27-year old lefty swinging LF Alex Gordon finished 21st in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award in 2011. Gordon played in 151 games for the Royals last year and he was 185 of 611 (.303 avg, .879 OPS) with 101 runs scored, 23 homers, 87 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. He has now played in 559 games in his first five years with the Royals and he was 537 of 2,053 (.262 avg, .777 OPS) with 295 runs scored, 68 homers, 248 RBIs and 46 stolen bases. The Royals are glad that Gordon started to show off the ability they knew he had in 2011.

22-year old lefty swinging 1B Eric Hosmer finished in 3rd place in the A.L. Rookie of the Year Voting. He played in 128 games for the Royals last year and he was 153 of 523 (.293 avg, .799 OPS) with 66 runs scored, 19 homers, 78 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. If Hosmer would have made the Royals out of spring training, he might have been the Rookie of the Year. The ball flies off of Hosmer’s bat and he’s going to be a force offensively for the Royals for a very long time.

26-year old righty closer Joakim Soria finished 10th in the voting for the A.L. Cy Young Award. He pitched in 66 games out of the pen for the Royals last season and he was 1-2 with 43 saves, a 1.78 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. Soria came to the Royals as a Rule 5 Draft Pick off of the Padres’ roster in 2006! To me he’s already one of the best Rule 5 Picks in the history of major league baseball. Soria has pitched in 238 games (0 starts) in his first four years with the Royals and he is 8-10 with 132 saves, a 2.01 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. Soria is the Royals’ version of Mariano Rivera, but he has more pitches than him.

UPDATE: (12/2/2010) - Joakim Soria also finished tied for 19th in the A.L. MVP Award voting with 1B Mark Teixeira of the Yankees.

26-year old righty reliever Joakim Soria will be the Royals’ lone representative in the All-Star Game. This will be the second time Soria has been on the All-Star team in his career to date. He has pitched in 31 games (0 starts) for the Royals this season and he is 0-1 with 22 saves, a 2.56 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. Soria has shown pinpoint control so far this season walking only 8 batters while whiffing 38 in only 31 2/3 innings pitched. Soria is the best player on the Royals so he deserves this honor.

26-year old righty starting pitcher Zack Greinke of the Royals has won the 2009 Cy Young Award in the American League. He pitched in 33 games (all starts) for the Royals last season and he was 16-8 with a 2.16 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. Greinke only allowed 195 hits in 229 1/3 innings while whiffing 242 batters showing how dominating he was last season. The Royals hope that Greinke can keep pitching like he did last season as he finally looks to have matured into a dominator on the mound. Greinke has now pitched in 171 games (136 starts) in his major league career and he is 50-53 with a 3.73 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. Greinke deserved the award despite the Royals’ rough year as he easily would have won 20+ games with another team.

UPDATE: Greinke has also finished tied with Robinson Cano for 17th in the MVP voting for the American League.