Whispers from Spring Training

• In Moustakas's first two BP sessions he homered to right field.
• David Glass said that the Royals will never commit 300 million dollars to one player.
• In one BP session Salvador Perez homered 4 out of the 8 pitches.
• Yost believes that Perez could be in the majors in two seasons.
• Some believe that within a year Perez will be a top 5 prospect in the organization. That says alot considered the strength of the system.
• Royals scout Art Stewart said this is the best collection of arms he has seen in a Royals camp in 42 years.
• Art Stewart also said that this is the best young talent the Royals have ever had including the George Brett era.
• In a single batting practice session today Eric Hosmer homered to left, center, and then right field.
• Lucas May left camp today due to a 100 degree temperature.
• Jason Kendall is way ahead of schedule and his goal is to be ready for opening day. He is throwing at about 35-40 feet now.
• Clint Robinson hit a 450 homer today that was only knocked out of orbit when it collied with a scoreboard for a neighboring field.
• Ben Nicholson-Smith of mlbtraderumors said that the Royals and Yu Darvish seem like a fit. I agree. Darvish will cost a lot of money but a lot of the will be in the posting fee. Basically this could be viewed as a major signing bonus enabling the Royals to front load their investment. Something they couldn't do if they invest a similar amount of money in the free agent market.
• Oh and according to Bob Fescoe top Royals officials do believe the team would be in on the Pujols bidding in some capacity. In my opinion the Royals could be a serious player if they were offered a hometown discount. If they have to put the most money on the table I cannot see it happening.

That's all I've got for now, special thanks to Bob Fescoe who is doing an incredible job tweeting from Arizona. Jump on the bandwagon now, while it is still cool.

Valentine's Day and My True Love

Today is the day. The day that I can finally express my true love. The day that after months my love will finally come back to me. Today is Valentine's day, but fortunately my love isn't going to judge me for the amount of money I spent for a present, or for the flowers and chocolates that I bought her. My love actually happens to be a really easy date. Even if I don't act like I care she will still be there. Doing her thing, trying to get my attention.

It has been a long winter and I missed my love alot. There are things that I could do to ease my pain and believe me they help alot. Over the winter I would often lay in my bed and think about my love, imagining and then dreaming about what the future had in store for the two of us. Often just the thoughts were enough to give me goosebumps.

I could count on the boxscores of the Arizona Fall League, and the thrill of the winter meetings to satisfy my offseason lust. I even experienced some jealousy when seemingly everyone was falling in love with the future of team. By now of course you realize that I am in love with baseball, and more specifically the Kansas City Royals

What can women do when they go away? A love letter? A text message? A phone call to say I miss you? I mean I guess those things have a value. But I want something that shows me that they still are working hard to impress me. I got this when the Royals were represented so well in the Arizona Fall League all star game. I got more of this when the Royals had a flurry of offseason moves, that for once showed a maturity. My love had made mistakes in the past, but she wasn't going to make them again.

I wasn't always so madly in love with the Royals. It started with some flirting. I admit that falling in love was inevitable. My father always was sure to put the two of us near eachother. It was a bit set up. But now I don't mind so much. As a child I would watch highlights of the 1985 World Series and would even defend my love when jealous types would taunt me about a certain moment when she was granted an opportunity that she didn't deserve. I didn't care, because I knew that she had to take advantage for it to matter anyway. It isn't her fault that the Cardinals failed to show up in game 7.

I remember our first kiss even. It was a clear April evening in 2003, with the Royals in first place. The Royals were deadlocked in a battle with the Detroit Tigers and in the bottom of 11th Ken Harvey stepped to the plate. What happened next was a moment I will never forget. I leaned in close and instead of closing my eyes I snuck a peak. She was beautiful there in the night. The white dot of the ball soaring through the darkness. At that moment I knew it was destiny. There is no game-over feeling like that first live walk off homer.

Sure we have had our rough patches, all couples do. There have also been stretches when I was even unattracted to my love, take the entire Buddy Bell era for instance. But I'm sure most guys can say the same about their significant others. Sometimes they get a bad haircut, or gain some weight. But the beauty of the Royals is that I'll keep getting older and they will stay the same age, because unlike women a baseball team doesn't become complacement with the product.

You see a relationship with a baseball team never stagnates like relationships with women. Relationships with women often grow old and boring, but with baseball every spring is going to offer that kick-in-the-gut optimistic feeling that this time its going to be different. What relationship with a woman can do that?

Women can't change who they are. They are either a woman that is conservative or liberal. They are a woman that makes you a sandwich or asks for a sandwich. They are a woman that is willing to round the bases or a woman that isn't. But in the end they aren't going to change who they are.

When you fall head over heels in love with a baseball team and decide that you are going to wear they're merchandise and write about them on the internet, this is considered to be totally normal behavior. But if you fall in love with a woman and you start wearing clothing with her name and face on the front, or start blogging about her you are probably going to be slapped with a restraining order. There is also a good chance that your words will be used against you a court of law.

Look at superfan Chris for instance he followed his love around all summer long and even wore tickets around his neck, he would be looking at jail time had the Royals been an attractive woman. Fortunately for Chris though, the Royals are an unattractive baseball team and he is applauded by the organization for his fanhood.

Or look at Royal Man. You think in any other situation his lover would accept him wearing a cape and spandex on every date? I don't. Luckily though like myself he is in love with the Kansas City Royals. Like Chris the organization is proud to have fans like him.

Perhaps you aren't as obsessive as Chris or Royal Man and you would like to play the field. A baseball team is fine with having you as part of an open relationship. "Go ahead and watch the Tigers or White Sox play we don't mind." What girl would grant guys that opportunity? In the end guys are allowed to look for other opportunities without ruining the one at hand.

Really even when your team goes through stretches when they do everything in their power to piss you off, it is nothing in comparison to those stretches that woman tend to go through once a month. At least when your favorite team goes on a losing streak you still get to see some action. Maybe not a lot of home runs, but they will at least hit singles, doubles, and some occasional triples.

All winter long I have been dreaming about the future, but I have realized that I don't have to wait for the future to enjoy what I have now. It is true that it will probably be a few years until the ring is slipped on to my love's finger, but from now until then I know that we will be building for that moment.

I shouldn't take these times for granted, because some day we will look back and think about how critical of a moment that decision was. Or how awesome it was when my love presented me with Mike Moustakas's first home run. Or Danny Duffy's first win. Or Lorenzo Cain's first steal as a Royal. These are the moments we live for and I couldn't be more excited about what is to come.

It all starts today, on Valentine's Day. Pitchers and catchers report. There is no turning back now.

Prospect Countdown: 30-26

We continue with our top prospect countdown. Keep in mind that I am not a scout, so I use statistical data, and scouting reports from various publications for my information. Some of these players I have seen play, specifically guys that played in Northwest Arkansas last season.

30. Blaine Hardy LHP



Blaine Hardy first caught my attention when in 2009, when he was one of the most consistent pitchers on the Burlington Bees staff. The Royals obviously impressed by Hardy, elected to push him past Wilmington and straight into the Northwest Arkansas bullpen for 2010.

While in Springdale I was able to see Hardy first hand on several occasions and during the early part of the season it became apparent that he was the top option that manager Brian Poldberg had in his bullpen. According to my research during his time with the Naturals not only did he post an era of 0.69, but he also didn't allow a single inherited runner to score, which could be in part due to a very strong pickoff move. The Royals took notice.

After just 26 innings Hardy was granted a promotion to Omaha, there he continued to pitch in the bullpen until the end of the season when he was asked to fill in for the Omaha rotation. Once there he continued to dazzle and wound up posting a 3.49 era in his time at the highest level of minor league competition.

Hardy was drafted in the 22nd round of the 2008 draft. He has a high 80s fastball with a good slider and curveball. He has good command so he controls the plate during his time in the game. Even though he pitched well as a member of the Omaha rotation, I don't believe that his future lies in the rotation and I see him as a middle relief arm. Nonetheless I believe he is major league ready and with a strong showing in Spring and in the early part of the season he should be in Kansas City sooner rather than later.

29. Jeff Bianchi SS



After finally putting together a healthy season long campaign in 2009 and posting solid offensive numbers and adding a decent year with the glove there was a hope among Royals fans that with a strong Spring Bianchi could force Yu-nasty out of the shortstop spot with the big league club. However, Bianchi suffered a season ending injury just as Spring Training began.

With the tommy john surgery people say that it takes about a year recovery. However, with Aviles we found that it takes more like fifteen months until the player is performing back at his previous level. With this in mind it is unlikely that Bianchi will be fully recovered in time to win a major league job out of camp.

Obviously with the newly acquired Escobar and Colon behind him in case Escobar falters, Bianchi will probably never be granted an opportunity to be an everyday shortstop for the Kansas City Royals. However, I think he would have been stretched a bit as a regular. But I do believe that he could be a top notch utility man down the line.

Bianchi has the defensive tools to be able to play both middle infield positions. Plus with a little work in Omaha I could see him playing a strong third and maybe even be a serviceable player in the outfield. Basically I believe that Bianchi could offer Willie Bloomquist type versatility with a much stronger bat. A player that other team's fan bases look at as a potential trade target because he "isn't being given a fair opportunity on the Royals bench."

Good teams become great teams due to players in that mold and I can see Bianchi being that type of player for the Kansas City Royals.

28. Will Smith LHP



When the Royals acquired Will Smith he wasn't an overly exciting piece from a superficial standpoint, but upon review of his development pattern, two thoughts occured. First, what the hell are the Angels doing? Second, this guy has a bit of potential. At the time we were told his potential was as a back of the rotation starter. But I am going to even go as high as saying that Smith could even one day find himself as a quality #3 at the big league level. (Upon saying that even I thought that I was an idiot, but I'm going to stick with it and if I eat my words later it won't be for going with the grain.)

Smith began the season in the California League, but after some injuries caused the Angels to shift around some pitchers he found himself first in double-A Arkansas, then in triple-A Salt Lake City. At the time he was dealt he hadn't found much success. But the Royals realized what needed to be done and they sent him to Wilmington to find himself.

Upon finally getting some consistent time in High-A the level he should have been the entire time, Smith found his stride. In Wilmington he strike out rate jumped and his walk rate disappeared. Then at the end of the season when the organization was attempting to limit innings on some of the other arms, Smith was called upon to make a couple of playoff starts for the Naturals.

Smith commented at one point as saying he felt totally at home with the group and his numbers would indicate such. Which has become a theme for prospects in that group. Perhaps it is good leadership, or good coaching, or a good atmosphere. Whatever it is prospects are feeding off one another in Kansas City's system right now.

Smith pitched extremely well in the playoffs for the Naturals including garnering the final win that crowned the team champions of the Texas League. Smith has a fastball that hovers around 90 mph with a good curveball that I have read could be a plus pitch. However, his changeup is way behind. If he can turn that change into an average offering he should be ready to go. His command is strong and he pounds the strikezone hard.

Smith hasn't done enough to join the Duffy, Dwyer, Lamb, Montgomery group yet. But him and a few others in the system could do that with a strong 2011 campaing. Smith should begin the 2011 season in the Naturals rotation.

27. Tyler Sample RHP



Tyler Sample was disappointing in 2010. After a good season in 2009 and displaying flashes of improved control, it all fell apart in his first trip to full season ball. Tyler Sample has tremendous upside but there is a strong risk that he flames out before he even makes it into the high minors.

At 6-9 Sample has a massive frame that allows him to dial up his fastball into the mid 90s on a consistent basis. He also has a knucklecuve that at times can be just as devastating. His change lags far behind, and his control is obviously a major concern. Hopefully if he can just become average in this regard his stuff will be dominate enough to carry him into a big league rotation where he can hopefully limit hits against him while logging 200 innings.

If he can't develop the control as a starter the Royals could always give him a shot at reliever. There his stuff could continue to play at a high level and perhaps even in short stints his control can improve. I'm not sure how I feel about Sample. If I was a betting man I'd stay away, but with his upside I feel compelled to continue to put him in the top 30. I expect Sample to start the year in Kane County and hopefully the improved environment can help him find himself.

26. Paulo Orlando OF



Paulo Orlando. Maybe it is because of the way his name was called on the Naturals PA, maybe it was because of his walk up song, maybe it was because of his attempt to be the first Brazilian in the Major Leagues, maybe it is because of his tools, maybe it is because when I watch him I imagine him being this team's Willie Wilson. Whatever the reason Paulo Orlando is one of my personal favorite prospects in the entire organization.

Orlando was formerly a track star in Brazil before he pursued a career in professional baseball. His speed translates to the baseball diamond, not as eye opening speed from home to first, but primarily when he glides into third for a triple or scores from second on a line drive to the rightfielder. I say glide because when Orlando runs it is extremely effortless and doesn't look too high energy, think Willie Wilson/B.J. Upton.

But Orlando has always had his speed, his glove, and his hose. But this season in Springdale he showed two other tools some power with a .480 slug and some contact by hitting over .300 for the first time in his career. His plate discipline is going to need to continue to improve, but he made major strides in the 2010 season.

Throughout his time in the Royals organization Orlando has been playing along side Derrick Robinson and sometimes Jarrod Dyson. Due to this he hadn't been given too many opportunities in centerfield. However, when he started hitting home runs Poldberg was instructed by the organization to play Orlando in centerfield multiple times a week.

I believe that his bat plays better in centerfield but if he plays left he would give the Royals a top notch defensive leftfielder. He is a bit old in age but in baseball experience he is young. Due to this he should continue to develop as he gets reps. I think he will split time between Northwest Arkansas and Omaha this season, and I am going to predict a 20/20 year.

Royals Sign Pedro Feliz

This morning the Royals stole the spotlight away from the Chiefs offensive coordinator signing with a signing of their own when they signed thirty-five year old veteran Pedro Feliz to a minor league deal. (Just kidding). Feliz has a reputation as a premium defender at the hot corner. However, after his uzr regressed in each of the las four straight seasons it finally came in at a below average mark for the first time in 2010 at -4.9.

Hopefully, Feliz's defensive woes last season were just an abberation and not reflective of his current fielding abilities. Quite honestly if that isn't the case I can't imagine Feliz having any value at all. Even if his defensive abilties have returned the most I could handle out of Feliz on the roster would be as a late inning defensive replacement at third and first.

As far as Feliz's bat is concerned, well he did hit for 20+ homers from 2004-2007. But of course in that same time period he broke the .300 obp plateau just once. In fact his career on base percentage comes in at paltry .288. But it wouldn't shock me if at some point this season we see Francouer and Feliz hitting 5th and 6th in the lineup.

...and I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.

By channeling my inner optimism and by giving the signing the benefit of the doubt I can rationalize that the signing was made as an insurance policy to Wilson Betemit and Mike Aviles. As I see it one of the two will be starting at third and the other will be serving as a utility man. With the Feliz signing should one of the two of them go down to injury the Royals can have a back up plan to fill that reserve role.

There is a small value to this just ask Mark Teahen. As some of you may recall the Royals signed Chris Truby in the offseason prior to the 2005 season and planned to use him to fill in the third base spot until Mark Teahen was ready for his big league debut. Heading into the season Teahen had played in 86 games at the triple A level, but it was apparent that the organization did not feel he was ready and would have been wise to manipulate his service just a bit by having him begin the season in Omaha.

Then disaster struck and Chris Truby went down to injury in Spring, leaving Mark Teahen as the only option at third base to begin the year. Teahen began the year in Kansas City and went on to post an OPS of .685. One is only left to imagine the kind of damage that Chris Truby would have done had he stayed healthy for the Royals in 2005. What could have been...

The other thing that the Feliz signing could mean is that the Royals could be active in the trade market come Spring, or that they could want to have the flexibility to be active in the trade market in Spring. With the addition of Feliz, should a team lose their second or thirdbaseman to injury in Spring the Royals could matchup as a trading partner by offering either Aviles or Betemit. Both of whom would be considered very appealing commodities to a team in desperate need of a viable option heading into the season.

I am not a fan of Feliz. The only way I would be able to put up with him being on the roster and earning his 800K would be if it is only as a late inning defensive replacement. But I can also see the rationale by acquiring a bit of depth and securing some insurance to Betemit and Aviles. I do believe it is important that the Royals give Moustakas more triple A at bats, and even if he is ready service time is of the utmost importance. So I guess if Feliz can help the Royals in that regard I will have to put up with the signing.

It is important to remember that it is just a minor league deal with a non roster invite. So even though I am not a fan of Feliz, any positives that can be found make the deal worthwhile. Also, with next to no other options available on the free agent market for third base it would seem that it would be better to be ahead of the game then to be left scrambling should an injury occur.

*On a side note if the Royals could have signed Wily Aybar (the only other real option in my mind) to the same deal I would have without a doubt preferred that option.

Time to Reinvest: Royals Sign Castillo

Yesterday the Royals spent a little bit of money (300K) to sign Dominican righty Darwin Castillo. Now reports state that Castillo is eighteen years old and throws between 88-92 mph. Castillo is also 6-5, 215 lbs and seems to have an easy repeatable delivery, that can be seen via youtube if you search his name.

Given his age, frame and delivery it isn't out of the question to expect that Castillo could add a few miles per hour to his delivery in the future. I love this kind of move for the Royals and it is the second time this offseason that they have signed a righty out of the Dominican Prospect League.

My hope is that with the Gil Meche contract coming off the books for the 2011 season, the Royals will be extremely active in Latin America this year and that this is only the beginning.