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.

As if this Royals season hasn’t turned depressing enough, I took a look today at the original crystal ball from 1/1/2012. So much was possible then…

* Roy Oswalt was still a free agent

* Danny Duffy, Joakim Soria, and Felipe Paulino were all still in the mix

* Salvador Perez was expected to play a full season

* Eric Hosmer was still thought to be the savior

* Jarrod Dyson wasn’t expected to leave AAA

* Johnny Giavotella was expected to start at second base

* Mike Montgomery was still a real prospect

Looking at that list did something besides depress me though…it inspired me. It’s unreal that this team isn’t 30 games below .500 with the luck they’ve had. They are way overdue right? Let’s go back to the crystal ball and find out:

 July

• Jonathan Broxton is traded for 2 players we’ll either never hear from again or grow to hate. This opens up the closer’s role for Kelvin Herrera, perhaps the club’s best bullpen arm.
• Jeff Francoeur finishes the month on a tear, raising trade interest around the league. Dayton Moore refuses all trade offers and takes out a full page ad in the Kansas City Star to write an “Ode to Frenchy”.
• Lorenzo Cain gets a paper cut playing poker in the clubhouse and is immediately placed on the 60 Day DL. Wil Myers is called up to replace him.

August

• Eric Hosmer finally gets his batting average over .250 with a 4 hit, 2 home run performance against the Baltimore Orioles.
• As fans and the media clamor for Jake Odorizzi, Luke Hochevar “figures it out” with a 10 inning shutout in which he throws only 85 pitches. Hochevar credits his cutter, which he says he’s throwing more often.
• Jeff Francoeur hits .210 with no extra base hits and one RBI for the month. Dayton Moore tells him he’s proud of his effort.

September/October

• On the birthday of David Glass, fans assemble in the parking lot to celebrate, by boycotting his Royals. When parking lot attendants are unable to disperse the crowd, upper deck ushers are called in to use their notorious intimidation tactics.
• Jake Odorizzi finally joins the big league club and lasts 4 2/3 innings in each of his big league starts.
• Billy Butler hits home run number 37 to win the first game of a three game series against the Chicago White Sox. The Royals go on to win their next twelve in a row, costing themselves 4 spots in the draft in the process.

I am not saying the Kool Aid Drinker is giving up on 2012, the club may still have a Rockies-esque run in them. While this is obviously tongue-in-cheek, I don’t think there’s any chance at all the Frenchy gets traded. That probably means that another Cain injury is the only way that Wil Myers gets a call up before September.

As is usually the case in July inKansas City, next year offers much more intrigue, so I’ll leave you with my guesses on that:

Is there any chance the Royals acquire a front line starter? No

What does Dayton do with Wil Myers, Lorenzo Cain, and Jef Francoeur? Frenchy is here for the duration, Myers will have to beat out Cain.

Who really is the second baseman of the future? Chris Getz

Will any of the Royals pitching prospects ever experience sustained success in the majors? Not in 2013.

Do we ever see Joakim Soria in a Royals uniform again? Yes.

Do Danny Duffy and Felipe Paulino make it back by the All Start Break next year? Will they still be any good? Duffy comes back better than ever, after the break. Paulino is the wildest of wild cards.

Last week I wrote that I felt the Cleveland Indians series could be the turning point in the Kansas City Royals 2012 season, and a week later I’d have to say so far, so good. The club split a pair of rain-shortened series with the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers and currently holds a 2-1 series lead over the New York Yankees. Since snapping their self-inflicted 12-game losing streak the Royals are 6-4 and regardless of what happens today will have gone 4 straight series without losing a series. They’re still 5.5 games out of first, which is still phenomenal considering how bad they were at home in April. However, their recent steadying of the ship isn’t the most encouraging sign, it’s not even close:

Mike Moustakas has been en fuego. Over the last week Moose has his .318/.375/.682 and has been every bit as good with the glove. His bare hand play to save game one of the Yankees series was iconic. He’s only 23 so I’m sure there are a few slumps on the way, but this kid looks like the Royals best bet to make the All Star Game at this point.

They are who we thought they were. Those famous words from Dennis Green can now be spoken about our red hot bullpen. Even without Joakim Soria and Greg Holland, the bullpen is turning into the strength we’d hoped it’d be. Through 10 games, Jonathan Broxton has a 1.86 ERA and has converted 5 out of 6 save opportunities. Tim Collins has a 2.30 ERA and has struck out 12 while walking only 3 in 15 2/3 innings. Tommy Hottovy, Nate Adcock, Jose Mijares, and Kelvin Herrera all have ERAs below 3.50.

The return of Felipe Paulino. I struggled to understand in Spring Training why Paulino seemed to be the most questioned starter coming back for the Royals. From the time he joined the club in 2011 he was arguably the Royals best starter. Replacing Luis Mendoza with Paulino is a huge upgrade in the rotation. Essentially you’ve taken long reliever out of the rotation and replaced him with a true #4 that has the potential to be a #3. Paulino’s debut against the Yankees (6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K) did nothing to discourage me from thinking he makes this club a lot better. Basically, bad Paulino is like good Mendoza, and good Paulino is the best pitcher on this staff.

Future All-Star Danny Duffy looks to be fine. After skipping a start with elbow soreness, Duffy returned to light up the radar gun and pick up a win. Duffy has a lot of work to do in terms of limiting his pitch count, but even after 1 terrible start and 1 skipped start his 2012 line projects out to 12-13 wins, a sub 4 ERA and 160+ strikeouts.

While this does explain the Royals improved play, what does it say for the future? More importantly, is there any chance the Royals can dig out of this hole? Jeff Francoeur famously told us to check back at the end of May, but that’s far too soon to expect the Royals to get back to .500, at least in my mind. The club can legitimately hope to have Salvador Perez and Lorenzo Cain back in July which I think should make this club even better than they’ve been the last two weeks.

With that in mind, I think July 31 is legitimately when you could expect to see them back at .500, and essentially back in the Central Division race. To do that they only need to play 3 games over .500 in each of the next months. From that point they play 35 games against division opponents and will have every opportunity to win their way into the playoffs with (hopefully) a full deck of cards for the first time all season.

All it took was a good hunting trip with Ned Yost and Jeff Franceoneur to get Jonathan Broxton interested in playing for the Royals.  The Royals took a gamble on a pitcher who was coming off an injury, but was a proven All Star arm in the bullpen.  The Royals now have multiple viable closing options and after the injury to closer Joakim Soria a proven closer may be what they need.  The big question though is will Broxton be able to repeat his previous numbers.

Last season was not a good representation of what Broxton can be as a back of the bullpen fireman.  Broxton’s ability to overpower hitters has always been a huge strength.  Will Broxton be able to get back to where he was?  This is a question the Royals now desperately hope the answer is yes.  The Royals have been slowly bringing Broxton along this spring to make sure his elbow is ready to go.  Broxton’s spring outings have provided the Royals with hope that he could regain his once All Star level form.

Can Broxton regain his dominant form?

The Royals have many options that could be used as the closer of what could be a dominant bullpen.  Broxton is the only proven arm, so will he get the first chance to close?  I believe Greg Holland will be the Royals closer before the year has ended, but for now if Broxton is healthy and continues to produce as he has this spring, give him the first shot.  He has proved he can be a successful closer, so why not.

On a fun note though, Everett Teaford and Tim Collins two of the Royals smaller players are enjoying staying warm in Broxton’s pants.  This was quite possibly one of the funniest pictures I have seen in a long time.  Enjoy!!!

Today I read an interesting article from Matt Snyder about the careers of Jamie Moyer and Omar Vizquel.

Moyer, of course, is the 49 year-old pitcher trying to make yet another improbable comeback, this time with the San Francisco Giants. Vizquel is the 45 year-old SS trying to catch on with the Blue Jays. Both have shown incredible endurance to hang on in this game far longer than most, and as a result, they’ve played with a fairly incredible roster of Major League stars. It got me to thinking about Royals journeyman pitcher Bruce Chen. While Chen isn’t nearly as old as the two mentioned in the article, he’s nearly as well traveled, having played on 10 Major League clubs in his 13 year career. So I thought it would be fun to put together a similar list for Chen. So I present to you the Bruce Chen All-Stars:

Lineup:

Craig Biggio OF

Roberto Alomar 2B

Ken Griffey, Jr OF

Mark Texieira 1B

Manny Ramirez OF

David Ortiz DH

Chipper Jones 3B

Mike Piazza C

Barry Larkin SS

Rotation: Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, Curt Schilling

Bullpen: Brad Lidge, Billy Wagner, John Franco, Jose Mesa, Joakim Soria

Bench:  Jeff Bagwell, Vladimir Guerrero, Jimmy Rollins, Tim Raines, Lance Berkman

Manager: Bobby Cox

Wow that’s quite a list of teammates for a guy that’s rarely broken 90 mph. Pretty incredible to think that Chen has essentially played with a team full of Hall of Famers over his less than remarkable career. I bring this up for entertainment purposes obviously, but also to remind folks what a cockroach Chen has been. There are plenty of people wanting to write him off after he’s started spring training like Hiram Davies.  I say not so fast. For one thing, like I mentioned on I70 baseball radio a few weeks ago, Chen is not the type of pitcher that can throw one (or even two) pitches and get through an outing unscathed. He relies on trickery and if he’s working on something, he may not have that luxury. Perhaps more importantly, this is a 34 year old pitcher that’s played with everyone from Tim Raines to Jarrod Dyson. You don’t worry about Spring Training stats with someone of his experience level. Chen knows what he needs to do to get ready, and he’ll be ready in April.

Spring Training Report #2: Games Just Days Away
Former Naturals Hitting their Stride in spring

SPRINGDALE, AR – The Kansas City Royals wrapped up their first week of workouts last week, and position players have officially reported and begun to work out this week.  Some of the Highlights from the first week of Spring practice included former Natural Greg Holland.  Holland, who will be competing for a spot in the major league bullpen with a host of others has reportedly come to camp in great shape and thrown several solid sessions in the bullpen.

Some baseball observers believe that Holland has the ability and stuff to be a closer in the near future, although he’s most likely to begin 2012 as the set-up man for Joakim Soria.

Ned Yost has also come out with his “ideal” lineup for the 2012 season.  This lineup has former Natural Johnny Giavotella hitting in the number two spot.   This would indicate that as position players get set to begin their first full week of workouts that Giavotella has a leg up in the competition to earn the starting job at second base.  He will be competing for the spot this spring with major league veteran Chris Getz.

Another former Natural Aaron Crow was in the news in the first week of camp and is expected to get a chance to make the starting rotation this season.  Crow was very successful last season in relief for the Royals.  The primary concern with moving him to the rotation would be his workload having only worked 60.2 innings last season.  Yost has reportedly said that he will be going with a six-man rotation early in spring training due to the large number of pitchers that he has at his disposal, before shaving back down to the traditional five-man rotation for the last couple of weeks of Spring.

The Royals will be playing their opening spring training game on Sunday March 4 when they take on the Texas Rangers at 1:05pm.  All games will be webcast on royals.com.

Naturals/Texas League Notes

Naturals in Other Camps: Juan Abreu (2009) is in camp with the Astros and is expected to compete to be the team’s closer.  He will be competing against Brandon Lyon and with former Texas Leaguers David Carpenter and Wilton Lopez.  Abreu made his major league debut with Houston last season.  Angel Sanchez (2008) is in camp with Houston as a non-roster invitee and will look to make the roster as a utility infielder after the Astros traded for Jed Lowrie.  Kila Ka’aihue (2008) is also in camp with the Oakland Athletics and is expected to compete for playing time at first base and designated hitter with Daric Barton and former Texas leaguer Chris Carter (Midland, 2009).  Ka’aihue is out of options, and must make the big league roster or be exposed to waivers prior to being sent to the minor leagues.  Former right-hander Jeff Fulchino (2008) is competing with among others major league veteran Chad Durbin for a bullpen role with the Washington Nationals.  Other former Naturals in spring training this season include Dan Cortes (Nationals), and a trio of players who are in camp with the Atlanta Braves  Dusty Hughes (2008), first baseman Ernesto Mejia (2010), and outfielder Jordan Parraz (2009).

Transactions:  The Royals extended the contract of former Naturals’ catcher Salvador Perez on February 27th.  Perez agreed to a five year deal worth $7 million in guaranteed money and the deal includes three options that could potentially keep Perez in Kansas City until 2019.  The deal makes Perez the first former Natural to sign a multi-year major league deal.

Manny’s Surgery:  One of the early stories in camp this season for the Royals was the injury to Manny Pina.  Pina was expected to compete for the back-up catcher job with the Royals, but suffered a knee injury twisting his knee while trying to catch a foul-tip during batting practice on February 23.  The injury was later revealed to be a torn meniscus, and Pina has undergone surgery, and could miss the rest of spring training.  He is projected to miss 3-4 weeks depending on how quickly he recovers after surgery.

Other Injury Notes: Several former Naturals were also hampered by a flu-bug that was passed around the clubhouse during the first week of spring training.  The players affected included Jake Odorizzi, Everett Teaford.  Paulo Orlando was diagnosed with a sports hernia on February 22, it is not yet known how much time he will miss, or whether surgery will be required.  He flew to Philadelphia late last week to see a specialist.

Check nwanaturals.com for our Spring Training Report, where we’ll continue to follow Royals’ minor leaguers in spring training as well as cover other baseball information that pertains to the Naturals and the Texas League.

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.

Imagine yourself back in 1953 in Philadelphia. You are on the mound for your major league debut, and you walk out to a thunderous boo. You begin your warm ups, and the booing continues. The game wears on, and nothing changes. You look at the opposing pitcher, Don Larsen of the St. Louis Browns, and he is dealing out there, making your teammates work for every run. The game finishes, and the booing just will not wear down. You walk out of Connie Mack Stadium, and the people just will not stop annoying you with booing and threatening words. However, you continue on your path to the hotel room and realize that you set the standard for integration for the Athletics organization. This is the day that Bob Trice made history, on September 13, 1953.

Bob Trice broke the color barrier for the Philadelphia Athletics at Connie Mack Stadium, and set the precedent for future Athletics teams, which would later move to Kansas City. His impact on the organization was more than just a sideshow attraction. He made it possible for not only African-American players like Jarrod Dyson and Derrick Robinson, but for Latino players like Joakim Soria, Jonathan Sanchez, and Salvador Perez on the current 40-man roster. His numbers were not outstanding, and his minor league success did not carry over into the Major Leagues. He was a combined 9-9 with an ERA around 6.70 in his three seasons in Philadelphia and Kansas City. He also had 28 strikeouts and 60 walks in 152 innings pitched.

Trice will never be remembered in the same way as the greats, like Satchel Paige, Jackie Robinson, or Roberto Clemente for running into a lot of prejudice and playing exceptionally well, but the people of Philadelphia will always remember the day he stepped on the mound and showed his skills against Don Larson. The stadium at the intersection of Lehigh Avenue and North 21st Street was filled to see how Trice would perform for a struggling A’s team, and even though he did not earn the victory, he set the bar relatively high with his first start. He threw eight innings, letting up five earned runs, no walks, and two strikeouts.

As we watch Royals baseball this spring, we will see a newly transformed team, with all sorts of different players from different parts of the world. From Mike Moustakos to Jarrod Dyson, Bruce Chen to Jonathan Sanchez, we see many different colors and ethnicities, and we should be thankful to the man that helped them be a part of the team. Thank you Bob Trice, for helping to make Baseball the game it is today.

Minus the venerable veteran Joakim Soria, the Kansas City Royals bullpen had to have felt about like a college pitching staff last season. The primary contributors ranged in age from 21 to 25.

Whether by choice or by default, the Royals stocked their bullpen with rookies and rolled the dice last season. The results were mixed, but the experience gained gives KC much to be excited about going into 2012.

Greg Holland was the most effective setup man of the bunch.

“It was just a lot of fun,” Holland said of being part of such a young bullpen. “I think with being a young team we have a lot of camaraderie that I don’t know if a lot of other teams have.”

Holland leads a group of relievers, including Crow, Louis Coleman, Tim Collins, Blake Wood and Nate Adcock, who were barely old enough to buy a beer to celebrate victories last season. He said the group’s experience winning together at the minor league level could help them be successful in KC.

“We’ve been through highs and lows, all the way from the time we were drafted to being on the same (minor league) teams all the way up to the major league season.

“We’re young, but we expect to win,” Holland said at a recent Royals caravan stop. “I think being young, we’re ready to go out there and raise the bar.”

And no young reliever is generating more enthusiasm than Holland. While Aaron Crow got the most publicity and the all-star invitation, Holland quietly impressed those who know pitching best.

None other than Jeff Montgomery, media analyst and former Royals all-star, is singing Holland’s praises.

“He certainly has proven to himself, and to his teammates and to the organization, that he has the stuff to do whatever they want him to do as a major league pitcher,” Montgomery said recently, stating that Holland has all the makings of a big league closer.

A rocky big league baptism in 2010 forced Holland to begin last season in Omaha, but a promotion wasn’t long in coming.

While the other rookies ran hot and cold, Holland was consistent and effective from the moment he was promoted in May. In 60 innings, Holland surrendered just a .933 WHIP and struck out 74. His 1.80 ERA was by far the best of any Royal with more than 15 innings pitched.

Strikeouts have always been a part of Holland’s game. Unfortunately, so have control issues. Holland credits his ability to get ahead of hitters for the improvement.

“I got my first call-up in 2010, and my problem was not getting ahead in counts,” Holland said. “I was falling behind and then having to be too predictable. You know, 2-0 fastballs are a lot easier to hit than 0-2 fastballs.

“I knew, and the coaches knew, and the front office knew, that I had the stuff to be good. It was just how long is it going to take me to figure out how to get ahead. I really worked on it and got better at it and was able to do it for pretty much the whole year.”

Holland said he might have had more success than his bullpen mates because he learned to control his thoughts on the mound.

“I don’t have it all figured out, but I know I was able to control myself,” Holland said. “When things start going bad, it’s always better to give up one run than two runs. And you’re going to give up runs. So you’ve got to stay calm so that you don’t compound those mistakes.

“You see guys get amped up in those situations and then you walk a guy and that leads to an extra run. Being able to control your emotions helps a lot.”

Montgomery points to mechanics when describing Holland’s closer-type stuff.

“Everything he throws is going downhill,” Montgomery said. “Whether it’s from the arm angle or if its from the velocity, or the lack of, and the movement of the baseball, if things are going down, you have a chance to get hitters out. And that’s what I saw from Greg Holland from day one last year.

“He reminds me a lot of myself, because he’s a guy who wasn’t a high draft choice, wasn’t a guy who was expected to be closer someday. But he’s got the stuff to do it.”

Taken in the 10^th round as a 21-year-old out of Western Carolina University, Holland needed four-plus years of development in the minors to get him ready to succeed in the big leagues at age 26.

Montgomery, also a former collegian, was drafted in the 9^th round and didn’t become a full-time big leaguer until he was 26.

Montgomery spent a couple of years in the set up role before amassing 304 saves as a closer. Holland may well be on a similar career path. He saved four games last year, while also notching five wins in relief.

Holland so impressed the league that his name has come up in trade rumors this winter. But to this point, the Royals seem determined to hold onto him.

With Soria and newcomer Jonathan Broxton the likely candidates to close games this season, Holland’s role remains to be seen. But he says he doesn’t mind that KC added Broxton to the mix.

“He’s an all-star, and he’s proven he can close, so that was a really big move,” Holland said. “I feel like we’ve got four or five guys down there who are legitimate closers.”

Holland believes his bullpen mates will be more than just a year older this season. He foresees dramatic progress as a whole.

“We expect to do better than last year. If everyone stays healthy, you’ve got Broxton and Soria who are all-star caliber closers. And then Crow who was an all-star last year. Timmy (Collins) had some walk issues, but has electric stuff. We’ve all seen that. I think we have a really good chance of being a top-notch bullpen.”

In the second edition of “Way Too Early 2012 Predictions,” it’s time to pick the Royals’ Pitcher of the Year.

Coming into this offseason, it was obvious that starting pitching needed to be the main focus. The Royals acquired Jonathan Sanchez in a trade with the Giants and signed Bruce Chen to a two year deal, but there hasn’t been a major upgrade over last season’s rotation just yet.

Essentially, the Royals swapped out Jeff Francis in favor of Jonathan Sanchez. While that is a definite improvement, it might not be the answer Royals fans wanted.

It’d be great if Jonathan Sanchez was an ace and a definite lock for pitcher of the year next year, but he’s not. He has a lot to prove before the Royals can say he is anywhere close to an ace, or even a number three starter for that matter.

Last year, Sanchez struggled going 4-7 with a 4.26 ERA. He battled injuries throughout the season, so a healthy Sanchez could look more like his 2010 season: 13-9, 3.07 ERA, 205 K’s. That type of performance would put him at the top of this list for sure, but I’d like to at least see him pitch healthy for 10 starts before handing him the award.

Right now, it looks like Luke Hochevar will once again take home my award for Pitcher of the Year. I gave it to him for the 2011 season and I am sticking with him for next year.

Greg Holland, Joakim Soria, Danny Duffy, and Aaron Crow got some serious consideration for this prediction, but I still have to go with Hochevar.

Call me crazy, but I still believe he can finally turn into that pitcher that everyone hoped he could be when the Royals drafted him 1^st overall in 2006.

He seemed to turn a corner last year when he “figured something out” with then-pitching coach Bob McClure. He had a stretch after the All-Star break where he looked like he should have been playing in said game.

After his red-hot stretch after last year, Hochevar had me thinking he could be our ace this year. His streak didn’t last too long, but he still finished the year much better than he started.

Right now, it looks like he will once again take the mound on Opening Day 2012. He will be the ace and he will be the Royals’ best pitcher next year.

But like I said, call me crazy.

Royals Tweet of the Week

It's always baseball season! RT @mellinger: Seventy days until pitchers and catchers report. #Chiefs #Tricycle < #Royals #Mission2012

December 11, 2011 1:47 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@natorius

Nate Green

A team focused on a youth movement acquires a player in his own “rebuild” mode. Jonathan Broxton is going to wear Royal Blue in 2012.

Broxton has seen his share of down times in the last few years but many teams see him as a legit answer to the back end of bullpen issues. In an effort to maximize his future payday, Broxton was on the market looking for a one year deal to allow him to rebuild some value and seek a longer, more lucrative contract, in the near future.

While Broxton’s 2011 was cut short by injury, his arrival on the scene in 2006 showed sure dominance. A fireballer out of the bullpen, Broxton opened his first full career season by striking out 97 hitters in just 76 1/3 innings. His rise came quickly and he would find himself in the All Star game in 2009 and 2010. A lifetime strikeout to walk ratio of 3.09 shows a guy that is going to force hitters to beat him.

The Broxton signing will leave fans to wonder what the future holds for closer Joakim Soria. In my opinion, you will see Broxton setting up Soria and one or the other being used as trade bait near the deadline if they are both performing. Soria has team options stacked up for 2013 and 2014, making him the more attractive piece to other teams, but also making him the more valuable piece to the Royals.

Broxton will get $4 million for the 2012 campaign, including $1 million dollars in incentives based on games pitched, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com who broke the news.

I must admit, Dayton Moore is showing signs of making some good moves in my opinion this off season. His next few moves may be the big ones that everyone is waiting for.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.

The official Press Release from the Royals is below:

KANSAS CITY, MO (November 29, 2011) – The Kansas City Royals announced today that the club has agreed to terms with right-handed relief pitcher Jonathan Broxton on a one-year Major League contract for the 2012 season, pending a physical exam. Consistent with club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

“We are delighted to add someone as talented as Jonathan to our bullpen,” Royals GM Dayton Moore said. “He will be used in a set up role to closer Joakim Soria and will help solidify what we feel is a young and talented bullpen.”

The 27-year-old Broxton was a two-time National League All-Star (2009, 2010) while playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers, including picking up the save for the National League in the 2010 Midsummer Classic in Anaheim. Since debuting in 2005 for the Dodgers, Broxton has compiled a 25-20 record with 84 saves and a 3.19 ERA in 386 appearances, all in relief. In 392.0 career innings, the 6-foot-4 right-hander has struck out 503, a ratio of 11.55 strikeouts per nine innings which is the third-highest in baseball since 2005 among pitchers with at least 350 innings. Broxton was 1-2 with seven saves and a 5.68 ERA in just 14 games for the Dodgers in 2011 before being placed on the Disabled List on May 6 with bone spurs in his right elbow that eventually required arthroscopic surgery on September 19.

Broxton and his wife, Elizabeth, have a son, Jonathan Brooks, and reside in Waynesboro, Ga.