19-year old lefty swinging shortstop Mike Moustakas was the first round pick of the Royals who see him as their shortstop of the future. He has played in 26 games in A-Ball this season and he is 23 for 104 (.221 avg, .623 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 4 homers, 8 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The bright thing so far about Moustakas is that he has only whiffed 13 times in 104 at bats.

At some point you have to wonder when the Royals will replace Tony Pena at shortstop. He has played in 27 games for the Royals this season and he is 14 for 89 (.157 avg, .376 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 5 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Pena is a good defensive player but you have to draw the line at some point. Alberto Callaspo is off to a hot start with the bat and he might get an opportunity to show what he can do with more playing time. Callaspo has played in 14 games this season for the Royals and he is 14 for 38 (.368 avg, .876 OPS) with 1 run scored and 3 RBIs.

30-year old lefty starter Mike Maroth has been released by the Royals. In 3 starts in AAA ball, Maroth was 0-2 with a 12.91 ERA and a 2.22 WHIP. Maroth will likely have a hard time finding a team willing to take a chance on him based on how poorly he pitched both this season and last year with the Cardinals. He can thank the Good Lord that he’s left handed because that’s his biggest asset as a pitcher.

The Royals have traded 27 year old lefty starting pitcher Jorge De La Rosa to the Rockies to finish the Ramon Ramirez trade. De La Rosa was off to an outstanding start in AAA ball this season. De La Rosa has started 4 games in AAA ball this season and he is 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Last season for the Royals, De La Rosa pitched in 26 games (23 starts) and he was 8-12 with a 5.82 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. De La Rosa will move right into the Rockies rotation but that won’t hurt the Royals who had no room for him.

The Royals have released righty reliever Hideo Nomo. Nomo was awful in 3 games (0 starts) for the Royals this season as he was 0-0 with a 18.69 ERA and a 3.23 WHIP. Nomo’s major league career is likely over. If it is, Nomo pitched in 323 games (318 starts) in his major league career and he was 123-109 with a 4.24 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP.