Off-day notes...

It doesn't happen often, but RC messed up. We had anticipated providing you with our look ahead at the 2006 season, but we forgot about the minor league game we had already decided to attend. The game was 50 miles north of RC's Eastern Command, so we did not get back in time to create anything insightful. We'll work on it this weekend, and hopefully we'll be able to solve all the Royals problems sometime next week.

As for the game we went to, it was a real stinker. We were interested in getting our first look at the Washington Nationals' 2005 preseason #1 prospect (according to Baseball America), Mike Hinckley:



Hinckley has been nothing short of dreadful all season, and he wasn't any better tonight, surrendering seven runs and ten hits in five plus innings against a pretty weak Frederick lineup. RC thinks Hinckley just may have Chris Georgitis, although his career is imploding at an even earlier juncture. OK, enough about the stupid Nats and their horrible prospects...

When RC was in the official shower this morning at 8:10 AM, we got a frantic call from a source who had just read this article in the KC Star about Alex Gordon. Seems Gordon has registered for classes at the University of Nebraska, and if he goes to class on Monday, the Royals will lose their rights to him, and he will reenter the draft in 2006.

There is nothing to be worried about. Alex Gordon is NOT going to go to class. Alex Gordon is NOT stupid enough to risk losing at least $4 million by waiting another year to sign with a team -- at least not in August. This is purely a negotiating move designed to put pressure, public and otherwise, on the Royals, and it will probably work. It sucks that Gordon and his agent are driving such a hard bargain, but it will all be worth it when we finally get that man into a Royal blue uniform.

RC's Daily Prospect Update is off to a great start. The response thus far has been very good, but we still estimate that only one-quarter to one-third of our regular readers have signed up for it. What the heck are you people waiting for? RC is offering you something that could potentially change your life! No longer do you have to count on the Royals website or the KC Star to provide you day-old news about what happened in the minor leagues. No longer will you be forced to search like an animal through the endless maze of minor league websites to get your daily news and stat updates about Royals prospects. We now do all that for you, and then we compile it into an e-mail and send it off to your inbox EVERY MORNING! It could not be any easier for you, so if you don't sign up, you're probably just an idiot, and we don't want you here anyway. Just kidding (sort of).

Here's a sample (from yesterday's edition) of what you will receive:


Royals Corner Daily Prospect Update
August 18, 2005
Compiled by RC staff

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Today on Royals Corner:

Royals drop 18th straight.

25th anniversary of George Brett going over .400 on August 17,
1980

Tomorrow night, check out our first installment of RC's plan for the coming
offseason. Why do we remain so optimistic in the face of such miserable
failure on the diamond? You'll have to stop by Royals Corner to find out.
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Organizational scores (8/17/05):

Omaha 6 @ New Orleans 2 - (W)
Wichita 13,5 vs. San Antonio 5,4 - (2W - doubleheader sweep)
High Desert 5 vs. Stockton 5 (game tied at press time)
Burlington 10 vs. Wisconsin 2 (W)
Idaho Falls - No game tonight
Arizona Royals 4,7 vs. Arizona Angels 0,9 (split doubleheader 8/16)

News and Notes:

#1 prospect Billy Butler drilled his first double-A homerun, a grand slam in Wichita's
10-run sixth inning in the first game of their doubleheader. On the
night, Butler was 2-for-7 with 4 RBI.

#5 prospect Luis Cota got the win for Burlington, pitching
seven beautiful innings. Cota took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, and only
allowed 2 hits overall.

#10 prospect Leo Nunez entered Wichita's second game in the top
of the sixth inning with a 5-2 lead, one out, and the bases loaded. Nunez struck
out the first batter he faced, and induced a harmless groundout to first to
record the third out, thus keeping the three-run lead in tact. Wichita's
announcer said he's never seen Nunez pitch better. Of course, Nunez struggled in
the following inning, surrendering a two-out, two-run HR before closing the game
out and collecting the save. Both runs were unearned because of an error on Mike
Aviles, which was his 36th of the season.

#17 prospect Brent Fisher had another stellar outing for the
Arizona Royals on Tuesday. The Royals 7th round pick in the 2005 draft, Fisher
just turned 18 years old less than two weeks ago, and the lefty is absolutely
dominating Arizona League competition thus far -- 11.8 K/9 ratio, 1.18 WHIP,
2.60 ERA, 6.56 K/BB ratio. He's definitely someone to keep an eye
on.

Matt Diaz (OMA) went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI, a triple (4), and a SB
(8). Current BA: .377

Ruben Gotay (WCH) went 2-for-4 with 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 2B, and 3
BB.

----- Daily update for key Royals farmhands - 8/17/05 ------






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