Buster Olney blogs about the Royals‘ moves this offseason, including the signing of Miguel Tejada.
Kansas City Royals
Kansas City Royals 2013 Schedule
April
Apr. 1: @ Chicago Sox – Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 3: @ Chicago Sox - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 4: @ Chicago Sox - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 5: @ Philadelphia - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 6: @ Philadelphia - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 7: @ Philadelphia - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 8: vs Minnesota - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 9: vs Minnesota - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 10: vs Minnesota - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 12: vs Toronto - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 13: vs Toronto - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 14: vs Toronto - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 16: @ Atlanta - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 17: @ Atlanta - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 19: @ Boston - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 20: @ Boston - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 21: @ Boston - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 23: @ Detroit - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 24: @ Detroit - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 25: @ Detroit - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 26: vs Cleveland - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 27: vs Cleveland - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 28: vs Cleveland - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 29: vs Cleveland - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
Apr. 30: vs Tampa Bay - Buy Kansas City Royals Tickets
In the American League, the story for the first full week of June remains much the same as it has been for the entire 2012 season – Rangers lead the way.
The Texas Rangers are still the best in the American League after 55 games. The Rangers are 32-23 and have a .582 winning percentage. Of late though, they have fallen off a bit going 5-5 over the last 10 games. It has done little close the gap between other teams in the AL West however. The Angels have been playing much better ball than earlier in the season going 7-3 for their last 10 but they are still 4.5 games behind the Rangers. Tampa Bay and the White Sox lead the AL East and Central divisions with the exact same records 31-23.
In the American League, the early start to the season has become a tale of one team and the rest of them. The Rangers are far and away leading the AL and everyone else is just tagging along for the ride at this point.
The Rangers in 13 games to start the season are 11-2. They are 9-1 for their last 10. They have won 7 games in a row. They are a perfect 6-0 on the road. They have an .846 winning percentage that is far and away better than the rest of the American League. The Rangers started the season looking to be the team to beat and they have shown that prediction to be true so far.
The Kansas City Royals are hoping this is the season where they can break through and put together their first winning season in over eight years.
The biggest thing the team has going for itself right now is its youth. According to Baseball America, the Royals had the No. 1 farm system in 2011. With guys like Mike Montgomery, Wil Myers, Jake Odorizzi and Bubba Starling coming through your system, it’s hard not to get excited.
In fact, Royals fans are already clamoring to see Starling in a KC uniform this season. While that almost surely won’t happen, as is the most likely case with the rest of the aforementioned prospects, you have to be anxious to see a guy perform in the majors who was the fifth overall pick in the 2011 draft. You know the front office is excited—they ultimately signed him to a three-year contract worth $7.5 million.
It is pretty simple, the American League Central is the worst division in baseball. The Cleveland Indians were even capable of finishing as the runner-up in this division without so much as winning half of their games. Naturally, it has been since the Detroit Tigers unlikely World Series run in 2006 that the AL Central has been represented by the wild card slot, which has grown to be increasingly dominated by the east. There also may not be a division that seems like any more of a sure thing this season, with the trailing teams do very little to catch last year’s American League runner-up in the Tigers.
Big news out of San Francisco today, as the Giants have traded left-hander Jonathan Sanchez and another minor league pitcher to the Kansas City Royals in exchange outfielder Melky Cabrera.
In Sanchez, the Royals get a talented pitcher who has struggled with inconsistency over his career. He was the Giants’ best pitcher during the latter part of 2010, when they beat the Texas Rangers to win the World Series. But he was just 4-7 with a 4.26 ERA this season before missing the final month with a left ankle sprain.
His departure now leaves a whole in the Giants’ pitching rotation. The fifth spot will be up for grabs, with Barry Zito presumably penciled in as the tentative No. 5 guy when the team begins spring training.
For the first time in three seasons, more fans attended a Major League Baseball compared to the previous season; albeit it was only a 0.5$ increase.
Before the season began, baseball officials were looking for a 5-7% increase in attendance. But the combination of a tough economy and a historically soggy season in which 51 games were rained out, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig was left happy to see the downward streak end.
“It’s not just one thing. These numbers are a direct manifestation of everything we’ve been doing, because everything feeds into it,” Selig said. “Having the wild card and these great races down the stretch, how aggressive the clubs have been, [MLB Advanced Media], the [MLB] Network. All of our outreach. They’re all factors, and the end result is that the sport continues to be more popular than ever.”
It has been an interesting ride thus far for Kansas City Royals left fielder Alex Gordon.
When the Royals drafted Alex Jonathan Gordon in the first round of the 2005 MLB Draft, much was expected out of the former University of Nebraska star. Gordon didn’t disappoint during his first season down in AA Wichita, putting up ridiculous numbers with the Wichita Wranglers: 130 games, 486 AB, 111 runs, .324 BA, 29 HR, 101 RBI, 22 SB, 72 BB, .588 SLG.
Gordon continued his impressive stint in the KC farm system before making his major league debut on Opening Day 2007 against Curt Schilling and the Boston Red Sox. Unfortunately for Gordon, he struck out against the future Hall of Famer with the bases loaded. For the next four years, he was never able to recover.
