After a horrific month of April and average performances in May and June, it appears the Moose has become the prospect will all thought he was.  Tonight, he continued to mash MWL pitching going 2-4 2 HR's and 4 RBI's...Over the last 3 games, he has 5 HR's, but what's more impressive is this line for his Post All-Star Break numbers:

.333/.404/.586/.990 with 11 HR's, 27 RBI's and a 22:16 K:BB

Not only did he improve every statistical category, he is showing some nice plate discipline.  Discuss

The St. Louis Dispatch had a website article on Tim Melville and his draft process here:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/FD2C05C3CD8FBFF686257460000D0D11?OpenDocument

Some interesting portions:

"It's been nerve-racking," he said. "It was unpredictable. It's a little bit disappointing because I know I'm better than the guys going before me. It's just a number. It's just a draft number. I think it's more dependent on the team. We like Kansas City. … I felt the most comfortable with them."
-Tim Melville

"We're feeling awesome," said Tim's mother, Valerie Melville. "The Royals were a team he got to know and was comfortable with. … We are thrilled."

Early indications were the Royals would discuss meeting Melville's asking price as well.

"They are in the ballpark," Valerie Melville said. "It will all come out later."

Promising news to say the least, and it's nice to know that we've developed a nice relationship with the Melville family and that we're "in the ballpark."  I like the fact that Melville is a bit pissed off about being passed up.

So what do you think? Will we sign Melville? 

Alrighty, let's dive right in...

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Per mlbtraderumors.com and Bob Dutton:

"I was waiting for someone to name a few players of interest to the Royals, and Bob Dutton came through tonight with some names.

Specifically, the team is after a run-producer, ideally a right-handed hitter.  That puts Jose Guillen atop their list.  Dayton Moore might need to go a little north of three years, $30MM to get him.

Failing that, the left-handed hitting Geoff Jenkins is on the radar.  He'd probably go for a one-year, $6-7MM contract in my estimation.

Dutton also hints that Sammy Sosa could be a consideration for the Royals, as he does have pop if nothing else.  They are one of a handful of teams with an open DH spot."

I don't know if this is just posturing but it's pretty disheartening news for us Royals fans.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/233027.html

The first real bit of news about the Royals' negotiations with No. 2 overall pick Mike Moustakas come in the form of a message to The Kansas City Star from Scott Boras, who is advising Moustakas.

"As far as I understand from the family," Boras said, "he's returning to school."

Moustakas did not immediately return a phone message.

Moustakas previously signed a letter of intent with USC. If nothing is done by 10:59 tonight Kansas City time, the Royals would receive the No. 3 pick in next year's draft as compensation.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/?p=210

The trend of signing mid first-round picks to 2006 (and not 2007) MLB slot recommendations continues as the Mariners have landed No. 11 overall pick Phillippe Aumont for $1.9 million. MLB's slot for this year was $1.71 million, down 10 percent from 2006.

No. 10 pick Madison Bumgarner (Giants) and No. 14 choice Jason Heyward (Braves) recently signed deals worth exactly their 2006 slots. No. 17 pick Blake Beavan (Rangers) signed yesterday for a bonus that almost exactly split the difference between the 2006 and 2007 recommendations for his slot.

The Nos. 9 (Jarrod Parker, Diamondbacks) and 12 (Matt Dominguez, Marlins) picks are still trying to bridge the gap between the 2006 and 2007 slots. MLB values Parker's slot at $1.89 million (down from $2.1 million) and Dominguez' at $1.71 million (down from $1.9 million).

And then there were five.

Danny Duffy, a lefty, was the 3rd round pick for the Royals this year, and he is absolutely dealing in the Arizona rookie league.  Through 22.1 innings, he's got a 0.40 ERA, 39 K's!!!!, and a BAA of .173.  What do you guys think about this guy? Do you think he can replicate this success or is it a fluke?  Also, what do you guys think of Daniel Cortes.  He came over to the Royals in the MacDougal trade.  He's a 6'5" righty, he's not giving up a lot of hits, 80 hits in 94 innings, and he's got 87 K's in 94 innings, and he's only 20.  Any feedback on these guys would be appreciated.

I found this very interesting:

The Royals want a righthanded-hitting center fielder in return for Octavio Dotel.  Now that's a tall order.  Sherman names Lastings Milledge and Carlos Gomez as two who fit the bill, but such a trade would require young talent like Zack Greinke coming back to the Mets.  Just speculating, but Melky Cabrera and Reggie Willits also fit the Royals' need.

Another entry on mlbtraderumors.com: The Dodgers have jumped to the forefront on Octavio Dotel, with Takashi Saito ailing. According to Rosenthal, the Royals aren't demanding the very specific bounty Joel Sherman claimed. Instead, they just want a near MLB-ready player. Rosenthal says Tony Abreu is out of reach but Chin-Lung Hu might not be. He suggests moving Hu to second base to accomodate Tony Pena Jr., which should probably be reversed. It appears the Indians wouldn't surrender Franklin Gutierrez or Ben Francisco for Dotel. I'd give one up, personally.

You can add the Yankees to the growing list of teams interested in Royals' closer Octavio Dotel.  According to Tyler Kepner of the New York Times, the Yankees are interested despite Dotel's inability to contribute last year.  As you might expect, Kepner says Dayton Moore is still asking for too much.  Prices should get reasonable in about a week.

The list of teams interested in Dotel, as far as I know: Cubs, Dodgers, Brewers, Red Sox, Rockies, Indians, Yankees.  Today the Kansas City Star also mentioned the Tigers and Braves.  I haven't seen the Phillies or Mariners mentioned in print yet but we'll see.

One other Royals note: according to Dayton Moore, the Cubs never called about Zack Greinke.