Both the Royals and No. 3 overall pick Eric Hosmer remain happy with their $6 million contract. Hosmer and representatives from agent Scott Boras&#8217; offices showed up at a news conference in Kansas City last week and expressed satisfaction with the deal, and Hosmer continues to play in an advanced rookie league.</p><p>Still, it might not be that simple.</p><p>At issue is a grievance filed by the players&#8217; union over the deal agreed to between the Pirates and No. 2 overall pick Pedro Alvarez. Both Hosmer and Alvarez are represented by Boras.</p><p>Negotiations with both players were close enough at the Aug. 15 deadline that the commissioner&#8217;s office granted small extensions. Royals GM Dayton Moore said he and Hosmer had an agreement by the deadline, and the extension was granted to submit terms.</p><p>The union&#8217;s grievance stems from that extension. It must be decided by an independent arbiter &#8212; probably in the next few weeks &#8212; how to interpret the deadline as it&#8217;s written in the collective bargaining agreement.</p><p>The arbiter could decide that as long as the commissioner&#8217;s office granted the extension, it&#8217;s fine. Or it could be that as long as the player and team are happy with their deal, it stands.</p><p>Then there&#8217;s the possibility that would put the Royals&#8217; situation in jeopardy: that any deal not signed and completed by the deadline is void.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">A sorry stretch</span></strong></p><p>Players always say the best thing about losing a baseball game is there&#8217;s almost always another one the next day.</p><p>But when there&#8217;s no game, like with the Royals on Thursday, it provides time to contemplate what is now just three wins in 20 games over 25 days. Tallying up the damage, you realize the Royals have:</p><p>&#8226;Gone from fourth place and 9 1/2 games out of first, to last place and 20 games back.</p><p>&#8226;Been outscored 126-56, an average of 6.3-2.8.</p><p>&#8226;Batted .242 with a .289 on-base and .317 slugging percentage, worse than the numbers of Brewers catcher Jason Kendall.</p><p>&#8226;Allowed opponents to hit .287 with a .368 on-base and .471 slugging percentage, better than the numbers of Angels outfielder Torii Hunter.</p><p>&#8226;Been outhomered 29-4, while the losing means closer Joakim Soria&#8217;s only pitched four times in nearly four weeks.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Etc.</span></strong></p><p>&#8226;The Royals extended their working agreement with Class AAA affiliate Omaha through 2010.</p><p>&#8226;Mike Moustakas had three hits, including a double, in Class A Burlington&#8217;s 4-3 win over Quad Cities on Wednesday. He&#8217;s now hitting .274 with 71 RBIs.</p><p>&#8226;The Royals have won seven of 12 games against the Tigers. They haven&#8217;t won the season series since 2004.