The Royals have traded 35-year old righty swinging catcher Matt Treanor to the Rangers for cash considerations. Treanor played in 65 games for the Royals this year and he was 42 for 186 (.226 avg, .658 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 3 homers, 21 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. You’re not supposed to lose your job to an injury, but Treanor did, as rookie Salvador Perez has taken over as the Royals’ starting catcher. At least the Royals dealt Treanor to a team with a good shot at making the playoffs.

27-year old lefty swinging LF Alex Gordon appears to be a late bloomer for the Royals. In his first 4 years with the Royals, Gordon played in 408 games in which he was 352 for 1,442 (.244 avg, .733 OPS) with 194 runs scored, 45 homers, 161 RBIs and 29 stolen bases. When he started out with the Royals, he was a 3B and many were expecting him to be the next George Brett. That pressure seemed to weigh on Gordon. This spring, the Royals stuck Gordon out in LF and he has responded big time. Gordon has played in 129 games for the Royals so far this year and he is 156 for 519 (.301 avg, .871 OPS) with 85 runs scored, 18 homers, 71 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. The Royals are very happy with Gordon this year as they were starting to run out of patience with him.

26-year old switch-hitting CF Melky Cabrera was just supposed to be a stopgap in CF until Lorenzo Cain was ready to take over. But, Cabrera has been so good this year that the Royals should think about re-signing him. Cabrera has played in 130 games for the Royals so far this year and he is 166 for 551 (.301 avg, .807 OPS) with 79 runs scored, 17 homers, 76 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. He has already set new career highs in runs scored, homers, RBIs and stolen bases already and he still has another month to go. It will be interesting to see if the Royals try to re-sign Cabrera for 2012 and beyond or if they decide to go with Lorenzo Cain in CF.

30-year old lefty starting pitcher Jeff Francis has been awful in August as it looks like he’s running out of gas. Francis has pitched in 26 games (25 starts) for the Royals so far this year and he is 8-13 with a 5.12 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. He has been awful this month though. He has started 4 games so far in August and he is 0-3 with a 8.27 ERA and a 1.94 WHIP. Francis has given up 36 hits in only 20 2/3 innings for the Royals so far this month as he is pitching B.P.

Due to the arrival of rookie 2B Johnny Giavotella, 27-year old lefty swinging Chris Getz has been nailed to the bench. Getz has played in 7 games so far in August and he is 2 for 12 (.167 avg, .397 OPS) with 1 run scored and 2 RBIs. He has now played in 101 games for the Royals so far this year and he is 90 for 352 (.256 avg, .598 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 0 homers, 24 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. Unless Giavotella gets hurt, I just don’t see Getz getting back into the starting lineup.