The Royals took two out of three against the Angels and now stand at 20-17, a game and a half back of the division leading Detroit Tigers. In the midst of a nine game road trip, the Royals will now head to Oakland to take on the A’s in a three game set. Here are three things we can take away from the series in Los Angeles (read: Anaheim).

1. Alex Gordon is raking: After going 6/13 with a double against the Angels, Alex Gordon has now posted a scorching hot  .357/.362/.571 line in 58 plate appearances in May.

2. Jeremy Guthrie is who we thought he was: We couldn’t have expected Jeremy Guthrie to win every start, but he certainly fun to watch, having gone nearly a half season’s worth of starts without registering a loss. It appears Guthrie has begun to regress to his career averages, but he’s still going to be a solid starter who will be able to eat innings and will pitch well enough to the Royals in the game and give them a chance to win.

3. It’s time to panic for Mike Moustakas: Struggling mightily coming into the series, Moustakas’ woes continued as he went 1/14 against the Angels, lowering his line to a meager .194/.266/.339 in 139 plate appearances this season. Moustakas hasn’t shown any signs to suggest that he’s going to figure it out anytime soon and the Royals front office should be thinking about other options at third base, if they aren’t already. I assume the front office would prefer to promote from within, so they might consider giving Anthony Seratelli a shot. Seratelli has put up a solid .326/.423/.516 in 111 plate appearances at AAA Omaha this season.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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