In a recent commentary on the Royal's potential acquisition of Mike Jacobs (which has actually happened since he wrote), Rany Jazzyjeffli [I may be spelling that wrong] mentioned something I wasn't aware of.

Most importantly, though, trading for Jacobs makes it more likely than not that Billy Butler has already played his last game for the Royals.

 

We know that Moore is not a fan of Butler; we’ve known that since Sam Mellinger wrote this summer that Moore had offered Butler to the Mariners for Yuniesky Betancourt two winters ago. (The Mariners, bless their hearts, declined. Betancourt’s defensive reputation is massively overrated, and he hits like a late-model Angel Berroa.)

Butler has struggled to adjust to the majors and he's a born DH if there ever was one, but he's just 22 and has incredible potential. I don't know how correct Rany's reading of the situation is, but it seems like exactly the kind of thing the Orioles should look into -- if the Royals are determined to make bad decisions, it's only right that we should do our best to facilitate.

Here's the link to the post, which is a much longer discussion of the trade and why Rany hates it: Rany on the Royals.