The Kansas City Royals and Florida Marlins have finally reached an agreement that will send Mike Jacobs to the Royals while Leo Nunez will be headed to the Marlins. The Royals wanted a new player at first base and they are hoping that Jacobs will be that solution.

Jacobs hit .299 with 32 home runs for the Marlins in 2008.

I don’t think the Royals gave up much to get Jacobs. Good trade if you ask me!

Royals Transactions

It was a frustrating ugly game for the Royals saturday at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals 6 game winning streak was ended tonight by the Cardinals by the score of 5-1. The Royals struggled to get anything offensively and looked like the pre-interleague play Royals with 1 run and 5 hits in the game. Kyle Davies pitched well in the first few innings before the Cardinals scored the first run of the game on a throwing error by Mike Aviles that looked like an easy double play ball but Aviles threw it into the dirt and the ball bounced away from 1st baseman Ross Gload.

Aviles bad throw was not the only defensive play that cost the Royals. Joey Gathright lost a ball in centerfield that dropped amd scored a run. Miguel Olivo made a pretty horrendous error by dropping the ball after tagging out a runner at home. No it was’nt a ball jarring collision at home that caused Olivo to drop the ball, he just dropped it. But the Royals lost this one not entirely because of these mistakes but more because they could never really put anything together. They never had a rally the whole game. In the 7th inning it looked like a rally was beggining but on a run scoring hit Olivo was sent home by 3rd base coach Luis Silverio. Olivo was thrown out by a mile by Cardinal catcher Yadier Molina.

Billy Butler was called up from triple-A Omaha today before the game but was not in the line up on saturday night. After struggling at the major league level recently Butler was sent down and hit very well. Alberto Callaspo was placed on the 15 day DL after he was arrested for running a red light late at night and was charged with a DUI. It is unknown whether the arrest has anything to do with the arrest.

The Royals win tonight by the score of 2-1.  Kyle Davies pitched a very good game going 6 2/3 innings. He did’nt allow the first run until the 7th inning. Joakim Soria came in and got the win, striking out two in the 9th.

It is great to beat the Yankee’s but it’s tough to win game’s when you only score 2 runs. Some of the offense that the Royals did get came from shortstop Mike Aviles, who had two doubles on the night. Aviles had his first major league hit in New York tonight, where he grew up and had family and friends at the game. It was good to see Aviles in the lineup after he had been called up last week and only played in one game. Maybe after showing some offense he will get some more playing time.

Alex Gordon has really fallen into a slump recently. He went 0 for 4 tonight and has been struggling for awhile now. He is essential in the Royals scoring runs. It hurts that while Teahen has been playing so well on this road trip, Alex Gordon played just as bad. There have been some streaky hitters this year and the Royals can’t seem to get everyone hitting well at the same time.

Also, today during the game the Royals were able to trade the 2003 AL rookie of the year Angel Berroa to the Dodgers. The Dodgers did not give up much, only 21 year old Juan Rivera, who was hitting .241 in single-A. Most likely the Royals were just trying to dump Berroa’s salary to sign the draft picks that they picked up.

No I’m not talking about switch hitting catcher Brayan Pena, who the Royals aquired off of waivers friday. I’m talking about Tony Pena Jr.

The Royals organization must make some sort of change with the lack of offense,(last in runs) power(last in HR’s) and speed(second to last in caught stealing)in the lineup. For a team with these kind of offensive numbers it’s probably not a smart idea to have 5 players on the current 25 man roster that are middle infielders(and also 3 catchers now). Manager Trey Hillman has stated that Pena Jr. will continue to be used as the Royals starting shortstop.

Despite TPJ’s above-average defense, he is hitting .157 with a .177 OBP.  I don’t care if he plays with Ozzie Smith’s defense these kind of numbers are unbearable. Something must be done with him. He cannot continue to start every night and give the opposing pitcher an automatic out every time up to bat. Pena Jr. has no idea which pitch’s to swing at, and almost never draws a walk. He is also a bad baserunner at a position that usually has speed.

There is no way the Royals can be a winning team with the lowest runs scored in the major leagues, no matter how many young pitchers they load the system with. Something must be done to help this awful lineup that the Royals put on the field every night, and releasing TPJ should be the first move.

The Kansas City Royals have released a player, optioned a player to Triple-A, and made a trade.  The Royals are waiting for opening day and putting together the final touches to their opening day lineup.

Kyle Davies was optioned to Triple-A Omaha.

Jorge De La Rosa was designated for assignement.

Chin-Hui Tsao, Roman Colon, and Ken Huckaby were sent to minor league camp.

Ramon Ramirez was grabbed from the Colorado Rockies for a player to be named later.

The Kansas City Royals have signed Mark Teahen and Zack Greinke to one year contracts.  Teahen will be paid $2.3 million dollars and Greinke will be paid $1.4 million dollars.

Both players really need to step up and play a full major league season and put up the numbers that they are both capable of.

Royals Blog

The Kansas City Royals signed pitcher Horacio Ramirez to a one year contract worth $2.75 million dollar contract on Friday.  It is unclear if Ramirez will fight for a spot in the Royals rotation, or pitch out of the bullpen.  Heck, he might not even make the team out of Spring Training the way he pitched last year!

Royals Blog

Jimmy Gobble and the Kansas City Royals agreed on a one year contract that will pay Gobble $1.3 million dollars in 2008.  Pretty good deal for parties as Gobble still needs to prove what kind of pitcher he can be in the Major Leagues.  Cheap investment for the Royals if you ask me.

 What do you think of the deal Royals fans?  Leave us a comment and let us know!

Royals Blog

The Kansas City Royals have avoided salary arbitration by signing Luke Hudson to a one year contract worth around $500,000.  So Hudson pitches one game last season, gets hurt, has shoulder surgery, and comes back and gets a raise?

Hudson might have some electric stuff when healthy, and the Royals better hope he is healthy for the entire 2008 season.  I suppose for only $500,000 it is a low risk and the Royals need to take some risks to get better.

Royals Blog

Wow, talk about a name you probably have heard in a long time!  Hideo Nomo has agreed on a minor league contract with the Kansas City Royals and will be invited to Spring Training next month.  Nomo has been pitching in the Venezuelan Winter League.  During the Winter league, his numbers were 6.59 ERA and a 7/7 K/BB ratio in 13 2/3 innings.  Not exactly pretty.

I really doubt Nomo will make the team as he battles back from elbow surgery.   If Nomo makes the team, the Royals have a lot more problems then we had originally thought!

Royals Blog