The Royals have placed 31-year old righty starting pitcher Gil Meche on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder bursitis. Meche has started 9 games for the Royals this year and he is 0-4 with a 6.66 ERA and a 1.85 WHIP. He has given up 56 hits (7 homers) and he has walked 34 batters in only 48 2/3 innings so he could use a rest. The Royals have recalled 29-year old righty reliever Victor Marte to replace Meche on the pitching staff. He has pitched in 14 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball this year and he is 3-1 with 2 saves, a 3.46 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. He pitched in one game eariler this year for the Royals and he is 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP. 33-year old lefty Bruce Chen will replace Meche in the starting rotation. He has pitched in 10 games (0 starts) for the Royals this year and he is 1-0 with 1 save, a 2.89 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP. Don’t expect miracles out of Chen as he just isn’t that good.

24-year old 1B Billy Butler has been ripping the ball from day #1 this season. He has played in 49 games for the Royals this year and he is 67 of 192 (.349 avg, .907 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 5 homers and 28 RBIs. Butler can keep his batting average high as he doesn’t swing at many bad pitches as he has only struck out 22 times this year. The smartest thing the Royals did this season was to give Butler a full time position in the field instead of moving him around in the batting order and between the DH and 1B spots. I expect his numbers to be outstanding at the end of this year and he should get a lot of pub for the All-Star Game.

I commend the Royals for using their revenue sharing money on major league free agents but they continue to pick the wrong players and that is the direct result of the G.M. not doing his job. With that in mind the Royals need to make a bunch of moves with the future in mind but they need to bring in quality young talent in return. They can’t be making trades just to save money. I think with four trades the Royals could set themselves up decent for the future. The first trade I would make is with the Tigers as I would offer them Yuniesky Betancourt, Chris Getz, Willie Bloomquist and cash for Scott Sizemore and Ryan Raburn. Then I would call up the Reds and offer them Kyle Farnsworth and Brad Thompson with cash for Micah Owings and Paul Janish. The Padres would get call #3 in which I would offer them David DeJesus and cash for Edwin Mujica and Adam Russell. The final move would be the biggest one as I would trade Jose Guillen, Gil Meche and a lot of cash to the Nationals for Matt Chico, Luis Atilano, Roger Bernadina and Justin Maxwell. The Royals aren’t going anywhere right now or even in the near future with the current roster so these are the kind of moves a rebuilding team has to make.

29-year old righty swinging Mike Aviles has bumped Chris Getz to the bench because of his hot hitting. Aviles has played in 18 games for the Royals this year and he is 25 of 68 (.368 avg, .892 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 2 homers and 4 RBIs. He is looking a lot like the player he was in 2008 as a rookie for the Royals. If he can keep up the good work with the bat he will be starting somewhere (likely 2B) for the Royals the rest of the year.

19-year old right swinging catcher Wil Myers is the Royals’ #3 prospect heading into this season according to Baseball America. They will likely give Myers a couple of more years in the minors to learn what he needs to before getting to Kansas City. Myers has played in 31 games in A-ball this season and he is 30 of 119 (.252 avg, .787 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 4 homers, 22 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. He has now played in 53 games in his two years in the minors and he is 61 of 203 (.300 avg, .918 OPS) with 34 runs scored, 9 homers, 40 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. He will get to K.C. in due time and he’s going to be good when he gets there.