Kansas City Royals

For those Kansas City Royal fans who thought the last 15 years were the worst, wait until they get a load of next year. The Royals might have the best farm system in baseball and are gearing up for 2013, but they are officially in bottom-out mode in 2011.

The MLB's winter meetings have come and gone, and the former Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke still has not been traded out of Kansas City.

Royals GM Dayton Moore made statements during the winter meetings that KC would be willing to trade their star player to anyone that was interested. In the end, there were some teams that would have like Greinke's services, but could never come to an agreement with the Royals for what they wanted in return.

The Royals are on the verge of making the biggest mistake in franchise history. And that is saying something! 

Trading David Cone for principally Ed Hearn was bad. Carlos Beltran for Mark Teahan, John Buck and Mike Wood was suspect at best. Johnny Damon for a bucket of chicken was downright embarrassing.

Earlier today, the Kansas City Royals made it official that they have indeed signed free agent outfielder Jeff Francoeur.

The team announced that it was a one-year dear that includes an option for 2012, and is still pending a physical.

The signing also puts to rest the rumors about Royals GM Dayton Moore trying to sign Francoeur many times in the past.

The talks about Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Zack Greinke are starting to heat up as KC has mentioned that they are willing to trade him, given the right price.

With the MLB winter meetings starting today, the talks and rumors will be flying for awhile until one team is satisfied.

The Yankees are one of those teams that has been very interested in the former Cy Young award winner's services and as usual, they have not been very shy about it.

About two weeks ago, I wrote a piece on the position players I viewed as making an impact in the major leagues, many as soon as the 2011 season.

I am a fan of post game meltdowns. I am. I am pretty sure the “Jim Mora one” is my fave, but there are more. Here are, what I think, are the top melt downs of all-time (and yes, it’s been done before):

**Warning, language…maybe not be safe for work”

There were many surprising performances in 2010, but were any more shocking then Bruce Chen’s?  He’s been around the majors since 1998 and has very rarely proven to be close to a usable option for fantasy owners.  Last season was a different story, however, as he posted the following line:

12 Wins
140.1 Innings
4.17 ERA
1.38 WHIP
98 Strikeouts (6.3 K/9)
57 Walks (3.7 BB/9)
.256 BABIP

Dear Dayton,

I have been a Royals fan for nearly my entire life of 22 years. I have heard many stories of how the Royals used to be a dominant AL team, and how George Brett just took over the game of baseball with his amazing ability to hit.

However, this has not been the case since I have been on the earth. We have had one winning season (2003) since I was born, and most fans, like myself, even agreed that that year's team was a fluke.

Prior to 2010 many people thought Billy Butler could take the next step in his development.  People hoped that the power, which was the one true drawback, would finally come around.  He had hit 21 home runs in 2009, with 51 doubles, so there was reason to be optimistic.

Unfortunately, he fell flat, regressing in both numbers: