--C Brayan Pena, whom the Royals claimed off waivers May 30 from the Braves, was added to the 40-man roster. Pena hit .303 in 60 games with Class AAA Omaha. Pena, a switch hitter, has a .228 average in parts of four seasons with Atlanta. He went 4-for-14, .286, all as a pinch hitter, last season with Atlanta.
--SS Angel Sanchez, who ended last season on the 60-day disabled list with a sprained left middle finger, was claimed off waivers by the Blue Jays. Sanchez appeared in eight games in September 2006 with the Royals, going 6-for-27 (.222) but missed all the 2007 season after having Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. He didn't play in the majors in 2008. --C Matt Tupman, who appeared in one game for the Royals last season and singled in his only at-bat, cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Class AAA Omaha. Tupman is recovering from a shoulder tear and is not expected to be at 100 percent by spring training. He hit .229 in 81 games in 2008 with Omaha.
--RHP Yasuhiko Yabuta, whom the Royals signed to a two-year, $6 million contract before last season, accepted an outright assignment to Class AAA Omaha after clearing waivers. Yabuta was 1-3 with a 4.78 ERA in 31 relief appearances last season with Kansas City. He was 4-3 with a 5.36 ERA in 20 games with Omaha.
--The Royals hired Eddie Rodriguez, who was the Seattle Mariners' first base coach last year, as a special-assignment major league coach. He was Frank Robinson's bench coach from 2004-06 with the Nationals. He has also worked on the Diamondbacks' and Blue Jays' coaching staffs.
BY THE NUMBERS: .224, .222 -- C John Buck's batting average in 2008 and 2007.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "What are you going to do, except hit better?" -- C John Buck's reaction to Miguel Olivo replacing him as the Royals' starting catcher.
