I have written a lot of positive things about a baseball team that sits 9 games under .500 less than 20% of the way through the season. Sure, I see positives…but until those positives start to show up a little more often in the win column, I thought it might be a good idea to change directions. During the Kansas City Royals 12 game losing streak many fans seemed to lose a little patience with “The Process”. I heard people mocking the same “best farm system in baseball” tag that we as fans so often quoted last season. Even within the graduation of a number of stars, the system is still stocked, so I thought I would take a look at the 4 best signs from down on the farm so far in 2012:

1. Will Myers (AA) is absolutely raking. The 21 year-old outfielder is hitting .339 with an 1.127 OPS. He’s hit 11 home runs and driven in 25 runs in just 31 games.

Kool Aid Drinker’s Take: I for one think it is about time to give Myers the Hosmer treatment. Eric Hosmer ended the 2012 season by hitting 13 home runs and driving in 35 runs in 50 games at Northwest Arkansas. In 2011 the Royals made Hosmer prove it for just 26 games at Omaha before bringing him to Kansas City. Get Myers to Omaha now, and if he dominates like Hoz did, get him to Kansas City. This kid has the ability to be every bit as special at the plate as Hosmer was last season and could help fill in the void in the lineup that has been Jeff Francoeur.

1. Jake Odorizzi (AA) is striking everyone out. Odorizzi sports a 3.32 ERA with 47 Ks and 10 BBs in 38 innings.

Kool Aid Drinker’s take: I would give Odorizzi until July and if his numbers are anywhere close to the same level it’s time to move him up to Omaha. I think he could turn into a steadier Zack Greinke for the Royals by 2013-2014. His best probably isn’t as good as Greinke’s but it is good enough to battle Danny Duffy for the ace role over the next few seasons.

1. Jorge Bonifacio (A) is emerging. Bonifacio has slumped lately, but still owns a .390 on base percentage at the age of 18 years old.

Kool Aid Drinker’s take: The kid turns 19 on June 4, meaning he has a lot of development to do before he’s anywhere close to Kansas City. Still, having young talent produce early in the process can only be good for the Royals. If he can keep this up, I think he becomes a prime candidate to be included in any type of trade the Royals might make for a legitimate starter.

1. Local kid Jason Adam (A) is dominating in Wilmington. Despite his 1-4 record, Adam has been outstanding so far this season with a 2.08 ERA and nearly a 3:1 K-BB ratio.

Kool Aid Drinker’s Take: I’m not sure Adam has much more potential than back of the rotation, but there would be nothing better than seeing another KC kid in uniform 2-3 years down the road.

I have made it clear that I’m not writing off 2012, but it’s nice to know that even as we expect better results this year, the future still looks brighter than the present.

Not many Major League baseball players have to opportunity to sign a long term contract after playing only 51 games above the AA level.  That is exactly what Kansas City Royals catcher, Salvador Perez, got the chance to do this past week and he took it and ran with it.  The financial security for him and his family played a big part in this deal obviously but it also gave the Royals the chance to lock up a potential all star with an back end heavy contract that will allow the Royals to do many things.

First, it allows them to reward a player that they believe to be able to develop into an all star.  With the talents that he has shown at every level in which he has played many are comparing his abilities to a young Yadier Molina. Molina as a young catcher, like Perez, was sought after for his stellar defense but was not a highly touted hitting prospect.  Over time he has proven that his development at the Major League level paid off for the St. Louis Cardinals. If Perez pans out like the Royals think he will, this non high risk contract could end up being one of the biggest steals in franchise history.  Just after Perez sign his contract with the Royals, Molina signed his own 5 year deal worth, reportedly, up to 75 million dollars.  If Perez if able to live up to his potential then the two contracts could be a good comparison in the years to come and show the Royals how much money, say 68 million dollars, they saved by signing an all star leader like Perez early. Signing such a incentive latent contract means that Perez has to perform.  If he does not work out in the long run than they only spent seven million dollars. This gives the Royals the security both financially and on the field because they can use this as motivation not only for Perez but for other young players on the ball club.

What this kind of a contract does to the psyche of the young players on the Royals roster is as positive as it gets.  While Perez has not played as much as a Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, or Lorenzo Cain, the signing shows that if these young guys step up to the plate do what they are ask and perform, the Royals are ready and willing to reward them for the actions. Though, the deals for these players may not be as club friendly as the Perez deal but if the three previously mentioned players are performing to a high enough standard that they require big money to play then that means this team could be winning some ball games and a lot of them. These are the types of things that if the Royals prove that they are willing to lock players up with long term contracts, the young players will not only want to play in Kansas City but that they will need to play in Kansas City. As evident by the tweet of one pitcher Danny Duffy stated, #burymeaRoyal which took Royals fans, following Duffy on twitter, by storm. Could this be the sign that these young guys not only want to win but that they want to do it in Royal blue? This is a question that can be answered over the next 5 years on the field and in the size of the Glass family checkbook.

The final accomplishment are the fans.  The fans are the ones who get to enjoy the play on the field.  They are the reason that sports are possible because without fans the money would not be there.  So, for Royals fans, a deal like Perez’s could be the sign that they may want to go all in on the Royals regime.  But not so fast my friends, this is just one deal and yes it is a good sign for the future but this is a signing of a 21 year old from a small town in Venezuela who would have loved nothing more than to be able to take care of he and his family.  His new contract does that and will provide him with a great life after baseball. But, Scott Boras may have something else to say when his clients start hitting the negotiation table with the Royals.  He is what I call a bleeder.  Although his client may be happy with the team and happy with the contract that has been offered, he is going to bleed every last penny out of an organization until they are seeing the bright light and then he will sign. So as fans yes encouraged is a good thought to have right now with the way things have started in early Spring but will the Royals put their money where their mouth is when the time comes and goodness how much money that will have to be.

2011 Texas League Field Of The Year
Hammons Field receives honor for second time in team history

Springfield, MO – The Texas League has announced that Hammons Field has been named the 2011 Texas League Field of the Year.

This marks the second time in Springfield Cardinals’ history in which Hammons Field has taken home the award. Hammons Field is now eligible for the Double-A Field of the Year, which the organization won in 2008.

Head Groundskeeper Brock Phipps has been in charge of the playing surface since Hammons Field was built in 2004.

“To know that we were voted Field of the Year in the Texas League is quite an honor and very humbling,” said Phipps. “I’d especially like to commend our Assistant Groundskeeper, Derek Edwards, the entire field crew for their superior work and expertise, as well as the entire front office of the Springfield Cardinals, for their immeasurable support throughout the season.”

“Brock and the staff are very dedicated to making Hammons Field beautiful for our fans and making the playing surface the very best it can be for the players,” said Vice President / General Manager Matt Gifford. “We’d also like to thank Hammons Industries for their continued support in helping to make Hammons Field one of the finest ballparks in all of minor league baseball. We’re all very proud to represent the Texas League in receiving this honor.”

The Springfield Cardinals wish to once again thank all the Cardinals’ fans for a terrific 2011 season. For information on 2012 Season Tickets, please call(417) 863-0395, or visit our website at www.springfieldcardinals.com.

The Royals faithful know of Alcides Escobar’s resurgence of late at the plate (.419 in his last dozen games). They know that he is one of the best shortstops in the Show; and adding a bat to that glove, his value to the Royals skyrockets. Ned Yost saw the potential all year and continued to let Escobar bat in the lineup every day. He refused to replace Escobar late in games with a better hitter so that he could get late-game hitting experience and stay in games longer. Royals fans know all of this.

Photo Courtesy of Minda Haas

They don’t know about Alcides’ scandalous past.

In their defense, the story hasn’t been discussed in a couple of years and, at the time, was focused on a AA Brewers prospect. But now that he’s playing for their team, Royals fans should know who they’re rooting for.

In 2009, Escobar’s wife Leury came out with big allegations against her new husband. As a disclaimer, the following story is told only from her side of things. The only statements made from Alcides have come through his former Venezualan team’s PR man, whose only defense for him was that he pays child support and that his wife is covered under MLB’s insurance policy. No news has come out in years relating to this, so we can’t know if anything has changed.

Using several sources who publicized these events (many of them Leury’s personal accounts), this is a reconstruction of Alcides Escobar’s ugly relationship with his wife.

* * * * *

In 2008, current Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar was married to Leury Moreno, daughter of 1979 World Champion and 1985 Royal Omar Moreno. Soon after they were married, it was discovered that Leury was pregnant. The new couple was excited, buying new things for their baby as they prepared to be a family.

In October of 2008, Alcides left to play winter league ball with the Cardenales in Venezuela. Leury says this was the turning point in their relationship.

Being a US citizen, Leury couldn’t easily visit her husband in Venezuela. So one day, she called to check up on Alcides, who handed the phone to his mistress, who proceeded to badmouth her about her looks and how her relationship with Alcides was over. Leury continued to get calls and texts from her husband and his lover. Things got so bad that Alcides once told his wife that he had only married her for a green card. He wasn’t even in attendance when his daughter Gabriella was born prematurely. (Fortunately, she was born relatively healthy.)

Leury claims that Alcides was kicked off his Venezuelan team for bad conduct and that his family wants nothing to do with him.

At one point, Alcides apologized to Leury and said he still loved her and wanted her to visit him in Venezuela. But when she and her daughter arrived, they were met with divorce papers. Leury refused and went back home.

She is now a fashion designer in Florida. As far as anyone knows, he has only seen her and his kid once since he left them in 2008. He is now playing Major League ball in Kansas City for $428,000 this year.

* * * * *

Again, I don’t want to trash Alcides Escobar if he has made up for what he’s done. If he has, it wasn’t publicized. If not, Royals fans should at least have this story in the back of their heads when they hear about the guy.

Postscript: You can hit me up at my Cardinals site or Twitter.

Of all the Cardinals starters, perhaps none is more important than Yadier Molina.

Molina does so many things well on defense. He understands Dave Duncan’s philosophy and his staff’s strengths/weaknesses. His arm is lethal – he has thrown out 49% of would-be base stealers in his career. Last season runners faced a coin flip when trying to steal; they had a 50/50 shot of making it (51.4% success, 48.6% failure). It goes almost without saying he was ranked the #1 defensive catcher in baseball for 2010. Any contribution he makes at the plate is icing on the cake, and his numbers had improved steadily 2010.

He is a 3-time Gold Glove and 2-time All-Star. He is the defensive rock of this team.

Molina was the 113th pick of the 2000 draft, taken as a seventeen year-old from Maestro Ladislao Martinez HS in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico. He spent one year each in Rookie, A, AA, and AAA ball. His offensive numbers were never great – his best ‘year’ was 37 games at AAA Memphis, where he posted a .302/.387/.372 line – but he was a stud on defense. Molina threw out 45% of all runners who dared to steal while in the minors. The Cardinals deemed him ready and promoted him, at the ripe old age of 21, to the majors, after Mike Matheny went on the DL with a strained muscle in his side.

He started his first game on June 3 against Pittsburgh, singling and doubling in 4 trips to the plate. His hot start didn’t last, as he hit .229/.349/.297 over the next 11 games. Still, the Cardinals decided to keep him on the roster when Matheny returned and sent Cody McKay down. Molina appeared in 4 games during the 2004 post-season, getting 1 hit in 7 PA. He was involved in a memorable (at least to me) verbal ‘discussion’ with Manny Ramirez during Game 4 of the World Series, after it appeared Ramirez was tipping pitch location while standing on second base earlier in the game.

Matheny left for San Francisco following the 2004 season, making Molina the starting catcher. He did split time that season with Einar Diaz and Mike Mahoney, appearing in only 114 games, but he got 421 PA, and caught every inning of the Cardinals 2005 playoff run. He caught 126 games in 2006, but his bat continued to slumber, and even regress, until another memorable moment – this time, his Game 7 ninth inning HR propelling the Cardinals into the World Series.

After that his regular season hitting statistics started to climb, and he posted OPS’ of 85, 95, and 100 in each of the next 3 seasons. 2010 was the first year since 2006 that his hitting regressed, and he finished with an OPS of 84. He still caught 136 games before being shut down due to a variety of nagging injuries.

St Louis has seen fit to keep a veteran catcher on the roster as Molina’s backup, usually an average defender with no bat at all. Because of this, and the fact those men have been an average of 34.8 years old, Molina has caught a ton of innings early in his career. Molina’s defensive ability and offense are well-known quantities. The Cardinals desperately need to keep him on the field, but they also need to conserve him so he does not break down late in the year again like he did in 2010.

This year the Cardinals have Gerald Laird in camp, who is at least younger than the previous backups (he’ll be 32 in November). Laird brings recent experience as a starting catcher, having caught 135 games with Detroit in 2009. The fans seemed impressed with his work, as he was ranked #11 among catchers entering the 2010 season. Laird had a terrible year at the plate last season and was eventually replaced by Alex Avila. If he can recapture some of his former ability he represents a significant upgrade from recent backup catchers.

So for the Cardinals, it’s not so much a question of what the team needs from Molina, it’s more a question of what the team can do to keep Molina in the lineup all season. The main thing they can do to assist will be to give him more than the occasional day off, and get him out of games that are no longer in doubt. Molina is the key to their success in 2011. He has to stay healthy all season.

In the midst of a youth movement and building for the future, the Royals find themselves with the promising bunch of young players from a few years ago standing firmly in the path of the young and rising stars of tomorrow.

A few players have come through the organization as highly promising prospects just to flop on the big stage. Some players, however, came through the system relatively unnoticed and made an impact at the major league level. One of those players that perplexes fans and team officials alike is none other than Mike Aviles.

Mike Aviles is looking to maintain a job with the Royals as younger talent is looking to push him out. He has been the starting second baseman, shortstop and this year the Royals look to use him as the starting third baseman. He will only hold this position until Mike Moustakas is called up sometime this summer. Aviles batted .325 his first season and would have ranked third for the batting title had he had enough plate appearances. He finished 4th for Rookie of the year. This spring he seems fully recovered from his 2009 Tommy John Surgery and back to his rookie year numbers batting .424 and slugging .697 this spring. Due to his great bat and Chris Getz’s absolutely cold one, there is talk he may start at second and Getz may start in Omaha. The problem with Mike Aviles is his defense is not as good as Getz.

He was a 7th round pick by the Royals in 2003 and sent to Wilmington. He played for Royals great Frank White in AA Wichita in 2005 before heading to Omaha for 2 seasons. He became a Kansas City Royal for the first time on May 29th, 2008, replacing the injured Billy Butler. He is a 2nd generation infielder. His Uncle, Ramon Aviles played for the Phillies and Red Sox in the Late 70s.

Aviles will start the year with Kansas City but will have to be on his game to maintain a position on the team over the next couple years with the number one farm system hot on his heels.

Troy “KCRoyalman” Olsen can be heard on 810 Radio Wednesdays and Fridays from 9-11pm as part of 3 guys in a garage. Follow him at twitter.com/kcroyalman and facebook.com/kcroyalman.

The last two seasons, Kauffman Stadium was under construction during the summer, producing a great place to watch a game once the project was completed. This summer in Kansas City the same kind of 24/7 construction needs to be taking place on the Royals roster. The Royals have shown some promise since Ned Yost has taken over as manager.

This rebuild began years ago and has seen a ton of work change orders and new project managers with little progress being made to the final product on the field. It seems that the team might be nearing the corner of rebuild and contender after picking up several quality pieces at the trade deadline.

The team was able to add several quality prospects as well as big league talent, non of which are costing the team a pretty penny. These additions will help to solidify the back end of the bench and rotation and also at the same time allow the team listen to trade offers for players who would have seemed untouchable before the deadline.

The biggest questions for this offseason are when will the young talent in AAA and AA be ready for big league action. The next question is how aggressive will the team be in the free agent market. Lastly what will the Royals get in return for Zack Greinke when they finally trade him this offseason.

I do not know for sure what the answers to these questions are but these are the questions that are filling my thoughts as the season ends. I am not expecting a ton out of this team next season because they will most likely be young if not rookies everywhere you look. The good thing is that a few good signings this offseason could build this into something to be dealt with in 2012.

The biggest question is who or what do you build this all around? I think Prince Fielder is the building block that a champion could be built around. Fielder is young, powerful, and a start. He would bring the team into the national spot light by just being on the field. He would also provide a big bat to the line. By trading for Fielder he would also provide great return for Greinke who seems to want out of town. A move like this would place a ton of pressure on young arms like Crow but the upside is worth risk.

In the end the Royals will most likely not go for a full blown remodel and choose to go with just a fresh paint job and a new lamp but here is hoping for a few walls getting knocked down.

Mike Moustakas was selected in the 1^st round (No. 2 overall) of the June 2007 First-Year Player Draft out of Chatsworth (Calif.) High School. He is currently playing third base for the Triple-A Omaha Royals in the Pacific Coast League. He is a big kid (5’11” – 230 lbs) with plenty of power and capable of staying at third base. According to Baseball America, he was rated the fourth best prospect in the Royals minor league system.

Moustakas tore up Double-A pitching. He was the Texas League player of the week twice, Mid-Season All-Star, and participated in the Future Stars Games during All-Star week. It was time for him to move on. There was nothing left for Moustakas to prove. Check out his stats below, they tell it all.

On July 15^th, Moustakas was promoted to Triple-A Omaha. At the time of his call-up he was leading the Texas League in home runs and RBI. Since he cruised through Double-A with no problem, the sudden lack of production was a concern. Through 55 at bats he was batting .218 with 10 strikeouts. Moustakas will find a way to turn things around soon. Last weekend series at Memphis, he looked like he has all season. He batted .333 with three home runs and four RBI.

The Royals General Manager Dayton Moore suggests there are no plans on calling up Moustakas in September. The Royals want to give him more time to develop. Since he will not be called up, this tells me he has little chance on making the team next year out of spring training. If Moustakas was in next year’s plan, they would want a preview of what he can do. He will have to give the Royals every reason not to send him down out of spring training. I am positive the Royals are hoping he can be ready and be the opening day starting third baseman in 2011. His only competition is Wilson Betemit and Josh Fields who is currently on the 60 day DL with a hip injury.

If Moustakas doesn’t make the opening day roster, he could be a June call-up. Once he is called up, he will be the third baseman of the future and should be there to stay. With all the power hitting prospects the Royals have, there could be a slight chance he could get moved to the outfield. I would not be surprised if that happens but with the move of Alex Gordon to the outfield, third base is his to lose.

Side Note: Moustakas turns 22 in September. The average age of baseball rookies to make their major league debut is 24 years old.

So I think Moustakas will reach the major leagues June of 2011. What do you think? When will Mike Moustakas reach the major leagues?

A year can make all the difference. Ned Yost in January was starting his new job as a special adviser to the Kansas City Royals. The month of May came along with a chance to take over for recently fired manager Trey Hillman. The Yost led Royals are 31-37 heading into August with a new lineup after several deadline deals.

The one thing that will not be changing in Kansas City is the manager. Yost has been given a two year extension that will keep him as the captain of this ship through the 2012 season. Yost, it seems, has started to turn this team around during his short run as manager and this small turn around is apparently hope enough for Royals management to bet on Yost for the years to come.

Extending Yost at this point in the season is a good choice, in my opinion. By letting Yost stay, the team is basically giving him the rest of the year to use as an extended training/evaluation period. He will be able to bring up AAA guys and maybe even a AA guy or two in the last month of the season. Yost will be able to see his minor league talent at the major league level and he will also be able to give some bench players more playing time after trading four starting players.

Yost has proven that he can turn a bad team with young talent into a good team previously with the Brewers. This kind of experience is what the Royals need to turn prospects into wins. Yost has been there and done that. He has a game plan that has worked in the past with a minor league system that most will agree was not as talented as the current Royals system.

The most important thing is that Yost likes the process of building a team. This is the most important quality for a manager of a young team because mangers that want to win now want to bring in older talent to make a run this year or trade away all their AAA talent in one deal (see Cardinals). A manager that likes to build a team knows that you have to let the younger players work into being great players. This kind of manager has to be willing to say no to a trade of five top level prospects for one superstar especially with the budget in Kansas City.

A team building manager also has to know that he has time to let his plan come together and that is what the Royals have done by extending Yost. The only problem with this move is that Yost only has two years. I would have liked to see a three or four year deal given to any manager.