Royals left fielder Alex Gordon turns 28 and he is celebrating with a little more money in his birthday card. The Royals avoided arbitration by signing Gordan to a one year deal worth $4.775 million. He made $1.4 million last year when he hit .303 with 45 doubles, 23 home runs, 87 RBIs, and 17 steals…very good offensiven numbers.  On top of that, Gordon won an American League Gold Glove Award, thanks to a team record 20 assists in left field. It was his first full season as an outfielder, after a switch from third base.

The Kansas City Royals announced that the club has agreed to terms on a one-year deal with infielder Chris Getz, outfielder Mitch Maier and pitcher Luke Hochevar for the 2012 season, avoiding arbitration. The Royals now have three remaining arbitration-eligible players: Felipe Paulino and Jonathan Sanchez; and outfielder Alex Gordon.

The 28-year-old Getz batted .255 (97-for-380) with six doubles, 26 RBI and 21 stolen bases in 118 games for the Royals in 2011. He was acquired by Kansas City in a trade with the Chicago White Sox on November 6, 2009.

Maier, 29, hit .232 with four doubles, three triples, seven RBI and 19 runs scored in 45 games last season as the Royals fourth outfielder.  Selected by the Royals in the first round (30th overall) of the 2003 Draft, Maier is a career .253 hitter in 327 games.  Beginning his 10th season in the organization, he is the longest-tenured Royals player on the club’s 40-man roster. 

The 28-year-old Hochevar compiled an 11-11 record with a 4.68 ERA in 31 starts in 2011.  He set career bests in wins, starts, innings (198.0), strikeouts (128) and quality starts (16).  The Royals Opening Day starter last season was 6-3 with a 3.52 ERA in 12 starts following the All-Star break, holding opponents to a .222 average which ranked sixth in the American League among starters.

The Kansas City Royals signed former Los Angeles Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton and the website, kcroyals.com, says that Broxton will be the setup man for closer Joakim Soria. However, the website sbnation.com says a trade may be in the works to send Soria to Toronto for center fielder Colby Rasmus.

The 27 year old Broxton is a two-time National League All-Star who has compiled 84 saves in 117 chances (72 percent), a 3.19 ERA and a 25-20 record in 386 games for the Dodgers since 2005. In the 2010 All-Star Game at Anaheim, he picked up the save. His deal is worth $4 million with an extra $1 million in incentives.

The Soria for Rasmus deal may just be the wishful thinking of Toronto Sun writer Bob Elliot. The Royals traded away Melky Cabrera to turn over the centerfield job to Lorenzo Cain who came over from the Zack Greinke trade with Milwaukee. Rasmus never really got along with Tony LaRussa in St. Louis and never figured out American League hitting, going .173 in 35 games with the Blue Jays.

Royals Charities gave the Buck O’Neil Centennial Celebration a boost on Thursday by announcing a $10,000 donation to the Negro League Baseball Museum.

The donation is for the NLBM’s $100-for-100 campaign that encourages fans to make a $100 donation toward the $100,000 goal to support the museum and the future Buck O’Neil Education and Research Center.

The celebration to mark the late Kansas City icon’s 100th birthday anniversary is going on with several events planned this weekend. More information on the $100-for-100 campaign can be found at www.royals.com/buck100.

Mark Carman at 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City spoke with Royals GM Dayton Moore who said he would consider taking on current Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano if the deal made sense for his club. “We would have to be interested.”

Zambrano has had some issues with his temper in the past. Back in 2007, he got into a fist fight with Cubs catcher Michael Barrett in the dugout. Last season, he got into a shouting match with teammate Derrek Lee in a game against the White Sox, which sent him to anger management classes.
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