Royals Win Club Record 22nd Spring Game, Make More Roster Moves

Following an impressive 8-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Kansas City Royals made several more roster moves last night. The team optioned outfielder David Lough to Class AAA Omaha and released infielder Xavier Nady and relief pitcher George Sherrill.

The release of Lough comes as a surprise, as the 27-year-old has put together an impressive spring. Lough is 20 for 44 in 24 spring games, and many felt he could be a replacement for the struggling Jeff Francoeur. The team currently plans on having four outfielders on its major league roster: Francoeur, Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain and Jarrod Dyson.

Many Kansas City fans have voiced their displeasure with Francoeur, who struggled from the plate last season and has had a poor spring. If the veteran gets off to another slow start this season, Lough could be brought up to replace him. Lough also provides some nice insurance should one of the team’s other infielders suffer an injury.

The decision to release Nady and Sherrill rather than assigning them to the minor leagues makes both veterans free agents, however Kansas City is expected to attempt to re-sign the pair. Sherill is recovering from Tommy John surgery and has yet to pitch this spring. The Royals are hopeful that he could return to game action sometime in May. Nady has battled a foot injury this spring, and saw limited action in 13 games.

The win over the Dodgers gave the Royals a club-record 22nd spring win. Kansas City has been impressive all of spring training, compiling a 22-6-1 record fueled by strong hitting from several young players and impressive pitching from its off-season acquisitions. The team will face the Seattle Mariners at 3:05 p.m. today. Bruce Chen will get the start for Kansas City – his last chance to impress the coaching staff in his battle for the fifth starter spot with Luis Mendoza. Mendoza will be starting for Kansas City on Wednesday.

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Previewing The Upcoming 2012 MLB All Star Futures Game

The 2012 MLB All Star Futures Game is right around the corner, featuring the top minor league players in Major League Baseball. The game will be a part of the Taco Bell All-Star Sunday lineup, and is scheduled to take place at 4:00 p.m. ESPN2 and MLB.TV will carry the broadcast of the game.

The futures game is a great opportunity for baseball fans to see the next wave of the league’s stars, and to also catch a glimpse of the top minor league prospects in their organization. Current Royals stars such as Eric Hosmer participated in the event before being called up the major leagues, and some of the league’s top young talent, including players such as Bryce Harper, have participated in the past. The Royals have three players participating in the game – more than any other MLB team. Will Myers, Jake Odorizzi and Yordano Ventura will be representing Kansas City in the exhibition.

There are 31 players on MLB’s top 100 prospects list on the two rosters. The 3-8 prospects on the list - Manny Machado, Jurickson Profar, Jameson Taillon, Trevor Bauer, Dylan Bundy and Gerrit Cole - will be participating, and nearly half of the Top 50 are on the roster.

The World Team features players from 11 different countries and territories outside the United States. The Dominican Republic has eight players, followed by Venezuela with six, Cuba with two and Puerto Rico with two. There are also players representing Aruba, Canada, Curacao, England, Panama, Taiwan and South Korea.

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Royals Swept by Twins, Guaranteed Losing Season

You've got to hand it to the Royals, at least they are consistent. Kansas City fell to the Minnesota Twins last night, 4-3, at Target Field which has been a house of horrors for the Royals this season. The Royals latest dismal showing in Minneapolis (the team finished 2-7 there this season) guarantees the Royals will finish with a losing record for the 15th time in the last 16 seasons. And you thought this guy was the benchmark for consistency.

With the Royals' season now painfully behind us, Kansas City fans can reflect on another "promising" year that ultimately went down in flames. Many sports pundits and fans predicted the team to improve, however inconsistency from the entire club lead to long losing streaks and forced the team to ultimately trade all of its veterans and groom younger players. Zach Grienke was wildly unpredictable compared to his previous Cy Young winning form, as well as the entire bullpen ranging from average to downright scary.

So yet another rebuilding effort starts in Kansas City, yet the Royals seem to finally be learning their lesson from past failures. The Royals already boast a very loaded farm system and have young players already producing for the team like Grienke, Joakim Soria and more. Hopefully instead of foolishly spending on veterans like Jose Guillen and Gil Meche, the Royals will learn from the Tampa Bay Rays and Florida Marlins, two teams that groomed young players and became successful without spending big money. If not, the Royals organization will be in danger of continuing its streak of mediocrity, despite how impressive it is.

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Royals Take White Sox Series in Thrilling Fashion

Winning games these days sure has become hard for the Royals, and this weekend's series against the Chicago White Sox certainly proved this. The Royals and White Sox games all went to extra innings, with the Royals taking two out of three to win the series and finish its recent ten-game home stand at a respectable 6-4.

Yuniesky Betancourt was the hero in game one, belting a game-tying grand slam and later winning the game with a walk-off single. Betancourt, who has been critized all season for his poor play at short-stop and his generous contract, stepped up to give the Royals a win when some had already started heading for the exits. Jason Kendell was the hero in game three, hitting a game winning single into the outfield gap to drive home Gregor Blanco in the 10th inning. The series as a whole provided close, competitive baseball, with an added bonus due to the White Sox being locked in a heated division race with the Minnesota Twins.

While the results were positive, there are still some glaring concerns with this team, most notibly the younger players. Blanco has been solid, however Kila Ka'aihue continues to swing hard at absolutely anything, and other young players are struggling as well. The good news for the Royals is Zach Grienke appears to be back on track and Joakim Soria is consistently dominant at closer.

The Royals have some pieces to build with, and appear to be putting together a solid pitching corps and bullpen. However, the offense has to get better, which includes the younger players that are getting action to close out the year. Betancourt saving the team with a grand slam makes for a good story, but it would be nice if the team could win some games without the heroics. But where would the fun in that be?

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Royals Trade of Podsednik Signals Building for the Future

The Royals traded veteran outfielder Scott Podsednik to the Los Angeles Dodgers for two minor league players. The trade is right on the heals of another Royals deal that sent Alberto Callaspo to Anaheim for a young major league pitcher and another prospect. The moves send a clear message from the organization to its fans: the Royals are in another rebuilding project, and they are just getting started.

Both Callaspo and Podsednik have been very productive for the Royals, and have been some of the few bright spots in an otherwise underachieving offense. Podsednik is getting up there in age, yet has hit over .300 consistently this season, and Callaspo has been good both offensively and defensively during his career in Kansas City.

It is common sense for struggling teams to trade its better veteran players to plan for the future. The problem is, the Royals have been repeating this plan of action since I was born. Alex Gordon, who has been an absolute bust since being taken early in the draft, is slated to be Podsednik's full time replacement. The Royals did acquire some young talent, but what are the odds they will ever produce like Podsednik and Callaspo have in Kansas City? Given the Royals history, the odds are stacked against this happening.

I can't argue with the Royals' plan of action, in principle it makes sense. However, given the way Podsednik, Callaspo and the rest of the offense has produced, I would have liked to have seen Kansas City keep its offense together and get some pitching help. The deals are done though, and we will now enter Royals rebuilding project take 22.

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Royals Winning Ways Puts Team in an Interesting Position

In case the circus following Lebron James’ free agency or the World Cup distracted you, you may have noticed that the Royals have slowly crawled out of mediocrity to put together a solid 2010 season. Despite the signs of improvement, the organization is now faced with an interesting decision: continue to push for a playoff spot or start to give younger prospects a chance to gain valuable experience and plan for the future.

The Royals are 27-23 since Ned Yost took over and has won 10 of its last 13. The club is talking playoffs, and in the weak AL Central that notion may not be too far fetched. Reigning Cy Young winner Zack Grienke appears to have found his other-worldly form, the team has an all-star closer in Joakim Soria, and the batters have an excellent .283 average overall.

Despite all the success, the Royals need to realistically assess how good their team really is and its chances to snag the division title and earn a playoff spot. Much of the team’s success can be attributed to strong seasons from veteran players such as Jose Guillen and Scott Podsednik, who are not getting any younger.

The Royals will have to keep a realistic approach in the next several weeks about where they stand in the division. Billy Butler and Grienke, the team’s best hitter and pitcher, benefited immensely from playing time at a young age, and top prospects like Kila Ka’aihue could do the same and help the club build a building block for the future. It will be interesting to see what the club does in the next month or two, but the new position the Royals find themselves in shows the team may slowly be crawling out of the cellar.