The Royals have designated 31-year old righty swinging infielder Esteban German for assignment. German played in 89 games for the Royals last season and he was 53 for 216 (.245 avg, .641 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 22 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. German has now played in 366 games in his major league career in which he is 262 for 946 (.277 avg, .741 OPS) with 139 runs scored, 7 homers, 102 RBIs and 28 stolen bases. The Royals needed German’s roster spot for the recently signed Juan Cruz. The Royals shouldn’t miss him too much as they are deep in infielders.

UPDATE: The Royals have released German. Don’t look for him to be out of work too long.

The Royals have signed 30-year old righty reliever Juan Cruz to a 2-year, $6 million dollar contract with a club option for 2011. Cruz pitched in 57 games (0 starts) for the D-Backs last season and he was 4-0 with a 2.61 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. Cruz only allowed 34 hits while whiffing a stunning 71 batters in only 51.2 innings for the D-Backs last season showing what kind of electric stuff he has. With Cruz, Farnsworth and Soria at the end of games the Royals should win a lot of close ones. Cruz has now pitched in 297 games (38 starts) in his major league career and he is 29-31 with 1 save, a 4.00 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. This was a great signing for the Royals.

The Royals have four players who could likely handle playing 1B full time on the roster right now and that’s not even including Billy Butler who will likely be the DH. 28-year old lefty swinging Mike Jacobs was brought in from the Marlins in the off-season to take over the starting job at 1B. He played in 141 games for the Marlins last season and he was 118 for 477 (.247 avg, .813 OPS) with 67 runs scored, 32 homers and 93 RBIs. But, Jacobs is one of the worst defensive first basemen in all of baseball. He made 11 errors in only 119 games at 1B which is a ton for a player with absolutely no range. But, the Royals did not trade for him for his glove and he should hit 25-30 homers for them this year.

32-year old lefty swinging Ross Gload will likely replace Jacobs for defense late in ballgames in 2009. He played in 122 games for the Royals last season and he was 106 for 388 (.273 avg, .665 OPS) with 46 runs scored, 3 homers and 37 RBIs. Gload only made 4 errors in 111 games at 1B last season. He should be helpful off the bench in 2009 for the Royals as he can also handle playing right or left field.

29-year old righty swinging Ryan Shealy really impressed the Royals with his play for them late in the season but he could wind up being the odd man out. Shealy played in 20 games for the Royals last season in which he was 22 for 73 (.301 avg, .957 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 7 homers and 20 RBIs. Shealy did make 2 errors in 20 games at 1B for the Royals which is too many. Look for him to possibly get traded late in spring training if he’s playing well.

24-year old lefty swinging Kila Ka’aihue had a breakout season in the minors in 2008. He played in 124 games in AA+AAA ball last season and he was 124 for 396 (.313 avg, 1.086 OPS) with 89 runs scored, 37 homers and 99 RBIs. Ka’aihue also played in 12 games for the Royals last year in which he was 6 for 21 (.286 avg, .804 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 1 RBI. He appears to have a future with the Royals but it might not be in 2009.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: C

The Royals have designated 28-year old lefty reliever Neal Musser for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Tug Hulett. Musser pitched in 1 game (0 starts) last season for the Royals and he was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He pitched in 18 games (0 starts) in his career with the Royals and he was 0-1 with a 4.21 ERA and a 1.83 WHIP. The Royals should be able to get something for Musser as lefty relievers are hard to find.

UPDATE: The Royals decided that they didn’t want Neal Musser any longer as they released him.

The Royals have claimed 25-year old lefty swinging infielder Tug Hulett off waivers from the Mariners. He played in 30 games as a rookie last season for the Mariners and he was 11 for 49 (.224 avg, .615 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 2 RBIs. Hulett also played in 90 games in AAA-ball last season in which he was 100 for 336 (.298 avg, .898 OPS) with 71 runs scored, 14 homers, 47 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. This was a move worth making for the Royals as the 2B job will be wide open this spring.