Joakim Soria News

Tough time to be Dayton Moore. Tougher time to be a Royals fan. Four summers ago, Royals fans welcomed Moore as something of a savior.

The Royals ' farm system is barren at the top, so don't expect any rookie to make an immediate impact.

" The Kansas City Royals are pleased to announce the remaining organizational award winners for the 2009 season.

It is baseball's version of a rent-to-own program. For $50,000 and a 40-man roster spot, a team can put a player through a 6-week tryout before deciding whether to keep him or toss him back.

Since the inception of the Rule 5 Draft, scores of players have been selected. A few have gone on to be stars, like Roberto Clemente.

As Royals Minor League reliever Chris Hayes prepares for Thursday's Rule 5 Draft, at least he has a model to follow.

RELIEF PITCHERS: With last offseason's top bullpen additions, Kyle Farnsworth and Juan Cruz, not exactly setting the woods on fire, the annual search is on to give closer Joakim Soria a firm foundation of setup men.

Right-hander Jorge Campillo, a World Baseball Classic teammate of Kansas City closer Joakim Soria, has signed a Minor League contract for 2010 with the Royals.

In an eerily similar spot as the rotation, KC features a top-of-line hammer that 90% of the teams in baseball would take without hesitation.A And, just like the starting five, the Royals are extremely thin after their stud.A Zach Greinke and Joakim Soria are not all that different.A Unfortunately, both All-Star's are surrounded by a lot of filth ...

This spring, there were a lot of questions surrounded Cardinals starting pitcher Chris Carpenter.Carpenter, the 2005 Cy Young Award winner, had helped the Cardinals win the 2006 World Series.

Joakim Soria got the job done in the season's final month, resulting in the Kansas City closer being named the winner of the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Month Award for September.

Zack Greinke fired seven strong innings to lead the Royals to a 4-1 win over the Twins at Kauffman Stadium.

It comes to this for Zack Greinke: His final showcase start in a possible Cy Young season will come today against a surging Minnesota club that now finds itself just one game behind first-place Detroit with two games remaining.

Here's more proof, if any were needed, that Joakim Soria makes a difference when the Royals find themselves looking to protect slender leads in the late innings.

Royals closer Joakim Soria contends there is nothing wrong with his shoulder beyond a little extra soreness resulting from a 46-pitch outing in Sunday's victory over Minnesota.

Just two outs from their first victory at new Yankee Stadium, the Royals had it snatched away.

Greinke worked out of a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the third inning and escaped two other tight spots to drop his baseball-best ERA to 2.06. Joakim Soria got the final six outs, inducing a groundout by Joe Mauer with two on in the ninth for his 29th save in 32 chances.

Luke Hochevar may be terrific in his start at Yankee Stadium tonight. Wouldn't be the first time.

Zack Greinke worked out of several jams in seven innings to bolster his AL Cy Young Award chances and Yuniesky Betancourt hit a three-run homer, helping the Kansas City Royals win their home finale 4-1 over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.

Kansas City Royals catcher Miguel Olivo and closer Joakim Soria hug after a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday, Sept.