27-year old righty reliever/starter Robinson Tejada always had the arm to succeed and now he’s starting to put it all together. Tejada has pitched in 32 games (3 starts) for the Royals this season and he is 3-1 with a 3.09 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. He has whiffed 74 batters while allowing only 34 hits in 58 1/3 innings showing how nasty his stuff can be. But he needs to tighten up his control a bit as he has walked 38 batters for the Royals. Tejada has really been nails since moving into the starting rotation. In his three starts with the Royals, Tejada is 2-0 with a 0.55 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP. If he finishes strongly Tejada could win a starting job for the 2010 rotation for the Royals.

23-year old righty swinging DH Billy Butler is having a good season. Butler has played in 141 games for the Royals this season and he is 163 for 541 (.301 avg, .840 OPS) with 66 runs scored, 17 homers and 80 RBIs. I think that Butler will hit 30+ homers next season as he has ripped 46 doubles this season. I think some of those doubles will fly out of the stadium next season as that’s what happened with Aaron Hill this year in Toronto. Butler will be a player the Royals can build around for the future.

The Royals have shut down 28-year old righty starting pitcher Brian Bannister due to shoulder fatigue. Bannister started 26 games for the Royals this season and he was 7-12 with a 4.73 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. In his last six starts, however, Bannister was 0-5 with a 9.29 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP. This was a good move for both the Royals and Bannister.

The Royals have traded 22-year old righty starting pitcher Danny Gutierrez to the Rangers for 22-year old righty swinging catcher Manuel Pina and 23-year old lefty swinging outfielder Tim Smith. Gutierrez was the Royals’ #7 rated prospect heading into this season according to Baseball America. He hasn’t pitched much this season because of off field incidents and the Royals started to tire of them. Gutierrez pitched in 8 games (4 starts) this season in A-ball and he was 1-0 with a 1.65 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP. He allowed only 17 hits in 27 1/3 innings this season while whiffing 25 batters showing what kind of stuff he has. Manuel Pina was not a highly thought of prospect heading into this season for the Rangers. He has played in 86 games in AA-ball this season and he is 83 for 321 (.259 avg, .706 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 8 homers and 42 RBIs. Pina could make it to the majors next season as the Royals are likely to let John Buck and Miguel Olivo both leave. Tim Smith has played in 74 games in Rookie+A+AA ball this season and he is 87 for 271 (.321 avg, .857 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 8 homers, 53 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. The Royals probably didn’t get close to a even trade here but they were getting sick of Gutierrez’ antics.