Royals general manager Dayton Moore began the offseason Thursday by reaffirming the club&#x2019;s desire to explore every option in attempting to upgrade its starting rotation. </p><p>The Royals&#x2019; starters finished the season with a combined 4.82 ERA &#x2014; second worst in the American League. That number mostly nullified a young and improved offense, which finished the year sixth in the league with 730 runs scored. </p><p>During a season-ending news conference, Moore said the process of bolstering the rotation will begin in-house, but the team will also look to the free-agent market and consider trades that don&#x2019;t jeopardize the organization&#x2019;s long-term plans. </p><p>&#x201C;There&#x2019;s always a few players in your organization that you view (where) you gotta be extremely blown away to move them,&#x201D; Moore said. &#x201C; ... And then everybody else, you look to make deals with.&#x201D; </p><p>Moore said he was confident the Royals&#x2019; player-development staff would continue to churn out talent, thus making potential trades involving prospects a little easier for the organization to absorb. </p><p>&#x201C;(Pitching is) very difficult to trade for,&#x201D; Moore said, &#x201C;If you&#x2019;re trying to win a championship in 2012, are you going to trade an ace pitcher? We had a unique circumstance last year (with Zack Greinke). We&#x2019;ve all talked about that. We&#x2019;ve all been through that. I&#x2019;m not sure if there&#x2019;s another situation out there that mimics the one we were in.&#x201D;</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Hosmer adds to honors</span></strong></p><p>Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer added to his American League Rookie of the Year case on Thursday when he was selected the league&#x2019;s rookie of the month for September.</p><p>Hosmer batted .349 with five homers and seven doubles while leading all rookies with 41 hits in 25 games. He highlighted his September with a five-for-five performance in a victory over Detroit on Sept. 20.</p><p>Two other Royals rookies &#x2014; third baseman Mike Moustakas and catcher Salvador Perez &#x2014; also received votes for the award.</p><p>Hosmer, 21, finished the season batting .293 with 19 homers, 27 doubles and 78 RBIs in 128 games after making his major-league debut against Oakland on May 6 at Kauffman Stadium.</p><p>He also took home AL rookie-of-the-month honors for July.</p><p>On Thursday, Moore said Hosmer&#x2019;s progress had surpassed all expectations entering spring training.</p><p>Club officials previously hoped last offseason that Hosmer would be ready for full-time duty in 2012, Moore said. But those estimates quickly changed when Hosmer showed up at spring training.</p><p>&#x201C;It was very clear to us,&#x201D; Moore said, &#x201C;that he was probably one of the top two players in the entire Cactus League, talentwise.&#x201D;</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Chen&#x2019;s future</span></strong></p><p>Veteran left-hander Bruce Chen restated his desire to stay with the Royals as he prepares to enter free-agency. </p><p>But Chen, who cleaned out his locker Thursday at Kauffman Stadium, said he&#x2019;s also excited to explore the market after going 12-8 with a 3.77 ERA in 25 starts this season. </p><p>&#x201C;I&#x2019;m in the time of my career where winning is more important now,&#x201D; said Chen, 34. &#x201C;&#x2026; But also, I haven&#x2019;t made the money that other players have made, so talking to my agent, and talking to everyone, they say, &#x2018;You know what, this is where you can set yourself for life. But I let him worry about that.&#x2019; &#x201D;</p><p>Chen also credited Bob McClure, who will not return next season as Royals pitching coach, for helping engineer his resurgence during the last three years.</p><p>&#x201C;He turned my career around,&#x201D; Chen said. &#x201C;He helped me drop down my arm angle. He taught me the cutter. </p><p>&#x201C; &#x2026; To have a new pitching coach is going to be something new. But you have to do whatever you have to do to win, and I really believe in this organization.&#x201D; </p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Draft position</span></strong></p><p>There was one silver lining in the Royals&#x2019; 1-0 loss to Minnesota on Wednesday. The Royals dropped to 71-91 and assured themselves of a higher pick in the first round of next year&#x2019;s draft. </p><p>The Royals tied with the Cubs and Padres for the fifth-worst record in the majors, but secured the fifth pick by having the worst record of the three teams in 2010. </p><p>Houston, which finished 56-106, will own the No. 1 pick, while division rival Minnesota will pick second after finishing 63-99. </p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Etc.</span></strong></p><p>&#x2022;The Royals&#x2019; 730 runs were their highest total in a season since they scored 757 in 2006. </p><p>&#x2022;The offense finished with a .329 team on-base percentage, the fifth highest in the American League. The team posted a .331 OBP in 2010 but finished just eighth in the AL.