The Royals have a nice bullpen and a solid starting team in the field. With that in mind, I don’t forecast them having a firesale even if they continue to lose. No matter who the Royals decide to deal, they should be asking for young starting pitching back. I could see the Royals dealing lefty reliever Jose Mijares to a team like the Cardinals for righty starting pitcher Brandon Dickson. Dickson would immediately join the Royals’ starting rotation. Thinking outside the box a little bit, I could see the Royals offering outfielder Jason Bourgeios, Brayan Pena or Humberto Quintero and righty reliever Jeremy Jeffress to the Washington Nationals for Chien-Ming Wang….but only if the Royals are thinking about competing right now.

The Kansas City Royals have placed 23-year old lefty starting pitcher Danny Duffy on the 15-day disabled list, but he needs Tommy John Surgery…so he’s done for the season. Duffy pitched in 6 games (all starts) for the Royals this year and he was 2-2 with a 3.90 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP. Duffy has now pitched in 26 games (all starts) in his first two years for the Royals and he is 6-10 with a 5.28 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP. 24-year old righty reliever/starter Nate Adcock has been called up to replace Duffy on the pitching staff. Adcock pitched in 3 games (0 starts) earlier this year for the Royals and he was 0-0 with a 2.89 ERA and a 1.93 WHIP. Losing Duffy is a big blow to the Royals’ starting rotation.

The Royals have signed 36-year old lefty starting pitcher Doug Davis to a minor league deal. Davis pitched in 9 games (all starts) for the Cubs last year and he was 1-7 with a 6.50 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP. He has now pitched in 306 games (286 starts) in his first 13 years in the majors and he is 92-108 with a 4.44 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. It has gotten so bad in the starting rotation for the Royals, that Davis might actually be an upgrade.

27-year old switch-hitting 2B/SS/3B Tony Abreu is ripping the ball in AAA so far this year. He has played in 26 games in AAA-ball for the Royals so far this year and he is 40 for 118 (.339 avg, .835 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 2 homers, 18 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Abreu has played in 146 games in his first three years in the majors and he is 92 for 367 (.251 avg, .634 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 3 homers, 31 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. I think Abreu is going to get a shot at the show at some point in 2012 if he keeps hitting the ball well in AAA.

The Royals have called up 24-year old righty swinging 2B Johnny Giavotella to replace Jonathan Sanchez on the active roster. He has played in 31 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 44 for 133 (.331 avg, .912 OPS) with 28 runs scored, 5 homers, 25 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Giavotella walked 18 times while whiffing only 11 times in AAA-ball this year, where he was showing off a good eye. Giavotella played in 46 games for the Royals in his first taste of the majors last year and he was 44 for 178 (.247 avg, .649 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 2 homers, 21 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. He will likely platoon at 2B with Chris Getz, getting the starts against lefty starting pitchers.