They have yet to add him to the 40-man roster but they have plenty of other changes possible before Spring Training breaks, including the possible trade of starting shortstop Angel Berroa. Manager Buddy Bell wanted to go ahead and notify Alex early:

Usually, when guys learn they’ve made their team, there’s a little bit of an emotional release and their play dips a little bit for a few days. This way, he can get all of the questions and answers out of the way now.

This has moved last-years second half breakout player Mark Teahan to right field where he’s been all spring. Alex has done well this spring hitting .390/.500/.659 in 41 at-bats.

Kansas City has been off to a pretty good start this spring and that speaks volumes to the strength that they have in their farm system. A large number of these prospects are ready or very close to ready for prime time and this could make the Royals a much more formidable foe in the coming years.

Their have been a few notable occurrences this week for KC. Their center fielder David DeJesus, usually known for a good BA/OBP finally got a hit. He is now hitting .100 for the spring with 20 AB’s. Most other Royal outfielders have picked up the pace though.

Alex Gordon has been pretty much what KC is looking for at third. So far he’s .353/.450/.588 over 17 AB’s. Mark Teahan, who had a breakout second-half in ’06 and last years third-baseman, has picked right up where he left off as well hitting .333/.375/.533 though he has struck out 6 times to 1 walk.

Overall the Royals offense is 4th overall in team batting average with .318 and 5th in OBP with .386 and 6th in SLG with .494. Not bad at all. Pitching is a bit different story but not really a bad one. They haven’t really been raking up the strikeouts but they haven’t been with walks either getting 44 SO/29 BB. They rank 8th in team ERA with 4.37 (Tigers are 17th with 5.15).

The Royals are starting to show some depth in the field as well as real offensive prowess. Thier pitching is really coming around and there are some real prospects around the corner that they should be excited about. So far they’ve seen quite a bit that they should be happy with, we’ll see if it continues; it should.

Sunday, March 4th – Kansas City Royals: 0 Texas Rangers: 5 – LOSS
Monday, March 5th – Kansas City Royals: 9 San Diego Padres: 4 – WIN
Tuesday, March 6th – Kansas City Royals: 3 Oakland Athletics: 2 – WIN
Wednesday, March 7th – Kansas City Royals: 10 Chicago White Sox: 5 – WIN
Thursday, March 8th – Kansas City Royals: 11 Seattle Mariners: 3 – WIN

I am also currently listening to KC v LAA – Tie game (3-3) on Gameday Audio.

The Braves have signed him to a Minor League deal where he’ll likely end up in the rotation replacing Mike Hampton due to injury. They haven’t posted the amount of the contract but I’ll guess that the Braves got a steal and Mark got screwed and will have to live without Meche money.

Alex very possibly could make a larger impact on the Royals play than Gil Meche, if not in the pocketbook. Alex Gordon was the second pick overall in the 2005 draft and earned 2006 Minor League Player of the Year while playing for AA Wichita at 3B. He has shown tremendous talent hitting for average and good power as well. Below are his 2006 AA stats:

With the youth the KC has they already do have a third-baseman in Mark Teahan. Mark had a great season last year that KC hopes he can reproduce hitting .319 in July, .317 in August . He will likely be moved to fill an outfield role in favor of Gordon at third.

Tom Verducci’s article today also points out Alex Gordon as a pivotal player of the Royals this year.

This year is a tough year in the AL Central and if KC continues both fostering young talent and acquiring old it could get much tougher in the next few years. This year will be telling for KC and Alex will be a key player along with how their pitching comes along. Makes you wonder if this would be the reaction to Cameron Maybin coming into spring training if the Tigers had a year like KC last year. Glad we won’t have to find out.

There is a good article over at the Kansas City Star that runs through the changes and, for KC fans, some reasons to start looking forward with at least some level of anticipation. To sum it up, major changes have happened this off season in Kansas City and these aren’t only roster changes but also changes is attitude and/or spending. They have started spending money gathering free agents and cutting many ties with a large group of prospects that just haven’t panned out. They have extended their farm system and are certainly looking to cash in on their multiple first draft picks from the last few years.

Whether or not you agree with the controversial signing of Gil Meche, and to some David Riske, it shows one thing; the Royals are ready to win. This is good news for KC fans no matter how you view it, and is a great thing for a baseball town like Kansas City that is stooping to extreme tactics to fill the stadium. That isn’t so good for the Tigers however.

Are the Royals the Detroit Tigers of ’07? Likely not, but signs are showing that KC thinks they have a contender in the next year or two and the Tigers should certainly not look past KC next year. In a division that is already extremely competitive another team is showing up to play ball.