Kuzul

Kansas City Royals' left fielder Alex Gordon became a very rich man on Friday.Gordon and the Royals agreed on a four-year extension through 2015 that will pay him $37.5 million. The deal includes a 2016 option worth $12.5 million.The annual value of the deal will increase each season. In 2012 he will earn $6 million, and then he will earn $9 million, $10 million and $12.5 million in each of the next three seasons, respectively.This deal comes on the heels of Gordon's best season of his five-year career with the Royals.Once considered a sure-fire prospect, Gordon's stock dropped dramatically after playing in just 123 games combined between 2009 and 2010.He silenced all doubters last season, though. He put together a line of .303/.376/.502 with 23 home runs and 87 RBI.Gordon really filled up the stat sheet in 2011, scoring 101 runs, tallying 185 hits, roping 45 doubles, hitting four triples ...

It's that time of year again in Major League Baseball.Division leaders and Wild Card hopefuls dominate the headlines as fans across the nation begin to anticipate the excitement of October pennant chases. September is where legends cement their place, managers justify their contracts, role players previously shrouded in obscurity make their names known, MVPs and Cy Young winners bring home their hardware, headlines are stolen and franchise-crippling collapses are immortalized. The most exciting month of baseball's regular season is where the pretenders and the contenders are finally separated as W's, X's, Y's and Z's begin to finalize the standings, granting a select few ball clubs the ever-so-elusive invitation to the sport's most exclusive dance.Lost in the hype, however, as disgruntled fans of hopeless teams begin to switch the channel over to football are their first glances at a brighter future. For those of us not lucky enough to construct our hopes around the ...

The Kansas City Royals have been headed for brighter days for awhile now, but the question is how long will the journey take? The Royals Major League roster is currently the youngest in the league by an average of more than two years. It has been a long wait just to reach this level of what has become known as "The Process."Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas are names that fans in Kansas City have been waiting to see at Kauffman Stadium since they were drafted in the first round in back-to-back years, 2007 and 2008.The 2011 season has so far given the Royals a decent sample of what is to come for the future. The infield appears to be set for a few years to come. Hosmer has been great defensively in his rookie season at first-base, especially with holding on to wild throws to first base and picking the ...

For the past few decades, the Kansas City Royals have been little more than an afterthought in the world of baseball, but behind names such as Eric Hosmer, Billy Butler, Mike Moustakas, Aaron Crow and now Alex Gordon things are on the verge of turning around for the once forgotten franchise.The Royals haven't enjoyed a great amount of success in recent memory, finishing in last place of the AL Central six of the last seven season. Despite the lack of on-field success however, the team has enjoyed a fair amount of early round picks in the past few MLB drafts.With these early round picks, the team's management has chosen some quality players over the years, three of which made their debuts in Aaron Crow, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas.Crow has been everything the Royals could have asked for in a set-up man, posting a 1.43 ERA and 37 strikeouts in ...

As much as I've enjoyed the Royals' surprising early-season success, I'm still not kidding myself. They're not especially likely to be in the playoff picture during the summer's dog days. Even closer than August contention, though, is the MLB All-Star Game.The all-star game will be an especially big year next year, when the event is heading to Kansas City. There might even be hope for multiple Royals to represent the American League in their home park. But this year, it's almost sure to be the status quo for Royals players.What is the status quo? The Royals have not had more than one all-star since 2003 when, somewhat amazingly, Mike MacDougal represented the team along with perennial all-star Mike Sweeney. Here is the list of Royals representatives since 2003:2004: Ken Harvey2005: Mike Sweeney2006: Mark Redman2007: Gil Meche2008: Joakim Soria2009: Zack Greinke2010: Joakim SoriaWhat stands out about that list is the inclusion ...

After a thrilling series with the Cleveland Indians, the Kansas City Royals traveled to Arlington to take on the Texas Rangers in a three-game series. This is the beginning of a six-game road trip that will end in Cleveland next week. Game 1 has Jeff Francis on the mound for the boys in blue taking on Derek Holland for the Rangers. This is just one of the games that Royals fans would like to forget. At least the Royals didn’t cave after being dug into a five-run hole. They fought back but were unfortunately bested by the power hitters of the Texas Rangers, who pounded out five home runs in the game. This was Francis’ worst game of the season by far, giving up nine hits and five earned runs in four innings. He picked up the loss, making his record for the season 0-2. It was nice to see ...

The first (extended) week of the baseball season has come and gone and it brought with it several surprising performances: From breakout rookie performances to former top talents finally looking like they are putting it together to veterans finding that spark once more. Here are 10 players that are worth adding if you are looking to fill a hole. Note: The number in the parentheses is the percent-owned in all ESPN Fantasy Leagues.Begin Slideshow

The term "fantasy sleeper" is rather stupid at this point. There is so much written, so many forums and so much media, no one is a sleeper. You think Gio Gonzalez is a sleeper this season? He's not. Everyone knows who he is. They might not like him as much as you do, meaning you will be able to draft him late, but he is not being slept on.The new term should be "fantasy value" as in: so-and-so has great fantasy value because of how late he is being drafted. So, hypothetically, what's the best lineup that can be put together of players who no one wants, all undrafted players? This would show us ultimate value, adding a player off waivers who can produce all year.Here is 2011's Best Fantasy Baseball Team No Money Can Buy.Begin Slideshow

Also known as ODOs. Well, I call them ODOs and some day, you will too. Until then, see if you noticed what I noticed:   Albert Pujols goes 0-for-5 He also grounded into three double plays—cue the overreaction random radio show sports talk guy. That's right, Pujols is washed up; can't handle the contract-year pressure; forgot how to hit; only tips 10 percent. Actually, he'll be fine. What the Cardinals, their fans and anybody else interested should be worried about is that rotation. With Adam Wainwright down for the count, Chris Carpenter has to carry the load. Carrying the load puts a lot of pressure on your hamstrings. Considering he strained his in spring training, Carpenter is longing for someone to be close to him in the rotation. Reliever-turned-starter Kyle McClellan has been the most buzzworthy candidate so far, but even with Dave Duncan's guidance, C.J. Wilson he ain't. Save the Birds, Pujols! Good slogan for the ...

Kansas City Royals (2010 record: 67-95) Kansas City is one more year away from beginning their slow, inexorable climb up the standings. While Royals fans have heard similar promises for years, their patience is finally (mercifully) about to pay off. GM Dayton Moore and his front office staff have developed a farm system that is rated tops in the game – stocked with prospects who are expected to make a significant impact in the major leagues within the next two or three years. They will start to feed those prospects to the parent club in full force this year. In anticipation of the impending influx of talent from the minors, Moore & Company have stocked the club’s roster with journeymen and retreads… guys who are little more than place-holders until the minor leaguers arrive, and who will be expendable at that point in time. The roster is due for a ...