The Kansas City Royals on Friday afternoon acquired minor league infielder Johnny Whittleman from the Texas Rangers' organization in exchange for a player to be named later. The 24-year old Whittleman has experience at first base and third base and has never played above the Double-A level. He figures to be amongst the possible candidates to occupy first base either for the Naturals or Advanced Class-A Wilmington. Whittleman has 210 games of Texas League experience, seeing time in each of the past three seasons for the Frisco RoughRiders, the Rangers' Double-A affiliate. He has struggled with the level, however, posting just a .217 average with 16 homers and 92 RBI's in 728 at-bats with Frisco. Last season, he split his season between Advanced Class-A Bakersfield and Frisco, batting a combined .215 with 12 homers and 53 RBI's in 107 games. The Rangers' second-round selection in the 2005 draft, Whittleman owns a .242 average in 666 minor league games with 56 homers and 324 runs batted in. It was the second minor league trade and third in two days for the Royals, who dealt non-roster outfielder Brett Carroll to the Milwaukee organization on Thursday and traded Triple-A Omaha right-hander Gaby Hernandez to the Chicago White Sox organization earlier Friday. Both trades were for cash considerations, and neither veteran minor leaguer was expected to log any playing time in Northwest Arkansas this season. The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale. Visit our website, nwanaturals.com, for information on season tickets and ticket plans.
