The Kansas City Royals 2012 season started with a lot of hope and optimism. But after April’s 12 game losing streak, it turned into despair and pessimism. And in some ways, it wasn’t a surprise. Most of the rookies of 2011 were in their sophomore campaigns and the League caught up to them, with Eric Hosmer‘s disappointing season as an example. The weak starting rotation wasn’t improved during the offseason. And when the team’s main offseason moves included trading for a back of the rotation starter who didn’t like being a Royal (Jonathan Sanchez), a closer who had success in the past and recovering from injuries (Jonathan Broxton) and injuries to key players during Spring Training and the regular season, it’s not a surprise the team finished 72-91, third in the A.L. Central.

With all the moves the Royals made so far this offseason and increasing payroll, you’d think fans believe the Royals will have a better season and a chance to make the playoffs. But looking around the Royals blogosphere and comments from some fans, there’s less optimism than this time in 2012, when the roster wasn’t as good.

On paper, the Royals are better. Trading for James Shields, Wade Davis and Ervin Santana and resigning Jeremy Guthrie dramatically improves the rotation. Bruce Chen and Luke Hochevar will likely fight for the fifth spot in the rotation. And it’s possible Luis Mendoza or Will Smith gets the fifth spot. The bullpen is still good and the improved rotation means they pitch less innings. A full, healthy season of Lorenzo Cain and Salvador Perez, Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer bouncing back and solid performances by Alex Gordon, Billy Butler and Alcides Escobar should score more runs.

But it doesn’t mean anything until the team wins more games. And there’s plenty of reasons the Royals could have another disappointing season. Shields and Davis could get injured. Santana might end up pitching like, well, Santana. Guthrie could pitch like he did in Colorado. The bullpen may regress, giving up more late-inning runs. Moustakas and Hosmer could continue their struggles or become injured. Gordon, Butler and Escobar could have disappointing seasons. Jeff Francoeur could make 2012 look like an All-Star season. And with the Royals, that’s usually the rule, not the exception.

And it’s understandable. Being a Royals fan is like being Charlie Brown when Lucy pulls away the football. Fans expect the team to lose or fail because many times the Royals lose and fail. Some fans believe the team spends too little money on players, or too much money on the wrong players. Or the team relies too much on prospects who fail, or if they’re traded, they don’t bring enough value and succeed with other teams. Can’t miss prospects many times miss. The strained relationship of fans and ownership doesn’t help either. This creates and environment of skepticism, followed by cynicism. Until the Royals win more games and contend in their division, it’s warranted.

It’s hard to say what 2013 will bring for the Royals. Will they turn a corner, or turn right into a wall and come crashing down? And if Royals lose like they did early in the 2012 season, how much more will the fan base take?

For the Royals to succeed, many things have to go their way. They’re still a young team and the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians aren’t pushovers. There’s more reason for hope and optimism in 2013, but until the Royals become winners, that’s all it will be.

If there’s a fan base pessimistic about everything, it’s the Kansas City Royals fan base. Not being in the playoffs since 1985 and not having a winning season since 2003 does that to you. And with all the other misfortunes the Royals experienced over the years, you can’t blame fans for being pessimistic.

So when the Royals traded top prospect Wil Myers, pitching prospects Jake Odorizzi and Mike Montgomery and infielder Patrick Leonard for Tampa Rays starters James Shields and Wade Davis, a lot of Royals fans, bloggers and pundits panned the trade. They claimed the Royals gave up too many prospects and traded potential long-term success for short-term gain. They believed the trade smacked of desperation, a cynical move by General Manager Dayton Moore to try to keep his job.

But what were the Royals supposed to do? Look, the Rays weren’t about to give up David Price or Jeremy Hellickson for Myers, Odorizzi, Montgomery and Leonard. And I doubt adding someone like Eric Hosmer and/or Billy Butler to the deal would change things. The Rays aren’t rebuilding and they have no reason to give up Price and Hellickson. The Rays had room to give up Shields and Davis and still keep their strong, young, starting rotation.

I have to admit I was a little disappointed the Royals gave up Odorizzi. But Odorizzi projects as a number three or four starter, like Davis. And Davis has four years of Major League experience and is a free agent until 2016. If Davis works out as a starter, he could be the key success to the trade. And if he doesn’t fare well as a starter, he can go to the bullpen, where he succeeded with the Rays in 2012.

Making Montgomery a part of the trade made sense. This is the guy some thought would be a part of the Royals 2012 rotation. Instead, Montgomery ended up in AA Northwest Arkansas and struggled there. It’s likely he wouldn’t be with the Royals anytime soon and a change of scenery might do him some good.

The Royals only get two years of Shields, but if he pitches as expected, the Royals have an ace they haven’t had since Zack Greinke. If you’re into statistics, Baseball Reference says Greinke is statistically similar to Shields, who’s going to make $9MM in 2013. Greinke will make $19MM in 2013.

Heck, the Royals will pay Ervin Santana $12MM in 2013 and he’s projected as the number two or three starter. Looking at it that way, Shields is a bargain, even if the Royals pick up Shield’s $12MM 2014 option. If the Royals do well in 2013 and 2014, perhaps Shields signs a multi-year deal with the team. It could happen.

And think about what the Royals didn’t have to give up. Players like Danny Duffy, Felipe Paulino, Billy Butler, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and pitching prospects Kyle Zimmer and Yornado Ventura. The Major League team is still intact and when Duffy and Paulino return, they will be a part of the starting rotation.

But what about Jeff Francoeur? Yes, he had a terrible 2012 and it might be a stretch if he crawls back to being league average next year. But even if Myers stayed with the Royals, it’s likely he wouldn’t be on the Opening Day roster. Despite what some think, the Royals needed front line starting pitching over a right fielder like Myers. And if worse comes to worst, there’s always David Lough or Jarrod Dyson, right? And by the time Francoeur leaves, there’s a chance Bubba Starling will take his place.

Sure, the Royals could have gone the free agent route and got a Anibal Sanchez, Shaun Marcum or Ryan Dempster. But would the Royals sign them for $9MM a year like they got Shields? And honestly, Shields is a better pitcher than Sanchez, Marcum or Dempster. If anything, the Royals might have been better off trying to sign Sanchez, Marcum and Dempster over Santana or Guthrie.

It’s true losing prospects like Myers, Odorizzi, Montgomery and Leonard hurts, but remember, they’re prospects, not proven Major League commodities. Of course, Shields could blow out his elbow and Davis might be the second coming of Luke Hochevar. But baseball is a game of risk and the Royals aren’t going to win by playing it safe and relying solely on their prospects.

Remember all the bold moves the Detroit Tigers took last year? They made it to the World Series. Sure, it’s a long shot the Royals will be in the World Series next year, especially with the Tigers in the division. But the Royals have to make bold moves if they want to succeed.

And don’t forget this trade brings the Royals payroll up to $80MM. Love him or hate him, David Glass is spending money and Dayton Moore is making an effort to improve the team.

It won’t take long to see if this trade works out for the Royals. If it blows up, Moore will be gone and the team could be wandering in the baseball wilderness for several more years. But if it succeeds, it could be the start of a new era of winning baseball for the Kansas City Royals.

We have all been embarrassed by our own family. Whether it’s an overzealous parent, a misbehaving kid, a drunken uncle, or a senile grandparent…we all know the feeling. It’s uncomfortable because we love our family and we understand them better than anyone. It’s also uncomfortable because it usually happens in public, in front of people that don’t love or understand the offending party. That’s exactly how I’ve felt on Twitter the past 24 hours.

I get it, I really do. Wil Myers is going to be Dale Murphy, at least. Just like Alex Gordon was George Brett (I wrote that), Eric Hosmer was Albert Pujols (me again), and Luke Hochevar was a right handed Tom Glavine (okay, no one really said that). Baseball loves prospects and nowhere is that more true than in Kansas City. There are several reasons for that, not the least of which is the fact that prospects are seemingly all we ever have.

Another reason is that we have an incredible network of bloggers in this town that have a great grasp on talent evaluation and advanced metrics. This reason gets overlooked because for the most part these bloggers are looked down upon. They’re seen as cynical, all-knowing nerds that eat pop tarts in their parent’s basement. I’m obviously not in the business of disparaging bloggers, and I love reading what they write. I truly believe we have one of the most knowledgeable networks of baseball bloggers in MLB. That being said, their reaction to the Kansas City Royals’ trade for James Shields has been embarrassing.

For 25 years now we’ve watched and bemoaned the fact that the Royals are always on the opposite side of this trade. Even as recently as two years ago we were trading away Zack Greinke for a wheel barrow full of prospects and jokes about this franchise as a farm club for the rest of MLB remained alive and well. Well, that farm club has been extremely productive recently and we find ourselves with an abundance of position players with potential and nary a pitcher.

The obvious answer in a small market like Kansas City is to turn those prospects into the missing piece(s) for your ball club. Dayton Moore did just that…and he’s being crucified for it. Now I know my community of bloggers and I know that they value being right more than just about anything else. The whole pursuit of advanced statistics is just a pursuit to see who can find the truest “right”. Unfortunately, Dayton Moore has been wrong so many times that in second guessing him, we now always think we’re right. Here are the three main arguments, and my problems with them.

James Shields is not an ace. This is the one that’s gotten me most fired up this week, but it’s also the easiest to debate. After all, what is an “ace”? There is no standard definition. You could say that it’s the #1 starter for a major league team, but that would mean that Bruce Chen and Luke Hochevar have both been aces. You could say that it’s an exclusive club of Cy Young winners I suppose, but that seems too stringent. I don’t really care how you choose to define it, Shields is an ace. John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press thinks so. So does Jeff Passan at Yahoo! Sports. Whether he fits your definition of ace or not, there’s no denying he’s one of the 20 best pitchers in baseball, meaning for the first time since Greinke left our ace would also be an ace on several other teams.

We gave up too much. Wil Myers may be a Hall of Famer…but the odds are against it. Jake Odorizzi may turn into James Shields, but no one is predicting that. The Rays are going to fix Mike Montgomery…well we sure couldn’t. The fact that all of these things are still possibilities is precisely because none of these players have done anything at the major league level. We may one day come to find that we did give too much, but it’s ridiculous to presume you know that now. How many times have we been on the flip side of this? How many times have we complained that we’re always giving up something real for something hoped for? We got the real side this time guys, get excited!

We can’t compete with the Tigers even after this move. This may be the most reasonable of the arguments, but it still irks me. If you truly believe this (of course I don’t) then nothing Dayton Moore does matters. The Royals weren’t going to compete with Wil Myers, no matter how awesome he is, and the current pitching staff. Jake Odorizzi could have maybe been a #3 starter, Mike Montgomery was going nowhere fast in this organization. I’ve heard several say we should have picked up Anibal Sanchez and kept Myers. That works except Sanchez is MUCH more expensive, may not even want to play in KC, and IS NOWHERE CLOSE TO THE PITCHER JAMES SHIELDS IS!

The fact is we gave up a lot of potential for two starting pitchers. One of those starting pitchers ranks ninth in WAR over the last two seasons (slightly ahead of Zack Greinke) and struck out 15 batters while walking NONE in the last game he started. This same pitcher has postseason experience, eats up innings like Prince Fielder eats bratwursts, and seems genuinely happy to be a Royal. We also go a guy that just turned 27 that is markedly better than Luke Hochevar will ever be.

The other fact is we reacted as if Dayton Moore had just traded Ed Hearn for David Cone. While some national pundits are praising Moore for taking a chance…While baseball executives are saying they liked the deal for the Royals…we threw a hissy fit for everyone to see. We diminished Shields’ possible impact to the point of saying that Wil Myers would have made as much of an impact as Shields will….in 2013!

I’ve often said that Kansas City is a great baseball town, and that if we built a winner we would support them as well as any city in America. Well, David Glass has spent the money. Dayton Moore has put his job on the line. Are we going to sit around and complain about losing a prospect or get excited about our new ace? There’s been plenty of time to complain and second guess. We’ve been right plenty of those times too. Now it’s time to support our new pitcher, support our new contender, and go win a damn division!

I’ve not lived up to my name lately, and for that I apologize. Actually I shouldn’t have to apologize; David Glass and Dayton Moore should do that for me. Since they’re obviously not going to, I’m sorry. I’m going to try to fix that this week with five reasons to be optimistic about 2013. It’s not easy right now, what with the Tigers heading to the World Series, to think that this team can compete for a title in 2013. They can, and here’s how:

1. While I’ll agree with anyone that David Glass is a miserly old man, he’s still a business man. He knows he has to acquire starting pitching that makes a difference this offseason or is cash cow may be slightly less profitable. I don’t think that means that Glass breaks the bank, but I do think the pressure is on Allard….er Dayton Moore to bring in a good starting pitcher. Not someone that could be good, but someone that is. Whether this happens by trade or not, the pitching will improve in 2013, you can count on it.
2. The offense is going to take another step forward. Salvador Perez and Alcides Escobar may not be able to improve on 2012, but Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas sure will, in a big way. You have to remember that these two will both be under 24 for a majority of next season. They have a lot of maturing and improving to do, and we’ll see some of it next season.
3. Jeff Francoeur will likely improve or get cut. I’ve been saying it all winter, and I still believe it. Frenchy will be your starting right fielder on Opening Day. The difference this year is that the Royals can cut bait without having next year hanging over their head. My expectation is that Frenchy starts until the super two deadline passes and then right field is handed over to Wil Myers. Frenchy will most likely get the choice of being a role player or being cut.
4. We will see more power from this club in 2013. I love Kevin Seitzer as a former Royal and especially as a person. I thought it was a complete joke that the Royals fired Seitzer while keeping Moore and Yost. But still, his up the middle/opposite field approach sapped a lot of power away from the like of Moose, Hosmer, Gordon and Butler. I would not be surprised in the least if three of the four set career highs for home runs.
5. The Royals were better than their record in 2012. Even their Pythagorean record comes out to 74-88, but beyond that…imagine this team with Salvador Perez for a full season. He posted a 2.8 WAR in half a season. Imagine this team if Danny Duffy and Felipe Paulino aren’t lost for the season. Imagine that bullpen with Joakim Soria. Are the Royals going to have injuries in 2013? Of course they are. But the likelihood that they have as many significant injuries at key positions is very, very low.

Baseball is a performance driven business and as such it was really no surprise that the Kansas City Royals let hitting coach Kevin Seitzer go following the 2012 season. Eric Hosmer regressed, Mike Moustakas didn’t improve as much as the club had hoped and Jeff Francoeur ran out of pixie dust, so of course, the team fired the man in charge of their development (or in Francoeur’s case, salvation). While I agree with manager Ned Yost that I’d like to see our power hitters pull the ball more, there’s no way you can blame the 2012 Royals’ failures on Seitzer. What’s more, the factors that are most responsible are still in place.

First, we’ll start with the announcement that was made the same day, Luke Hochevar will likely be returning. If any one player could be blamed for the Royals failures over the last six years, it may just be Hochevar. The 29 year-old right hander has never been even a league average pitcher, and in 2012 he was far from it. With an ERA+ of 72, Hochevar was arguably the worst starter in the major leagues this year, but Dayton Moore and Ned Yost still think he’ll figure it out.

Even more absurdly, Jeff Francoeur, the player mentioned most prevalently in the press conference announcing the firing of Seitzer, will by all account be given a chance to start in right field again in 2013. Francoeur’s -1.3 WAR was the worst in the majors in 2012, barely edging out Eric Hosmer. While Francoeur does bring a great arm, in the field he was subpar, and at the plate he was simply atrocious.

Most importantly if you have the worst pitcher in baseball and the worst position player in baseball, and you choose to bring both players back, does that make you the worst general manager in baseball? Dayton Moore is brilliant at building a farm system, but his ability to handle a major league roster is no longer in question. He has made it clear he is absolutely terrible at it. Want proof? Just look at last year’s offseason:

November 7,2011 Traded Melky Cabrera for Jonathan Sanchez and Ryan Verdugo- Sanchez went 1-6 with a 7.76 ERA and finished with a Wins Above Average (WAA) of -1.8

November 23, 2011 Signed Bruce Chen to a 2 year/$9 million contract- Chen went 11-14 with a 5.07 ERA and finished with a WAA of -1.6

December 20, 2011 Signed Yuniesky Betancourt to a 1 year/$2 million contract- Yuni hit .228 with a .656 SLG % and finished with a WAA of -1.9

March 20, 2012 Traded prospect Kevin Chapman for Humberto Quintero and Jason Bourgeois- The two players combined for a WAA of -0.9

Yes, you can clearly point to Jonathan Broxton or Jeremy Guthrie as Moore’s better moves, but the Moore spent over $20 million this season on Bruce Chen, Jonathan Sanchez, Luke Hochevar, Jeff Fancoeur and Yuniesky Betancourt. $20 million!!! Those five players combined to cost the Royals 13 wins in the Wins Above Average category. They had a combined WAR of just below 0. Good thing we fired the hitting coach.

Many fans hoped the Royals might make the playoffs, or at least finish at or above .500. But it didn’t end up that way, finishing the season at 72-90 and third in the A.L. Central. They improved on their 71-91 2011 record, but the season was still a disappointment.

A lot of things didn’t go the Royals way. A 12 game losing streak in April killed any momentum the team had and the recent six game losing streak stopped any hope of finishing at or near .500. Pitchers Danny Duffy, Felipe Paulino, Blake Wood and Joakim Soria had season ending Tommy John surgery. Injuries to key position players Lorenzo Cain and Salvador Perez for most of the season made fans wonder, “what if they were healthy the whole season?”

The Royals off season acquisitions were either traded or released. The team traded Jonathan Broxton for two minor leaguers, The San Francisco Giants claimed Jose Mijares off waivers, Jonathan Sanchez was traded for Jeremy Guthrie and the Royals came to their senses and released Yuni Betancourt.

The 2012 Royals offense had some talent and potential, but failed to live up to it. Before Wednesday night’s finale against the Detroit Tigers, the Royals were fourth in the A.L in batting average (.265), 12th in scoring runs (676), 12th in RBI (643) and tied for last place with the Minnesota Twins in home runs (131). The team could hit, but not drive in runs.

A season long slump by Eric Hosmer, the regressing to the mean play of Jeff Francoeur and an up and down season by Mike Moustakas didn’t deliver the offense the Royals needed.

The offense had some bright spots. Billy Butler led the team in batting average (.312), RBI (107) and home runs (29). Alex Gordon led the team in doubles (51) and runs (93). Alcides Escobar led the team in stolen bases (35).

The Royals defense was good, especially the outfield. The Royals led the MLB in outfield assists with Francoeur leading the MLB with 19 and Gordon in second with 17 assists. Moustakas, Escobar and Chris Getz provided solid infield defense.

The Royals bullpen was an asset, with a collective 3.19 ERA, a 2.36 SO/BB ratio and opponents hitting .250. Greg Holland proved he had what it takes to be a closer and Kelvin Herrera, Tim Collins and Aaron Crow were the workhorses of the bullpen.

The starting rotation was the Royals weakness. They had a collective 5.04 ERA, a 2.04 SO/BB ratio and opponents hitting .283. Only Luis Mendoza and Jeremy Guthrie had a sub 5.00 ERA and the bright spot of the rotation, Guthrie, only started 14 games.

The Royals had three winning months in May, June and August with a combined 46-37 record. But in the three losing months of April, July and September, they had a 25-52 record. if the Royals went .500 during their 12 and six game losing streaks, going 9-9, they would have 81 wins. Not enough to make the playoffs, but enough to finish at .500 since 2003.

The 2012 season is over and once again the Royals and their fans look forward to next year. But if you watched the team this season, you saw some glimmer of hope of a better future. The lineup is pretty much set, young and have room to improve. The bullpen was solid as always. And if Royals owner David Glass keeps his promise to spend money on starting pitching, the Royals may have a chance.

The Royals begin the 2013 season April 1 against the Chicago White Sox. Will 2013 be the year the Royals turn the corner and become contenders? I hope so, because it will be a lot more fun writing about the Royals when they’re winning.

Listen, I’m as guilty of this as anyone…probably even more so. But the 2012 Kansas City Royals are who we thought they were, almost exactly. They’re three wins away from the team’s best record in four seasons, and seven away from their best in ten. They are young, volatile, and improving. Their offense is developing into a potent force, their bullpen is the strength of the team, and their starting rotation is every bit as hodge podge as we anticipated. While I certainly hoped for, and predicted, much more from this club, they are pretty much exactly where we should have expected them to be. Sure, a 12 game losing streak in April squashed all hope, and a terrible July brought us back to earth, but at the end of the year this club is going to be in the mid-70s in wins. Not bad considering the injuries to starting pitching, Eric Hosmer’s regression, and the abomination that has been Ned Yost as an in-game manager.

I, as my name suggests, drank too much of the Kool Aid in the preseason, and I’m not apologizing for it. For the past 25 years, Royals fans have had little more than the Kool Aid, and we shouldn’t swear it off just because our dreams didn’t come true once again. Instead, I’m taking it a step farther. Instead of telling you what I hope happens this offseason heading into next, I’m going to outline what would be, in my mind, the best ten things that could happen to the Royals this offseason.

10. Ned Yost resigns. Yost loves his hunting and his hunting buddies; maybe just maybe he decides trying to win with both hands tied behind his back isn’t worth it.

9. Jeff Francoeur pulls a Gil Meche. Meche walked away at the age of 32 because he didn’t want to have surgery. Maybe notorious good-guy Frenchy will retire because he can no longer bare the pain he is causing those who cheer for him.

8. Zack Greinke announces he’ll give the Royals a hometown discount, but only if they sign one additional free agent starter. Dayton Moore signs the hurler to a 5 year $95 million contract shortly after…

7. Jeremy Guthrie signs a two year deal worth $12 million. Yes, I’m drinking the Guthrie Kool Aid. The guy loves it here, and Kauffman Stadium is the perfect place for a fly ball pitcher like Guthrie.

6. Ned Yost is fired. No, this isn’t the same as #10, this is much better. This would involve Dayton Moore admitting a mistake and cutting a loss.

5. Terry Francona is hired as the new manager of the Kansas City Royals. Yeah, I’m dreaming…and yeah, they’d have to sign Greinke and Guthrie first.

4. Joakim Soria re-signs with the club and returns to his old self. I’m not sure Soria would even be our closer at this point, but if we’re going to have the bullpen be our strength, let’s go all out.

3. Jeff Francoeur is cut. See 6, only this time in all caps.

2. Oklahoma Joe’s expands to Detroit. While Fielder didn’t experience quite the drop off I expected, he did see his power numbers dip. Give him one taste of Oklahoma Joe’s and he’ll weigh 400 lbs by spring training.

1. David Glass sells the team to the owners of Sporting KC. Yeah, I know Glass said he won’t sell the team. He also said he only wants the team to break even, and he cares about winning. Let’s just hope this was one more lie.

Terry Bradshaw Named Coach of the Year
Bradshaw Named Mike CoolBaugh Texas League Coach of the Year

SPRINGDALE, AR – The Northwest Arkansas Naturals hitting Coach Terry Bradshaw has been named the Mike Coolbaugh Texas League Coach of the Year.  The award is named for Mike Coolbaugh, a longtime Minor League player who died at age 35 when he was struck by a batted ball while coaching first base for Tulsa on July 22, 2007.

The Mike Coolbaugh award began being presented in 2008.  The award goes to an individual who has “shown outstanding baseball work ethic, knowledge of the game, and skill mentoring young players.”

Terry was selected in recognition of his continuing record of success with hitters in the Kansas City system.  He has consistently helped young hitters adjust to the Double-A level and advance to Triple-A, ready to continue the success they attained in the Texas League.

While, 2012 has been less successful for the Naturals than previous seasons, Bradshaw has continued to patiently prepare his charges for the next level, this past season, most notably Wil Myers, who became a sensation in the Pacific Coast League after he tore through the Texas League during the first five weeks of the 2012 season, hitting .343, with 13 home runs and 30 RBI in 35 games.

During his five years in the Texas League, the list of current Major League players Bradshaw has helped fine tune include Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez, Alex Gordon, and Eric Hosmer, the core of future success of the Kansas City Royals.

Prior to coaching in Northwest Arkansas, Bradshaw spent five years as the hitting coach for Triple-A Omaha and spent four other seasons as a hitting coach in the Royals organization: Wilmington (2002-2003), Burlington (2001), and Charleston (2000).

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale.  Visit our website, nwanaturals.com, for information on season tickets and ticket plans.

The Kansas City Royals, coming off wins in ten of their last fifteen games with both great starting pitching and timely productive hitting from the offense, saw a change in the batting order.  Manager Ned Yost seemed to want to change it up in the three spot in the order, which has been a black hole for Royals hitters this season. The third spot in the batting order is supposed to be a position that a guy gets the opportunity to get guys who are on base in to score runs. But the problem is that the offensive production that the Royals lineup has put together this season is just not working.  The Royals are 11th in the American League in runs scored yet they are in the upper half of the league in both hits and batting average.  So what is the problem? A team that gets hits should be able to score runs but if they are not in the right order than the guys getting the hits do not have the opportunity to do so with guys on base.

The third spot in the batting order for the Royals this season is batting .223 with 57 runs batted in and only 30 extra base hits in 466 at bats. Putting that into perspective the nine whole in the lineup has driven in 55 runs.  It would be great for the nine spot to be two RBIs behind the three spot if the fact were that the three spot has lets say 80 RBIs or so.  But that would also mean that the Royals were scoring more runs and winning more games than they have this season.

The Royals have used numerous hitters in the three spot this season including Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, Billy Butler and most recently Alex Gordon.  Gordon, who seems to be comfortable batting leadoff not only has a good batting average, .291, but it his on base percentage, .367, that makes him such a viable candidate for the number one spot in the order but if the guys behind him are not producing enough to get him in than his getting on base does not truly matter.  Some may say why mess with his psyche since he has had success at the leadoff spot the last two seasons but with the season lost the question to ask is why not? If the Royals truly are playing for the future then why not try out a few guys at the number three spot to see what they can bring to the table. Eric Hosmer proved that in his young career he is not ready for the role of run producer at the top of the lineup.  His production, or lack there of, this season has pushed him all the way to the bottom of the order.  He will turn things around and more that likely end up being the future three hitter for the Royals but something is going to have to change in his approach for that to happen. The Moustakas and Cain experiments were never going to stick because that is not what the future has in store for either of them.  Moustakas projects to be a solid five hitter with power and a batting average of .280 if not a touch under that.  Cain could fit into two different spots in the order.  He could be a six hitter with the pop that he has shown so far in his late entrance to the 2012 season but he seems to look more like a seven or eight guy with speed to get on for the top of the order.  Billy Butler is purely a number four hitter.  This gives the Royals three different guys to get on in front of him throughout the season.  The reason Butler is not a good fit at number three is his lack of speed.  If he gets on base with a double it is not a sure thing that a single will score him.  If he gets a single a double will more than likely never score him.

Ned Yost has a tough task of putting together a line up with the guys that he has on his roster this season.  With guys struggling and having three players, Alex Gordon, Alcides Escobar and Billy Butler, being the only to stay consistent all season long it is hard to put a line up together This all being said here would be the lineup for both the current and the future Royals that I would put together if I was signing the lineup card every night:

1.Current- Chris Getz (2B)                   Future- Alex Gordon (LF)

2.Current- Alcides Escobar (SS)         Future-Alcides Escobar (SS)

3.Current- Alex Gordon (LF)               Future- Eric Hosmer (1B)

4.Current- Billy Butler (DH)                Future- Billy Butler (DH)

5.Current- Mike Moustakas (3B)       Future- Mike Moustakas (3B)

6.Current- Salvador Perez (C)             Future- Wil Myers (RF)

7.Current- Eric Homer (1B)                 Future- Salvador Perez (C)

8.Current- Jeff Franceour (RF)          Future- Lorenzo Cain (CF)

9.Current- Lorenzo Cain (CF)             Future- Chris Getz (2B)

The problem that the Royals have faced this season is that the guys producing are not in the right spots.  Gordon may be the guy who leads off for this team in the future but if he can give this season a boost from the three hole that is all Ned Yost is trying to do.  Nothing from the three spot seems to have been working so why not put the guy who is hot in that spot.  Some will say if it not the future than why try it but if he continues to put a guy who is continually slumping in that spot there people will still be upset.  The players for the Royals have put their manager in a tight spot by not allowing him to put them in the three hole.  He is just trying something new and just because it may not work once does not mean it will not work over the rest of the season.  Trying something new that does not work once is better than leaving something old that has not worked for 117 games so far this season.

After just a horrendous month of July, the Kansas City Royals start off the month of August on a good note.  A sweep, after a bad road trip and an even worse 30 days, is exactly what the Royals needed to get them back on the winning side of the game of baseball.  With timely hitting and some pretty good pitching the Royals started the month of August with two momentum shifting wins.

The month of July ended with the Royals trading their closer Jonathan Broxton to the Cincinnati Reds for two pitching prospects. The prospects look to be a good return for a guy that would, it seems, only be a Royal for two months.  Turning a two month closer into two guys who may or may not make it to the majors seems to be very welcoming by fans in Kansas City.  In the trade the Royals received Class AA right-handed starter J.C. Sulbaran and Class AAA lefty reliever Donnie Joseph. Joseph seemed to be the straw that broke to camels back in the trade.  A guy who by all accounts is a strike out king who may pair well with fellow lefty Tim Collins in the bullpen of the future.  Sulbaran projects to be a back of the rotation guy who won a state championship with first basemen Eric Hosmer in 2008 at American Heritage High School in Florida. So the Royals continue to put guys on a team that have won together before and could win together in years to come.

With Broxton gone and Joakim Soria recovering from season ending Tommy John surgery, right handed reliever Greg Holland assumes the role of closer which he stepped into Wednesday night as he got his first save of the season against the Cleveland Indians in a 5-2 Royals victory.

The stand out development of the Royals beginning to the month of August is the benching of both second basemen Yunieksy Betancourt and right fielder Jeff Franceour.  The problem with them being on the bench is that they may not see much more playing time since both Chris Getz, who took Betancourt’s spot in the order, and Jarrod Dyson, Franceour’s spot, have taken their opportunity by the reigns and excelled with it.  Getz went 3-9 with 4 runs scored and 3 RBI in the three game sweep of the Indians while Dyson went 7-12 with 2 runs scored and two RBI both contributing to run production with stolen bases in the series as well.  So the spots that seem to have been lost by the lack of productivity by Betancourt and Franceour have been given away and so far earned with Getz and Dyson.

After a road trip that saw barely any offense outside of designated hitter Billy Butler, the start of the home stand saw a resurgence in the Royal’s offense, scoring 20 runs in the last three games, with the absence of Billy Butler’s bat.  Butler having only two hits in the series and only driving in one run. The brightest spot, outside of the fact that the Royals came back from the dumps and have now won three games in a row, of the sweep of the Indians has to be the walk off win the Royals secured on Thursday.  After jumping out of the gates with 6 runs in the first, highlighted by a lead off home run by Alex Gordon and a three run shot off of the bat of Eric Hosmer, the Royals and struggling starter Bruce Chen let the Indians all the way back and it took extra innings to seal the win.  But it is how they won it in the 11th inning that stands out the most.

After late game at bats in crucial situations that did not see any success, manager Ned Yost had to keep reiterating that the need for shortstop Alcides Escobar to get the experience of late game at bats that could win or lose a ballgame for the Royals club.  Well that all came to fruition on Thursday.  Escobar has come up with clutch hits late in games all season long but none bigger than his walk off single in the 11th inning. It has been a season of firsts for Escobar after his first multi-homerun game of his life, as he stated, and now his first walk off win in the major leagues. To top all of that off he is having a season at the plate that no one saw coming but it needs to continue.

The Royals have done it once again.  They have hooked everyone right back on to what they are doing.  Now that does no mean that they have a chance at the division, which would take a Herculean effort from all 25 men on the roster, but they can give us that little tease that gets us all hyped and ready for the 2013 season.  Maybe then it will be “Our Time.”