Yeah, there's the rub. The "greatest farm system" in history doesn't even have replacement-level players available at AAA.

Gio would likely offer this as a DH, though he was at -0.1 oWAR this year in limited action.

They should just DFA Aoki and bring somebody up from the minors to shake up Butler. Sit his ass for two weeks.

Is Ibanez still on the team? If so, why?

Next Saturday is Faith and Family Night at Kauffman Stadium.

I think I'm going to write Toby Cook and demand the Royals have "Agnostic and Atheist Night." Because after watching this team for the last 30 years, one could rationally question if there IS a God. And if so, why did 1985 piss him off so much?

Sounds like a helluva plan though,buy the cross state rival,make some profit and don't worry about having another contender in the state.

If the plan is to acquire Alex Rios to be primarily the Royals DH, with him replacing Butler on the roster, this is a positive move. Rios' defense has not graded out well this season, but his offense would be a valuable addition.

Rios has a .765 OPS, which would be the second-best OPS on the Royals. Rios has a 110 OPS+, which again would be second on the Royals.

For all intents and purposes, you'd basically be adding a RH-hitting Alex Gordon to the lineup. He is the 31st-ranked OF in mlb in terms of OPS, 16th in the American League. If played exclusively at DH, he'd still be the 7th-most productive DH in baseball. Which would help the O...

If the idea is that he plays everyday in RF, it still helps the offense, but at the expense of the defense.

Rios is a little bit of a sulker, with questions about his motivation, but he has responded well when added to teams "in the mix" in the past. Coming to a team that's trying to win might make a big difference for him in terms of effort and therefore performance.

It's not a "WOW!" deal, but it wouldn't have a "WOW" cost either, and would help the offensive side of the ball much more than an Aoki or Dyson or even a Butler is likely to give you in the second half.

I'm frankly surprised the Royals haven't been a feeder team for the Cardinals, like the old KC A's were for the Yankees.

I'm sure Glass is thinking how much Salvie could help the Cards now that Molina is out for the year....

That Mellinger column is spot on.

This organization has continued to spit in the face of its fans in "big moments" over and over again. Frankly im surprised there are still fans and a season ticket base out there. How much more can these people take????? 30 years.....good grief.

One very rich man's ultimate payback for the '85 WS.

/ tears in beers

Sporting Ownership can't afford the Royals, in all probability.

lolwut

How many of those guys are there? Took a bunch to own an MLS club that has a payroll of 3 million. The Royals have a 90 million dollar payroll and more operating expenses.

Dude, the owners of SKC are incredibly rich. Much more so than the Glasses.

Ideal trade would be a three way deal where we can ship Shields out and still get some return for a post season push. Example:

Royals
Carlos Quentin
Ian Kennedy

Padres
Get Prospects from both

Mystery Team
James Shields

Cover your major need, still rebuild for the year, and can still win now.

Read back 1-2 pages to Duncan's post, he explains pretty well.

Fair enough. Still an obstacle. I want a car, so I buy one for $10,000. I really like Lamborghini's too, but I'm not going to buy one.