Read More: Melky Cabrera (CF – SFG), Jair Jurrjens (P – ATL), New York Yankees, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves

Its clear that the Kansas City Royals have a major focus on getting their pitching right for their 2012 campaign. After trading outfielder Melky Cabrera to the San Francisco Giants for the hard throwing Jonathan Sanchez, reports are out that the Royals could be targeting all-star right hander Jair Jurrjens from Atlanta.

Per SB Nation’s MLB Daily Dish:

We have already seen earlier this month the Kansas City Royals turn down an offer that included stud prospect Wil Meyers. Of course the Royals would never bite on this deal, but while looking at numbers, the Braves do have plenty of money to play with come 2012, especially on their outfield. Now enter, Nick Swisher and the New York Yankees.

Today, reports rose that the Yankees may have some interest in Jurrjens. Atlanta sees Eduardo Nunez as a prospect that can spell the Alex Gonzalez problem, or possibly play some OF. The asking price is clearly a problem; I think some people have a higher opinion of Jurrjens than teams outside of Atlanta. Although Kansas City is still in pursuit of Jurrjens according to Jim Bowden of ESPN, the Yankees may be driving the price up according to Jon Heyman. Joel Sherman thinks the Yankees may balk on any deal all together because of their history with ex Braves (Javier Vazquez).

I’m not saying that adding Jurrjens would make the Royals a lock to win the AL Central in 2012, but I would say that it might finally make the Royals competitive. This is all speculation, but its got to be encouraging to see your organization being aggressive.

For more on MLB news, trades, signings and rumors check out the SB Nation blog MLB Daily Dish.

Kansas City, MO (November 2, 2011) – The Kansas City Royals have announced that outfielder Alex Gordon has been named the 2011 Les Milgram Player of the Year. The award was voted on by the Kansas City Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA).

Gordon, 27, was a standout both offensively and defensively for the Royals in 2011 to earn his first career Les Milgram Player of Year. Last night, he won his first career Rawlings Gold Glove in his first full season in left field.

Offensively, Gordon set career highs in every category, batting .303 with 45 doubles, four triples, 23 home runs, 87 RBI, 101 runs scored and 17 stolen bases. Gordon ranked 10th in the American League in batting while placing tied for sixth in the Majors in doubles, tied for sixth in the league in extra-base hits (72), eighth in hits and total bases (307), 10th in runs and tied for 10th in multi-hit games (50). He was one of five players in baseball with at least a .300 average, 45 doubles and 20 home runs, joining the Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera, the Red Sox’ Jacoby Ellsbury and Adrian Gonzalez, and the Yankees’ Robinson Cano.

Defensively, the Royals’ first round selection (second overall) in 2005 led the Majors and set a Royals record with 20 outfield assists. He became the fifth outfielder in the Majors since 1969 to post at least 20 outfield assists while committing three errors or less. The Gold Glove was the 19th all-time in franchise history and the first since second baseman Mark Grudzielanek in 2006.

The Royals announced yesterday that first baseman Eric Hosmer won the 2011 Joe Burke Special Achievement award. The 2011 Bruce Rice Pitcher of the Year will be revealed tomorrow.

The Kansas City Royals hired former
New York Yankees pitching coach Dave Eiland, who worked with the
staff that won the 2009 World Series during three years in the
Bronx.

Eiland, 45, was replaced by Larry Rothschild in New York
following the 2010 Major League Baseball season and spent this
year as a special assistant for the Tampa Bay Rays. Eiland
succeeds Bob McClure in Kansas City and is the final addition to
the Royals’ coaching staff.

The Royals had a 4.44 earned run average this season,
ranking 27th out of 30 major-league teams, and allowed an
American League-high 557 walks during a 71-91 season.

The 2009 Yankees’ staff registered 103 regular-season wins
and struck out 1,260 batters, the second-most in franchise
history. Before replacing Ron Guidry in 2008, Eiland spent five
seasons as a pitching coach in the Yankees’ minor-league system.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Erik Matuszewski in New York at
matuszewski@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at
msillup@bloomberg.net.

By Matthew Hays

– Staff Writer

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Oct 26, 2011 – As first reported back on October 13th, the Kansas City Royals had interest in former Yankees pitching coach Dave Eiland. On Tuesday afternoon it all came to fruition as the Royals officially named Dave Eiland as the successor to Bob McClure.

I won’t claim to know all that much about Eiland’s work with the Yankees as pitching coach, and we already profiled him back on the 13th, but one thing is true. If you are someone who was hired to work for the Rays by Andrew Friedman, chances are you are doing something right. In recent years, the young Friedman has proven to be one of the top executives in all of baseball.

Baseball Nation’s Rob Neyer was not a fan of the Royals recent hire, but I will hold judgement until I see what he can do with the young Royals pitchers. We have all witnessed the wonders Kevin Seitzer has done at the major league level with the Kansas City batters.

Lastly, Will McDonald wrote of the hire at Royals Review.

Read More: New York Yankees, Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Rays

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KANSAS CITY — Royals manager Ned Yost said last month that he wanted to find a new pitching coach who managed to have a long career in the major leagues despite having “mediocre stuff.”Dave Eiland precisely met those qualifications.The former Yankees pitching coach was added to Yost’s staff Tuesday. He’ll be tasked with helping to develop a young starting rotation that was long on talent but too often short on results this season, when the Royals finished 71-91 and 24 games out of first place in the AL Central.“This is a team that’s going to make some noise as we move forward,” said Eiland, who spent the past season as a special assistant to Rays general manager Andrew Friedman. “We feel like if we all do our part, this is a team that can contend within the next year or two.”Eiland takes over for Bob McClure, who was let go after five seasons with the Royals.McClure oversaw the development of former Cy Young winner Zack Greinke, now with the Brewers, along with current starters such as Luke Hochevar and Danny Duffy. But he was often criticized for a pitching staff that walked far too many batters — the Royals were fourth in the majors and led the American League with 557 walks — and consequently struggled to get deep into games.“You have to teach guys how to pitch into the seventh, eighth and ninth inning, and how to finish games, and that’s what we want to do out there,” Eiland said Tuesday.Eiland has spent most of his career in the Yankees organization, first as player and later as a pitching coach. He worked his way up through the minor league system before joining the staff of Yankees manager Joe Girardi in 2008, and helped the franchise win its 27th World Series title the following year, when New York pitchers struck out the second-most batters in franchise history.Eiland also started his pitching career with the Yankees in 1988 and later played for the Padres and Rays, compiling a 12-27 record and 5.74 ERA while appearing in 92 games over 10 seasons.In short, just the kind of “mediocre stuff” that Yost was seeking in a pitching coach.“Instead of mediocre stuff, my stuff was a little south of mediocre,” Eiland said with a laugh.Eiland said he visited Yost on the manager’s Georgia ranch a few weeks ago and came away feeling like they were on the same page. That feeling was affirmed a few days later when Eiland met with Royals general manager Dayton Moore to discuss the job.Eiland said he doesn’t know a whole lot about the Royals’ young pitchers, aside from what he remembers from viewing them across the diamond from the opposing dugout.He expects a shipment of videos to arrive at his home soon, and Eiland said he’ll set about dissecting each pitcher in the organization in the coming days.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Kansas City, MO (Sports Network) – The Kansas City Royals named Dave Eiland
pitching coach on Tuesday.

The 45-year-old Eiland, who replaces Bob McClure, spent the past season as a
special assistant to Andrew Friedman, Tampa Bay’s executive vice president of
baseball operations.

“We are delighted to have Dave join our coaching staff,” Royals general
manager Dayton Moore said. “He is an extremely talented pitching coach and a
proven winner who has the ability to relate to the young pitchers who are
transitioning to the Majors. He has also shown effectiveness in working with
established pitchers. (Manger) Ned (Yost) and our entire baseball operations
staff have strong convictions about Dave’s ability to make a positive
difference with our pitching staff.”

Eiland was the pitching coach with the Yankees from 2008-10, helping New York
win a World Series title in 2009. He had previously served as the
organization’s minor league pitching coach.

The Royals ranked 27th in staff earned run average (4.44) in 2011.

The Sports Network