Friday’s Major League Baseball deadline to sign unsigned players under team control came and went for the KC Royals and they tendered contracts to three players.

First, they signed pitcher Felipe Paulino to a $1.75 million contract, with performance bonuses that could push the contract to $2 million. That is a bit of a pay cut from last season, but he is recovering from Tommy John surgery and expects to be back after the All-Star break. Paulino is excited to be sticking around and thinks the team is moving in the right direction. He began playing catch for the first time since surgery this week.

Second baseman Chris Getz avoided arbitration by signing a $1.05 million contract. There is also $150,000 in performance incentives. GM Dayton Moore was glad to have him back, as he is a leader and makes shortstop Alcides Escobar better. Getz is also looking forward to returning to Kansas City and getting back on the field healthy.

They also tendered starter Luke Hochevar. No word yet on the monetary figures. Right now, the Royals are shopping both Hochevar and lefty Bruce Chen.

They did not tender a contract to outfielder Derrick Robinson, who they designated for assignment last week. He has yet to make his big league debut, thus he is not eligible for arbitration. He is now a free agent and an intriguing pickup for all teams out there.

Left hander Ryan Verdugo and catcher Adam Moore cleared waivers and both were outrighted to Triple-A Omaha. Both are eligible for next Friday’s Rule V draft.

*Pitcher Jeremy Guthrie was elected to one of two of the highest positions within the Players Association. He and Curtis Granderson of the NY Yankees will serve as Association Player Representatives.

** Word is that the Royals offered pitcher Scott Feldman, formerly of the Texas Rangers, a one year, $4.5 million contract, but he chose more money with the Chicago Cubs. They also offered Ryan Dempster a two year deal worth $26 million, but dropped out of the bidding war.

The KC Royals designated SEVEN players for assignment on Tuesday. Yup, you read it right, seven.

First, it was catcher Adam Moore, who was a September callup in 2012 and caught Jake Odorizzi while he was up.

Then it was the slew of six that followed.

Brayan Pena was the one that shocked me the most. He had done well in his tenure with the Royals and proved to be a solid hitter and back up catcher. Now I’m curious as to who will back up Salvador Perez in 2013. Will it be Brett Hayes, who hasn’t done much of anything as a back up with the Marlins? The Royals avoided arbitration with Hayes and he signed a $600,000 contract.

They designated pitchers Vin Mazzaro, Chris Volstad, and Ryan Verdugo. They had just picked up Volstad off waivers. Mazzaro had the infamous 12 run game in 2011. Verdugo came over with Jonathan Sanchez last spring from the SF Giants.

First baseman/DH Clint Robinson along with speedy outfielder Derrick Robinson was also designated. Both Robinson’s are interesting cases. Clint had the chance to take over for either Billy Butler or Eric Hosmer if either were traded. He has always hit and if he does clear waivers, he will be eligible for the Rule V draft. Derrick had a solid 2012 season and has always been a stolen base threat. He just struggles with reaching first base.

It is expected that Pena and Volstad will be non tendered, as both are eligible for arbitration. The others could go in the Rule V draft.

So what did the Royals do with all that free roster space? They filled it immediately. They added players that they may have lost in the upcoming Rule V draft.

They added lefty John Lamb, who is coming back from Tommy John surgery, along with fellow lefty Mike Montgomery (who I would have left unprotected and let another team deal with his inconsistencies).

Other left-handed pitchers that the Royals added to their 40 man roster are Donnie Joseph (who they received from Cincinnati for Jonathan Broxton), Chris Dwyer (who had a disastrous 2012), and Justin Marks (who pitched well in the Arizona Fall League and was one of only a few Royals pitchers in the upper levels to pitch well).

The lone right-handed pitcher they protected was Juan Gutierrez, who is dominating in winter ball. They also did not add any position players.

All of those moves filled the Royals roster. They now have 25 pitchers on their roster, but just two catchers.

Omaha out-hit Fresno 12-11, but lost the game, 6-4. The Storm Chasers tied the game at 4-4 in the top of the 8th inning, only to see the Grizzlies score two runs in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead.

Omaha was just 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position and hit into two double plays. The Robinson‘s (Derrick and Clint) went 5-for-9 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Tony Abreu, Anthony Seratelli, and Kevin Kouzmanoff each had two hits.

NW Arkansas led 3-1 heading into the bottom of the 9th inning, but Kendal Volz loaded the bases with two outs. However Volz induced a double play line out to end the game.

The Naturals hit three solo homeruns to account for their runs, including Rey Navarro‘s first of the season (he went 2-for-3).

Chris Dwyer followed up his combined no-hitter with another solid outing. He allowed one run on three hits and two walks over 5.1 innings. He struck out six. Bryan Paukovits entered in relief and allowed the lone run. He allowed one hit over 2.2 innings.

It seems every time Wilmington receives a strong starting pitching performance, they lose a pitcher’s duel by one run (5-11 in one-run games). That is exactly what happened Tuesday night in Lynchburg when they lost 1-0.

Santiago Garrido made his first start for the Blue Rocks and made just one mistake over six innings: a solo homerun to Robby Hefflinger in the 5th inning. Garrido allowed six hits and walked one while striking out four, but picked up the hard luck loss.

The Blue Rocks collected just four hits, three off Hillcats starter Gus Schlosser in seven innings. It was the Blue Rocks fifth shutout loss of the season (which is worst in the Carolina League). They have now lost 9-of-13, seven of those losses came by one run each. (Former Royals minor leaguer Tim Smith, who played for the Hillcats, was promoted to Double-A following the game).

Kane County used a seven run 3rd inning en route to their 11-5 victory over Wisconsin. In that inning, Justin Trapp hit a grand slam (he had two hits).

The offense busted out for 15 hits. Dean Espy and Tim Ferguson picked up two hits each. Jorge Bonifacio went 4-for-5 with three runs scored. Michael Antonio went 3-for-5 with two RBIs.

Brooks Pounders pitched five innings in relief to pick up the win. He allowed one run on three hits and two walks while striking out seven.

The Omaha Storm Chasers topped Memphis, 12-4. They pounded out 18 hits in the victory. Derrick Robinson started the scoring by leading the game off with a homerun. He added a solo homerun in the 2nd inning as he went 3-for-6.

Every Omaha player had at least one hit. Johnny Giavotella went 5-for-6 with two runs scored.

Ethan Hollingsworth, getting the start for the promoted Nate Adcock, allowed one run on five hits and a walk over five innings to earn the win. He struck out five.

The NW Arkansas Naturals extended their winning streak to six games with a 4-3 victory over Arkansas. Chris Dwyer earned the victory, though he allowed three runs on nine hits over 6.2 innings. He did not walk a batter while striking out five. Blaine Hardy picked up his second save of the season after throwing 2.1 shutout innings.

Wil Myers went 2-for-2 but was taken out of the game after being hit on the wrist by a pitch in the 5th inning. He stayed in the game and scored on John Whittleman‘s double, but did not take the field on defense. Yem Prades went 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

The Wilmington Blue Rocks have now lost four games in a row, as they lost to Winston-Salem, 11-5. The Dash out-hit the Blue Rocks 18-9. Every Dash starter had a multi-hit game except Brady Shoemaker and Jake Oester (but both went 1-for-4 with a run scored).

The Blue Rocks had taken a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the 4th inning capped by Whit Merrifield‘s two-run homerun, but a four-run 5th inning chased Blue Rocks starter Jason Adam and the Dash never looked back.

Adam saw his ERA jump from 0.40 to 2.36, as he allowed six runs on ten hits and a walk over four-plus innings. The bullpen wasn’t a whole lot better.

Remember when Brian Fletcher was struggling? He went 3-for-4 tonight to up his average to .311. Angel Franco extended his hitting streak to 11 games, as he went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

There was a lineup change for the Blue Rocks on Saturday night (no Cheslor Cuthbert, Kevin David, or Geulin Beltre). Not sure if that had to do with Friday night’s lack of effort from those now OUT of the lineup or if manager Vance Wilson just wanted to get some of the bench players some action.

The Kane County Cougars made three runs in the top of the first inning hold up, as they beat Great Lakes, 3-2. Three of the Cougars’ four hits came in the first inning.

Kellen Moen earned the win, as he pitched five shutout innings. He allowed five hits and walked just one, while striking out six.

The Loons scattered 14 hits in the loss. They had the tying run on third base with one out against Cougars reliever Jonathan Dooley, but could not tie the game.

The Omaha Storm Chasers had an early afternoon game against Round Rock (well 11:05), with the players probably hoping for a nice quick game with the whole day to enjoy away from the field. Instead, it took 16 innings for the Storm Chasers to become victorious, with a 9-8 win.

Omaha scored seven runs over the first three innings, but went scoreless for a long time. The Express tied the game up in the 5th inning. In the top of the 10th inning, Louis Coleman allowed an RBI ground out, giving Round Rock the lead. However, Omaha bounced right back to tie the game back up on Derrick Robinson‘s RBI single. They had a chance to win it, but couldn’t push another run across.

Onto the 16th, when Irving Falu collected a two-out single. Jarrod Dyson followed with an RBI triple to finally end the game.

The Storm Chasers collected 19 hits, with Falu and Robinson having four hits each. Falu hit a two-run homerun. Robinson had two RBIs. Clint Robinson went 3-for-4 before being pinch-run for.

Sean O’Sullivan earned the victory with two shutout innings of relief. The Omaha bullpen after the 5th inning allowed just one run on seven hits and five walks while striking out seven.

The NW Arkansas Naturals collected the same amount of hits (nine) as their opponent, San Antonio, but lost 10-2. The difference was that the Missions hit four homeruns, accounting for eight of their runs. Cody Decker hit two of them.

Four of the Naturals nine hits were doubles, but the team went just 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Yem Prades and Sharlon Schoop collected two hits each.

Chris Dwyer went just 2.2 innings, as he allowed five runs on four hits and four walks. Two of the four hits were homeruns.

The Wilmington Blue Rocks were out-hit (6-9), but beat host Carolina, 3-2. Luis Piterson drove in two runs. Whit Merrifield stole two bases, as he went 1-for-2 with a run scored.

Sugar Ray Marimon earned his first High-A victory, as he allowed just one run on six hits over 5.2 innings. He also struck out six. The lone run came via a homerun by Jesus Aguilar.

A five-run 5th inning put the game out of reach, as Kane County won their first home game of the 2012 season, 8-3 over Beloit. The offensive explosion made a winner of Aaron Brooks, who pitched five shutout innings. He allowed three hits and two walks while striking out three.

Offensively for Kane County, Lane Adams went 2-for-2 with two runs scored and four RBIs. Daniel Mateo went 3-for-4 with three runs scored.

The KC Royals announced three more players were cut on Sunday to trim their spring roster to 43 players. The three players cut haven’t gotten a ton of playing time so far.

First baseman/DH Clint Robinson was stuck behind both Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler. He had been doing well when he played, as he was hitting .318 (7-for-22) with a double and two RBIs.

Outfielder David Lough, who I thought would have gotten more of a look this spring as a fourth outfielder, really didn’t. He was 6-for-19 (.316) with two triples and an RBI.

Fellow outfielder and speed demon Derrick Robinson got the least amount of playing time of the three. He also has yet to reach Triple-A. He was 4-for-11 (.364) with three RBIs.

Rain wreaked havoc on the Omaha Storm Chasers game versus the New Orleans Zephyrs, though they won the rain-shortened game 4-1. After a delay cut short Vin Mazzaro’s start (he pitched six innings and allowed one run on four hits), Zach Miner came on in relief. In the bottom of the 7th inning with two outs and a runner on first, the rains came again (which led to calling the game). In the win, David Lough went 2-for-3 with a homerun and Irving Falu went 2-for-3 with a three-run double in the first inning. Omaha holds a four game lead in the Pacific Coast League’s Northern Division.

The NW Arkansas Naturals set some records on Wednesday night in their 4-3 11-inning win over the Springfield Cardinals. Mario Lisson hit his 29th homerun to tie Clint Robinson’s franchise mark that was set last season. He also stole a pair of bases, as the Naturals stole eight. Derrick Robinson stole four of the eight bases, giving him 52 on the season, a new franchise record. Robinson also drove in the game winner in the top of the 11th inning. The Naturals were down 3-1 heading into the 8th inning but scored single runs in the 8th and 9th to send the game into extra innings. The Naturals have a six game lead in the Texas League’s North Division second-half standings.

The Wilmington Blue Rocks road woes continue, as do their woes against their divisional opponents. They lost Wednesday night 11-3 at the hands of the Potomac Nationals on the road. They are a Carolina League worst 6-21 on the road in the second half (24-41 overall on the road this season). They are also just 19-36 against the Northern Division (they have lost 13 of their last 15 against Potomac). Allen Caldwell made a spot start for the Blue Rocks and allowed three runs in a career-high tying five innings of work. He struck out five and threw just 64 pitches. Jon Keck followed and needed 42 pitches to get just two outs in the 6th, as the Nationals batted around and scored four runs to take the lead for good. In the loss, Yem Prades went 3-for-4, collecting half of the Blue Rocks hits. The Blue Rocks are now 8.5 games back of the Nationals for the second-half playoff spot.

The Kane County Cougars beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 4-1 behind solid pitching. Jason Adam allowed a run on two hits in the bottom of the first, but rebounded to only allow three hits over the next four innings to earn the win. Jason Mitchell followed with three shutout innings and Nick Rogers pitched a perfect 9th inning to earn the save. The Cougars collected six hits, coming from six different hitters. Kevin David delivered the big blow, a two-run single in the 8th inning to increase the Cougars lead to 4-1. The Cougars are tied for second-place, one game back of the second-half division leader (Quad Cities).

So I’ve been mentioning the great catch by Naturals outfielder Nick Van Stratten on Opening Night for NW Arkansas. The catch made Sportcenter’s Top 10 Plays (it was ranked second). Here are his and his teammates’ accounts of the catch: Nick Van Stratten\’s catch

On to the rest of the Royals minors’ news:

Round Rock Express 3, Omaha Storm Chasers 2: The Omaha-Round Rock game boasted two of the game’s top pitching prospects: Mike Montgomery for Omaha against Michael Kirkman of Round Rock. However neither went deep into the game or figured in the decision. With Omaha holding a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 9th, Matt Kata of Round Rock delivered a sac fly to send the game into extra innings. The game would stay tied at 2-2 until the 13th, when Kata again struck, this time with a walk-off RBI single with two outs. Both teams collected 12 hits in the game. For the Storm Chasers, Johnny Giavotella collected three hits, while David Lough and Clint Robinson had two hits a piece. Unfortunately, Omaha was just 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position, though Round Rock was just 3-for-13. The Express bullpen went nine shutout innings, while allowing just four hits (and the four relievers combined for ten strikeouts).

Naturals 14, Corpus Christi Hooks 4: The Naturals continue to win, and for the first time, the game was not decided by one run. The six-spot in the bottom of the 2nd inning blew the game open for Naturals starter Chris Dwyer, though he only lasted into the 4th inning. Reliever Mario Santiago picked up the victory by going 3.2 one-hit innings. Every Naturals starter collected at least one hit, while Derrick Robinson, Wil Myers, and Kurt Mertins each collected three hits. Myers and Jamie Romak each drove in three runs. The Naturals will enjoy Wednesday off before heading to San Antonio.

Wilmington Blue Rocks 7, Kinston Indians 6: Down 5-2 heading into the 7th, the Blue Rocks score four runs in the frame, all with two outs. The inning was capped by a Nick Francis two-run single, followed by a John Whittleman RBI triple and a Tim Ferguson RBI single. The lead was short-lived as Kinston scored a run in the bottom of the 7th, aided by two Blue Rocks errors, to tie the game at 6-6. The score would stay tied until the 9th, when the Blue Rocks scored on an assist from the Indians sloppy defense to take the 7-6 lead. Blue Rocks reliever Ryan Dennick would hold on for the victory, with 2.2 shutout innings. The strikeouts continue to mount for the Blue Rocks hitters, as they struck out 14 more times in Tuesday’s game.

Quad Cities River Bandits 5, Kane County Cougars 3: The River Bandits put up a three-spot in the top of the 4th inning to take a 4-1 lead and never looked back. The top of the order for the Cougars, Alex Llanos and Yowill Espinal, went 4-for-7. Mitch Hodge and Chase Boruff combined for 5.1 one-run innings in relief for the Cougars.

Here’s a an overview of this past Monday’s pitching matchup between Barret Loux and Jake Odorizzi:

Loux, Odorizzi impress in pitching duel milb.com