Former Royal Esteban German is starting in tonight's AAA All-Star game (currently being shown on ESPN2) in Portland. The Royals are represented by O-Royal reliever Dusty Hughes. Oh, and some guy named Huber might play as a reserve.

On with the recommended links:

• Don't you love how MLB officially uses the bizarre Elias classifications for free agent compensation? Actually, it is just about perfect that they use Elias, given the old saw about how valuable a stat from Elias is. Anyway, someone's figured them out and has listed what next year's designations will be. Elias Rankings: MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com
• Rany on the Royals: More (and Moore) on Betancourt. (A must read. Rany sums up the unfounded arrogance of this organization well.)
• The Pipeline: Royals on the Farm 7/14