn’t merely from a bunting perspective, which has been taken apart on this site as well as many others, but from a base running point of view where “aggressive base running” leads to far more harm than good. The Royals, metrically speaking, rank as the third-worst base running team in the American League, and there doesn’t seem to be much of a sign of that turning around, because the same mistakes keep happening.

Suffice it to say, if there’s a sarcastic hashtag named for you on Twitter (heh), there’s something you’re not doing right.

The Upcoming

It doesn’t get any easier this week. Last week I wrote that the Royals really had a chance to make some noise in the AL Central with their upcoming June schedule. That noise turned to a faint whimper as a 1-win, 5-loss stretch against Minnesota and Pittsburgh has ruined any good vibes there was entering the month. A very #Royaling feat indeed.

This week, it’s three at home against Milwaukee and three on the road against St. Louis. Oof.

Making things more interesting is a Zack Greinke v Luis Mendoza matchup tomorrow night that, on paper, looks more like playing MLB The Show 12 on the beginner level against a Triple-A call-up.

What will be fun to see is the over-reaction of fans to the “traitor” Greinke, and then the subsequent hyperbole if he does well – “Hey, he could have been doing that here, quitter!” – or if he does poorly – “See, he can’t handle the pressure, he’s too weak!” or “See, he’s not a true ace!” Either way, it should be interesting, and entirely predictable.

Before this week you could have made the argument that a six game stretch against the National League would be a huge benefit to the Royals, given how well the American League teams usually do during Interleague play. Now, given the pretty thorough dismantling at the hands of the Pirates, there are some doubts.

One thing Royals fans will see this week is stars (much like they did with Andrew McCutchen) and the impact those stars have on teams. It’s long been my contention that stars win championships, not “well rounded” players, because those great players can make up for the deficiencies of a couple average players. The Brewers have Greinke, and Ryan Braun; the Cardinals have Carlos Beltran (ugh), and whatever category you’d like to put Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright in. The Royals are still trying to find theirs.

Even though stars don’t make the complete difference in baseball, they make a huge difference. And as long as the Royals are still searching for one, it’s going to make things a lot harder, and 1-5 stretches harder to avoid.

For as much credit as Dayton Moore and Co. get for their drafting strategy over the past six seasons, the first round hasn’t been all rainbows and roses as the narrative would lead to believe.

The drafting of Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas would seem to be a success simply from the point that the Royals have two starting position players under contract for six years. There’s value there. Where those two picks become franchise-altering (perhaps some hyperbole there) is when one or both become the superstars fans want them to be.

The other four first-round picks however haven’t been all that great.

The best of the bunch so far is Luke Hochever* and no matter what a fan thinks of Hochevar, selecting him No.1 overall while not the kind of thing you write in your organization’s record books, but at the very least he’s provided innings for the team while there were so many to go around and not enough talent to take them.

*Yes, I know that Dayton Moore says he had nothing to do with that draft, and that’s fine. It was a point of debate in a post I did last year that we don’t need to get back into now. Moore gets credit for the pick because at the time of the draft he was already hired/an employee of the Royals. If he didn’t have anything to do with that draft, well then, he should have because he was already hired/an employee of the Royals.

Aaron Crow, Christian Colon, and Bubba Starling are where things get a bit foggier and look at the drafting narrative with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

Crow was drafted, presumably, with an eye towards getting a pitcher that could move quickly through the system to match up with the same window as the position players in the organization. Not a bad idea if the college guy you’re drafting can stay a starter, but drafting a reliever that high in the first round isn’t the greatest use of the selection because he’s unlikely ever to see more than 80 innings in a year.

Colon, due to a perceived positional need of shortstop at the time, was plucked along with the fabled “leader” trait even though many had their doubts he would ever a) stick at short or b) hit enough to be considered a major league starter. So far it would seem that both concerns are valid as he’s now 23 and in Double-A and has yet to establish himself as a top prospect. Colon is having a good start to his season this year with encouraging power numbers, but a move off short remains eminent and taking a second baseman as high as Colon was taken is not usually a recipe for success.

Starling is the mystery. Not that the Royals drafted him but that he’s almost 20 years old and he’s yet to play a professional baseball game. Read that sentence again. We’re a year from the 2011 draft now and the local hero has yet to put on a pair of cleats in a game that matters. The tools are obviously there and many are incredibly excited about the prospects of a 6-5 centerfielder than can remain at the position, throw, hit, and run enough to be a star. But, there’s still much worry tied to his selection.

The Royals have had a great run of paying over-slot for post first-rounders to really bolster the overall value of the system, but now with the changes in the CBA that will make it harder for them to continue that strategy, the focus on the top pick becomes all the more important.

There are plenty of mock drafts out there, like the one Greg Schaum did or the one at BullpenBanter, with the consensus seeming to be that there is no consensus. This year’s top picks seem to be less predictable than in the past which may have more to do with the overall talent of the 2012 crop than the CBA, but no doubt a little of both are a factor.

The real question will be once all the chips fall where they do if the Royals take the best talent available again like they did with Hosmer and Moustakas, or if the reach on the talent and future projection of a player in hopes that he fits the time frame of contending, and can move faster through the system. It should be interesting, and something to keep an eye one.

The Good

Over their last 32 games, the Royals are 20-12. How about that? Twenty wins in 32 games is a far cry from losing the first 10 home games and only having seven five home victories through the latest series with the A’s. Can the Royals keep it up? Gosh, do we all hope.

The bullpen has been consistently fantastic this year even though there’s still worry that at some point they’ll all fall off the Being Productive Cliff because of being overworked. The Royals bullpen has been used the most in baseball this season, and it’s not particularly close. That they are as a group still as good as they are is nothing short of remarkable. Something, or someone, somewhere, needs to step up.

And perhaps it’s on offense. Alex Gordon seems to be slowly pulling his way out of his 6-weeks of slumps, but Billy Butler has found his way into one at the same time. That’s just bad timing.

Since there aren’t any reinforcements on the horizon for the starting rotation (here’s looking at you, Mike Montgomery) the offense needs to catch fire and have some high scoring games, allowing the rotation to get into the later innings, giving the bullpen a rest. And with the schedule coming up, they should be able to do just that.

The Bad

Yuniesky Betancourt. There’s no longer an excuse for the crowd that said it was a good thing to sign one of the worst everyday players in baseball this offseason as a backup. Why? Because it should have been known from the start that there was no way we would ever be relegated to backup or utility roles, and most of us knew better.

The amusing part of the Yuni Experiment is the correlation between the position battle at second to the position battle in center. Of course, in Royals terms, “battle” amounts to little more than firing Nerf Guns at each other while sitting on opposite couches in a living room. There’s never a clear winner and it’s really only something to do to pass the time away.

What’s funny about the situation between Jarrod Dyson versus Mitch Maier in center is that some KC media members, well one in particular, was fond of using the reasoning: “we know what Maier is and need to find out what Dyson is, so Dyson needs to play.”

Now while we could argue circles around that…ah screw it, I will.

We also know what Jarrod Dyson is at this point. He’s an all speed player with little other tools to either a) play up his speed or b) make his speed useful for being something more than a novelty. But, because the Royals need to find out what they have in Dyson, he plays. No harm, no foul. His speed is a better bet to impact games than any of Maier’s tools, so the reasoning is understandable.

The problem with the whole thing is the philosophy of player usage that is applied to one position – where the skills of the players is a relative wash – and not at another position where the skills are not a wash at all.

We know what Yuniesky Betancourt is, and we’ve known for awhile now. A limited (zero) range infielder with an inconsistent glove and a visceral aversion to walks and/or offensive outs in general. Betancourt giveth; Betancourt taketh away. And it rarely benefits the Royals.

But there sits Johnny Giavotella. A 24-near-25 year old who’s shown ability at every stop to get on base at a high rate and hit for enough power as a second baseman to be a valuable player. Is the defense shaky? Well sure, I don’t think anyone is arguing that it isn’t. What people are arguing however, and rightfully so, is that if you can watch Betancourt play and watch Giavotella play and come away thinking that Yuni is a far better defensive performer, well then you’re just not watching.
Even if Betancourt is better with the glove his career .293 wOBA more than proves that he isn’t capable of swinging a bat well enough to be considered a starter.

And if this is just some clever ruse to build value in Betancourt for a potential trade in July, I’m not buying. Utility players are usually somewhat of a commodity around the Trade Deadline, but Betancourt’s versatility centers around his ability to have his name written next to next different numbers on a lineup card, not his ability to play any of those positions well.

Sure, this is #OurMissionTime2012 and all, and it’s been pinpointed as a year to compete. But if you’re going to use the excuse of “we need to find out what we have” in a player that’s two years older than Giavotella, why isn’t that same reasoning not being used to find out what we have in him?

The Upcoming

The spelling of “Twins” really needs to have more “o’s” and “l’s” so I could make some variation of TwiLOLns. Yeah, that doesn’t work. Shucks.

What is a bit of fun though is watching the Twins circle the drain back to the Royals in the standings. The years of the vast superiority and the managerial genius of Ron Gardenhire has been replaced by his team’s talent being unable to overcome the fact that he can turn a 27 offensive out game into a 22 offensive out game like nobody’s business.* Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer are fine, half of the time at least, it’s just the rest of the roster that leaves much to be desired.

*By the way, I was on a podcast and said this exact thing. I’m stealing from myself! Pretty neat. And, give it a listen.

As Rany Jazayerli pointed out a couple days ago, the Royals schedule for June sets up pretty nicely for them to really turn things around. Enough was said after the Royals slow start (well, it was said after the 12 game losing streak, conveniently) that the team would probably struggle for the first half of this season because of their youth. A 20-12 record over the last 32 games would lend some hope to the youth figuring some things out, and that anticipated second half surge has been bumped up a few weeks, and now the Royals are ready to make some noise.

Six games against the Twins and three against Pittsburgh, Houston, and Milwaukee should help the team rebound from a slow April. Then six against St. Louis and three against Tampa Bay and of the toughest nine games during the month, six are against a National League opponent and six are at home, where you would think things would start to turn around.

The Royals are currently 23-29 and 7 games back in the division. Another good month and (hopefully) the gap closing to the top of the division, and a month of July which would have ordinarily been looked at as the time to start unloading players for younger minor league talent, could drastically change. And a July where the Royals are actually knocking on the door of contention would be awesome, weird, incredibly, confusing, emotional, and a lot of fun.

The Royals had a great start to the homestand, taking 2 out or 3 from the Athletics and we were joined by KCTV 5′s Brad Fanning to break down the series. Brad also talked to us about his story on the Royals Baseball Academy that graduated players such as Frank White and Texas Manager Ron Washington to the big leagues. His full ten minute story can be found on KCTV5′s website.

Then we were joined by Wilmington Blue Rocks starting pitcher Jason Adam who talked to us about needing run support and life on Twitter.

We got into a discussion about the Royals ability to develop prospects and their philosophies entering the draft tonight.

We finished the show with Royalman’s Rant and what may or may not be a picture of Fake Ned underneath a Kansas flag.

Don’t forget the Royalman Report is on every Sunday at 7 and catch our new show, The Kansas City Baseball Vault on ESPN 1510 AM Thursday’s at 6.

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The Royalman Report is hosted by Troy “Royalman” Olsen with co-host Michael Engel and features Chris “Fake Ned Yost” Kamler and 610 Sports blogger Jeff Herr and airs  live Sundays at 7 p.m. central time at RoyalmanReport.com as well as on Livestream.com/RoyalmanReport.

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Oakland entered the game as losers of eight straight and the Royals opened up doing everything they could to make sure they lost the ninth. Alex Gordon walked and a newly-activated Yuniesky Betancourt doubled to right-center to drive him in. After a fly ball moved him to third and a bloop by Mike Moustakas drove him in, the Royals had given Paulino two runs to work with. The Royals recorded eight hits, with every batter except Jarrod Dyson contributing one.

That’s all it took.

Felipe Paulino rolled on Friday night. Photo: Anthony Gruppuso-US PRESSWIRE

Despite some shakiness in the middle innings, Paulino was strong, striking out five and inducing eight ground outs. He also picked off two runners, catching Jemile Weeks taking off for third too soon and catching him with a throw to Moustakas and later picked off Yeonis Cespedes at first. The A’s only got three hits, including one on a comebacker to the mound that Paulino lost after it deflected off his glove.

Over 29,000 fans saw the Royals win their first game after an off day and just their sixth game at home.

The Royals bullpen took over for the final three innings, continuing a stretch of scoreless innings. The last run surrendered by a Royals reliever came off of Jose Mijares on May 28, a string of 11.2 scoreless from the bullpen. Kelvin Herrera, Greg Holland and Jonathan Broxton finished things off, with each recording at least one strikeout. Holland allowed the only baserunner, walking Kurt Suzuki to lead off the eighth.

Broxton fought back from a 3-1 count to start the ninth against Josh Reddick, but came back to strike him out looking on a slider. He overmatched Cespedes, striking him out on on three straight swings on fastballs after starting him off with a ball. Kila Ka’aihue grounded out to short to end the game.

Paulino has a 1.70 ERA after 37 innings over six starts in 2012 with a 1.14 WHIP and 39 strikeouts. He’s given up runs in just two starts since coming off the disabled list and looks every bit like an ace of this pitching staff. He threw 94 pitches tonight and could have thrown more, but Ned Yost opted for the bullpen instead of sending him out again.

Tomorrow’s game starts at 1:10 p.m. with the Royals only a game behind Detroit and could end up in third place by the end of Saturday. Brandon McCarthy should be activated tomorrow to start for Oakland and Luke Hochevar will try to keep Oakland’s offense from waking up.

In the inaugural episode of the Kansas City Baseball Vault, we talked with former Kansas City Athletic Mike Hershberger about his time in Kansas City, his experiences with Charlie Finley, Reggie Jackson and the infamous goat. Back in his day, he was a defensive specialist and he talked about the skills he brought to the field.

We also got to talk to Clint Robinson before Omaha’s game in Sacramento. We wanted to know about Clint’s approach with Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler ahead of him in Kansas City, as well as his thoughts on the promotions of Irving Falu and Johnny Giavotella. He also talked about a certain prank they’ve pulled a few times, but wouldn’t divulge who the key conspirator was. Clint is hitting well again in the minors as he waits for a spot in Kansas City.

We wrapped up by talking about the middle infield situation and the logjam of second basemen in Kansas City, as well as what might happen with Luke Hochevar and Jonathan Sanchez.

Also congratulations to our trivia winners – we gave away three packages to a Kansas City T-Bones game. Listen in next week at 6 p.m. on Thursday on ESPN 1510 AM for a chance to win.

Our guest next week will be Kevin Goldstein from Baseball Prospectus (you can hear him talk with us from last November in the meantime) and Howard Rodney “Doc” Edwards, a Kansas City A from 1963 to 1965. He now coaches for the San Angelo Colts in United League Baseball, an indepedent league in Texas.

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Falu's on first. (courtesy Minda Haas)

To fill the role of utility player, they called up organizational soldier Irving Falu, a draftee from 2003 who’d spent his last three-plus seasons in Omaha. He gets his chance starting now.

Falu is a player who I felt could fill this role well before the season started. With a .306/.346/.403 line in Triple A and the ability to play nearly anywhere on the diamond, Falu could be a quality reserve as long as Betancourt’s out. Tony Abreu has hit well in Omaha as well and could have made the move too, but I think the Royals wanted to give the opportunity to Falu. He’s played well enough to deserve the look anyway, and hey, it’s a good story.

While lacking in power, Falu can make contact regularly and should the speed to do some pinch-running if necessary. He’s also very patient at the plate, an approach that most Royals simply aren’t. He’s got good range at second base and has played shortstop and third base regularly over his career as well.

Some could grumble about the promotion while Johnny Giavotella stays in Omaha. I get that. Gio is hitting .301/.360/.460 as a Storm Chaser this year with ten extra base hits, but in this case, whoever replaced Betancourt would need the ability to play behind Mike Moustakas and Alcides Escobar in case of injury or if they need  day off. Falu can do that. Johnny Giavotella can’t. Gio also gets to play every day in Omaha and if the choice is between his sitting the bench half the time in Kansas City or seeing the field every day in Omaha, I’d go for the latter. When he makes it back up, it’ll be to resume his everyday second baseman role.

For now, I’m thrilled that Falu gets his shot. According to comments from Ned Yost, Falu should split time with Chris Getz, with Getz getting the majority of the time. Betancourt may be back right after the DL stint is over, but if not, Falu could fill in for a longer time frame if pressed into action.

To fit Falu onto the 40 man roster, Joakim Soria was moved from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled list after Tommy John surgery.

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Alex Gordon by the numbers gives you the best option as a leadoff hitter. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE

My idea for a lineup is to have one that you use every single day, with the exception that it be tweaked for day games. This hasn’t been the case at all through 19 games I’ve long felt guys will get comfortable if they can get into a routine.

So far this season Alex Gordon, Jason Bourgeois, Jarrod Dyson, Yuniesky Betancourt and Chris Getz have all batted leadoff for the Royals. I won’t accept that if healthy Lorenzo Cain would have batted leadoff because the highest he’d batted had been second which only happened on opening day.

Gordon has shown flashes of coming out of his early season slump but hasn’t yet found a consistent home this season in the lineup. He’s batted leadoff opening week, moved down to the fifth spot for a couple days then he’s moved up to number two. Ideally Gordon might be best in the fifth spot but over the last year he’s been good at the top of the lineup on a team that lacks that guy.

In 89-games during the 2011 season he hit .305, 383 OBP, .916 OPS in 422 plate appearances. In addition he hit 18 homeruns, was 10-of-16 stealing bases, 56 RBI’s with 197 total bases. Not what the typical leadoff does but it helped everyone else out in the lineup.

Dyson tonight in Minnesota is getting another chance to leadoff after being recalled from Omaha this afternoon with Bourgeois being sent down. Getz got the chance in Cleveland and we were told he be “the” guy.

Prior to the series opener in the Twin Cities Ned has used 15 lineups in 19 games, last season Yost had 87 and to up the numbers to include interleague play it was 89. The fifth spot has been held by Gordon or Jeff Francoeur, let me say I like Franchy in the clubhouse and defensively but the guy needs a break from batting fifth or a day off.

Francoeur is hitting .227, no homeruns, three RBIs while scoring just six-runs, hardly befitting of battling fifth in the lineup. Move him down get his groove back then put him back if that’s where you want him Ned.

Mike Moustakas occupying the sixth spot (here is your guy who should be promoted to fifth batting .303, 2-homeruns, 8-runs scored and nine RBIs). With the numbers I just listed here is your fifth spot batter which at this point makes the lineup better. At the end of the day if you gave KC fans a 3-4-5 of Billy Butler, Eric Hosmer and Moustakas you’d have a grateful fan base.

Having the same lineup day in and day out helps players I firmly believe because they are creatures of habit. Telling a baseball player they will be in the same spot daily will put them at ease which usually produces better results. Now if after a period of say one-two weeks players aren’t producing then changes need to be made.

Mike Moustakas has produced the numbers that be well served in the fifth spot of the lineup. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-US PRESSWIRE

I concede the importance of righty/lefty match-ups plus prolonged slumps but changing lineups just for the rational of it didn’t work the day before or consecutive days doesn’t work for me. Pick a lineup let it go and then makes changes accordingly is all many of us ask.

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Before the season began, I heard news of the Royals signing an overrated shortstop with no on-base skills, sub-par defense, and just enough pop to make people interested. He was meant to be the utility infielder, and apparently an incredible one because they paid him $2 million. Here was his career slash line roughly: 269/.293/.392.

Of course, that guy was and, perhaps unfortunately, still is Yuniesky Betancourt. I cringed when I saw those numbers. I cringed when I thought back to his time as the Royals every day shortstop when he played defense within an invisible barrier the dimensions of a porta-John. It was bad; there was nothing good about it, and anyone who believes otherwise knows nothing about anything.

That said, Yuni is on fire right now, and I can’t help but appreciate his performance, acknowledge it for what it almost certainly is (a hot streak), and wonder why it’s happening.

First off, those of us who rightly criticized the signing of Yuni should, at the very least, tip our caps to his play so far. He’s been much, much better than I thought he would be and one of the few bright spots in an otherwise disappointing early season. That doesn’t make his signing good. I’m still 90% sure this signing will prove pretty ridiculous at $2 million, but for now, he’s playing well—except for the baserunning error that may have cost them a game, BAD YUNI! I know the sample size is small, and I’m not claiming that this is the signal of a resurgence. I’m just applauding a man for a good month of baseball.

And please don’t call it a fluke. I hate that word. We can’t say that when a player plays poorly it’s his fault, and then when he plays well it’s a “fluke.” It’s not a fluke. If we’re going to believe players have control over the game in certain times, we should probably assume they do all the time—for the basis of analysis anyway. It’s not a fluke; it’s a hot streak. There’s a very important difference. Yuni is producing because he’s actually playing well, something even he can muster from time to time. To call it a fluke is to imply it’s out of his hands. It isn’t. He is the one hitting the ball well, and he’s the one playing good defense. That may very well change soon, but when it does it will be his fault, just like when he’s playing well it is he who deserves the credit.

But why is he playing well? I really didn’t expect it. I was angry when the Royals sent Johnny Giavotella to AAA and very confident that second base would be a circus act until he was recalled. It’s been anything but, and Yuni’s been the biggest part of that. Right now he’s hitting .324/.375/.459. His walk rate is more than double what it was last season. It’s not great at 7.5 percent, but it’s still much better than usual. His line drive rate is 26.5 percent, a career high so far. He’s also swinging at fewer pitches than in the last two years (49 percent down from 57.4 percent last season).

We saw how bad Yuni was as a shortstop defensively, but for once, the company line about his ability at second base doesn’t appear to be complete B.S. He does look much better at second than at short. He looks more natural—played there a lot in Cuba, I know. Playing second seems to disguise his lack of range, and he looks very comfortable around the bag. Yuni was a below average shortstop, but just from the eye test, it looks like he might be a slightly above average second baseman.

He can probably even keep the strong defensive play going. That said, I do not believe we’re seeing the breakout of Yuniesky Betancourt at the plate. He still swings at too many bad pitches, and at this point is fortunate to be connecting with them—connecting with 89 percent of pitches outside the zone. Ultimately, he is what he is at the plate—a free-swinging, low batting average, slight pop, low on-base guy. That probably won’t change. But for now, I can appreciate the hot streak and hope that it continues. This is baseball. Players have had streaks that lasted as long as a season. Maybe Yuni can keep the approach at the plate he has now, keep the defense tight, and help this team win games for the $2 million they gave him when no one else would. I won’t count on Yuni playing this well, but I’ll sure as hell enjoy it.

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Mandatory Credit: David Richard-US PRESSWIRE

Baseball players are a superstitious lot.  There are some superstitions that almost everyone follows, and there are some that are bizarrely unique.  For those of us who watched Tuesday’s game on TV, we witnessed Alcides Escobar wearing Yuniesky Betancourt’s shoes.  Escobar did have a hit in the game, keeping his average above .300, but the Royals still lost the game.

Some superstitions start at a young age.  Starting in little league, no one dares to step on the chalk foul line on the way on or off the field.  Maybe this is in line with “step-on-a-crack-break-your-mother’s-back” type of thinking.  However, there is always that one guy on the team who always steps on the chalk.  I have yet to observe who the Royals’ line-steppers are.  Maybe they need to work harder at converting others.

Another common superstition is not talking about a no-hitter for fear of jinxing it.  This subject was actually broached on the Royals’ Twitter time-line last week, about five minutes before Luke Hochevar surrendered his first hit of the game.  Rookie mistake.

Baseball players are people of routines and when they find a routine that works—whether it includes shirts, bats, and hats—they stick with it.  (Remember Roy Hobbs and his bat Wonderboy?)  Some players have lucky undershirts or a favorite place to sit on the bench.  Rumor has it Alex Gordon wore the same hat all season last year.  (Maybe he needs to find it for this season?)  These behaviors of routine are then transferred onto the diamond, as players us them to help focus and duplicate previous successful endeavors.

One of my personal favorite superstitions, the rally hat, started with the players and has passed on to us fans.  A rally hat is any hat worn inside-out, upside-down, with the bill pointed to heaven or to the guy behind you or in a multitude of other ways.  (A Royals rally hat is not to be confused with anything that the “royals” from the other side of the ocean wear on their heads.)  Come late innings, the losing team almost always breaks out some kind of rally cap to inspire on-the-field success.

Many players also have their own unique superstitions.

I have heard that when Reggie Jackson signed with the Angels after having multiple successful seasons with the Yankees, that he took his batting helmet with him, having  an Angels’ logo painted over the Yankees logo.

Satchel Paige reportedly had his pitching arm rubbed down with axle grease before every outing.  He believed it helped him to pitch nine innings every time.

Wade Boggs might take the cake as one of the most superstitious players of all time.  He ate chicken before every game and later published a cookbook of all of his chicken recipes.  He woke up at the same time every day (I wonder how that works in different time zones) and always took 150 ground balls during infield practice.  He drew a Hebrew word in the batter’s box meaning “life” before each at bat and would always smooth the dirt in front of him with his left foot while standing at third base.

With the Royals’ losing streak approaching epidemic proportions, many fans have tried to break the slump employing their own superstitions, and I am no exception.  For one game, I tried to comment on everything on Twitter.  The next game, I had a Twitter fast.  (Michael Engel was supposed to join me, but he broke in the seventh inning.  Weak.)  I have participated in L’il Frenchy’s “wear-a-different-Royals-shirt-everyday” and am starting to get strange looks.  I overheard one fan, who is an avid collector of Royals’ autographs, is spending time rearranging his autographed baseballs, trying to find the “right combination.”

What all of this comes down to is simple: we desperately want a win. 

I cannot help but look at the beginning of this season through the lens of Story.  According to best-selling author Donald Miller, a story is simply “a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it.”  At the beginning of every story, we are introduced to the protagonist, the leading character.  The first chapters of a book or first scenes of a movie show us the goodness in the character, enabling us to become emotionally attached to this character’s success.  Following the introduction to the character, we catch a glimpse of what it is that the character desires as well as the obstacles that the character must overcome in order to succeed.  The greater the desired object of the character, the more resistance he will face, the more demanding the obstacles he will have to overcome.

Let’s revisit the first few chapters of this year’s Royals story.

In the off-season, Salvador Perez, Alcides Escobar, and Alex Gordon all signed contract extensions.  The slogan of “Our Time” is adopted for the 2012 season.  Even in the middle of football season, people are talking Royals baseball.  The fan base is truly excited, believing that we’ll be surprised and rewarded on the field.

The obstacles start occurring even before the season officially starts.  Manny Pina and Salvador Perez both go down with knee injuries.  Joakim Soria is out for the season with his second Tommy John surgery.  Felipe Paulino has a strained forearm.  Blake Wood has an irritated ulnar nerve.

The season starts, and we quickly fall in love with our character.  The first time through the rotation, the Royals starting pitching is the best in the majors.  Lorenzo Cain impresses us in the field and at the plate.  The Royals’ win their first series against the Angels and come home from their first road trip at .500.  We see the potential.  We believe—Nosotros Creemos.

Round two of the obstacles:  Lorenzo Cain gets injured.  And, as of this writing, a 12-game losing streak.  No wins at home.  Zero statistical luck.  Double plays (and a triple play!) mean that there are runners on base and hard hit baseballs.  They just happen to be hit right at people.  Phenomenal reliever Greg Holland is placed on the disabled list with a stress reaction in his rib cage.  Moments ago, it was released that Cain experienced a “minor setback” in his rehab assignment, further delaying his return to the team.

Once the obstacles start coming, they will not stop until the want of the character is satisfied.  (Think “Lord of the Rings” or “Star Wars” or any good movie.)  This is the critical time for character development.  We learn how the character reacts when nothing goes according to plan, when the worst-case scenario becomes a reality.  In the middle of the pain of the struggle, the character is tested to see if he truly has what it takes to press on and continue to pursue his dream, even without any positive reinforcement.  Will he cave in to resistance or persevere through it?  This is the ultimate question.

If I were in charge of writing the story of this year’s Royals, it would go like this:

Slowly, the Royals will start winning, and slowly the players will return to the team healthy.  By the All-Star break, Cain, Paulino, Holland, and Giavotella will all be in KC and contributing to the team’s success.  The Royals will be in third place in their division, still under .500, but only by a few games.  After the All-Star break, the Royals catch fire, becoming the hottest team in all of baseball.  Perez will return to the lineup to guide the pitching staff into consistent and brilliant performances.  The team that walked through the valleys in April will be able to do no wrong.  And for the first time in decades, the Royals make it into the postseason.

The last time the Royals were in the postseason, I lived in Springfield.  In just a few weeks, I’ll be moving my family back toSpringfieldso my daughters can spend more time with their grandparents.  I’ll willingly join the ranks of the displaced Royals’ fans if this will help the Royals tell a better story this season.

For now, I’ve got my shirt on inside-out, the bill of my hat pointed to heaven, and my autographs arranged in the order of today’s lineup.  It can’t hurt.

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This should be simple and quick. The Royals suck at baserunning. This is strictly observational, but I feel like I have a lot of anecdotal evidence to back me up early in the year. If you’ve been watching the games so far this season, you should have noticed. But I’m going to look at the latest Royals let down as evidence of how baserunning is actually stealing wins from the Royals.

Surely you watched the Royals make their roaring come back against the Indians tonight on the back of an energy boost from an intentional beaning and some hot bats. It was great watching players come up with big hits in key moments. For a few innings, the Royals showed people what they can be as opposed to what they are too often–good as opposed to bad.

One such terrific moment came in the bottom of the sixth when, with two outs, Mike Moustakas hit a line drive to deep right field. The ball sat in Shin Soo Choo’s glove for a moment before he slammed into the wall jarring the ball lose. Choo was forced to get up off the ground, find the ball, and throw it back in. On base were Billy Butler and Yuniesky Betancourt. Of course, Butler scored. But despite the fact that Choo essentially performed a vaudeville act with the ball in right field, Betancourt couldn’t find it in his power to score from first on a double … with two outs … and the team down by three. I’m no major league baserunning coach, but I do remember one rule of baserunning: with two outs run hard on contact and don’t stop until someone tells you to. There is no reason on earth, including a slow moving Butler in front of him, why Betancourt should not have scored on that play. Playing the what if game, if he scores, the Royals lead by one at the end of regulation and win the game.

Surprisingly no one on the television broadcast raised a question about why Betancourt didn’t score. They didn’t show him on camera, but I would have loved to see what he was doing during that double. Last game, they showed Jarrod Dyson losing track of the number of outs and not running hard with two outs. Was that the issue? I’m not sure, but whatever the reason, that’s bad baserunning. That’s leaving runs on the field because Betancourt didn’t execute the most basic understanding of how to run the bases.

Betancourt did pitch in a homer to try to make up for his mistake, but I still don’t forgive him. Eventually, the Royals tied it up and were in great shape to win it in the bottom of the ninth. Shockingly, Dyson reached on a walk to lead off the bottom of the ninth. I’m sure many Royals fans were thinking Steal second Dyson. All I was thinking was Don’t even fantasize about stealing. The pitcher had a good move and was quick to the plate, and the Royals had their 2, 3, and 4 hitters coming up. Predictably, Dyson ran and was thrown out. Good base stealers should know situations. The risk in that situation was not worth the reward in that spot in the lineup. Jeff Francoeur struck out before Dyson attempted to steal, but Eric Hosmer and Butler would have both come up if Dyson hadn’t been thrown out. Instead, just Hosmer came to the plate, he struck out. Essentially, Dyson took the opportunity out of Butler’s hand by getting thrown out. Assuming Hosmer strikes out no matter what, it comes down to what is more likely. Is it more likely that Dyson successfully steals second base AND Butler hits a single. Or, is it more likely that Butler hits a double. I don’t have the stats in front of me, but I’m going to say the double is more likely.

Right now the Royals are three of eight in stolen bases. They have the worst stolen base percentage in the league on the young season, and that’s not a huge deal except that their terrible baserunning may have cost them two games now. Remember the Oakland game when Hosmer and Francoeur were thrown out stealing third and second respectively in the same inning?

I know the Royals’ motto on the bases is “be aggressive.” But since when does aggressive equal stupid? The areas of their greatest mistakes are simple matters of paying attention to what is happening in the game. To show you their state of mind, Butler attempted to swipe a bag the other day. Why? Who the hell knows. He was out by a mile, and once again the Royals did their opponent a favor.

I’m fine with aggression on the base paths. But aggression is sending runners from third against guys with suspect arms when you wouldn’t normally. Aggression is encouraging runners to make early reads on balls hit to the outfield in order to take an extra base. Aggression is not stealing at inopportune times and forgetting how many outs their are. That’s stupidity. That’s amateur hour.

*This post was written with plenty of anger after the failed come back loss to the Indians.

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The key moves today sent Kevin Kouzmanoff, Tommy Hottovy, Max Ramirez and Francisley Bueno to minor league camp. They also optioned Louis Coleman and Jeremy Jeffress to Omaha.

Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler are set to bash the American League. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE

That leaves 31 men in big league camp, but five, Salvador Perez, Manuel Pina, Blake Wood, Feilipe Paulino and Joakim Soria, will start the year on the disabled list. Perez, Soria and Pina will be out for extended time, with the two catchers being placed on the 60 man disabled list. Sean O’Sullivan is the only outlier. He’ll start against the White Sox on Friday, then should be placed on waivers with the intention of sending him to Omaha. If he clears he can’t reject the assignment.

Most of the Royals everyday lineup is in place from last year, with the second base and catching jobs still in the air. Humberto Quintero will probably play more than Brayan Pena behind the plate, while no real leader has emerged at second base between Chris Getz and Yuniesky Betancourt. That the Royals expect Betancourt to back up Alcides Escobar at shortstop and Mike Moustakas at third suggests that Getz has the better likelihood to start at second, but the Royals also seem like they really want Yuni there. Jason Bourgeois and Mitch Maier will back up the outfield, with Bourgeois likely to fill a late-inning pinch-running role (and he can hit better than Jarrod Dyson who would otherwise fill that role).

They’ll surround the no-brainer position players like Eric Hosmer.

The pitching rotation was set up when the Royals announced Paulino would start the year on the DL. Bruce Chen leads the staff with Luke Hochevar, Jonathan Sanchez, Luis Mendoza and Danny Duffy set behind him. The bullpen will have three lefties – Everett Teaford, Tim Collins and Jose Mijares – with Aaron Crow, Kelvin Herrera, Greg Holland and Jonathan Broxton finishing it out. Any of the four could be the team’s closer, but its likely to be either Broxton or Holland.

The Royals end up with a few players in Triple A who could fill in at the major league level if necessary. Clint Robinson, David Lough, Mike Montgomery, Coleman and Jeffress, Dyson, Irving Falu and, of course, Johnny Giavotella, could all fill in in case of injury, and, Giavotella, Montgomery and Coleman could push others on the big league roster.

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What are the Royals Future Plans for Wil Myers? (Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE)

One of the premiere players predicted to lead the second wave of the youth movement is outfielder Wil Myers.  Myers was drafted in the 3^rd round of the 2009 draft, not because there were 90 players available who were more talented, but primarily because of “signability issues.”  He’s a first round talent that Baseball America has ranked as the Royals 3^rd best prospect behind Mike Montgomery and Bubba Starling.  Myers began his minor league career as a catcher, but was moved to the outfield to hasten his development time and to make way for defensive whiz Salvador Perez – very good forward thinking on the Royals part.

Wil Myers experienced nothing but success during his first two seasons of professional ball.  However, in 2011, he struggled at the plate, hitting just .254 in 99 games for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.  You might think that Wil’s knee injury suffered early last season from jumping over a wet sidewalk, or the subsequent stitches and staples, or the resulting infection and ultimately surgery were the issues that derailed his progress.  However, Myers said he was just thinking too much, “I was pressing and overthinking things.  Trying to work on too many things.  I couldn’t get my foot down (for proper timing.) I was getting a little too selective.“

Last Fall, Myers found his touch again at the showcase for young talent, the Arizona Fall League.  Myers tore up opposing future pitching stars to the tune of .360/.481/.674, one of the top performances in the AFL and better than Bryce Harper by every measurement except home runs.

It was reported last November that the Royals were interested in the Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens, but the deal was nixed because the Braves wanted Wil Myers in return.  There are mixed reviews on Jurrjens future and his persistent knee problems, but he is projected as the Braves opening day pitcher on a deep staff (due to Tim Hudson’s injury) and he certainly could have improved the Royals weak starting rotation.  If this report is true, the fact Dayton Moore didn’t pull the trigger on the trade tells us the Royals have plans for Myers that involve using him as more than just a trade chip.

Assuming Myers picks up anywhere near where he left off in the AFL, he’ll be banging on the Royals door sometime this year.  The question is, what do the Royals do with him when this happens?  Dayton Moore, Ned Yost and company haven’t answered this question yet.  With a trio of skilled outfielders already patrolling the grass at Kauffman, the Royals brass will have some tough decisions to make.

It’s unlikely Wil would be promoted just to sit on the bench as the 4^th outfielder as this could stunt his continued development.  It’s best for him to be a starting outfielder, regardless of whether this occurs in Omaha or Kansas City.  The only potential easy answer would be that Myers (if he performs well) could be called up when a starting outfielder stumbles, which of course we all hope doesn’t happen.  I think we would all prefer that his strong performance in the minors demands a promotion rather than receiving a promotion by default.

While the most likely destination for Wil is in right field, he has played all three outfield positions in the minors.  Although Alex Gordon hasn’t been locked up long term yet, we all believe it’s just a matter of time before this happens, and the consensus opinion says the delay hasn’t been for any lack of desire on the Royals part to get a deal done.  This makes it unlikely that Myers would inherit left field.

Myers could go to center field, but this position isn’t a natural fit for him.  We haven’t seen a large sample size from Lorenzo Cain hitting against major league pitching, but in Spring Training he has demonstrated the probability that he can more than hold his own.  So once again, it’s somewhat unlikely Myers would end up in center field.

Will fan favorite Jeff Francoeur be the odd man out in the Royals future outfield alignment? (US PRESSWIRE)

This leaves Jeff Francoeur, the fun loving, cannon-armed leader of the Royals outfield as a potential casualty of a Wil Myers promotion.  Would the Royals then trade Francoeur to a contender if Myers promotion occurred prior to the deadline?  It’s possible, but Frenchy is signed through 2013 and while his pay rate isn’t outrageous, at $7.5 million in 2013, it isn’t an amount that most teams would be excited to take on.  Francoeur is a team player, but it’s hard to picture him sitting on the bench next to Yuniesky Betancourt.  (Yuni is going to be sitting on the bench, right?  Please tell me Yuni will be sitting on the bench…)

Another possibility is that Myers performs well this year, but not so well that he can displace one of the Royals current outfielders.  (Does that sound familiar Lorenzo Cain? Déjà vu from 2011.)  Then maybe he’ll receive a call up in September and a taste of the big leagues to see what he can do at the major league level.

None of this conjecture really provides us with any answers for 2012, and if the Royals have any answers regarding their plans for Myers, they aren’t revealing them yet.  It’s possible that things could work out so the Royals won’t be forced to make a decision this year.  But next year in 2013, barring a major injury among Gordon, Cain, Francoeur, and Myers, or a major setback in performance from any one of this group, the Royals will have no choice but to let us in on their little secret.

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Alex Gordon projects as the most valuable Royal again in 2012 based on one resource. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-US PRESSWIRE

I’m reasonably sure that by this point, most of those who swing by baseball blogs have an understanding of WAR (wins above replacement) or at least an idea. The short form is this if you haven’t run into the acronym: take the contributions of a player on the field, come up with a baseline for a player signed off the street or from the minor leagues and then judge how much better or worse than that “replacement” player someone is and assign a value to it.

Lewie Pollis, editor of Wahoo’s On First on the FanSided Network, built a Simple WAR Calculator and shared it with the baseball community. It’s just that – simple. The goal, as he explains, is this:

The Simple WAR Calculator is my attempt to make these value stats more accessible. By inputting just a few numbers you can get a reasonable estimate of how much a player is worth. It is my hope that it will save my fellow stat nerds some trouble calculating WAR from projections as well as helping non-sabermetrically inclined fans to understand where value comes from and how much each facet of a player’s game helps his team win.

With that in mind, I figured I’d plug in some Royals hitters and see how they wind up.

I used the collected projections on FanGraphs.com to come up with an average estimation of a player’s projection. Then I put those averages into Lewie’s WAR Calculator and looked at the results.

Within the calculator, baserunning and defense are rated on a scale, so it’s not exact. I made the best estimation I could based on scouting and my own interpretations. The full spreadsheet is available here if you’re interested in seeing the collected projections and averages.

The calculator isn’t an exact tool, but it can provide an idea of potential value for Royals players (a pitching version is in the works). Players with lower projected on base percentages really took a hit. That’s to be expected. If you’re not on base, you can’t score a run and runs are what create wins. In the case of Chris Getz, who has shown skill in stealing bases and has a reputation of average defensive ability, those extra areas helped him retain value, despite replacement level on base percentage and very low slugging. Betancourt, who has no such reputation and relies on a slugging percentage that is decent for his position and is below average everywhere else, did not fare well in this exercise.

Last year’s most well-rounded player, Alex Gordon, projected to be the best again in 2012, though Eric Hosmer could easily take that spot as well if he’s able to get on base a bit more than he did last year and if he starts to develop quickly at the plate and in the field as scouts suspect he will.

I omitted Salvador Perez because it’s not clear how much playing time he’ll get and projections assumed he would get the majority of the time behind the plate. In the cases of Getz, Betancourt, Quintero and Pena, they all had a range of projected plate appearances, and it’s not clear now how often each will play. Since projected playing time for both positions (second base and catcher) ended up being a close split, so I left it’s a close enough estimation.

Cain and Escobar both benefit from speed and defensive ability, while projections are reasonably friendly to both as well. Butler’s projections were entered to consider him as a DH so defense didn’t factor in. When rated as a first baseman, his value dropped – as one would expect.

One final note: while spring training stats aren’t a great gauge of how a player will actually play once the season starts, the top players in the table are doing quite well in spring training this year. There’s something to watch during the season.

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August 8, 2011; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Luke Hochevar (44) throws a pitch during the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

As we are nearing opening day, a few things should start to clear up.  There are some pieces to the puzzle the Royals still have to figure out, and it’s becoming a guessing game for their fans to try and solve as well.  One thing that is certain, is Yuniesky Betancourt and Chris Getz will be platooning at second base to start the season.  This makes me question so many things, and the move has left a sour taste in the mouths of Royals diehards on Twitter .  In no way can this work in the Royals favor.  But I digress, there’s still many other questions to answer.  Who will be the lefty out of the bullpen?  Who will be the number four and five to fill out the rotation?  Also, who will be the next Royals closer in the wake of Joakim Soria needing his second Tommy John surgery?

Jose Mijares, Tim Collins, Everett Teaford, and Tommy Hottovy are all in the race to be the left-handed reliever out of the pen.  Three out of four of these pitchers have spotless ERAs and Collins has still managed a miniscule 1.08 ERA, at this time.  I think Mijares is the lead dog of the pack simply because he was brought in to be the go-to lefty.  Although, the other three guys are making their cases to start the year on the opening day roster as well.  It does seem possible to me, that two of these four could make the team but I would definitely say no more than that.

I don’t know about all of you, but I have been less than impressed by what I’ve seen out of the starters so far this spring.  I want to clarify that I’m aware the Royals aren’t anywhere near the Phillies or Angels in terms of starting pitching, but I was hoping they would be above adequate this spring.  Luke Hochevar and Luis Mendoza are the only two guys who have pitched extremely well and there is no guarantee Mendoza even makes the team as a starter.  Bruce Chen, Jonathan Sanchez, Danny Duffy, and Felipe Paulino have all underperformed this spring and aren’t doing much to claim their spots in the rotation.  I know not much weight should be put into spring training stats, but the fact that Chen has given up 27 hits in 12 innings is very disheartening.  It would be nice if a few of these guys pitched like they wanted the job.  That being said, Paulino is pitching his way out and Mendoza is pitching his way into the rotation.  I believe Duffy will start out in the rotation and am looking for Sanchez and Chen to bounce back after very rough springs.  I do not think there is room for Paulino, Duffy, or Mendoza out of the bullpen, if that question comes up, as there is an abundance of arms already out there now.

The starting pitching has been a question mark all off season, but one thing we thought was certain, was the closer’s role.  With the news that Joakim Soria will undergo his second Tommy John surgery, the question remains, who will fill his shoes?  I say  Greg Holland, Aaron Crow, and Jonathan Broxton, in that order.  Holland has the dominating stuff and one of the best sliders in the game, so I feel extremely confident with him in the 9th.  Crow was bestowed upon as the closer for a short amount of time last season and Broxton is coming off some elbow issues but is still capable of returning to his former All-Star self.  I would be okay with any of these relievers, but I’m personally pulling for Holland.

We only have a few more weeks, if not sooner, before we get some of the answers to these questions.  Whatever happens though, I’m sure it will make for some great conversations and playful banter.  Either way, Opening Day is less than two weeks away!

Thanks for visiting Kings of Kauffman. 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.  You can also send your questions to our mailbag at KoKMailbag@gmail.com and follow Jordan McLaughlin on Twitter to be notified each time he posts a story.

The Royalman Report - logo by @AHairOffSquare

The Royalmen celebrated the First “podiversary” of the Royalman Report. What once started as two Royals fans trying to organize their thoughts has now turned into this… The best podcast in Kansas City.

To celebrate, we recorded live from Kelly’s Westport Inn (so the crowd is a bit raucous – use headphones when listening) and were joined by dozens of our closest friends in our biggest tweetup yet. During this episode, you’ll hear about tattoos, the burning of Peyton Manning, the Royals closer situation as well as Fat Billy Joel. You’ll hear young Zachary, a Royals fan since 1990 talk about the 5 years he spent in the womb (you really just have to hear how he explains it). You’ll hear from young Michelle, flip cup “dominator”. We also talked to some more knowledgable people in the form of Curtis Kitchen and Dave Darby. And then we balanced that with talking with Jenny and Lance Otto and Laurie “Moose Knuckle” Kunkle. It was a tremendous afternoon and helped accent a great year. Thank you for continuing to listen and help make us the number 1 podcast in Kansas City.

You can listen below or download the mp3 directly.

The Royalman Report is hosted by Troy “Royalman” Olsen with co-host Michael Engel and features Chris “Fake Ned Yost” Kamler and 610 Sports blogger Jeff Herr and airs  live Sundays at 7 p.m. central time at RoyalmanReport.com as well as on Livestream.com/RoyalmanReport.

Subscribe via the RSS feed and get updates when new episodes are uploaded.

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You can also subscribe via iTunes: JUST CLICK HERE (and iPad, iPhone, iTouch users can get the Livestream app here to watch live or archived shows).

Follow the Royalman Report on Twitter.  While you’re at it, track down Kings of Kauffman on Twitter as well.

Sometimes organizations never get outside of their box. Their schema is ingrained in every aspect of their operations and they are never – out of presumably fear, but possibly ignorance – altered for any reason, despite what evidence there is to do so.

On Sunday the Royals announced that Johnny Giavotella was optioned to Triple A and they plan to start some combination of Chris Getz and Yuniesky Betancourt at second base.

This should come as no real surprise to any fan. The Royals, who have made questionable decisions with the roster over the past five seasons and have already established a loose understanding of how outs work, have elected to field what may be the worst hitting middle infield in baseball.

The idea that a young pitching staff needs to have a quality defense behind it in order to not lose confidence, or whatever reason may be given, is nice. But when a lineup will consist of No. 7, No. 8, and No. 9 (and possibly No. 6 as well) batters that will all struggle to post on-base percentages of just .300, just how important is their defense, really? Hitters that struggle at baseball’s most fundamental skill of not making outs on offense can’t be considered valuable to the team as everyday players. But, in the case of Getz and Betancourt, all of that is ignored because of some indefinable, and statistically disproven, ability to make plays on ground balls.

When all is considered of Betancourt’s inability to get on base or Chris Getz’s inability to bat a ball into the outfield, none of that is nearly as frustrating as it is to know that this decision was made before Spring Training. Because, don’t kid yourself, it was.

Responsible organizations don’t make roster/playing time decisions in a year that they’re supposed to contend or have some “Mission” to attain, based off of what amounts to 40 at-bats in scrimmage games. If so, there would be no greater argument given to the idea of sample sizes.

If Giavotella came into camp with a bad attitude, out of shape, or some other trait detrimental to his production, then sending a player down for a “wake up call” could be warranted. But nothing of the sort has even been hinted at over the past month.

Instead, stories of Getz’s completely revamped offensive game or Betancourt’s transition to second base have littered the Royals narrative. This was never a position that was Giavotella’s to lose, as it should have been, but instead it was his job to win. And the decision of whether the younger, more talented Giavotella had won the job or not, was made before camp ever opened. He doesn’t fit in the box of the type of player the Royals like. He’s not safe enough. He gets on base too much.

As Rob Neyer wrote, this is the status quo for an organization that has continually circled the parking lot around the arena of interesting. There are no surprises; there are no changes. There is only a process in which to operate in the same manner that the operation has always been done.

Just as there are those defending the Phillies for their decision to let go of Ryan Madson while overpaying for Jonathan Papelbon, simply because now Madson is hurt, there will be those that defend the decision to play Getz and Betancourt if, somehow, they out-perform their histories and are at least slightly below league-average. It will be credited to some kind of “human element” and some kind of knowledge that baseball people possess that no one else ever could. It will be defended because the outcome was favorable.

But, just as is the case with the Phillies, favorable outcomes do not excuse bad process. And the process that concludes with Giavotella in Triple A and Getz and Betancourt sharing time at second base, was a predictable one.

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Dayton hasn't had a good week. It's getting to me. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE

Eight days ago, Salvador Perez was diagnosed with a torn meniscus.

Joakim Soria found ligament damage in his elbow and is likely headed for Tommy John surgery.

In response to the hole at catcher, the Royals traded what some consider a top-20 prospect in Kevin Chapman for a catcher who wasn’t even going to make the Astros and a 30-year-old outfielder who didn’t get any kind of full-time action until last year. And Chapman might not be the only prospect the Royals give up.

It’s a move that has many fans scratching their heads and others in baseball questioning the wisdom of the deal, too.

More AL Exec: “Quintero’s going to get squeezed out, makes 7 figures, and you give up a real prospect for him?”

— Rany Jazayerli (@jazayerli) March 22, 2012

Astros GM Jeff Luhnow said that the player to be named later would be a key to the Quintero deal. The implications behind that amaze me. Quintero, among the worst players in the game at getting on base, being a piece of the trade is fine. The Royals needed a catcher that wouldn’t be a liability behind the plate until Perez could return. No problem. I’m not even too sore about losing Kevin Chapman, who has real skills but has to harness them to be productive. He’ll probably have a career as a lefty middle relief guy with Matt Thornton upside for a couple of years. It’s not a crime to give him up.

But this player to be named later business is increasingly worrying. Usually, a PTBNL isn’t much. They’re just someone to plug into the lineup somewhere in the minors most of the time. But because recently signed players aren’t eligible to be traded. Recently signed players such as 2011 draft picks. Just the thought of some speculation concerns me.

But the week gets worse still.

The Royals most important pitching prospect, Mike Montgomery, has already been jettisoned back to minor league camp with no further shot to make the team out of spring training and no signs of improvement from last year’s dismal year.

To top it off, Bruce Chen got destroyed against the White Sox today and hasn’t had a decent outing yet. And he’s signed for two seasons. Oh, Danny Duffy got hammered as well.

Not Dayton Moore’s best week.

It’s a bit frustrating, especially considering the optimism entering spring training. Perhaps the optimism even makes it more disappointing to see certain aspects of the team continue to flounder. At least before nobody really thought there was progress in the near future. Royals fans could focus on the koan of “one of these years” while accepting their suffering.

My biggest fear is that there’s a solid chance that the Royals open this season with Johnny Giavotella and Danny Duffy in Omaha. I’ve railed against Luis Mendoza before but he’s performing. The Royals are pretty much stuck with Chen though, unless he’s just so awful that they can’t avoid dumping him (not that they would because of that second year on his contract and all).

Moore signed Yuniesky Betancourt, and while I accept the premise that if his name was Jeff Betancourt or Yuniesky Smith and had the exact same attributes, I’d be less offended, it’s still Yuniesky Betancourt, and everybody knows who he is as a player. And he might end up being the opening day second baseman. Or it might be Chris Getz, who has changed his batting stance and is hitting this spring. My issue is that players rarely change who they are after a certain point and Getz is past that point. Maybe he’s figured something out, but odds are he hasn’t. Giavotella won’t improve defensively beyond what experience in the big leagues can give him. It’s clear who he’ll be with the glove. That makes it all the more important that he works out how to hit major league pitching because that’s where his value lies.

But Giavotella, with sporadic playing time, hasn’t hit that well. He drove in a run today against the Angels with a single. He’s still hitting just .220, so he’s not doing himself any favors. If he hits for the next two weeks of spring, he’s a cinch to open up in Los Angeles on April 6, but if he’s only made slight progress, I wouldn’t put it past the Royals to keep Getz and Betancourt platooning at second. Giavotella can go back to crushing Triple A pitching and staying stagnant.

March 22, 2012; Tempe, AZ, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Danny Duffy (23) throws against the Los Angeles Angels in the first inning at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-US PRESSWIRE

The same goes with Duffy. Though now that Soria is out, the Royals may be able to keep all six of the potential five starters (be sending one of Felipe Paulino or Mendoza to the bullpen), if that’s not an option, Duffy, with options, will go back to Omaha. I still don’t see Mendoza keeping this up into the season, but to this point, he’s managed to keep building on last year’s numbers and if it’s between he or Duffy, Mendoza’s winning.

That’s not to say that Duffy’s been as bad as the 7.56 ERA he sports now. He’s had two bad innings out of 8.1 pitched this spring, he’s striking batters out and hasn’t had bad control. Today’s second inning is a great example of how numbers can sometimes deceive when not viewed in the proper context.

Duffy opened up the second inning by getting Vernon Wells to pop out for the first out. Kendrys Morales came up for his first at bat of spring and didn’t make solid contact on a pitch, but it was placed well enough to get into right field for a single. Bobby Abreu got to two strikes then fouled a pitch off towards the left field foul line. Alex Gordon went over and had plenty of time but lost it in the sun. It fell foul, but prolonged the at bat. Abreu doubled. After a strikeout by Alberto Callaspo for the second out, Chris Iannetta doubled in both Morales and Abreu, then scored himself after an Erick Aybar single and Howie Kendrick triple.

If Gordon catches the foul ball, though, Callaspo’s strikeout ends the inning and Duffy doesn’t give up a run. It wasn’t ruled an error – plays in the sun rarely are, especially on foul balls – but if it were, reconstructing the inning would compel the official scorer to deem all runs unearned. Duffy had another unearned run in the first after a passed ball allowed Kendrick to advance from second to third. He scored on a ground out to short that would have kept him on second.

No, those circumstances don’t excuse Duffy from giving up the runs. He still gave up the hits after Callaspo’s strike out (though he also had a two strike pitch to Iannetta called a ball that looked like a strike as well and would have avoided all the trouble he ran into on the next pitch and beyond).

Despite that, and despite his being the most talented pitcher the Royals have in the rotation mix, it’s probably going to chase him to the minors where he has nothing else to learn.

I guess right now I’m having a crisis of confidence in Dayton Moore to make the decisions necessary to put developing, talented players in a position to continue to develop and exhibit their talent. His wonky moves aren’t helping. Nevermind the redundancy that is Jason Bourgeois (who is faster than Mitch Maier but not as fast as Jarrod Dyson, and who hits better than Dyson but not Maier). While I also liked the Jonathan Broxton signing, it’s an odd use of $4 million when the Royals have an overflowing bullpen as it is.

Can anyone talk me off the ledge?

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Felipe Paulino helped his cause on Thursday. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

Felipe Paulino started the game, his first appearance of the spring, and worked two good innings as he works to remain in the starting rotation. He reaped the benefits of inducing double plays in both innings and also coaxed another ground out while striking out one. Paulino should be safe when it comes down to deciding the rotation (barring injury), but having him put up a couple of good innings is good for his cause and, of course, good for the Royals.

Aaron Crow also saw his first action and was even better, striking out two and giving up just one walk in his two innings. He’s more of a longshot to crack the starting five and may just be better in the bullpen anyway, but the Royals are looking at him in case they’re pressed to use him in a larger role.

Jose Mijares, Tommy Hottovy, Louis Coleman, Brandon Sisk and Jeremy Jeffress each worked an inning and all but Hottovy recorded a strikeout. Altogether, the Royals pitchers handled the Rockies.

A few players continued hot streaks in early spring action. Lorenzo Cain had two hits and seems to be putting the ball in play every time up. That bodes well for him, as many have been concerned about his offensive ability as he tries to replace – somehow – a 200 hit season from Melky Cabrera. It’s still early and he could always slump the last three weeks of spring, but he’s been one of the more impressive players in the young Cactus League season.

Max Ramirez continued to rake, hitting his third spring homer and getting his seventh RBI. It’s still not likely that he’ll really push Brayan Pena for the backup job, but if he keeps hitting, the Royals won’t have a choice. Pena is out of options though so he’s got nowhere to go, and should be a decent enough backup for Salvador Perez.

As much as it pains me to say it, Yuniesky Betancourt homered and made some plays at second base. It seems my pleas for Irving Falu to be the utility player will go unanswered.

Alex Gordon also ripped a double to open the game.

The Royals made a number of outs on the basepaths, and have been getting thrown out in other games as well. Ned Yost made a point to be aggressive on the basepaths last year so that’s probably the plan this year too. My hunch is that the Royals are seeing what they can and can’t get away with now so it gives them an idea of what they should be aware of once the season starts. Last year’s team made a lot of things happen by being aggressive but they also ran themselves out of innings. That’s a tough balance to hit, but that’s also what spring training is for – to find it out.

The Royals will play the Reds tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. CST. Danny Duffy will make his first spring appearance.

Let’s glance at the candidates:

Yuniesky Betancourt – Yuni could occupy shortstop if Alcides Escobar needed a day off. I say “occupy” because I’m not comfortable using the word “play”. Betancourt’s issues of fielding range and consistency are well-known and have been mentioned on this site and others as reason for concern. Now, Ned Yost is suggesting that Betancourt may be in line to start three to four times a week while spelling Mike Moustakas and Johnny Giavotella as well.

If the problem was Betancourt’s defense, then maybe his bat would redeem him.

Whoops. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

Problem is, while Betancourt has shown a bit of power here and there in the last few seasons, his overall offensive contribution is poor. There’s a stat designed to weigh a player’s contributions based on the relative value of the ways they get on base and the run values of those methods referred to as wOBA (weighted on base average). After calculating, it ends up looking like on base percentage and anything over .340 is pretty good. Betancourt’s wOBA in 2011 was .278, better than only three players. He’s just not good.

But he’s making $2 million this year and is the favorite to be the team’s utility infielder. He can’t do too much harm that way – unless Yost follows through and does give Yuni three or four starts a week (which works out to just under 300 plate appearances give or take).

Chris Getz – If you listen to the Royals in spring training, they’ll tell you that Getz is changing his stance and trying to add some more power. Chris Getz has Jose Lind power. In 1099 plate appearances, Getz has 42 extra base hits. Lind, in 4001 plate appearances had 181. Simply multiplying Getz’s numbers by 4 (and giving him 400 more plate appearances), he still falls short of Lind’s extra base hit totals.

Getz has played some third base and shortstop in the minors, but has only 35 innings in the big leagues at those positions. He’s basically a second baseman only. His one contribution is speed, as he’s stolen 62 bases in 74 attempts, but that doesn’t do much good if he isn’t getting on base (and his on base percentage is lower than the league average). Getz has an option left and is probably destined to head to Omaha for depth in case of injury.

Kevin Kouzmanoff – There’s some intrigue with Kouzmanoff. Touted as a top prospect when he came up with the Padres, Kouzmanoff didn’t make enough contact and was haunted by big Petco Park. He still showed some power, hitting 16 or more homers from 2007 to 2010 (with the final year being in Oakland, another poor home run environment).

Kouzmanoff presents a couple of problems as a utility player, though. For one, he’s a third baseman. Period. Sure, he could go to the other side of the diamond and fill in at first base, but he’s not going to be in the middle of the field. Secondly, he strikes out so much and walks so rarely that his career on base percentage is .300. His career wOBA is .315. He does have some value at third base, though, where he’s been a bit better than average. An obstacle for Kouzmanoff is his minor league contract that requires the Royals to make a move with the 40 man roster to get him onto the team. If he’s still in the minors on May 1, he’s free to seek other employment, per a clause in his contract.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Irving Falu." Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-US PRESSWIRE

Someone who’s going overlooked – and has gone overlooked for a while – is Irving Falu.

Let’s look at his resume: He’s one of those “played everywhere but pitcher and catcher” types. He’s the super sub that Esteban German wishes he could have been. Falu is best suited for the middle infield where John Sickels has called his second base play “slick”. He carries a reputation of being at worst decent at shortstop and third base.

Moreover, he has a patient plate approach and can make solid contact. A Royals farmhand since 2003, he’s struck out barely over 8% of the time. He’s walked more frequently than he’s struck out. Over the course of his minor league career, he’s put up a .275/.342/.350 line. No, he’s not a potential superstar, nor was he at any point in his development.

But the thing is, he’s probably a better overall option than the others, especially in a utility role (because he has actual utility as the role is perceived).

Maybe Betancourt was brought in as competition for Johnny Giavotella. It’s possible – even likely – that the organization knows that, barring injury or collapse this spring, Giavotella will be the every day second baseman. To keep him from being complacent and to push him to “win” the job, they brought in a veteran. I can see the idea behind that, but that doesn’t excuse signing one of the worst every day players since Neifi Perez.

Falu has been in the Royals system so long, he played Double A ball in Wichita. He, along with Mitch Maier, are the longest tenured players within the organization. At this point, he’s not going to develop into anything more than a utility player, but that’s just what the Royals can use. A player who can play a good infield at three positions, could play the outfield in a pinch, and has shown that he can get on base and avoid strikeouts as a professional has value.

Maybe he wouldn’t hit better than Getz, but he could get on base more often than Getz.

Maybe he won’t have the power of Kouzmanoff, but he likely won’t strike out as often and can play more positions.

Falu's on first. (courtesy Minda Haas)

Maybe Yuni has the inside track, but Falu should have better plate discipline and has the same ability to make contact that Betancourt has (and again, Falu can play more positions and better).

A player with Falu’s flexibility allows the Royals to potentially carry both Mitch Maier and Jarrod Dyson (who provides some late-inning speed) on the bench. Or Falu could allow the Royals to spell their infielders while not plugging Betancourt in the lineup as often.

So far this spring (and the standard caveat of March baseball applies), Falu has hits in four of seven at bats, including a home run. He wears a jersey number in the sixties (#64) in Surprise, so that’s not a good sign for his chances, but if he plays defense, gets on base and makes contact, he should get a look in the utility role.

For what it’s worth, Betancourt has one hit in nine at bats in spring training games. He’s gotten the ball out of the infield once.

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Who will be the Royals starting second baseman on opening day? (Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE)

The Royals 2012 season is going to be like a good book or movie.  Lots of intersecting plotlines, intriguing drama, memorable heroes, wild action scenes, and despicable bad guys.  The major difference between this year and seasons past is that the story of the Royals in 2012 has the potential for a happy ending.  No other Royals season for the past umpteen years can say that.

Many of the story lines will be decided in the next several days, but others will hold our attention for months – and that’s another thing that makes this season different from most others.  If the story plays out the way we expect, we’ll still be watching and listening with rapt attention until the last game against the Tigers on October 3.

Here’s an enticing potential storyline for us to begin with.  What if (now just humor me for a moment, this could happen), what if the Royals are within 3 games of the Tigers when the final series with them begins on October 1?  Does it make this storyline even more fascinating if you know these games will be played in Kauffman stadium?  You couldn’t plan a better outcome for 2012, could you?  I bet just the thought of it has your juices flowing already.  I think it’s a very optimistic thought, and few if any Royals fans I know are expecting the team to be in contention down the stretch, but we’re all hoping for it aren’t we?  And I think all of us would say that it COULD happen, which makes this storyline one that will likely keep our attention well into the season.

And if you’re wondering why I’m using the Tigers as the team I’m suggesting will lead the AL Central this year, well… Verlander, Fielder, Cabrera – that’s why.

Who is going to play second base for the Royals this year?  The smart money is on Johnny Giavotella who finished the year at second last season, but it could be Chris Getz or (knock on wood), Yuniesky Betancourt.  Giavotella has the potential to be clearly the best hitter of this group, but his defense is suspect and he may still be recovering from surgery to correct a labral tear in his hip that hindered his ability to move side to side.  Alex Gordon underwent similar surgery in 2009 and so far, I’d say his defensive capabilities have not only recovered, but have contributed to raising his status to one of the top left fielders in the league.  (Who would you rather have in left field than Alex Gordon, MLB’s 24^th ranked player in 2011 according to ESPN’s player ranker?  No one?  That’s what I thought.)

Chris Getz has changed his “swing path” and his stride to the ball this Spring, which so far is showing promising results, but he’s still an underdog to usurp the position from Johnny.  One other frightening prospect is the hopefully very slight possibility that because both Getz and Giavotella have options remaining the Royals have the flexibility to send either Johnny or Chris to Omaha (or both – Yikes!) and let so-called utility player Yuniesky Betancourt play second base.  (I say “so-called” because he’s never really played all the positions he’s being asked to backup.  And why would we want him to anyway?)   Without going into great detail in this post regarding how I feel about this possibility, you can read what I think here.  You can also read how Kevin Scobee feels about it here.  Suffice it to say, it alarms both of us.

Will the Royals still be in the race at the All Star break?  I just finished writing (or maybe dreaming) in the 3^rd paragraph that the Royals could potentially be within 3 games of the Tigers at the end of the season, so obviously I think the Royals will be in the race at the All Star break.  There are many positive and negative aspects of a team comprised of mostly young, enthusiastic, but somewhat inexperienced players.  The energy that comes off this team is infectious and I love watching them chest bump each other and feed off of their teammates’ play.  But teams like this can be emotional, and streaky, and an 8 game losing streak could jeopardize everything they’re trying to accomplish.

Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer share a little love (Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE)

Will one of the Royals beat Steve Balboni’s 1985 single season 36 home run record?  (Balboni also led the league in strikeouts that year with 166.  Ay caramba!)  There are few records in baseball that are begging to be broken more than this one.  I know Kauffman stadium is a pitcher’s park, but come on guys, somebody needs to break this record, please!  Mike Moustakas has the pedigree to break the record.  He hit 52 homes runs during his high school career (a California state record) and he led all minor league players with 36 home runs in 2010 while playing in just 118 games.  Back in late January, one of the guys on the MLB Networks’ Inside Pitch program predicted that Eric Hosmer would eventually win the triple crown.  I believe both Moose and Hoz have the potential to break the record, and very possibly both of them will break the record…  someday, but probably not in 2012.

Will Alex Gordon repeat his All Star worthy performance from 2011?  The respected ZiPS projection system has Gordon pegged to backslide from his 2011 performance and end 2012 with a .278/.358/.464 line (he hit .303/.376/.502 in 2011) and 20 home runs.  Those stats are decent, particularly for a guy expected to turn in a strong defensive performance, but probably not All Star worthy.  On the other hand, I think ZiPS may rely too heavily on past performance when creating their calculations and not enough on the intangibles or the fact that someone “figured it out.”  If you look up “figured it out” in the dictionary, you’ll find a picture of Alex Gordon.

Few people have come into the league with higher expectations or potential and in my opinion it has been more of a surprise that Gordon hasn’t been performing at an All Star level prior to 2011 than it should be a surprise if he performs at an All Star level in 2012.  In addition, I believe his chances of making the squad this year are increased because many people took notice last year to how loudly RoyalNation squawked when Gordon didn’t make the team and this should raise his visibility a little in 2012.  Put me down as a believer and firmly in the camp of disagreeing with ZiPS, at least where Gordon is concerned.  I think he’ll be hovering around .290/.295 by the All Star break with 12-14 dingers, which should be good enough for consideration.

Will the Royals place more than one player on the All Star team?  We all know Gordon was robbed last year, but in all likelihood, if he had been selected to the All Star team Aaron Crow probably wouldn’t have gone.  One of the drawbacks of having a young team is that few people know about you and it’s hard for your players to get votes in Baltimore or Phoenix if the fans don’t recognize their names.  And if the fans don’t vote for them, no All Star manager is going to select more than one Royal when he can nominate players from his own team.  And Ron Washington will probably have plenty of deserving Rangers to pick from.

Until the Royals make the playoffs and put themselves on a national stage, I can’t imagine one of them getting the most votes, so I don’t think it’s going to happen this year.  But, there is one possible wild card in the selection process this year – the game will be played in Kansas City at Kauffman stadium.  If Ron Washington wants to make a good impression with the home crowd, he could possibly pick an extra player from the Royals.  The only way to ensure this happens is if a couple of the Royals step up and earn it, forcing his hand to the point that he would have no alternative but to select a couple of the boys in blue.

Will one of the Royals promising minor league pitchers join the rotation?  There are several young pitchers in the minor leagues that could earn the right to be considered for the rotation in 2012.  Many people believe Mike Montgomery is the most likely candidate for this honor, although consensus opinion is that unless he’s “lights out” in Spring Training, he’ll begin the season at AAA.  Going back to ZiPS, they predict that if Montgomery plays for the Royals in 2012, his line will be almost identical to Danny Duffy’s, beginning with a projected ERA of 4.92.  Between you and me, I’d be very happy if Mike could achieve that in his first major league season, although based on his performance in Omaha last year, I’d be mildly shocked if he did that well.

Not including the pitchers who’ve played at least a few games already in KC, there are several additional guys that could make the club sometime in 2012, including John Lamb (his 2011 Tommy John surgery makes his 2012 debut unlikely, although not impossible), Jake Odorizzi, Chris Dwyer, and a few others.  I’m very excited for these guys to all earn their way to KC, but in my opinion, none of them deserve a promotion yet and with the probable exception of Mike Montgomery, I don’t think we’ll see any of them in the starting rotation in Kansas City in 2012.

Will Lorenzo Cain be able to fill Melky Cabrera’s shoes?  If you consider that a player’s value is more than just his production at the plate, I say yes, Lorenzo Cain will be very close to Melky’s equal in 2012.  (Mike Engel said that Melky won’t even be Melky’s equal in 2012, so there’s that.)  Cain plays lights out defense, and while he hasn’t spent enough time at the Major League level to prove himself yet, he’s at least shown that he can hold his own at the plate.  ZiPS says Cain will bat .258 this year, but I think that’s a pessimistic prediction.  I may be surprised, but if the Royals don’t break .500 this year, I’m confident it won’t be because of Lorenzo Cain.

Will the Royals break .500 this year?  As we all know, the last time the Royals broke .500 was in 2003.  Most of the oddsmakers have the Royals pegged at 79-81 wins in 2012, and these are the people who make their living off of predictions like this.  We all know that a clutch double or a blown call can make the difference between at least a couple of games each year, so yes, it’s very, very possible the Royals could break .500 this year.  I’m saying 83 wins this year, and a playoff run in 2013, which I believe is realistic.

Will Sports Illustrated eat their words?  A few weeks ago, I was infuriated by a Sports Illustrated article entitled “Hope Doesn’t Spring Eternal for These Teams”, which listed the Royals, Orioles, A’s, Mets, Pirates, and Cubs as the teams that never have any chance of competing.  The writer of this story obviously knows nothing about baseball history and the periods of time where the major leagues were dominated by the Royals, Orioles, and A’s, and the unexpected championships of the Mets.  And there are more Cub fans who dream of bringing home the trophy each year than there are grains of sand on the beach.

Let’s all answer this together – How many World Series have the Red Sox won in the past 90+ years?  Two.  How many championships have the Rangers won in their entire existence?  None.  How many times have the gigantic market Angels hung the flag in the past 51 years?  One time, the same as the Royals.  If you want to get all caught up in “what have you done for me lately?” then let’s throw all the teams into the pot and consider them equally, and not just the teams that it has become politically correct to bash.

But, beyond these historical slights, the writer obviously hasn’t kept up with what’s been happening in Kansas City in 2012.  Not only are Royals fans fired up beyond any year in recent memory, but the Royals have a very realistic chance to compete, and if a handful of breaks go their way I could see them in contention right up to the wire.  I think it’s highly probable that Sports Illustrated will have no choice but to pay more attention to Kansas City before this season is over.

Spring Training has begun and it feels like we’re watching a preview of coming attractions.  It’s almost time for the book to be opened, the movie to begin, and the curtain to be drawn on the 2012 Royals season.  It’s been years since Kansas City had so many baseball storylines to watch, and longer since the storylines could potentially hold our interest for months to come.  I for one can’t wait.  Get your popcorn ready!

Thanks for visiting Kings of Kauffman. 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.  You can also send your questions to our mailbag at KoKMailbag@gmail.com and follow Alan Barrington on Twitter to be notified each time he posts a story and receive his incredibly insightful sports commentary.

Sep 11, 2011; Seattle, WA, USA; Kansas City Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar (2) makes a diving catch against the Seattle Mariners in the 2nd inning at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-US PRESSWIRE

My first few posts  for Kings of Kauffman have dealt with some player analysis and a few simple projections or expectations I have for these players.  I want to take an another angle for a moment and simply state how excited I am for this upcoming season.  I have not felt a buzz like this surrounding the Royals since I was a Freshman in high school when they started unbelievably hot in April of 2003.  I recently experienced the buzz on a whole other level, and it sparked my interest in writing this piece.

I was recently hired by the Royals to be an usher for this season and I couldn’t have been happier when I received the call.  Not only will I get to spend my summer nights working at a stadium that I love, but I will also be able to witness, first hand, this much anticipated season on a nightly basis.  Also, it will be one of the greatest experiences of my life to work and be around all of the All-Star excitement during that week in July.

On Monday evening I had my first training session with all of the new hires for this season.  I was instantly hit with a flabbergasted feeling.  The team that I grew up rooting for has hired me, and now I am getting paid to walk the grounds of Kauffman Stadium.  It will be an amazing feeling for me to wander by players and ownership as if I belong now.  I realize my position is of the part-time variety, but it is still a dream come true to work for the organization I had dreams of playing for as a kid.  I’d also like to meet a lot of great Royals fans this year including readers and contributors to this site, and this will just give me another outlet to do so.

I want to get back to Monday evening.  During the introduction of training we were shown a video highlight tape from 2011.  There were so many great clips shown including Frenchy’s strike from right field straight into Moose’s glove, Escy’s numerous acrobatic adventures, and Gordon’s gold glove plays in left.  All I can say is I had chills during the duration of the film.  Nothing gets me more fired up for this season than watching Hosmer’s first homerun at Yankee Stadium, while his mom is in utter amazement, and he calmly struts around the bases like he’s done it 500 times before.

Folks, we are merely one month away from beginning a fantastic and exciting season in Kansas City.  Let’s just keep bringing the positive energy to the guys, as I’m sure they are able to feed off our energy.  We are all in store for a treat this year (as long as it doesn’t involve Yuni starting three or four times per week), and it’s nice to finally say it’s “Our Time”.

Thanks for visiting Kings of Kauffman. 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.  You can also send your questions to our mailbag at KoKMailbag@gmail.com and follow Jordan McLaughlin on Twitter to be notified each time he posts a story.

What are NL teams known for?

Royals second baseman Chris Getz is one of the members of the bench who'll be counted on in 2012 Photo Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

Having stronger benches.  Granted it’s for various reasons like the pitcher bats meaning changes late in the game need to be made. This topic got me to thinking about the 2012 Kansas City Royals non-starters.  The starters are set with Alex Gordon in left, Lorenzo Cain in center, Jeff Francoeur in right, Mike Moustakas at third, Alcides Escobar at short, Johnny Giavotella at second, Eric Hosmer at first and Salvador Perez behind the plate plus Billy Butler as designated hitter.

To be honest, the signing of Yuniesky Betancourt really spurred this, which has led to looking at available free agents who are versatile. We’ve been told that Betancourt will back-up Escobar in addition to play some third base if need be. Chris Getz is the next guy off the bench who will get playing time when Giavotella needs a day off or heaven forbid starts slow and Ned Yost benches.

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Famous Amos Otis cookies

The offseason moment we’ve all been waiting for arrived last week – the announcement of the Royals promotions for the 2012 season.  Seriously, many of the Royals promotions are quite fun and some have become a Kansas City tradition.  There would be riots if the Royals ever gave up Buck Nights and Fireworks Fridays.

In the spirit of fun these marketing gimmicks are designed to create, I’d like to suggest a few more promotions for the Royals to consider in the future after the jump: (more…)

With that notion in mind, now seems as good a time as any to break down the 40 man roster and rank them in descending order. I’ll rank the roster based on my expectations for the 2012 season; it is my position that 2011 is old news and therefore will serve as a mere afterthought during this breakdown.

Enjoy.

Royals 40 Man Roster Rankings:

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The deal could be worth as much as $1.3 million if he meets those incentives. The agreement also gives him an opt out provision if he isn’t in the big leagues by May 1.

Kouzmanoff was regarded as one of the Padres better young players after he was acquired from the Indians. In his first full season in 2007, he hit .270 and had 18 homers as a 25-year-old. In his first four seasons with the Padres (and later A’s), he had at least 30 doubles each season and at least 70 RBI, but he doesn’t get on base much (.300 career OBP) and his power isn’t enough to offset that shortcoming. He’s bounced around the majors the last few years and will turn 31 next season.

The Royals may still opt to have a 13-man bullpen in 2012 for most or part of the season, so that limits how Kouzmanoff could stick on a big league bench. The Royals previously signed Yuniesky Betancourt to play a sort of utility role that could see him get time at third base as well.

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This batch of articles focus on the 2011 season, Yuniesky Betancourt, Wil Myers and remembering Paul Splittorff:

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• Royals Prospect Review: Danny Duffy
• Royals Prospect Review: Chris Dwyer
• Trading the Farm to Mortgage the Future? - Mike Vamosi’s debut article on Kings of Kauffman.
• Airing of Grievances - Kevin Scobee enjoys Festivus and discusses Yuniesky Betancourt.
• Christmas Wishes - Ryan Wood with a letter to Santa for the upcoming Royals season.
• Kings of Kauffman Royals Wish List - My wishlist for the season as well as those from Alan Barrington, Mike Vamosi and Paul Thompson, our three newest staff writers.
• Merry Christmas Royals Fans - Brett Christie joined in the fun, too.
• Yuletide Verse From a Kansas City Fan - Ethan Evans provided a well-done poem about the Royals.
• Kings of Kauffman Mailbag – Ep. 3 - Kevin Scobee answers readers’ questions. You can ask your own at KoKMailbag@gmail.com.

The 2012 season cannot start soon enough.

There’s still plenty of offseason to go though, and even though all Royals fans would rather be watching Eric Hosmer‘s first swings of the new year, there’s still plenty of news with the team to talk about. So let’s get to it.

As always if you want to join in on the fun, drop us a line at KoKMailbag@gmail.com, or shoot a tweet to @KingsofKauffman. Now, on to the emails: (more…)

On Tuesday it was announced that the Royals had agreed to terms on a one-year contract with “shortstop” Yuniesky Betancourt to be a utility infielder for the coming 2012 season.

The news spread across Twitter just as everyone was sure the “veteran infielder” being pursued by the Royals had to be former Atlanta Brave and owner of two World Series rings, Edgar Renteria. All the pieces and arguments for Renteria seemed to fit the normal criteria Dayton Moore uses when acquiring players: Brave, World Series, reputation greater than performance.

Yuni picture and shameless promotion for Minda Haas of www.mindahaas.net

To everyone’s shock however it wasn’t Renteria but the erstwhile shortstop Betancourt, who for his brief stint with the Royals was either supremely hated by fans or merely tolerated for “being better than the last guy”.  His 2010 performance of a meager .9 WAR and negative 9.5 UZR (!) suggested that even though he may have been better than the guy before him, simply being able to write the same name next to the “6” in the lineup everyday holds little significance when that name performs at a pretty terrible level. (more…)

Yuniesky Betancourt, the Bad Penny (AP Photo)

I must have had a premonition.  In last Sunday night’s post Patience is Better than Sacrifice, I stated my belief that one of the positive aspects of the Zach Greinke trade was Dayton Moore’s nifty inclusion of Yuniesky Betancourt in the package.  What a pleasant and unexpected surprise for all of us.  We all feared that Dayton’s unnatural attraction to Yuni (read about Dayton’s early attempts to acquire Yuni in Mike Engel’s post here) would hinder our efforts to build a championship caliber team.

It was no surprise when Greinke was traded and we were very happy and relieved to learn of the group of young and talented players the Royals received in return for him.  What we didn’t expect was for Yuniesky to be included in the deal.  We were stunned.  We were thrilled.  We had renewed hope for the future.  Yuni was gone and the black hole at Shortstop was filled by a young wunderkind named Alcides Escobar.

And then just like a bad penny, Yuni turned up again.  (more…)

To that end, the Royals signed a player who plays only shortstop – and just barely.

A year and a day after trading him to Milwaukee with Zack Greinke, the Royals signed Yuniesky Betancourt to a one-year $2 million deal. Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star reported that playing time incentives could add $500,000.

Color me confused.

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• The Royals officially chose to retain Joakim Soria.  Technically, they rejected the $750,000 buyout which enacted the $6 million salary for 2012. Soria’s 2011 fell short of his usual expectations, and his 4.03 ERA was the highest of his career and he had stretches where he made every save an adventure. For a week of the season, Aaron Crow was technically deemed the team’s closer. Soria will look to improve on this year’s performance next season, and the Royals have said they intend to use him in spring training in longer outings, similar to how they brought him in after pulling him out of the Rule 5 draft in 2007.
• Bruce Chen is officially a Type B free agent according to the offseason Elias rankings. Chen elected to become a free agent on Sunday. A month ago, we looked at Chen’s tenure with the Royals, where he’s been one of the more consistent pitchers in the organization. Chen has sought a multi-year deal in past offseasons, but has settled to return to the Royals for one year deals the past two winters. As a Type B free agent, if he signs with another team, the Royals will be awarded a draft pick between the first and second rounds in next June’s amateur draft.

For those interested, former Royal Kyle Farnsworth is a Type A free agent after being traded last July to Atlanta and having a strong year as Tampa’s closer for most of the 2011 season. David DeJesus and Yuniesky Betancourt, both of whom were dealt last winter, are officially Type B free agents, as is Wilson Betemit, whom the Royals traded to Detroit in July.

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With the performance of Jeremy Jeffress (3.38 ERA, 1.250 WHIP in 8 IP), Lorenzo Cain (.273/.400/.364 and some great defense in spring), Alcides Escobar (.361/.400/.528 and ONE strikeout in 36 at bats) the Royals got some good players who will contribute at the big league level at some point this summer.  That they also got a solid starting pitching prospect in Jake Odorizzi only sweetens the deal.

And yeah, there’s the rib thing.

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