Read More: Kansas City Royals

Three months ago, Mike Moustakas was called “the top prospect in the top minor league system in baseball.” That’s the sort of talk that gets absolutely everyone excited about the possibilities for the Kansas City Royals third baseman — national and local fans, front office personnel and certainly the manager, coaches and teammates. The only issue here is that Moustakas’ potential has a context, and the context isn’t ready.

Let me say this from the outset, however: this isn’t a horrific or frightening move bound to stymie Moustakas long-term process and nullify any chance the Royals to win in future seasons. That would be ridiculous. Moustakas will hit his 30 home runs from the power corner, become entrenched in the hearts of Royals’ fans and make good on most of the praise and potential lavished on him these last couple of minor league seasons.

But everything has its timing, or as Thom Yorke sings, “Everything in its right place.” Acquiring or drafting the right players is one thing; utilizing them is another thing entirely. The ascension of Mike Moustakas at age 22 is a bit of a head-scratcher in that it pulls up the best power prospect at the wrong time — on both Moustakas’ personal timeline and the major league club’s as well.

Moustakas has yet to play a full-season in AAA Omaha, with only 107 games played total. In roughly the same amount of at-bats last year, his strikeout rate has almost doubled and his slugging percentage has dropped 66 points (.564 to .498). In other words, it’s not as if AAA wasn’t challenging him anymore like you could have said of Eric Hosmer just one month ago.

On the major league level, Wilson Betemit is unseated in the process. If he’s going to be trade bait, why remove a chip from playing in the field before you move him — thus lowering his value in the process? Even if he’s moved to second base, it’s not his steady position and you mess with your infield defense. If nothing else, give Moustakas one more full month in the minors to work on a couple areas of weakness, and give the front office another month to work the phones to find a second baseman for Betemit, Melky Cabrera or other trade chips.

It’s clear that Moustakas was getting hot in the minors, however, so perhaps it’s worth bringing him up ASAP just to secure the line-up a bit more — one that has had issues scoring runs. I just think it wise to be cautious with the young products in house given how many top prospects have flamed out because of improper handling along the way.

ARLINGTON, Texas, May 28 (UPI) — Home runs by Melky Cabrera, Eric Hosmer and Brayan Pena in a five-run 14th inning Friday gave the Kansas City Royals a 12-7 victory over Texas.

The Royals snapped a five-game losing streak.

The teams combined to score 13 times in the first two innings, with Texas holding a 7-6 lead, and they managed only one more score over the next 11 frames. That run came on a homer by Alex Gordon in the ninth off Texas closer Neftali Feliz that tied the contest and turned it into a marathon.

The Rangers had the bases loaded in the ninth and two on in the 10th without scoring and the game dragged on until the Royals unloaded against Dave Bush (0-1), the eighth Texas pitcher.

Cabrera and Hosmer hit homers on consecutive pitches with one out in the 14th and Pena’s blast came after Billy Butler had reached second on a single and passed ball and Wilson Betemit had drawn an intentional walk.

Blake Wood (2-0), the sixth of seven Kansas City hurlers, got the win by working a perfect 13th inning.

Hosmer had four RBI overall and Texas got home runs from Ian Kinsler and David Murphy.

By Matthew Hays

– Staff Writer

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May 19, 2011 – The streak is over.

Former Ranger Jeff Francoeur singled to center in the 10th inning, with a runner on third as the Royals defeated the Rangers 2-1, improving to 1-3 on the current homestand. With the win, the Royals now sit at 21-22. I-70 rivals, the St Louis Cardinals will be in town over the weekend.

You can’t fault the pitching tonight as Luke Hochevar threw 8 2/3 innings, giving up the lone run in the second inning on Chris Davis’ third home run of the season. Texas got two on in the ninth before manager Ned Yost removed Hochevar, giving way to Greg Holland. On the fourth pitch, David Murphy flew out to center to keep the lead at just one run.

Derek Holland had an equally impressive start, throwing eight innings, allowing one run on nine hits.

The Royals had the heart of the order batting in the bottom of the ninth, with Eric Hosmer leading off. On Wednesday evening, Hosmer homered in the ninth of closer Neftali Feliz, and facing Holland tonight he singled up the middle before Holland exited. Feliz entered to face Francoeur. Francoeur promptly singled to right, setting the table for Kansas City with two on and no out, the best scoring chance of the evening.

Billy Butler and Wilson Betemit flew out, then Feliz threw a wild pitch to move the runners up to second and third with Mike Aviles at the plate. Facing a full count, Aviles singled the 11th pitch of the at-bat up the middle to score Hosmer and tie the game. Aviles had been in an 0-for-12 slump, Feliz blew a save opportunity for the second evening in a row. 

The Royals weren’t finished as Feliz walked Brayan Pena to load the bases and Mark Lowe came on for the Rangers to face Alcides Escobar. Feliz had throw 35 pitches in the inning. Escobar grounded out to Lowe, sending the teams in extra innings for the second night in a row.

Kansas City’s Holland sent the Rangers down in order in the 10th, with the top of the Royals order at-bat in the bottom of the 10th.

After Darren Oliver got Alex Gordon out, Melky Cabrera singled, as Hosmer singled on a bullet to right, allowing Cabrera to move up to third. Texas manager Ron Washington again went to his bullpen brining in Cody Eppley to face Francoeur. Francoeur fought off many pitches before coming through with the seventh walk off win of the year, singling to center for the win. 

Greg Holland picked up the win and is 1-0 after his 2011 debut, while Oliver took the loss and falls to 1-5. A full boxscore can be viewed here.

Read More: Billy Butler (DH – KAN), Alex Gordon (LF – KAN), David Murphy (LF – TEX), Melky Cabrera (CF – KAN), Wilson Betemit (3B – KAN), Jeff Francoeur (RF – KAN), Brayan Pena (C – KAN), Luke Hochevar (P – KAN), Chris Davis (1B – TEX), Mike Aviles (3B – KAN), Neftali Feliz (P – TEX), Greg Holland (P – KAN), Eric Hosmer (1B – KAN), Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals

By Matt Hays

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May 13, 2011 – Early on it looked like Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander was toying with the late Johnny Vander Meer’s record of two consecutive no-hitters established back in 1938.

Verlander looked nearly just as good Friday evening in Detroit as he did the previous weekend when he tossed his second career no-hitter in Toronto. For over five innings he stymied the Royals offense before finally allowing a RBI triple to Melky Cabrera with two outs in the sixth. Alcides Escobar has previously walked to provide Kansas City with the scoring opportunity.

Detroit made it 1-0 in the first when Austin Jackson homered to center field to lead off the game facing Kansas City’s Luke Hochevar. The Tigers added a second run in the second before Hochevar eventually settled in as he finished the game allowing three runs on seven hits while pitching six innings. Taking the loss he fell to 3-4 on the season, sporting a 4.87 ERA. He would also give up another home run in the fourth, a solo shot to shortstop Jhonny Peralta.

Verlander was dominant in improving to 4-3, having obviously looked great in his last two starts. The 6’5″ power right-hander went eight innings allowing just one run on two hits. He stuck out seven and walked three.

Catcher Matt Treanor doubled to lead off the eighth inning but the remaining Royals went down in order. It seemed to be a surprising move that Royals Manager Ned Yost was intent on allowing light-hitting Chris Getz to hit with one-out, with Wilson Betemit sitting on the bench.

Alex Gordon singled and stole second to begin the ninth, facing Tigers closer Jose Valverde, but Valverde was up to task in picking up his ninth save. Valverde struck out Billy Butler, got Jeff Francoeur to fly out, and struck out Eric Hosmer to end the game. Butler, a night after going 4-for-6, lost a 22 game hitting-streak against the Tigers as the Royals amassed just three hits.

Kansas City falls to 20-18, while the surging Tigers improved to 21-18 and overtook the Royals for second place in the Central Division race. Cleveland also beat Seattle 5-4 on Friday evening to continue setting the pace at the top.

Jeff Francis (0-4 5.09) and the Royals will look to get back on track Saturday against Brad Penny (3-3 4.78) and the Tigers. Game time in Detroit is 3:10 CST. Is it important for Kansas City to pick up a win tomorrow, as Detroit will have Mizzou alum Max Scherzer (6-0 3.20) on the mound Sunday.

Read More: Jhonny Peralta (SS – DET), Billy Butler (DH – KAN), Alex Gordon (LF – KAN), Justin Verlander (P – DET), Matt Treanor (C – KAN), Jeff Francis (P – KAN), Jose Valverde (P – DET), Melky Cabrera (CF – KAN), Wilson Betemit (3B – KAN), Brad Penny (P – DET), Jeff Francoeur (RF – KAN), Luke Hochevar (P – KAN), Max Scherzer (P – DET), Alcides Escobar (SS – KAN), Austin Jackson (CF – DET), Chris Getz (2B – KAN), Eric Hosmer (1B – KAN), Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals

Read More: New York Yankees, Kansas City Royals at New York Yankees, May 12, 2011 7:05 PM EDT

These aren’t the Kansas City Royals from the past few seasons.

Once a moribund franchise out of playoff races by May, the Royals dominated the New York Yankees, 11-5, to take two of three games.

It was the first series the Yankees lost all season. New York, struggling as of late, dropped out of first place for the first time since April 13. The Yankees have lost six of their last nine games.

Unlike Wednesday night’s 11-inning affair, the Royals jumped out to a big lead early. Eric Hosmer led off the second inning with a home run, his second in as many games, to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. Careless defensive mistakes helped set the up the big inning for Kansas City.

Robinson Cano’s throwing error on a tailor-made double play ball allowed Wilson Betemit to take second and left Matt Treanor safe at first. A passed ball from Francisco Cervelli moved the runners up, and Mike Aviles extended the lead to 2-0 with an infield single.

Melky Cabrera followed with a RBI double, and caused a Cervelli throwing error on a pickoff attempt. That allowed Aviles to score, pushing the lead to 4-0.

Billy Butler and Jeff Francour finished the scoring, helping secure the most runs surrendered by the Yankees in a single inning this season.

Cabrera stretched the lead further in the fourth inning, leading off with a solo home run. Alex Gordon doubled right after the home run, and Billy Butler drove him in to push the lead to 8-0. That ended the night for Ivan Nova (3-3). In the shortest start of his career, he went only three innings, allowing eight runs (four earned) and 10 hits.

The Yankees mounted a rally in the fourth inning, cutting the Royals lead to four. Kansas City starter Sean O’Sullivan (2-2), who threw three perfect innings, allowed a lead-off home run to Cano. Cervelli hit a two-run double, and Derek Jeter hit a sacrifice fly to shrink the lead to 8-4.

O’Sullivan settled down after that inning, pitching into the seventh for his second win of the season.

The Royals pushed the game out of reach against rookie Amaury Sanit. The 31-year old Cuban, making his season debut, allowed three runs in 4 2/3 relief innings.

Alex Rodriguez broke a 65 at-bat home run drought, hitting his sixth of the season off Brandon Wood. That made the score 11-5, but the Yankees couldn’t mount another rally. 

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By Tim Dierkes [May 9, 2011 at 9:34am CST]

The Royals are next in our 2012 Contract Issues series.  Here’s what the team faces after the 2011 season:

Eligible For Free Agency (6)

• Catchers Jason Kendall and Matt Treanor will be eligible for free agency, so look for the Royals to acquire a veteran backstop this offseason.
• With Kyle Davies, Bruce Chen, and Jeff Francis signed through 2011, three-fifths of the club’s current rotation will be up in the air.  The Royals might lose a couple of veteran lefties, but in Mike Montgomery, John Lamb, Danny Duffy, and Chris Dwyer, they’ve got four highly-rated southpaws not far from the Majors.  Aaron Crow has pitched well out of the team’s big league bullpen, but he could also be in the rotation mix next year.  I can picture the Royals adding a veteran free agent or two for depth.
• Infielder Wilson Betemit may be approaching free agency at the ideal time, as he’s assembled a .300/.374/.497 line in 422 plate appearances in his Royals career to date.  He should be able to continue as a third base regular with another club.

Contract Options (2)

• Joakim Soria: $6MM club option with a $750K buyout.  Arbitration eligible if declined.  Soria hasn’t been himself this year, though much of the damage came in one outing against the White Sox.  At any rate, he’s not going anywhere.
• Jeff Francoeur: $3MM mutual option.  Did you know Francoeur is currently tied with Howie Kendrick for the American League lead in total bases?  He could end up knocking 30 home runs for the first time in his career.  Wil Myers is learning to play right field in Double-A currently, so the Royals may prefer a stopgap solution at most for 2012.

Arbitration Eligible (8)

There may be a few non-tenders in this group, but Aviles, Maier, Hochevar, Tejeda, Gordon, and Cabrera are likely to be retained.  I’ll estimate something like $15MM for the six.

2012 Payroll Obligation

The Royals’ 2012 payroll obligation, according to Cot’s, is about $17MM assuming Soria’s option is picked up.  $15MM for the key arbitration eligibles puts them around $32MM, $6MM shy of this year’s payroll and about $40MM short of the ’09 and ’10 payrolls.  The Royals will probably increase their free agent activity during the 2011-12 offseason, as things may already be starting to come together.