The Royals have removed Joakim Soria as the closer. In his last four games, Soria is 0-3 with a 21.60 ERA and a 3.30 WHIP. He gave up 11 hits (3 homers) and 8 earned runs in his last 3 1/3 innings pitched! Soria has pitched in 23 games (0 starts) for the Royals overall this year and he is 3-3 with 7 saves, a 6.55 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP. 24-year old righty rookie reliever Aaron Crow will replace Soria as the closer. Crow has pitched in 22 games (0 starts) for the Royals so far this year and he is 2-0 with a 1.33 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. The Royals hope that Crow is ready for the challenge and that Soria gets back on the right track.

25-year old righty swinging DH Billy Butler’s power has left him in May. He has played in 24 games so far in May and he is 25 for 92 (.272 avg, .694 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 0 homers and 8 RBIs. He has now played in 51 games overall this year for the Royals and he is 55 for 188 (.293 avg, .806 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 3 homers, 19 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Royals need Butler to find his power because he’s batting in a very important part of the lineup.

The Kansas City Royals have acquired 27-year old righty reliever Felipe Paulino from the Rockies for cash. Paulino pitched in 18 games (0 starts) for the Rockies earlier this year and he was 0-4 with a 7.36 ERA and a 2.05 WHIP. He gave up 23 hits and walked 7 batters in his 14 2/3 innings with the Rockies, but he did whiff 14 batters as he does have a very strong right arm. Paulino has pitched in 65 games (34 starts) in his first four years in the majors and he is 6-25 with a 5.93 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP.

The Kansas City Royals have designated 29-year old righty reliever Robinson Tejada for assignment. Tejada pitched in 9 games (0 starts) for the Royals this year and he was 0-1 with a 6.14 ERA and a 2.05 WHIP. He pitched in 123 games (7 starts) in four years with the Royals and he was 9-10 with a 3.57 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. He gave up only 132 hits in his 181 1/3 innings with the Royals and he has whiffed 186 batters while walking 98. I would be really surprised if Tejada would clear waivers, so the Royals better try to deal him.

UPDATE: (6/3/2011) - Robinson Tejada has accepted a AAA assignment from the Royals. I’m kind of surprised that he cleared waivers.

Righty reliever Jeff Montgomery was not a dominating type closer with a big fastball, but he had enough of an arsenal to be a very solid closer for the Royals. Montgomery’s best season with the Royals came back in 1993 when he made the All-Star team. Montgomery pitched in 69 games (0 starts) for the Royals in 1993 and he was 7-5 with 45 saves (led A.L.), a 2.27 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. He pitched for the Royals for 12 years, working in 686 games (0 starts) in which he was 44-50 with 304 saves, a 3.20 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. Montgomery is the Royals’ all-time leader in both saves (304) and games pitched (686). He is also # in ERA (3.20), tied for #3 with Marty Pattin in WHIP (1.23) and he’s #8 in strikeouts (720) in Royals’ history.