Police Raid Home of Local “Crazy Utility Player” Guy

While police officers on the scene say the house had a musty smell of urine and fecal material, all of the utility players appear to have been well-fed and cared for. Donald Leius, director of the Major League Players Association, a non-profit group dedicated to finding homes for players, is not surprised. “We could always count on Dayton to help. Finding a home for all our players can be difficult, but Dayton specialized in the hard cases, the ones nobody else wanted. Whenever we would get a little full here at our shelter, we would call Dayton in to take a look. He specifically asked for the ones with little to no power and the ones who nobody else had looked at. Don’t be too hard on him. He’s a good guy.”

Neighbors aren’t as quick to praise Moore. “Frankly, it’s a little creepy.” said Jean Patek, who lived across the street from Moore. “He would spend all night long sitting on the swing on his front porch with a bunch of utility players running around in his front yard. He would then stare at anybody who walked by, not saying anything. Where did he get them all? It just didn’t seem right.”

Kansas City Royals sign OF Willy Taveras

Out of the Majors since 2010, Willy Taveras has agreed to a Minor League deal with the Royals that includes an invite to Major League camp, a baseball source said Tuesday.

Taveras turns 31 on Christmas Day and has a career .320 on-base percentage with 195 steals.

The Royals need someone as insurance in case Frenchy doesn’t work out.

Mellinger: Time is now for Glass to increase Royals’ payroll

Dayton Moore needs the resources to be able to go out and get more Jeff Francoeurs!

The days of Glass crying poverty need to be over. The no-money Rays just signed Evan Longoria to a $100 million extension, nearly twice as much as the Royals have ever guaranteed a player. Teams in similar markets — Cleveland, Cincinnati, Minnesota, etc. — extend payrolls past $80 million for the right situation. The Royals are now in the right situation.

They’ve gone this high or higher before, and with a less realistic chance of winning. That was before a new national TV contract that makes every team richer — a $75 million payroll would’ve ranked 19th in baseball in 2010; last year it would’ve been 24th.

Baseball’s economics — particularly the bad local TV contract the Royals willingly entered — are still tilted toward bigger markets, but Glass doesn’t have to take a big loss to build a legitimate contender.

The Royals had baseball’s lowest payroll in 2011, which was the smart baseball play as they fielded 16 rookies. Also, Gil Meche walked away from the last $12 million of his contract.

But the franchise has also made more than $90 million profit since 2006, according to Forbes. Especially with new baseball restrictions on amateur spending, Glass and the Royals have saved more than enough the last few years to extend the payroll to at least $75 million and as much as $80 million.