1. The Handling of Mike Aviles
In 2008, The Kansas City Royals made a midseason call-up and gave Mike Aviles his first crack in the big leagues. Aviles paid off for Kansas City as he hit .325, 10 homeruns, and drove in 51 runners in just 102 games. The limited action resulted in Aviles winning Player of the Year for Kansas City and he finished 3rd in the American League Rookie of the Year voting. The good times quickly ended for Aviles, as he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2009 and missed most of the season.
Fast-forward to 2010 and Aviles appeared to be picking up right where he left off. He hit .471 in Spring Training (24-51) and made the Royals Opening Day roster. Surely, somebody like Aviles would get his starting job back, based on his performance; however, The Royals just sat him on the bench and after one at-bat in two appearances he was sent back to Triple A Omaha.
So, instead of giving Aviles regular playing time in Omaha in the first place, he sat useless on the KC bench for the better part of the first two weeks of the season. After hitting .271 in Omaha over 18 games, KC called Aviles back up. Well, Aviles has only hit .350 since returning, yet he still has to share time with Chris Getz and Yuniesky Betancourt.
The handling of Aviles could not have been done any worse than it was. If the Royals were not going to start him from day one due to him coming off a recent injury, he should have been in Omaha in the first place. Instead, KC made a blunder and rendered Aviles useless for two weeks. This is only one of the examples of why The Royals have been near or at the bottom of their division for 20 years.
2. Ramon Colon
I really do not think this needs much explanation. Ramon Colon was with the Royals from 2007 up until his recent release. Despite struggles, he made the Royals opening day roster. After 5 appearances totaling 2 innings and an ERA of 18.00, Colon was released by the Royals and had his contract sold to the Tigers. No, not Detroit, the Kia Tigers of the Korean pro league. So there you have it, Kansas City had a player on their opening day roster who now pitches in Korea, about one month after the start of the season.
3. Alex Gordon
It appears Kansas City may finally be giving up on their 1st round pick from 2005. Gordon was selected #2 overall from the University of Nebraska after a decorated college career. Gordon, who played 3B for Kansas City, was sent back to Triple A Omaha and will be moved to the outfield. Now, it is possible that they are just trying to get Gordon some work at outfield and try him out again in 2011, as most of the outfield in Kansas City this year is not signed for 2011, or they are just trying to make him into a fielder at another position to increase his trade value (which is none). Anyway, this information is irrelevant. I just wanted to point out who Gordon was drafted around in 2005.
1. Justin Upton
2. Alex Gordon
3. Jeff Clement
4. Ryan Zimmerman
5. Ryan Braun
6. Ricky Romero
7. Troy Tulowitzki
8. Wade Townsend
9. Mike Pelfry
10. Cameron Maybin
11. Andrew McCutchen
Outside of picks 3 and 8, every one of those players is in the Major Leagues, and a few are all-stars. Needless to say, major miss by Kansas City.
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