Ken Rosenthal reports that free agent starting pitcher and future hall of famer Pedro Martinez has contacted the Royals and informed them that he could be had for 5 million dollars. The Royals rejected the offer for budget reasons. It is said that Martinez contacted the Royals because fellow WBC teammates Miguel Olivo and Jose Guillen play for the boys in blue.

Friends have informed Martinez that they feel his price is unrealistic and that he should lower it. Could those friends be Olivo and Guillen trying to help the Royals and their friend strike a deal?

Jimmy Gobble was given his unconditional release by the Royals today, March 18. Gobble was said to be the fifth out of five options that were vying for the final two rotation spots. There are two things I will always remember about Jimmy Gobble, the first came in a start against Tampa Bay were he had a no hitter going into the 7th. The other is that Gobble was lit up like the sky on the fourth of July last season.

By releasing Gobble the Royals only owe the lefty $225,000 instead of the 1.35 mill that he was scheduled to earn. I like the move it’ll save the Royals some money, and Gobble’s role can easily be filled by another option.

Not long after the Cinderella Dutch team was eliminated from the World Bseball Classic, the Royals signed team catalyst and leader Sidney Ponson to a minor league deal. Ponson pitched fantastically during the WBC and earned strong recommendations from several Royals’ scouts.

Against Venezuela Ponson pitched in 5 innings and gave up 2 runs in the 3-1 loss. Ponson also beat the Dominican Republic by going 4 innings and giving up only 2 runs. Last season Ponson had a 4-1 record with a 3.88 ERA in 9 starts with the Texas Rangers, and with the New York Yankees pitched in 16 games with a 4-4 record and a 5.85 ERA.

I expect Ponson to report to camp as soon as possible and compete with Bannister, Hochevar, and Horacio Ramirez for the final two rotation spots behind Meche, Greinke, and Davies.

This entry could just as well be renamed 2009 Organizational Report: Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas, because other than these two there isn’t a lot to talk about as far as third base goes. (As far as I am concerned there shouldn’t need to be.) Alex Gordon will be the starting third basemen for the Kansas City Royals this season, and will most likely be backed up by Mark Teahen and Willie Bloomquist. If the Royals desperately needed to make a callup to Omaha Mario Lisson is perhaps the best of a few options. But let’s talk about Gordon.

There aren’t a lot of prospects who climb their way through the minors with as much hype as Alex Gordon and now that Gordon has arrived in Kansas City most Royals fans would tell you that he has not lived up to that hype. This is a totally different statement than if he has been a good player, or if he has satisfied the fans. I am a fan who is satisfied with Gordon’s production and expect him to continue to improve.

In an injury shortened 2008 Gordon saw a huge rise in his on base percentage from .314 to .351 on an obp starved team it will be critical that Gordon can maintain or even improve on his .351 from a season ago. Also, Gordon saw his slugging percentage rise from .411 to .432 this is still too low for my tastes and it is frustrating because at time it really does seem that Gordon could figure it out and become a masher in the middle of the order.

Gordon’s real problem though is his inability to hit left handed pitching last season he posted a line of .234/.312/.317 against lefties compared to .273/.370/.491 against righties. While some have suggested that the Royals should platoon Gordon in order to take advantage of the split, I would argue that it would be incredibly dumb of the Royals to doom Gordon to a career as a platoon player. It is most advantageous to the Royals that Gordon becomes an all star caliber player and this will only happen if he is facing both lefties and righties on a full time basis. If Gordon can somehow figure out lefties, he could finally begin to live up to that superstar potential.

Gordon also has another interesting split and that is for the second year Gordon’s post all star numbers were much better than his first half numbers. This, for the second straight year, has led Royals fans to believe that the second half is a sign of good things to come. Although, it could simply be that Gordon will be a J.D. Drew type who will always have a better second half than first. I’d like to think that it is a sign of things to come.

First Half: .253/.334/.407

Second Half: .277/.392/.496

So here is another if. IF Gordon can produce for a whole season like he did in the second half of last season, the Royals season could go in a completely different direction. Right now Pecota predicts the Royals to win 74 games this season. However, that does not take into consideration the potential breakout for players like Zack Greinke, Alex Gordon, Billy Butler, or to a lesser extent Kyle Davies. If just one of these guys breakout it could mean an additional 3-4 wins. If two or three breakout it could mean playing in October. I’ve got my fingers crossed for the latter.

If no one breaks out this season and a few of the guys underperform, it will mean that yet again the Royals will have finished in the cellar. This would be incredibly frustrating for Royals fans who are beginning to view this season as an opportunity to display all the improvement that this organization has undergone. However, even if the Royals have a disappointing season and only win 70 games or so, there is still a lot to be excited about. I’ve already told you about 2008 first round pick Eric Hosmer, now it is time to learn about the other half of the 70 home runs per year that some scouts project by 2011. That half goes by the name of Mike Moustakas.

Moustakas was the second overall pick of the 2007 draft and just before the rookie signing deadline signed a deal for a $4 million bonus. Moustakas was originally drafted as a short stop, however made the transition to third base midway through last season in Burlington, where he became the first teenager to lead the league in homers since Prince Fielder and led the Bees to a Midwest League Championship. He ended the season with 22 home runs, 71 rbis, 8 stolen bases, a .272 batting average, .337 on base percentage, and a .466 slugging percentage. This all after Moustakas got off to a horrific start where he hit .190 in the cold an Iowa April.

Moustakas who owns the California high school record for home runs in a season (24) and a career (52), was said to have had the best power in the draft since Alex Rodriguez. This is even more impressive considering Moustakas didn’t need to cheat to obtain it (just a joke… sort of). Moustakas is expected to begin 2009 in high class A Wilmington of the Carolina League (notorious for making average pitchers look like future aces, and future all stars look like banjo hitters).

The second base spot for the Royals seems to be the one spot on the field, where the Royals are not set going into season. Even as late as a week and a half ago, the Royals were in contract discussions with type A free agent Orlando Hudson. Unfortunately the Royals could not come to terms with Hudson and he signed with the Dodgers (the same team who outbid the Royals several months ago for Rafael Furcal). Let’s take a look at the Royals’ current second base options.

Fighting for a Big League Spot:

Let’s start with Mark Teahen. I am starting with Teahen because ideally the organization probably doesn’t want to play 3+ million a year for a guy who will be serving as a utility man. Teahen is bigger than the prototypical second basemen and I’d be very surprised if he showed the ability to play an average second base, however, Teahen has already successfully transitioned to right field from third, and then to left so it may be unwise to bet against him. I am not going to hold my breath though.

Next there is free agent acquisition Willie Bloomquist. Bloomquist for seven years served as a utility man for the Mariners in a Craig Counsell type mold and it wasn’t til last season that he showed an above average ability to get on base (.377 OBP compared to a career .322 OBP). I think Bloomquist would best serve this team in a utility role and not as an everyday starter. But part of me expects him to somehow win the starting job by May, and become Ross Gload part 2.

Finally we get to Alberto Callaspo. Callaspo in my mind has the most potential to be a solid everyday second basemen, however the guy just can’t seem to get his act together. After being traded to Kansas City after a domestic dispute, he was removed from the team last season due to reported alcohol related issues. Then to make matters worse Callaspo was late to acquire his visa, and as a result was the last to report to camp this spring. If Teahen can’t cut it at second, I would prefer Callaspo be given the starting job entering the season.

Pinch Fillers:

Tug Hulett was recently claimed off waivers from the Mariners. He has some promise and in the minors has posted a strong average, on base percentage and slugging percentage throughout his career. If a man goes down on the big league club, I expect to see Hulett get the call.

Keep Your Eye On:

Johnny Giavotella: For whatever reason Giavotella has had my eye from the start. Last season he was drafted in the second round, and the promptly reported to Low A Burlington of the Midwest League where he flirted with a .300 batting average all season long. Giavotella is rated as the 11th best prospect in the Royals organization according to Baseball America and appears to be on a fast track due to the lack of depth at second base in the organization. I expect Giavotella to rise quickly through the system and if all goes well could make it to Kansas City sometime in 2010. Unfortunately Giavotella is the only prospect in the minors that really excited me as a future second basemen.

On Sunday, March 1 the Royals announced the signing of left handed starter to Bruce Chen. Chen will pitch for Panama in the Wolrd Baseball Classic, then is expected to report to minor league camp for the Royals.

Nothing to complain about here and Chen will most likely just add some minor league depth at starter. Chen could feasibly get the big league call if the injury bug bites the big league club hard, or if he seems to have found his old form. In 2005, Chen has a 3.83 ERA with 13 wins for the Orioles. I doubt that Chen will wind up being the lefty starter for the rotation, but my only question is if Horacio Ramirez gets a chance, what is the harm with giving Chen one?