A Royal Problem: Improving KC For 2010

On May 7th, the Kansas City Royals were 18-11. Zach Grienke was in the beginning stages of a Cy Young winning season (hopefully true in a couple of weeks) and the Royals were in first place. Well, unfortunately injuries happened, and now we find the Royals finishing with Cleveland in the bottom of the AL Central.

I am one to believe that the Royals can compete in 2010. Let's be honest, this team was completely destroyed by its injuries. Lets take a look at the injury list last year. When you lose Coco Crisp, Jose Guillen (who needs to be in a retirement home), Mike Aviles, and Alex Gordon, all who the Royals counted on to be big parts of their team, your bound to have issues (as we saw with the lack of depth they had). Not to mention, Joakim Soria's injury in the middle of the season didn't help either, an injury in May (along with Robinson Tejada's) that completely shifted bullpen roles to people not fit for them (sorry Juan Cruz, your still not a closer).

But that was 2009: Let's start looking to 2010. The Royals can compete in 2010. Yes, I said it. If you look at the division next year, there are plenty of question marks around the division. We know the Indians are rebuilding, the White Sox (while they do have a solid rotation) are aging with their bats and aren't settled on Bobby Jenks as their closer next year, and the Tigers will have to play with what they have for the most part because of the contracts that they have on the books for next year. The Twins look to be balanced offensively next year, but have a spotty rotation (Nick Blackburn led the team in Starters ERA with a 4.02 ERA), not to mention they still may loose Orlando Cabrera to free agency and may need a middle infielder.

That said, the Royals still need to improve in order have a real chance of competing. Luckily, I'm full of idea's and I have an a couple of ideas that I think the Royals should look at.

1. Sign a starting pitcher - Assuming that Gill Meche, Zack Greinke, and Brian Bannister are the top 3 (not necessarily in that order), you have two spots left for Luke Hochevar, Kyle Davies, Robinson Tejada, and others to battle for. If I'm Dayton Moore, I would look at signing a starting pitcher. Personally, I would say Randy Wolf is your man, but he'll be to much to afford now for the Royal's, assuming they keep to the same payroll. You want a low-risk/high-reward, I would take a chance on Ben Sheets. He didn't pitch in 09 due to injury, but he did the smart thing and took the year off. Granted it may take him all of Spring Training to fully be back in the baseball groove, but look at his 08 line (3.09 ERA, 198.1 IP, 1.15 WHIP,
.241 BAA, 158 K's). He has a career ERA of 3.73, and when healthy, is a very very good starting pitcher. Offering him a one year deal with a club option for a 2nd year with a higher number on the salary would be a good idea for the Royals in my opinion. Not only does this make the starting pitching depth better, but you could also put Tejada, Davies, Hochevar (whomever loses out on a starting job) in the bullpen. Another pitcher that I feel the Royals should go after that is similar to Sheets are Rich Harden. When Harden is healthy, he has some of the best stuff in the game.

2. This may sound like a crazy idea to some (because he is a beast with the bat) but the Royals need look at offers for Alberto Callaspo. Yes he was a beast with the stick (.300 BA, 73 RBI's) and is young, but lets be honest: Callaspo is a DH. His defense is, well awful. I'm not saying trade him, I'm just saying look at offers.

3. Bring Back Coco Crisp: Yes the man was a disappointment last year, but he was playing hurt most of his games here in KC and lets be honest. Although Mitch Maier did improve as the year went on, he is a better corner outfielder/4th OF than he is a full-time CF and Josh Anderson still needs a little more time in the minors to improve his hitting. It's a interesting debate in some ways, but I think that Coco, when healthy, can provide both a solid lead-off hitter and an CF with outstanding range. Not picking up his option and resigning him to a incentive laced deal would be ideal for KC.

4. Look at offers for Mark Teahen. I love Mark Teahen, and in a perfect world, I wouldn't trade a guy who is both a great utility player and has great character. However, the Royals aren't perfect, and he has a ton of value being a utility player. He can play the corner OF, 3B, 1B, is willing to move somewhere if he has too (the '09 2B experiment). Teams are always looking for utility players, and I would be shopping him if I am Dayton Moore.

5. Sign Orlando Hudson. I'm still in shock that he was benched as much as he was in the playoffs, but this guy can do two things, play defense and hit. If a trade for Callaspo happens, I would be all over Hudson (.283 BA, .357 OBP 62 RBI's hitting for the Dodgers: .293 BA, .377 OBP in 229 AB's when batting 2nd in order). He'll be 32, looking for a starting gig, and can both hit and play defense, which is one of the major issues for the Royals last year.

6. Sign Brett Myers. This guy was a solid starter only a couple of years ago, but it seems Philly has turned against him. Myers is looking for a starting job and a change of scenery is something that may do Myers good. He's had a rough past couple of years in Philly, and with Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Pedro Martinez, and Joe Blanton locked into that rotation for next year, Myers, a free agent, is more than likely looking for a new home. Another guy similar to this is Brad Penny, who flourished with the Giants after his release from the Red Sox (5.61 ERA in Boston, 2.59 ERA in San Francisco).


If you couldn't notice, I really think the Royals need to add a veteran starter. The more depth you have at starter the better chance you have a winning games and withstanding injuries. Plus you get the benefit of putting some of those pitchers in your bullpen, which is a even better benefit. Hopefully the Royals go that direction, but since they are looking at building heavily through the minors (which is good), I don't see much of this happening, but if the Royals want to compete, I suggest they look at some of these players.



Thanks to ESPN, MLB.Com, Baseball-Reference.com (www.baseball-reference.com), and Fan Graphs (www.fangraphs.com) for stats/info.