http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/07/stark-on-2.html?

ESPN's Jayson Stark begins his latest column with a look at the Biogenesis situation. As Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported, suspension announcements are not expected today. Sherman expects the announcements to come Thursday or Friday. In Stark's opinion, the Rangers are acting like a team that knows what Nelson Cruz will do if suspended, in that their aggressive search for a bat suggests he might serve a suspension now to preserve his free agent value. Meanwhile, the Tigers' lack of pursuit of a backup plan to shortstop Jhonny Peralta suggests he'll appeal. Elsewhere in Stark's column:

The Dodgers and Angels, who haven't made a trade in 20 years, had a "mostly casual conversation" regarding Halos second baseman Howie Kendrick. There are no indications a deal is in the works.
The Angels are at least listening on infielders Kendrick, Erick Aybar, and Alberto Callaspo, and seeking high quality big league ready pitching in return.
The Cubs could move Kevin Gregg and Nate Schierholtz, but are extremely unlikely to trade lefty reliever James Russell and there's just about zero chance of a Jeff Samardzija trade.
Pitchers Ian Kennedy and J.J. Putz of the Diamondbacks and Kyle Farnsworth of the Rays "have suddenly been made available." Trading Kennedy would allow Arizona to clear around $1.4MM toward another move. Are they that hard up for cash?

The Royals were 4 games over .500 in April, 5 in June, and 3 in July so far. If we finish on average 4 games over .500 in each of the next two months that puts us at 85-77.

Last season the two wildcard teams, Baltimore and Texas finished at 93-69. Boston and Tampa are strong but it seams the other teams in front of us in the wild card this season are not nearly as strong as last season. I think the wildcard can be had for under 90 wins.

We will need to probably find 3-4 more games in the next two months above what we have done in order to have a chance. And we will definitely need to help ourselves by beating Cleveland and Detroit.

I'm tired of Getz and Giovatelli. If the Royals don't make a trade, I'd cut one of them loose and bring up Colon. He's had a good July. He can't do any worse.

This has to be the first season in many that we have a winning record at home(so far), yes? Sometimes I feel like the K is the toughest place to play.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/da...ckham-kendrick

Royals, seeking 2B upgrade, have discussed Beckham, Kendrick
July 30, 2013 2:14 PM ET

The Royals, looking for upgrades at second base and in right field, have had discussions about Gordon Beckham of the White Sox and Howie Kendrick of the Angels, according to sources.

There was no indication Tuesday that the Royals were close on a deal for either player, or any other trade, for that matter. While they still won't completely rule out dealing starter Ervin Santana, he was still scheduled to pitch Tuesday night against the Twins as the Royals try to extend their six-game winning streak.

While the Royals would prefer not to give up on this season, their interest as a possible buyer would be in players they could control beyond 2013. Beckham and Kendrick are both under control through 2015.

A deal for either one wouldn't be simple. The Angels are now open to discussing Kendrick, but would want players (most likely pitchers) who would impact their club in 2014. And it's not clear how comfortable the White Sox would be with trading Beckham within the division.

As reported here last week, the Royals have also shown some interest in White Sox outfielder Alex Rios.

Over to you, Bob Dutton:

"I dunno. Might happen. Might not."

Please no.

Homers kill rallys.

If thinking if the Sox don't mind to keep giving us their second basemen (Getz may have been a FA, don't remember), then I think we probably shouldn't make that trade, you know?

How good is Beckham, anyway? He has to be stronger at the plate then anything we have currently, but how is his defense?

Sucks. He's generating negative fielding value. His overall WAR is 0.4 vs Getz at 0.1. Waste of time.

He's really inconsistent at the plate. Hitting .302 this year, but only hit .234 and .230 the previous two years. A .250 career hitter with a .314 OBP. Has some power (14 HR per 162 games in his career). I could be wrong, but I think he's known for playing very good defense.

Danny Knobler ‏@DannyKnoblerCBS 8m

One more infield guy Royals have asked about: Kevin Frandsen. http://cbsprt.co/19vj2Vw

He's also young, right? Like 26?

Who?

Exactly. Sounds like a Royal already.

This has nothing to do with the Royals, but Peavy has been scratched for the Sox tonight.