The Kansas City Royals signed Rick Ankiel in the offseason  to a 2.75 million dollar contract with a $500,000 buyout for 2011.    Rick Ankiel was signed to improve the defense in the Kansas City Royals outfield and to help improve the power in the Kansas City Royals offense which ranked an anemic 12th in homeruns in the American League.  Ankiel was coming off a disappointing 2009 season where he finished up with a .231avg 11hrs and 38rbi’s.  With the first month of the 2010 baseball season coming to the end,  how has it worked out?  He has hit .217 with 3hr in 60ab, which projects out to .215avg 22hr and 64rbi over the course of a full season.    Keep in mind the Royals new starting center-fielder has missed the last five baseball games.    The alarming stat so far this year?  Rick has striked out 20 times in only 60ab’s.  This is way to high, as he is not even making contact with the ball.    Lets say he gets 600ab’s this year and continues to strike out a third of the time.  This means that Ankiel would need to get 165 hits out of his 400 remaining ab’s (.412 avg) to hit 275 on the year.      That will probably not happen.  I personally like Ankiel and hope that he works out.  It was a low risk signing, as it was not a long term deal and it is not like he is blocking a spot for an upcoming youngster.  What is Trey Hillman to do if things do not improve?  Maybe Ankiel can help stabilize the worst bullpen in the major leagues.    If you want to see some of the Royals new off-season additions on this years team, you should contact Tickets For Less for all your Royals baseball tickets.    Tickets For Less has great deals on Royals tickets for all budgets.   Call Tickets For Less now at 913-685-3322 or purchase Royals tickets online at ticketsforless.com