Matt Crossland

Image courtesy of © Peter G. Aiken-Imagn Images With the World Baseball Classic coming up, it’s nice to look back on how far the tournament has come since its inception in 2006. If you look at the rosters from that year’s tournament, there are several players who were or would end up playing for the Royals. Guys like Matt Stairs, Bruce Chen, and Benji Gil would all end up playing for the Royals at some point. However, there is one player who really stands out among the rest. This future Royals player would be labeled the next Ichiro and have one of the most storied careers in recent Japanese baseball history; he’s also a one-time Royals player. This player is Nori Aoki, and his journey to the Royals was a rather interesting one. Norichika Aoki was born on January 5th, 1982, in Hyuka, Miyazaki, Japan. He started playing baseball at an early age and later attended Miyazaki Prefectural Hyuga High School. He was a pitcher all throughout high school, but converted to outfield when he attended Waseda University in 2000. Aoki was just one of several talented players who led Waseda to four straight Tokyo Big6 titles, Japan’s version of the NCAA. Aoki played alongside future pros like Takashi Toritani, Shintaro Yoshida, and Tsuyoshi Wada. Throughout his college career, Aoki had a batting average of .332 without hitting a single home run while also being selected for the Best Nine Award three times. He would be drafted in the fourth round of the Nippon Professional Baseball draft by the Yakult Swallows. Aoki would only play 10 games in 2004, but 2005 would kickstart his illustrious career in NPB. He would finish the year with the Most Valuable Rookie award and the Central League Batting Title. He hit .344, stole 41 bases, and collected 202 hits, becoming just the second player in NPB history to record 200 hits in a season. He would build off that success the next year, participating in that year’s World Baseball Classic, and be named All-Star Game MVP in his home ballpark. He would finish the year with 192 hits, eight short of his goal, but would increase his on-base percentage by nine points. He expressed interest in going to the MLB via the posting system, but the Swallows were not interested in selling him. The next five seasons would cement Aoki’s name as one of the best contact hitters in NPB history. He would rack up 887 hits and had a batting average under .300 once in that timespan. He would become the fastest player in NPB history to collect 500 hits, doing so in 373 games. He won the batting title two more times in 2007 and 2010, and was given an All-Star, Best Nine, and Golden Glove every year during this time period. After the 2011 season, he was posted by the Swallows and signed a two-year deal with the Brewers. He would put up solid numbers during his time in Milwaukee, posting a bWAR of 3.2, a batting average of .288, and finishing fifth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2012. He would be the everyday right fielder, where he would start hot but steadily decline throughout the year, finishing with a batting average of .286. He would then be flipped to Kansas City on December 5th, 2013, and would begin a memorable tenure with the Royals. Aoki would be the leadoff hitter for a majority of the season and finished the year with a triple slash of .285/.349/.360. He would hit exactly one home run during his time in Kansas City, and it was a grand slam against the Diamondbacks on August 6th. It would be the only grand slam he would hit while in MLB. Aoki would also set a Royals record for most hits in a three-game series with 11 against the White Sox, surpassing Willie Wilson and George Brett’s record of 10 hits. He would also be known for getting hit in the private parts while attempting to make a catch against the Blue Jays. Aoki would make an impact with the Royals in the postseason as he would score the Royals’ first run in the Wild Card game against the A’s and would also hit a sacrifice fly that would tie the game in the ninth inning. He would be the starting right fielder throughout the playoffs, but he only hit .195. He would become a free agent after the season ended and signed with the Giants. Aoki would continue to play in MLB until 2017, when he decided to return to Japan to sign a three-year deal with the Swallows. He would record his 4,000th career at-bat and qualified to become NPB’s lifetime batting champion with a career batting average of .328. He would retire in 2024 and is now the general manager for the Swallows. While his time with the Royals was just one year, he certainly made his impact felt during that one season. Who knows how the Royals would’ve finished if it weren’t for his services? We’ll never know, but one thing is for certain: Aoki is one of the best contact hitters Japanese baseball has ever seen. While he may not have had that same impact in Major League Baseball, he was still able to carve out a stellar career. It’s unfortunate that his time in Royals blue was short-lived, but he’ll certainly be remembered for decades to come. View full article

Baseball truly is a global game, with 265 players from outside the United States at the start of last season. However, the country of Brazil has only produced eight big league players, with lackluster degrees of success. The most successful of the bunch is former All-Star catcher Yan Gomes, who put up very good numbers during his 13-year career. However, we’re here to talk about the second best. That player is Paulo Orlando. Paulo Roberto Orlando was born in São Paulo, Brazil, on November 1st, 1985. Paulo didn’t discover baseball until he was 12, when his mother’s physician told him to try it. Baseball is an obscure sport in Brazil, played mostly by Japanese Brazilians, and Paulo was one of the very few players who weren’t of Japanese descent. Orlando only played baseball on the weekends, as there are very few baseball fields in Brazil; he played other sports like track and soccer. He quit track at 20 and decided to pursue baseball full-time, moving to the Dominican Republic and eventually to Venezuela. There, he was quickly discovered by a Cuban scout for the White Sox and signed to the organization shortly after. What separated Orlando from the rest was his speed, despite his running form looking a bit off. He was named the fastest base runner in the White Sox system during the 2006 and 2007 seasons, as well as the best defensive outfielder in 2007. But then something happened to Orlando that altered the course of his career. On August 9, 2008, Orlando was traded to the Royals for pitcher Horacio Ramirez. Orlando would make an immediate impact in Single-A, leading the league in triples that season. Two years later, now with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, he hit .305 with 13 homers, 64 RBI, and 25 steals to earn Texas League All-Star honors. In 2011, he became just the third Brazilian-born player, and the first non-pitcher, to make it to Triple-A when he was promoted to Omaha. He would spend time between Double-A and Triple-A over the next three seasons until finally breaking through to the big leagues in 2015 after he played 1,017 minor league games. Orlando would make the Opening Day roster and made his debut on April 9, becoming the third Brazilian-born player in MLB history. His first big league hit was a triple off John Danks, which was the first hit by a born-and-raised Brazilian player. Three days later, he would hit two more triples, becoming the first player in MLB history to record three triples for his first three hits. He would hit five triples in his first seven games, creating a new record for the fewest games to hit five triples to open a career. Orlando would only play 86 games in 2015 before being optioned to Omaha to make room for Ben Zobrist, but he made an impact during those games. He would rejoin the Royals for the playoffs, where he would become not only the first Brazilian-born player to win a World Series but also the latest person to win a World Series on their birthday. 2016 would be a breakout year for Orlando as he spent the season as the starting right fielder. He would play 105 games, putting up a .302 batting average with 5 home runs, 43 RBIs, and a bWAR of 2.0. The success wouldn’t last long as injuries and inconsistencies would plague his 2017 season as he hit .198 in only 39 games. He would play only 25 games in 2018 before getting demoted to Omaha. He would not play in the bigs again. Orlando would elect free agency and sign a minor league deal with the Dodgers. He hit .211 with two home runs, seven RBIs, and one stolen base in 24 games for the Oklahoma City Dodgers. He was flipped to the White Sox and played only 69 games with the Charlotte Knights before being released. He would then play a couple of seasons in the Mexican League for the Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos and El Águila de Veracruz before returning to Kansas City to play for the Monarchs. He would help lead the team to the 2021 American Association championship, but would return to the Mexican League in 2022. He would get injured during spring training and has not played in the Mexican League since. He would play one more time for his country in the 2023 Pan-American Games, where he led Brazil to a silver medal. He will now serve as the baserunning coach for the Brazilian national baseball team in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Paulo had a short yet memorable Royals tenure, forever marking his name in Royals lore. Sure, he won’t be a Royals Hall of Famer, but his impact with the Royals will forever be remembered. The country of Brazil has not produced a lot of successful players, but Orlando certainly produced some of the most memorable moments in recent Royals history. View full article

Image courtesy of © Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images Becoming a professional pitcher is very difficult. Not only do you have to work ridiculously hard to even have a chance at the bigs, but you also must go through at least five or six different levels of professional baseball to have a shot at a major league roster. That’s why only 10% of drafted players make it to The Show, with undrafted players having even less of a chance. Impressing scouts could be the difference between your shot at the MLB and sitting on your couch working a real job. There are very few players who may not look the part but will have the talent and the work ethic to make it; Tim Collins is one of those players. When you first look at Tim Collins, all 5’7" and 175 pounds of him, you would never think that he would be a former MLB pitcher, but he was a solid one at that. Collins was born on August 21st, 1989, in Worcester, Massachusetts. He would attend Worcester Technical High School and compile an overall record of 91-5. He would also throw a no-hitter in the district championship game, which was just the second no-hitter in the school's history. Despite his talent, Collins was overlooked by scouts because of his height; however, that would all change. Former Blue Jays general manager JP Ricciardi flew out to Worcester to watch an American Legion game where Keith Landers, a 6’7" left-hander with tremendous upside at the time, was set to start. However, Landers didn’t pitch that day; Collins did. After four innings of work, Collins struck out every batter he faced. This impressed Ricciardi so much that he signed Collins to a contract after he finished high school. Collins would go undrafted and never go to college, and yet he still found himself fighting for his shot at the bigs. Collins' first appearance for the Gulf Coast Blue Jays drew laughter from the opposing team. He would strike out the first batter he saw and get through a clean inning, so he got the last laugh. From 2007 to 2009, when he pitched in Single-A and Double-A, Collins pitched 151 2/3 innings and had a 2.37 ERA, 221 strikeouts on just 69 walks. After 2009, Collins was named Toronto’s Postseason Minor League Player of the Year, and he was recognized by Baseball America as having one of the best curveballs in all baseball. 2010 proved to be a pivotal year for Collins in multiple ways. Collins would start off the year in Double-A with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, where he had a solid 2.51 ERA in 43 innings pitched. However, he would be traded to the Atlanta Braves, where he would pitch in their Double-A system for a short while. Twenty-one days later, Collins, along with Jesse Chavez and Gregor Blanco, would be traded to the Royals for Kyle Farnsworth and Rick Ankiel. Collins would end the year pitching in Triple-A for the Omaha Stormchasers. Less than a year later, Collins would make it onto the Royals’ opening day roster. Collins would make his debut on March 11th, 2011, against the Los Angeles Angels. He would pitch one inning without giving up a run and struck out Torii Hunter for his first career punchout. Three days later, he earned his first win by pitching three scoreless innings against the Angels in extra innings, striking out five in the process. He would finish 2011 with a solid 3.63 ERA with 60 strikeouts in 67 innings pitched. 2012 would be another fruitful year for Collins as he would pitch to a 3.36 ERA with 93 strikeouts, the most in a single season by a left-handed reliever in Royals history. The next two years would be much of the same for Collins as he went 3-9 with an ERA of 3.63. However, he would miss all of 2014 and 2015 due to Tommy John surgery, meaning he wasn’t able to pitch during the Royals’ World Series run. Collins would elect free agency in 2016, ending his run with the Royals. Collins wouldn’t have the same success as he did with the Royals, as he would bounce around multiple teams on minor league contracts. He would get another chance in the bigs with the Nationals in 2018, which was unsuccessful, as his ERA would balloon to 4.37, and he would only pitch 22 2/3 innings before being sent back down to Triple-A. He would sign with the Cubs in 2019, have mild success, but it was short-lived. He would play with the Reds and Rockies before opting out of the Covid-shortened 2020 season; he has not pitched in MLB since. He’s now the pitching coach for the Jersey Shore BlueClaws, the Philadelphia Phillies’ single-A affiliate. Tim Collins’ success story is one of hard work and a little bit of luck. If he didn’t pitch on that fateful day, he probably wouldn’t have pitched in the bigs at all. But sometimes life works in mysterious ways, and Collins was able to get the chance that so many young baseball players dream of. Will he get into the Hall of Fame? No. But he has something that not many baseball players can say. Despite his small frame and lack of velocity, he made it to the big leagues. No matter what people say, they can never take that away from him. View full article

In part three of our countdown of the Royals’ assets, we will be talking about the 15th through 11th most valuable player assets. If you missed the previous two lists, they are listed here. Part 1: #21-25 Part 2: #16-20 15. Michael Wacha Age: 34 Controlled Through: 2027 with a club option in 28 Wacha has been a steady and reliable presence on the mound and in the locker room. His 2.8 bWAR was third-best on a Royals team flushed with pitching depth. He also led the team in wins (10) and innings pitched (172.2), so he was the team’s workhorse for long stretches of the season. His advanced metrics on Baseball Savant show that he is in the 99th percentile in offspeed run value and in the 82nd percentile in pitching run value. Entering his age-35 season, it’s good to see Wacha still has some gas left in the tank and hopefully can continue to be solid for years to come. 14: Lucas Erceg Age: 30 Controlled Through: 2029 Erceg took a slight step back from 2024, but he was still one of the better arms in the Royals' bullpen in 2025. Throughout the year, Erceg served as the set-up man behind Carlos Estévez, and his ERA of 2.64, along with eight wins, helped the Royals have one of the more underrated bullpens in baseball. While most of his numbers were down from his excellent 2024 season, he still posted a high pitching run value of 72, and his fastball run value increased. If Erceg can continue to have quality appearances, he will be a mainstay in the Royals' bullpen for years to come. 13. Sean Gamble Age: 19 Controlled Through: 2031+ Gamble was selected 23rd overall by the Royals in the most recent MLB Draft. He was placed on the ACL Royals, but did not play any games for them in 2025 because he was not officially signed until July. The Royals see a lot of potential in Gamble, especially in the at-bats he took while at IMG Academy. He is a contact-heavy hitter and a plus runner with positional versatility, which the Royals love in their players. Now, whether he can turn his high school success into success at the minor league level is left to be determined, but he is an intriguing prospect that Royals fans will undoubtedly keep an eye on. 12. Josh Hammond Age: 19 Controlled Through: 2031+ Hammond was selected five picks after Gamble, at 28th, because of the Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI) reward for Bobby Witt Jr. finishing in the top three of AL MVP voting. Hammond was a two-way player throughout high school and helped lead Wesleyan Christian Academy to its second state title in three years. Hammond has a lot of raw power at the dish to all sides of the field and has a cannon for an arm. Despite his two-way approach in high school, the Royals will focus more on his hitting, as that’s where he shows the most potential. He was drafted as a shortstop, but scouts say he could move to third base due to his arm. It’ll be intriguing to see what the Royals do with Hammond in the near future. 11. Vinnie Pasquantino Age: 28 Controlled Through: 2028 The Pasquatch is coming off a stellar year as he put up career highs in hits (164), RBIs (113), home runs (32), and bWar (2.4). It was a year that Vinnie needed, as he wasn’t able to contribute much during the Royals' playoff push in 2024, but he was able to contribute big time this year. His bat is his most valuable asset; his defense is what really needs work, as his fielding run value of 21 and his -7 OAA is not good enough for a team that prides itself on good defense. Still, there is no doubt that Pasquantino’s bat will stay in the middle of the order as long as he puts up the numbers he did this past year. View full article

Every baseball fan has played or at least heard of the video game “MLB The Show.” It is not only the best baseball game out there but also one of the most popular sports video games on the market. When you fire up the single-player game mode “Road to The Show,” you are met with a character creation screen. Most sports games would have the name listed as First Name Last Name or something along those lines. However, MLB The Show’s name box reads Joe Random. Now, I may not be correct here, but I have a feeling that the name was partially inspired by Royals' fan-favorite Joe Randa. For those who don’t know, Joe Randa was an infielder who carved out an underrated 12-year career in the bigs, with eight of those seasons coming with the Royals. Randa was born on December 18, 1969, in Milwaukee and grew up 30 minutes west of the city of Wales, Wisconsin. Randa grew up playing lots of sports and was especially good at tennis and baseball. He would go to Kettle Moraine High School and lead the team to a state title in his senior year. He would then attend Broward Community College, where he was recruited by a young coach named Allard Baird, who would later become the Royals' general manager. When Baird left, Randa transferred to Indian River State College in Florida and would eventually get drafted by the California Angels in the 30th round of the 1989 draft. He didn’t sign and eventually transferred to the University of Tennessee. After hitting .342 with 10 home runs for the Volunteers, the Royals drafted him in the 11th round of the 1991 draft. From there, Randa would tear through the minors, hitting .338 with 11 home runs in 72 games for the Eugene Emeralds, earning Northwest League MVP. He wouldn’t put the power numbers as he did in Eugene, but he would still hit for a high average, which would help him move up the ranks. He would’ve reached the majors sooner if it weren’t for Gary Gaetti blocking his way. However, he would finally get his shot in 1995. He struggled at first, but Joe would find his footing, finishing 1996 with a .303 average. However, the Royals would trade him and three Jeffs (Martin, Granger, and Wallace) to the Pirates, Jay Bell, and another Jeff (King this time). Randa put up impressive numbers during his brief time in Pittsburgh, hitting .302/.366/.451 with a Baseball-Reference WAR of 3.5. However, he committed 21 errors at third base, so the Pirates decided to move on from him. Randa would be flipped to the Tigers, where he would underperform and be traded to the Mets. The Mets already had All-Star Robin Ventura at third, so the team gave Joe a choice: go back to Pittsburgh or go to Kansas City. He chose the Royals. Joe would be given the third base job upon his arrival back, and he would thrive in his second stint with the Royals. He would start slowly, but after working with George Brett, he never looked back. That season, from June to July of the 1999 season, Randa had a monster triple slash of .404/.441/.644 in 51 games. He would finish the year hitting .314, and his 197 hits were sixth best in the American League. His tendency to smile during at-bats gave him the nickname "The Joker,” and he would give Royals fans a reason to grin in 2000. Randa would lead one of the best offenses the Royals have ever produced. The Royals scored the most runs in franchise history (729) in 2000, with Randa driving in 106 of them, along with a .304/.343/.438 triple slash. He would sign a one-year deal with the Royals and then would be extended for two more years at a below-market price of $8.5 million. He didn’t mind as he insisted on spending the rest of his career in Kansas City. Randa would regress the following year, with injuries being the leading cause of the decline. He would bounce back in 2002; however, trade rumors would start to swirl as the Royals were having a down year and wanted to move Joe to a contender. Joe would veto these trades using his no-trade clause as he wanted to stay in Kansas City. The Royals would oblige and reap the benefits of keeping him as he put up a .291/.348/.452 with 16 home runs, 72 RBIs, and set a franchise record with 75 games in a row without an error. Joe would stick around for one more year, where he put up great numbers for a team that lost 104 games. He would end his tenure with the Royals in the 2005 offseason, when the team declined his option, and he would sign a one-year deal with the Reds. He would be traded to the Padres that summer for their pennant run, marking the only time Randa would play in the postseason. He’d play one more year with Pittsburgh before retiring in 2006. He would finish with 1,543 career hits, 123 home runs, and a career batting average of .284. Randa works with the Royals as a minor league special assistant. From 1999-2004, Joe Randa would hit .289/.341/.431 and was a dependable player for the Royals during those frustrating years. Even with the team doing badly, having Randa in the lineup made Royals fans breathe a little easier. He was a reliable player, someone who deserves more flowers and recognition for how good he really was. However, maybe the recognition lies in the many “MLB The Show” players who don’t change the name from Joe Random. It may not be much, but maybe it’s enough to know that, on computer and television screens across the country, a little piece of him steps up to the plate every day. View full article