So I assumed you’ve already tuned out the playoffs, what with the Tigers, Yankees and Cardinals all advancing. Instead, let’s take a look at October baseball Kansas City Royals style, the Arizona Fall League. The Royals sent eight players to Arizona, here’s a little bit about each of them and what we can hope to see.

J.C. Sulbaran- Absolutely the most interesting prospect in Arizona. He came over in the Jonathan Broxton trade and struggled mightily after joining Northwest Arkansas but that was almost entirely due to control issues. At just 22 years old, there is plenty of time for Sulbaran to blossom into a back of the rotation starter. Sulbaran has yet to take the mound yet in Arizona. A great sign for the Royals would be if Sulbaran dominates the lesser competition in Arizona and keeps his walks down.

Edwin Carl- 24 year-old pitcher with impressive peripherals, but that’s what you’d expect from a 24 year old that’s yet to get to AA. Carl has struck out over 11 batters per nine innings in his minor league career with an outstanding 5.4-1 K/BB ratio. Carl gave up two hits including a home run in his fall league debut.

John Keck- 24 year-old left handed relief pitcher that finally dominated high-A ball this season, earning a promotion to AA. Keck does not stike a lot of people out, and he struggles with his control. It’s a major long shot that we ever see him in Kansas City. Keck has already given up 3 unearned runs on 5 hits in just 1.1 innings this fall.

Justin Marks- 24 year-old left handed starting pitcher that pitched well in AA this season. Marks came to the Royals as part of the David DeJesus trade. A great performance is Anrizona could lead to an assignment in Omaha in 2012, putting him in line to fill a gap once the third or fourth Tommy John injury is sustained. Marks threw three hitless innings in his Fall League debut, walking two and striking out two.

Alex McClure- 23 year-old shortstop that has shown no ability to hit at any level. Played half a season in Northwest Arkansas in 2012 and posted an OPS of .525, which is just slightly below his career OPS. Mcclure is 1/6 wuth an error in two fall games thus far.

Whit Merrifield- 23 year-old outfielder/second baseman that has shown limited promise in his time in the organization. This is likely his last chance to make an impression on the organization. Merrifield has started the fall 2/8 with two runs scored, he’s also committed an error.

Brian Fletcher- 23 (soon to be 24) year-old outfielder that progressed to AA mid-season. Fletcher has 31 home runs in 857 career minor league at bats, but he would have to have an impressive fall and outstanding 2013 to have any chance to figure in the Royals long term plans. Fletcher is 3/10 with an RBI in three games of Arizona Fall League action.

Orlando Calixte- 20 year-old SS from the Dominican Republic that committed 46 errors in 123 games in 2012. Calixte did have his best year at the plate in 2012, smacking 14 home runs and posting a respectable .759 OPS. At 20, and already with 60 games at High-A ball under his belt, Calixte could really benefit if the time in Arizone helps him with the glove. Calixte is 3/9 in three games, and he’s yet to commit an error. An outstaning sign for the Royals would be if Calixte could end the fall with the same number of errors he has now, more realistically he needs to improve drastically on his ratio of an error every three games.

Jonathan Sanchez recently gave up five runs before he could record an out. I didn’t think anyone could pitch that poorly.

But the next night, Ryan Verdugo did Sanchez one better (or worse) by surrendering six runs in just 1 2/3 innings.

The most horrifying fact of all is that both pitchers were acquired by trading Melky Cabrera to the Giants. That fact doesn’t need to be belabored, as every Royals fan is well aware of it.

So while Cabrera makes a run at an MVP award, the Royals go once again in search of starting pitching.

Dayton Moore needs no one to tell him that he must move to acquire pitching. He knows it. In fact he’s known it, and has been trying to do just that, for about three years now.

Prior to 2010, Moore made a few questionable moves to acquire position players, even trading away a few promising pitchers. But for the past three years, it’s been all about pitching, and he’s made several attempts to trade position players to get pitchers.

But while the Cabrera-for-Sanchez deal is horrifying in its result, the other attempts by Moore to trade for pitching have been nearly as disappointing. Consider the following other former Royals who were dealt for pitching since 2009:

Wilson Betemit: currently hitting .259 for Baltimore with 10 homers and 32 RBIs.

Betemit was traded for two minor leaguers, one a pitcher – Antonio Cruz, who has pitched a total of 18 games at A ball in the Royals’ organization.

Alberto Callaspo: hit .288 with 6 homers and 46 RBIs last season as the Angels’ starting third baseman. He’s still starting, with a little better power numbers this year.

Callaspo netted the Royals Will Smith and Sean O’Sullivan. The Royals have utilized Smith to save their mangled big league staff, but they gave up on O’Sullivan. They dealt him to Toronto for cash. Perhaps he needed the change of scenery. He’s been great for the Blue Jays’ Triple A club thus far.

David DeJesus: started most of the season for the A’s last year, batting .240 with 10 homers and 46 RBIs. This year he’s started full time for the Cubs.

DeJesus brought in a potential starter in Vin Mazzaro. But Mazzaro has suffered some beatings of historic proportions and isn’t trusted much at the big league level. The trade also brought Justin Marks, an average starter at Double A.

Kila Ka’aihue: has split the season between Oakland and the A’s Triple A club. His big league production has been marginal.

The trade of Ka’aihue netted a 25-year-old minor leaguer named Ethan Hollingsworth. He’s set no worlds on fire to date.

Mike Aviles: batted well at the end of 2011 for the Red Sox and continues to succeed as Boston’s starting shortstop. He’s hitting .263 with 10 homers and 47 RBIs.

Aviles supposedly brought the Royals a utility infielder – Yamaico Navarro. Aviles should have been kept in that role with the Royals. Navarro hasn’t done anything yet. The trade did bring the Royals a pitcher in Kendal Volz, who has been solid at the Single A and Double A levels.

Scott Podsednik: has played little, bouncing around with several teams.

The Royals got pitcher Elisaul Pimentel and catcher Lucas May. The Royals gave up on May, and Pimentel is 23 and still laboring along in the minors

Rick Ankiel: chipping in for the first place Washington Nationals.

Perhaps the only good move was when the Royals got Tim Collins as part of a package deal for Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth.

So Moore can’t be accused of not trying. But for seven big league position players of varying quality, the Royals have gained Tim Collins and some spare parts and minor leaguers. The return has been nothing short of disastrous.

The Royals have tried trading average position players – players who they deemed easily replaceable – and hoped to acquire quality pitchers.

But it appears the exchange rate for a quality pitcher is much higher than expected.

What the Royals have proved is that you must actually trade excellent position players to get passable starters.

They will need to think long and hard about as they attempt to improve their rotation for next year. Do they have the stomach to trade Eric Hosmer, or Wil Myers or some other potential star in hopes of finally acquiring quality starters.

Unfortunately, that may be just what it will take.

In the final piece of this series, we use the WAR data to finish taking a look at the trades that Dayton pulled off in 2010, and try to determine what all of this really means.

August 13, 2010: The Kansas City Royals traded Jose Guillen to the San Francisco Giants for a player to be named later and cash. The San Francisco Giants sent Kevin Pucetas (minors) (October 14, 2010) to the Kansas City Royals to complete the trade.

By this point in Jose Guillen‘s tenure with the Royals, they were just looking to get rid of him and unload a portion of his salary.  Guillen was in the last year of his deal, had (obviously) cleared waivers, and it was time for the Royals to get a look at some of the guys who had a chance to be part of their future.  And if they could get something in return, well all the better.  Along came Brian Sabean and the San Francisco Giants, who were in the middle of a pennant race and needed a bat.  Pucetas is a 27 year old career minor leaguer, who is unlikely to ever crack the Big Leagues.  However, this trade has to be considered a huge success for Moore considering their desperation to unload Guillen at the time.  It is telling that in Guillen’s almost 3 years with the Royals, he managed to post a cumulative WAR of -1.0.  That’s what $36 million of David Glass’ money bought the Royals in 2007.  Guillen did little after going to the Giants and was not even included on their playoff roster, which was the year they won the World Series.  I’m not sure if Jose has officially announced his retirement, but it is safe to say he is done.

Guillen: -0.7 WAR with Giants (2 months of 2010)

Pucetas: 0.0 WAR (has yet to reach Majors)

Royals win trade by 0.7 WAR

November 10, 2010: The Kansas City Royals traded David DeJesus to the Oakland Athletics for Justin Marks (minors) and Vin Mazzaro.

Yikes!  While DeJesus had a down year in 2011, he did not come close to falling on his face with the fervor that good ole Vinny Mazzaro did.  Royals fans likely have one memory of Mazzaro from the 2011 season and it is this:

IP     H     R    ER    BB   SO   HR   HBP
2.1   11   14   14     3      2      1        0

That was his line as he appeared in relief against Cleveland on May 16.  At least he didn’t hit anyone.  While Mazzaro did appear for the Royals a few more times before the 2011 season came to an end, it is that game and that game alone that Royals fans remember.  It is still unclear what exactly it was that Moore saw in Mazzaro when making this deal.  He showed very little in 2 seasons with the A’s, and managed to make that look amazing compared to what he did in 2011.  As for Justin Marks, he is a 24 year old pitcher who logged a 3.98 ERA in Wilmington, the Royals’ Single A affiliate last year.  Considering how much of a pitcher’s league the Carolina league is known to be, along with his age, it is unlikely he ever has any meaningful impact on the big league roster.  The Royals were shopping DeJesus at the time, and one would have thought they could have gotten more than they did.  So either the market was much softer for him than first thought, or Billy Beane somehow pulled yet another fast one on the Royals.  I would tend to believe the latter, considering that even after an extremely down 2011 season for DeJesus, the Cubs still decided to invest $10 million in him over 2 years to make him their Opening Day right-fielder.  After consistently putting up WAR’s in the 3′s with the Royals (with a 4.4 in 2005), he regressed to a 0.6 WAR in 2011.  I expect DeJesus to rebound nicely in Chicago.

DeJesus: 0.6 WAR with A’s (2011)

Mazzaro: -0.7 WAR with Royals (2011)

Marks: 0.0 WAR (has not reached majors)

A’s win trade by 1.3 WAR

December 19, 2010: The Kansas City Royals traded Yuniesky Betancourt, Zack Greinke and cash to the Milwaukee Brewers for Jake Odorizzi (minors), Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar and Jeremy Jeffress.

Moreso than any other trade analyzed in this study, time will tell whether this one will work out in the Royals’ favor or not.  And if this trade ends up working out well for the Royals, the impact of it will trump the impact of all of the aforementioned failed trades combined.  But for fun, we will take a look at how it worked out in the 2011 season.

After Zack Greinke‘s 2009 Cy Young campaign, it appeared the Royals had their staff ace that would lead the starting rotation into the youth movement we are watching today.  But in 2010, Greinke was not the same.  At times he would show the stuff that made him so electrifying in 2009, but overall he looked disinterested.  Royals fans were in denial about it at the time, but looking back, it was very clear that with 2 years left on his deal, Zack no longer wanted to be in Kansas City.  So the Royals were faced with a decision: keep an unhappy Zack Greinke around in a clubhouse full of young impressionable players and worry about his negativity rubbing off on them, or trade him.  In hindsight, it is clear that trading Greinke was Moore’s only option.  It is even more clear after reading the following quote from Greinke.  When asked, in Feb. 2011, if he ever asked the Royals for a trade, Zack replied:

“I guess I kind of did right before the Trade Deadline last year because we were trading all our players. … When I signed, I was led to believe we were building around the guys we had, and we were getting rid of all of them,” he said. “So I sort of did then. Then at the end of the year, I sort of did again. And then during the offseason, I sort of did again. And then the media got the one where I think my agent must have said it somehow. … So I guess I sort of did about four times.”

Hence, in December of 2010, the Royals and the Brewers came to agreement on this deal.  Greinke proceeded to go to Milwaukee and pitch (and act) like Greinke.  First, he hurt himself playing basketball during Spring Training and missed the first month of the season.  Then he comes out in May and posts an out of this world K/W ratio while somehow managing to have an ERA hovering around 5.  Eventually though, he settled down and pitched like a Cy Young candidate the rest of the way for the NL Central Division Champion Brewers.  Betancourt, who was a throw-in in the deal after the Royals received Escobar in return, actually had a solid season for the Brewers in 2011. And now, ironically,he will wear a Royals uniform in 2012 albeit as a utility infielder.

As for what the Royals received in return, so much is tied up in the future.  But in just last year, it became clear that Escobar is something extremely special with the glove.  While he wasn’t useless with the bat, he is still a light hitter.  If this part of his game can continue to come around, you have yourself an elite ballplayer.  Cain came up for a quick audition at the end of the year and did fine.  The Royals clearly believe he is ready to take over as the everyday centerfielder, as they have traded away Melky Cabrera to the Giants to make room for an everyday role for Lorenzo.  Jeffress began the season on the big league roster, and while he displayed a very live arm and the ability to strike batters out, he struggled badly with his control and was sent down for the majority of the rest of the season.  It remainst to be seen what his role might be in 2012, but it is likely he begins the season in Omaha.  And after all of that, we have not even discussed the player who was stated to be the biggest grab in this trade for the Royals, 21 year-old righthander Jake Odorizzi.  Odorizzi spent last season split between Single A Wimington and Double A Northwest Arkansas.  He figures to begin this season either in Northwest Arkansas or Omaha, with a chance at a September callup to Kansas City.  So while the Royals clearly gave up a bit of production in the short term in this trade, the long term looks extremely bright.

Greinke: 1.7 WAR with Brewers (2011)

Betancourt: 0.7 WAR with Brewers (2011)

Escobar: 2.0 WAR with Royals (2011)

Cain: 0.1 WAR with Royals (23 September 2011 plate appearances)

Jeremy Jeffress: 0.0 WAR with Royals (2011)

Jake Odorizzi: 0.0 WAR (has not reached majors)

Brewers win trade by 0.3 WAR

So…what does all of this mean?

Strictly looking at WAR, Dayton Moore has clearly come out on the short end of the trades that he made in the years of 2006-2010.  Overall, these trades negatively impacted the Royals performance of the Royals through the 2011 season.  However, having reviewed all of these trades, it is very difficult to find one anywhere that set the fanchise back in the long term.  There are no atrocities such as Johnny Damon for Roberto Hernandez, Jermaine Dye for Neifi Perez, or Carlos Beltran for John Buck and Mark Teahen.  Granted, there weren’t any Damons, Dyes, or Beltrans on the roster when Moore took over.  But the point is that it is clear there was a strategy.  Until the Greinke trade, there is a very conservative theme to the trades that Moore has made.  And it is this Greinke trade that will be the biggest indicator as to whether Moore will be able trade effectively when he needs to.  When Dayton took over the job in June 2006, he stated this his primary mission was to rebuild the farm system so as to get to a point where the majority of the big league roster is homegrown talent.  It has taken awhile, but the Royals are now just about there.  Moore should be applauded for not taking his eye off of the ball.  The Royals are almost there.  “The Process” is almost complete.

In his position rankings ESPN’s Buster Olney ranked the St. Louis Cardinals outfield as a whole the sixth best in Major League Baseball. Here we are going to break in down a bit further. Today we take start taking a look at the National League Central position by position and where each player ranks amongst his NL Central peers. We’ll be profiling one position a week leading up to that glorious time when pitchers and catchers finally report.

Our first look will take on Right Field. A position of both great depth and turnover within the division, especially within the St. Louis Cardinals. There’s no denying the Cardinals have tremendous offensive potential with its outfield in 2012; Matt Holliday and Carlos Beltran finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in OPS among all outfielders.

However the Cardinals do have injury questions, starting with Allen Craig, who will open the 2012 season after having knee surgery. Beltran played 142 games last year, and Giants manager Bruce Bochy said that despite the concern over Beltran’s knees, they were never a problem as Bochy filled out his lineup card in the last two months of the season. Holliday, who turns 32 next month, played in 124 games last season because of a variety of injuries. Jon Jay, the center fielder, who hit .297 last year will also be in the mix should new manager Mike Matheny desire to channel his inner Tony LaRussa.

The Chicago Cubs have a new right fielder in David DeJesus. DeJesus has averaged 33 doubles, eight triples, 11 home runs and 70 RBIs per 162 games in his career, playing for the Royals (2003-10) and Athletics (2011). After a down year in 2011, he’ll be looking to get his career back on track in the Windy City.

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jay Bruce slugged 32 homers in 2011, to go along with 97 RBIs, 84 runs scored, eight steals and a .256 batting average. Bruce hit .342 with 12 homers in May. But, the right fielder didn’t hit over .256 in any other month and averaged just four homers per month outside of May. At age 24, Bruce has plenty of time to find the necessary consistency for a huge season.

After trading Hunter Pence, Bogusevic became the starter in right field. The Houston Astros should give Bogusevic every chance to show that he can be part of their 2012 plans. As a rookie he put up solid numbers albeit with a small sample size to 2012 will be a test if he can do it on an everyday level. If not look for Houston to platoon Bogusevic with some of their other young talent.

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Corey Hart wrapped up 2011 with 26 dingers, seven base swipes, 63 RBIs, 80 runs scored and a .285 batting average. Hart started the season on the DL but once he got into the lineup he started to rake. The 29-year-old power hitter was miscast as the team’s leadoff hitter in the second half but did well in the role, scoring 49 runs after the break. With Braun most likely out for quite some time and Price gone Hart should see himself in a more traditional power spot in the order.

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Jose Tabata started the 2011 season slowly, hitting under .260 in April and May and then dealt with injuries in July and September. At age 23, there is still plenty of time for Tabata to improve his skills at the dish and produce bigger numbers. Health will continue to be key for Tabata, who also missed time in 2011 because of hamstring tightness and a quadriceps strain. Altogether, the injuries limited Tabata to 91 games in his first full season in the big leagues. After batting .299 in his rookie season, Tabata hit .266 with 18 doubles, four homers, 53 runs scored and 16 stolen bases in 2011.

A switch-hitting outfielder, Beltran has one of baseball’s most well-rounded offensive games. He is a lifetime .283 hitter with both on-base ability (a career .361 average) and power (.496 slugging percentage). He’s one of the most efficient base-stealers in Major League history, with 293 steals in 334 attempts for an 87.7 percent success rate. In 2011, he put up a combined .300/.385/.525 line in 142 games with the Mets and Giants. He will start while Allen Craig is out due to his own offseason knee operation. Once Craig comes back, Beltran would probably still play plenty of right field. But he also could get more time in center field, spelling Jon Jay against left-handed pitchers and allowing new manager Mike Matheny a great deal of flexibility in making out his lineup.

After taking a look back on 2011 and going on past performance and their career trends here is how I see them stacking up in 2012.

1. Carlos Beltran
2. Corey Hart
3. Jay Bruce
4. Jose Tabata
5. David DeJesus
6. Brian Bogusevic

Look for a healthy Beltran to do well with Matheny spelling him from time to time, keeping him fresh. He won’t play 162 but 140+ is within expectations and his numbers will reflect that. Hart and Bruce both look to rebound from down years and Hart will benefit tremendously from moving back down in the order. Tabata is a legit talent but has missed major parts of two season already due to injury and if he is not performing the Pirates do have Garrett Jones waiting in the wings. With DeJesus and Bogusevic you have two unknowns, one a former platoon guy now taking a full time role and the other a second year player looking to do the same. Look for the daily grind to wear on both a bit and affect their performance.

On the surface, the 2011 Royals season is just another in a long string of terrible won-lost records. Their record will not look much different from any other year of the Dayton Moore era, which has not looked much different from the Allard Baird years in terms of wins and losses. But anyone paying close attention should see that this year has been different below the surface in some positive ways. Most importantly, the roster is bursting at the seams with youth and promise. And while the pitching has been a mess, the offense has already turned itself into an asset. With the season’s end near, the numbers are clarifying just how different this offense has been than most in recent Royals history.

photo by Minda Haas, mindahaas.net

Rany Jazayerli uncovered how rare the combined doubles prowess of Billy Butler, Alex Gordon, Jeff Francoeur and Melky Cabrera has been. They have a shot to become the first quartet of teammates to record 42 doubles in a season. As a team, the Royals’ 287 doubles is already the 13th most in team history. They are on pace for 323, which would be second only to the 2006 team that hit 335. (The ’06 squad was not as top-heavy with doubles hitters as this year’s team, but 14 different Royals hit at least 10. They were a bad offense in general, but they sure hit doubles.)

Most doubles per 162 games in Royals history:

The power extends somewhat to home runs too. No individual player is setting the world on fire, and the team is only 11th in the AL in homers, but between Butler, Gordon, Francoeur, Cabrera and Eric Hosmer, the Royals already have five 15+ HR guys for just the fifth time in team history (’77, ’87, ’00, ’03).

While the team ranks only ninth in the AL in walks, their high average (.270) bumps them all the way up to fifth in on base percentage. The AL average OBP has fallen all the way to .322 this season. The Royals are at .328 as of this writing, making them one of only five AL teams to have an above-average team mark. The other four teams (Boston, New York, Detroit and Texas) are probably headed to the playoffs. The below chart plots how the Royals’ OBP has compared to the AL average every year:

The team has been underwater most years since 1983, but is peeking up above sea level for the second straight year in 2011. The last two year stretch above average was 1989-90. No Royals team has finished this high above average since 1982. Zooming in on the post-strike period shows how different the ’10 and ’11 Royals teams have been in terms of OBP:

While this is a major improvement by the Royals past standards, it still is pretty much average overall. The team’s slugging percentage is exactly average (.406). So no surprise that the Royals have been almost perfectly average when it comes to crossing the plate: The AL average runs per game right now is 4.43, and the Royals have scored 4.44. The last Royals team to score an above average number of runs was also the last team to have a winning record: 2003.

The question now becomes if the 2012 version of the Royals can sustain or improve upon this level. The short answer would appear to be yes. The names in 2012 are going to look a lot like the names have in the second half of 2011. There are a few candidates to regress significantly, namely Gordon, Cabrera and Francoeur. Still, regressions from those three could be more than offset by expected improvements from Hosmer and Mike Moustakas, a full year of Johnny Giavotella instead of Chris Getz at second, and a full year of Salvador Perez. Pitching is an entirely different story, but the Royals offense appears to be entering an era of respectability not seen in Kansas City for a very long time.

Dayton Moore and the Royals management need to pay heed to the advice of The Gambler as the mid-season trade deadline draws near. For as there is a time to fold ‘em, there also comes a time to hold ‘em.

The Royals have perennially been a seller at the deadline, trading off players as they approached free agency. Often the moves were necessary, and occasionally the Royals improved their franchise in the dealings.

But this is a new era in KC, in spite of the team’s dismal record. “The process” isn’t just beginning. It has begun. It’s no longer time to abandon decent major league players for the sake of acquiring cheaper, younger prospects.

Last year the Royals dumped David DeJesus, partly clearing the way for prospects, but also in part simply because they didn’t expect to resign him. The loss of DeJesus, it turns out, hasn’t hurt the team. The current outfield has proven to be the strength of the big league team, while DeJesus has struggled.

The situation with Melky Cabrera and Jeff Francoeur is different.

Cabrera, eligible for arbitration after this season, has been a spark plug both offensively and defensively. He might draw some interest from a contending club needing an outfielder.

Francoeur, under a contract with mutual options through next season, has some pop and plays solid defense as well. He could also fetch something on the trade market.

But this revolving door has got to stop, and now is the time. The young players coming up in the system can’t succeed if there is no stability around them.

At some point, the Royals have to start keeping good players, even if they aren’t great players.

So Lorenzo Cain is ready. Can’t the team find him some playing time without dumping Cabrera? Do the Royals really have to clear a path a mile wide just for David Lough to have a shot at the big leagues? So Wil Myers has shown great potential? Does that mean he should be handed a job he’s not even nearly ready for?

Not everyone likes Cabrera and Francoeur. But the fact is, they are still young, talented, experienced players with team-friendly contracts. They are hungry to show they belong in the big leagues. In terms of proven big league players, they came to the Royals as a bargain.

They could both certainly be dumped for pitching prospects, which the team desperately needs. But DeJesus brought a couple of pitching prospects, and look how that turned out. Alberto Callaspo was dealt for pitching prospects. Same result.

It could be argued that Callaspo was blocking Mike Moustakas’ rise to the big club. But what’s wrong with letting Moustakas earn a spot in the show, rather than having the way paved for him?

It would seem that the way to develop a winning team wouldn’t be to have too few good players, but to have too many. Imagine if in two years, the Royals had an outfield rotation of Gordon, Francoeur and Myers on the corners and Cabrera and Cain in center, all under team-friendly contracts. Not only could they have solid defense and speed, with options for platoon, but then they could really trade from a position of strength.

Francoeur recently stated publicly that he would like to stay in KC and help the team develop. A decision on his status isn’t as pressing, as he is under contract for next year. Cabrera might not fetch as much via trade as he is worth in a Royals uniform. He shouldn’t be given away, like DeJesus and Callaspo were.

Should some team come with proven big league starting pitching in return for either of the two outfielders, of course the team should jump without hesitation. But anything short of that, and the Royals should take the old gambler’s advice and hold ‘em.

The Royals are back home to close out the first half of the season this weekend against Detroit after coming off a sub-par road trip that included a five-game losing streak and only one series win. The Royals could end the first half on a high note if they can pull out a series win against the Tigers.

This is the second year in a row the Royals have had a high quality production out of an outfielder and yet again did not make the All-Star team. Last year David DeJesus last year had a higher batting average and fielding percentage than Ichiro during the first half of the season, including a consecutive errorless streak that approached all-time major league records. The Royals’ fan votes fell just short of sending Alex Gordon to the All-Star game despite the fact that among players at his position, he is currently fourth in batting average, first in doubles, third in home runs, made only one error and has a league leading thirteen assists. You cannot get much better than that.

One could also make a case for Jeff Francoeur for being there as well who leads his position in assists and among the position leaders in extra base hits and RBIs. Melky Cabrera also made some noise on the defensive side of the ball (eight assists) and contributed an above average first half at the plate (.286 going into Friday night). If the Royals are serious about building a contending ball club heading into the 2012 season, they need to keep this outfield intact.

The “Moose” (Mike Moustakas) in the past week has become more of a mouse. He has not reached base since Sunday, while watching his average dip to .233. Eric Hosmer is showing signs of improvement with his bat and is solidifying himself defensively. Butler has turned in another one of his typical first halves by batting around .300 and hitting quite a few doubles along with some home runs every once in awhile.

The pitching staff has been plagued by two things all year, injuries and inconsistency. Injuries are nearly unavoidable regardless of position in this game. They will happen, it is just a matter when. However, inconsistency usually is accompanied by either lack of talent or lack of experience. The Royals pitching staff have demonstrated that they have problems with getting people out. They are one of only three teams in the American League to allow over one-hundred home runs so far this season, and have the highest opponents’ batting average and issued the second most walks in the A.L.

Good pitching beats good hitting in any level of baseball. The Royals have some very high quality prospects down in the minors. My question is, they have the talent to win at AA and AAA level, but do they have what it takes to win in the big show? We will not know until they are called up.

Looking at who’s available in the free agent market in terms of pitching and the fact that the Royals will have quite a bit of cap room next year after cutting out three of their highest paid players from last year. Of course, good pitching does not come cheap and the Royals will have to open up their pocket books a little more than they have in the past fifteen years in order to acquire those missing pieces. Alex Gordon, Billy Butler and the other all-star caliber players need to make a push for the organization to bring in the players that can fill in the gaps. The Royals have quite a few pieces together and just need a few more to finish the puzzle.

The Royals are heading in the right direction once again. Sweeping the Twins at home and looking good while doing it gives more sparks to the fire of success that has started to grow in Kansas City this baseball season. The Twins, who have plagued this franchise for over a decade, were absolutely out hit and pitched the whole series.

Photo Courtesy of Minda Haas

The series against Baltimore proved to be a challenge against not only their opponent but also the very stadium in which it was played. In the Wednesday night game Aviles hit a rocket to the gap and circled the bases for what appeared to be an inside the park home run. This score was wiped out due to the ball being stuck at the bottom of the outfield fence. (So much for home field, advantage) If this had happened to last year’s team, it would have sent them spiraling into one of their five game or more losing streak. Not this year though. The Royals responded the next night with a 9-1 shelling to clinch the series. Who knew Bruce Chen was this good?

Jason Kendall and Robinson Tejada are recovering and rehabbing but are being very cautious though. The Royals called up Eric Hosmer from Omaha, and demoted the struggling Kila Ka’aihue. With this move, it definitely has the potential of increasing an offense that needed at least one stronger bat in the lineup. Although, one could make the case that the Royals were doing okay by platooning Betemit and Aviles at third and first base since both are hitting well.

Friday night marked the return of David DeJesus to Kansas City. The Athletics pulled out a tight one but if this season has taught us anything, it will not keep this young team down for too long. They are still above .500 and in second place in their division, which is still exceeding any expectations. They have a tough week coming up going to New York and then to Detroit.

The Yankees struggled this week at Detroit, losing the last three games of the series. Detroit is nipping at the Royals heels in the division. A little bit of pressure early in the season against these quality teams will be a very good barometer of how far the Royals have come since last year.

The Royals hot bats have ended the week on top of the American League rankings in batting average, doubles and triples, while finishing second in on-base percentage. Their defense and pitching are on the upward swing. A call up on the pitching side of things could be in the near future if the young prospects continue to show promise and current roster members continue to struggle.

Being positively consistent is the key to success in this game and the Royals are showing that they are very capable of being just that.

The Royals have been making tallies in a stat column that they do not see very often. I am not talking about the Win Column. Even the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, the worst team in Major League history, won 20 games. I am talking about the Days in 1st Place Column. The Royals have made a few tallies there in recent history, but not much. Which is why a Royals fan should never take such an oddity for granted. It is a sign the season is going better than expected.

Certainly there are some issues the Royals fan-base is, and should be complaining about. Mainly, why Kyle Davies hasn’t changed his name to Chris George. I suppose some of Ned Yost’s management of the bullpen could be called into question, but over 162 games there’s going to be plenty of that with any manager. However, I have seen some complaining in the Twittesphere, and in other mediums about playing time for some fan favorite players.

There are some things to complain about during a baseball season. Kila Ka’aihue and Mike Aviles not being the line-up is not one of them. Both players have shown success in the past and become fan favorites. For some reason these two aren’t getting it done at the plate. When you add in Aviles’ defense there is no wonder he gets taken out of the line-up. I’m not writing this to defend Ned Yost’s line-up, or discuss a man crush on Chris Getz. I’m writing this because we’re seeing something Royals fans aren’t used to, but will probably be seeing more of as the prospects come up: Organizational Depth.

Having depth means good players will be sitting on the bench, or sent to the minors. That’s a good thing. Our perception of what a good player is gets distorted when you watch a bad team year after year. I get the feeling Royals fans over-value David DeJesus and Zack Greinke because they were the best players on the team. But could they have been the best players on contending teams? Certainly a 2009 Zack Greinke would have been an ace on any staff, but not a 2007 or a 2010 Zack Greinke. Let’s take a look at David DeJesus: his career BA/OBP/SLG is .288/.359/.424. Jeff Francoeur’s career is .294/.309/.431. There’s not that much of a difference there. Yet, most Royals fans view David DeJesus as a potential All-Star, and Jeff Francoeur as damaged goods looking for a fresh start. And Frenchy is the better defender.

Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. I enjoyed watching David DeJesus, and Zack Greinke. They are great players. But the Royals DID NOT WIN GAMES when they were here. The Royals DID NOT WIN GAMES when Mike Aviles was the Player of The Year in 2008. Having a better team means getting and developing better players. This means some of our favorite players might have to take a different role.

David DeJesus is off to a rough start in Oakland (photo by Minda Haas)

A day is coming, possibly later this year that one of the four hitting first baseman will get traded. (Homser, Butler, Ka’aihue, Robinson) Depending on who your favorites are, you’re going to be upset when it happens. But that’s going to happen. Having good players you don’t need is a form of currency. The farm system isn’t going to be able to fill every hole by itself. But if you can trade off parts you don’t need for parts you do, it limits your need for high priced free agents.

We’re seeing a nice transition within the organization. We’re going to see things that happen with good teams that we’re not used to; good players on the bench, waiting in line at Kauffman, bandwagon fans, managers decisions making a difference in the division race. But I know I’m not alone in saying, if that’s what a good team has to put up with? Bring it!

Dayton Moore’s affinity for former Braves players is no secret. Last November David DeJesus was traded to the Oakland A’s for two pitchers. Royals fans just assumed Jeff Francoeur was landing at Kansas City International Airport at the same time to take David DeJesus’ place.

Dayton Moore drafted Jeff Francoeur in the 1^st round of the draft in 2002 while with the Atlanta Braves. In his time with the Braves Francoeur rocketed through the minors and quickly made is debut with the Braves in July of 2005. He hit a 3 run home run in his second game in the majors against the Cubs. The start to his career was so hot that he graced the cover of Sports Illustrated in August. Despite playing in only 67 games he finished with 14 HR and 44 RBI’s. He finished 3^rd in Rookie of The Year voting.

Francoeur went on to have successful 2006 and 2007 campaigns displaying decent power, and flashing leather in right field. He won a Gold Glove in 2007. However, after 2007 his career began to decline. In June of 2008 Francoeur was in such a slump he was sent to AA. After three days he was recalled because of injuries on the big league club, where he remained the rest of the season. His final numbers were .234/.300/.324.

During the middle of the 2009 season Francoeur was traded to the Mets where he floundered in mediocrity, and began to draw the ire of Mets fans and the New York media. During the 2010 season he was traded to Texas Rangers where he continued his mediocrity and became a free agent at the end of the season.

Many Royals fans were shocked it took an entire month for the Royals and Francoeur to come to terms on a contract. There was also a collective sigh of relief when it was revealed the deal was only for 1 year and $2.5 million, plus incentives. For that type of money it’s worth it to take a flyer on Jeff Francoeur. He’s not blocking any prospects. He will certainly be a defensive upgrade in right field. Despite his offensive woes Francoeur has remained strong defensively. For the first time in several years the Royals will have a right fielder that actually belongs.

As mentioned above Francoeur has had his offensive struggles. He can display some power, but his on base percentage and strike-outs have become a drag. It would be a fun summer in Kansas City if Francoeur regained his early career success. I don’t want to say the Royals don’t need that type of performance, they need all the help they can get. But keep in mind, we’re talking about a team that has seen a player hit more than 20 home runs ONCE in the last five seasons, Miguel Olivo in 2009. If Francoeur improves his plate discipline and cranks 25 home runs, and 100 RBI’s I would consider that a successful season for him and the Royals. If that does happen I would hope Dayton Moore considers resigning him to a better contract. If not Francoeur is likely to become the next whipping boy for a frustrated fan base.