Kansas City Royals 2009 Team Preview
Kansas City Royals
If baseball writers were movie stars, the Royals would be equivalent to the Los Angeles Lakers. Lots of very high profile and highly respected analysts root for the powder blue, including Bill James, Joe Posnanski, Rob Neyer. Those three are the Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Johnny Depp of the baseball punditry world. I think this analogy would make me a key grip. And quite honestly, I have no idea what a key grip is.
The Royals are a long way from their cocaine-fueled heydays in the late-70′s to mid 80′s. The team has had only one winning season (if you can call 83 wins a “winning season”) in the past 15 years. They do have a innovative GM who is willing to get creative and make moves to improve the team while keeping payroll under the tight budgetary constraints imposed by his owner, and they do have some young, promising players who will be counted on for key performances this year. Let’s take a look.
Projected Rotation:
1) Zack Greinke
2) Gil Meche
3) Brian Bannister
4) Luke Hochevar
5) Horacio Ramirez
Greinke is one of the more interesting stories in baseball. Once the top pitching prospect in the game, he was rushed to the Majors at age 20 by incompetent management in 2004. He pitched well enough in his rookie season, but struggled in his sophomore year, and subsequently suffered a nervous breakdown which caused him to spend significant time off the mound. When it appeared he was gone for good, Greinke made a comeback, and was nothing short of phenomenal last season. He’s still only 25-years-old, and has Cy Young potential for 2009. Gil Meche was one of the most maligned pre-season moves before the 2007, but GM Dayton Moore deserves a pat on his back for rolling the dice and spenging significant money on a guy with electric stuff but not much fo a track record. Meche, an All-Star in 2007, should be anywhere from solid to very good next year. After nearly winning the Rookie of the Year in 2007, Brian Bannister was a disappointment last season, as his BABIP normalized (balls began to drop in for hits). He was never a 121 ERA+ pitcher, but with his excellent control, he should be right around league average. One time top-prospect Luke Hochevar was only throwing 90-MPH last season and was not missing bats, but he was probably pitching hurt. The 25-year-old still has the potential to be a decent starter, and he’ll be one of the most watched players in the Royals’ camp this spring. Horacio Ramirez is actually a terrible MLB pitcher, and he does not deserve to bear the same name as the cop from “CSI Miami”. Nonetheless, he’ll probably start the year in the rotation because some managers tend to insist on having at least one left-handed starter. Kyle Davies is a dark horse for the rotation, and will probably compete with Hochevar, not Ramirez (as backwards as that seems). Overall, it’s a rotation that is very strong up top and promising in the middle. I am not confident that Horacio Ramirez can keep his ERA under 6.00 in the American League, however.
Rotation Grade: C+
Projected Bullpen:
Joakim Soria (CL)
Kyle Farnsworth
Ron Mahay
Robinson Tejada
Doug Waechter (pronounced “WECK-tur”)
John Bale
Joel Peralta
This bullpen was decent last year, but suffered some losses in the offseason. Two of KC’s better middle relievers, Ramon Ramirez and Leo Nunez, were traded away for position players. Soria has been outstanding in his brief MLB career, and should be one of the top 10 closers in the American League. Farnsworth can throw 100-MPH but has the brain the size of a nectarine. He can’t really pitch, and is a colossal downgrade from Ramon Ramirez. Mahay is decent enough, but he’s approaching 40; the wheels will fall off of that wagon soon. The rest of this group is average at best and flat out bad at worst.
Bullpen Grade: D+
Projected Offense:
1) David Dejesus – LF
2) Mike Aviles – SS
3) Billy Butler – DH
4) Mike Jacobs – 1B
5) Alex Gordon – 3B
6) Jose Guillen – RF
7) Coco Crisp – CF
8) Alberto Callapso – SS
9) Miguel Olivo – C
Bench:
Mark Teahen – IF/OF
Willy Bloomquist – IF/OF
John Buck – C
Ryan Shealy
Lots of upside in this lineup. Only two out of the 9 projected starters are over 30 years old (Olivo and Guillen). Acquisitions Coco Crisp and Mike Jacobs will both provide immediate improvements to their predecessors (Joey Gathright and Ross Gload). My hope is that Crisp does not hit leadoff. After watching him over the past few years, I can tell you that he’s just not that type of guy. One of my favorite players, and useful in several areas, but just not really a leadoff hitter. Billy Butler has been compared to Manny Ramirez by scouts. While that is probably optimistic, he is an extremely talented hitter who could bust out at any time. Alex Gordon is another guy who has yet to reach his potential. Aviles, DeJesus, and Callapso are all decent offensive players who should get on base to set up the power hitters. The bench is also solid, as both Teahen and Bloomquist could conceivably fight for starting jobs this spring.
Offensive Grade: B-
Fielding Projection:
KC will be decent up the middle, and average just about everywhere else. Aviles was excellent at SS last year, and Callapso will be decent enough. Coco Crisp is a very difficult player to evaluate defensively. One year the numbers will say he’s Tris Speaker, the next year he’s Greg Luzinski. I’m thinking he’s on the better side of average, and should be just fine in Kauffman Stadium. Gordon, Dejesus, and Guillen are all average at their positions, and Mike Jacobs would be DH’ing if Billy Butler weren’t on the team.
Defensive Grade: C
At the very least, The Royals will be fun to watch in 2009. They have a handful of young players who are major breakout candidates, and one of the best young starting pitchers in the American League in the form of Greinke. It does appear that GM Dayton Moore has this team on the right path. The AL Central isn’t particularly strong, and if everything goes right for KC, they could be the story of 2009. A few bounces will need to go their way, though.
Overall Grade: 60.2 (C+)
Up next: baseball’s oldest franchise.
I’m not absoluely certain, but I think a key grip is a person who moves props from the storeroom to the stage/set and vice-versa. It’s something to do with props, anyway, rather than acting or directing, that much I am sure of.