Royals News:
Joakim Soria has made quite a name for himself this offseason.
The 22-year-old right-hander was the second overall pick in the recent Rule 5 Draft, taken by the Royals from San Diego. Most of the excitement surrounding Soria was based on his performance in Mexico this winter.
He spent most of his time pitching outside the United States in the Mexican League, but his sparkling stats with the Yaquis de Obregon over the past few months turned more than a few heads. He's 9-0, winning all but two of his starts, with a league-leading 1.77 ERA.
Reinforcing the Royals' decision to select him, Soria pitched a perfect game just a few days after the draft, leading the Yaquis to a 6-0 win.
Soria needed 101 pitches to completely shut down the Naranjeros de Hermosillo.
Soria and 16 other prospects in the Royals organization are currently playing in Mexico, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.
Yankees News:
Derek Jeter's romp through postseason awards continued on Friday, as the Yankees' shortstop earned the first Silver Slugger Award of his career.
Jeter had some company on this one, though, as Robinson Cano picked up a Silver Slugger of his own as the American League's top hitting second baseman.
Jeter, who is a front-runner for the AL Most Valuable Player Award, has also picked up the AL Hank Aaron Award and his third consecutive Gold Glove this offseason.
Jeter ranked second in the American League with a .343 batting average and 118 runs scored, fourth with a .417 on-base percentage and sixth with 34 stolen bases. Jeter also hit 14 home runs and drove in 97 runs out of the No. 2 spot in New York's lineup.
"The consistency that I noticed, beyond his statistics, is the fact that he comes here with the same intensity every day," Yankees manager Joe Torre said in September.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Jeter became just the fifth player in the past 75 seasons to hit .340 or higher, drive in at least 90 runs and steal 30 or more bases in the same season. The others were Larry Walker (1997), Ellis Burks (1996), Willie Mays (1958) and Jackie Robinson (1949).