Kansas City Royals

Last year KC were officially the worst team in baseball with a 56-106 record. They have brought back mostly the same team and complemented them with below average but high priced "talent".

Pitching

Chris C was recently complaining about the sorry state of the Phils rotation and all I could say was at least they aren’t the Royals although they are improved from last year. Scott Elarton had a solid year in Cleveland and the likes of Joe Mays and Mark Redman once upon a time have shown themselves to be capable big league pitchers…just not recently.

Most of the attention will once again fall on the young shoulders of Zack Greinke who was a one man gang last year with little help from offence, defence or bullpen and got shelled a few times but down the stretch he managed to string along some good performances which saw his ERA drop from being over 6.00 to 5.80. Still just 22 he has all the tools to be a quality Major League starter as his 114 K / 52 BB ratio in 183 innings shows but they really need to get him some help or let him go to another team.

Jeremy Affeldt would actually be among the leagues best closers if they ever got him a lead to save. He and Mike MacDougal would be a good one-two punch but they seem to be caught in a malaise as they rarely get to pitch any worthwhile innings.

Defence

Mark Grudzielanek wowed all the stat heads with his fielding percentage last year but I’ve known shopping trolleys with better range. Doug Mientkiewicz is as slick as they come at first and he’ll need those great hands to rein in those throws from Angel Berroa at short who has really gone backwards since being rookie of the year. Mark Teahen is good at the hot corner.
Joe Buck is an OK catcher and Paul Bako one of the better back ups you’ll find.

What is Reggie Sanders doing here? Sanders has been a lucky talisman for playoff bound teams in recent years and will provide quality glove work in left. David DeJesus and Aaron Guiel are steady enough.

Offence

Mike Sweeney used to be one of the most feared hitters in baseball but now he’s not. Mike Sweeney is probably the best hitter on the roster which sums the Royals up really. Sweeney can still hit for average and take the ball out of the park but he’s far from being someone pitchers won’t challende. Justin Huber could make the team and is a similar hitter.

Reggie Sanders (really, why is he here?) is still a consistent producer and a smart player but simply can’t play every day any more.

Mientkiewicz and Teahen are weak hitters at the corners and Billy Butler can only play one of those positions when he eventually cracks the line-up.

Rookie Watch

The club are itching for Billy Butler to progress quickly through the system. He’ll likely start off at AA but with his power potential the club are likely to make do with his poor D and plug him in as soon as they can (heck, no one else seems to be able to play D in this organisation). He’s already drawing Travis Hafner comparisons.

Management

What exactly does Allan Baird actually expect this team to win? He employs Buddy Bell to manage the side and his management career has basically seen him guide many a team to the basement of their division but at least this time he’s been provided a team of high priced mediocre players and career utility guys.

This team is terrible and has no idea how to get better. How does Baird still have a job?

Outlook

Its absolutely shocking the state of this organisation. The Major League team is probably the worst and there is little to no help on the way through the minors and with limited funds being made available and the rest of the division progressing rapidly the only light at the end of the tunnel is the one which comes after the death of this once proud organisation…head to the light Royals, head to the light!!