Kansas City Royals
Management: GM Dayton Moore; Manager Trey Hillman
Key Additions: Brian Anderson, Rick Ankiel, Noel Arguelles, Josh Fields, Chris Getz, Jason Kendall, Scott Podsednik
Key Losses: Josh Anderson, John Buck, Coco Crisp, Lenny DiNardo, Luis A. Hernandez, Tug Hulett, Miguel Olivo, Mark Teahen, Doug Waechter, Jamey Wright, Yasuhiko Yabuta
Projected Starters
C Jason Kendall
1B Billy Butler
2B Chris Getz
3B Alex Gordon
SS Yuneski Betancourt
RF David DeJesus
CF Rick Ankiel
LF Scott Podsednik
DH Jose Guillen
SP Gil Meche
SP Zach Greinke
SP Brian Bannister
SP Luke Hochevar
SP Kyle Davies
CP Joakim Soria
Preview: For the second year in a row they’ve made some dramatic changes to the lineup. Kendall, Getz, Ankiel are all new and it will be interesting to see if this version of the offense can click. Billy Butler is still the key to the offense, he’s a fantastic hitter and if the Royals can get people on in front of him he’ll have a great year. As good as Butler is, he needs help in the lineup, and the best hope for that is in the form of Alex Gordon. He was once a hot, can’t miss prospect of Evan Longoria proportions, but a few injuries and a few rough years later, he’s a mere after thought even though he is still pretty young. If he struggles they can go to a Lefty/Righty platoon with Josh Fields who was another can’t miss prospect a few years back. With Rick Ankiel, David DeJesus, and Scott Podsednik in the OF it’s safe to say they have pretty good range in the OF and probably one of the better defensive OFs. Whether they can hit enough to make the great defense worth it remains to be seen. The pitching staff should be better again this year as they return the same 5 starters that started last year. Greinke had the lights out year, Meche had a slightly down year but is a solid 2. Hochevar showed signs of being decent down the stretch last year and if he can continue that the Royals have 3 good starters. And they’ve still got Soria around to close out ball games. With Joe Nathan’s injury, Soria may now be the best closer in the Central. The pitching will be fine, but I don’t know if they’ll score enough runs to stay competitive in the division.
