Kansas City Royals still fighting uphill battle in AL Central
It's been 23 seasons since Kansas City played on past the regular season. The Royals have been making a slow and steady climb the past few seasons, but slow and steady won't help in 2009.
The first of four consecutive AL Central teams, Kansas City had cause to celebrate in 2008 after the Royals broke a four-year string of basement finished in the division. No, there wasn’t a parade downtown with Mayor Mark Funkhouser handing keys to the city to Gil Meche, Billy Butler and David DeJesus.
Now, if the Royals were to break their postseason drought, currently standing at 23 years and counting, then we might see a real celebration.
Though it was a good feeling for the Royals and their fans in escaping the cellar of the AL Central, it came with one very large caveat: The Detroit Tigers messed their britches in 2008, finishing last in the five team group after being picked by most to lead the division.
For the third straight season, Kansas City improved their win total last year, upping the number by six from 2007 to 75 victories. That comes on the heels of a 7-win increase from 2006-07 and six extra from 2005-2006. Granted, when the Royals bottomed out with 56 wins in 2005 they pretty much had nowhere to go but up. Still, they’ve been making that move which is at least a positive step.
This franchise reminds me a little of the Pirates. Back when they made their last playoff appearance, a World Series win in 1985, this club looked like it was going to be a force to reckon with for years to come. The Royals had built their team from expansion in 1969 to a playoff contender in very quick fashion to play in two World Series within the first 17 years of existence. KC even continued to play pretty good ball after their ’85 Series.
But just like Pittsburgh, the club has not been a factor since the early-90s, and the Royals have really hit the skids since we moved from the 1990s with four 100-loss seasons the past seven seasons. There is reason for optimism as the Glass Family sitting at the top of the organization chart seems committed to bringing winning baseball back to Kansas City. Hiring Dayton Moore a little less than three years ago to serve as the GM – and Moore bringing in Trey Hillman before the 2008 campaign to run the show on the field – serves as a testament to that commitment.
Playing in the AL Central should also help the Royals some. The Twins have proven time and again that small market clubs can win in that division. There’s no reason the Royals can’t do the same, though it’s going to take either much better work by the scouting department or a commitment to keeping some of their young stars and paying for them instead of trading them off, or both.
OFFENSE / DEFENSE
It’s also going to take more offense and better defense if Kansas City hopes to get back to being at least in the playoff hunt soon. The Royals ranked 12th out of 14 AL teams with 691 runs scored, finishing 13th in homers, 12th in both on-base and slugging, last in drawing walks (392, lowest in the majors) and 11th in stolen bases in 2008. To the offense’s credit, they were consistent in terms of scoring at home or on the road…consistently mediocre, that is.
One problem is the team is loaded with 1B/DH types – all of them overpaid – and last I checked there was only two spots in the lineup each game for those players. Naturally, the biggest move made by the Royals this winter was acquiring another first baseman which has me leaning heavily to taking back my compliments for Moore and the front office.
And please, don’t be fooled by the offense the Royals are putting up this spring in Arizona. They won’t find the altitude in Kansas City (740’) to be near as friendly to those fly balls as the altitude at their camp in Surprise, AZ.
Desperate for more power in the order, the Royals dealt reliever Leo Nuñez to the Marlins for Mike Jacobs. Not to belittle Jacobs’ ability, but he’s pretty much a one dimensional player with hitting the long ball that lone dimension.
To the right of Jacobs at first will probably be Alberto Callaspo. I say probably because until recently, Callaspo was seemingly trying to play his way out of the job with a very poor showing this spring. If he doesn’t get the Opening Day nod, then it will go to the versatile Willie Bloomquist.
The left side of the diamond will find Mike Aviles at short and Alex Gordon at third. Aviles quietly hit .325 last season in his first look at big league arms; if he repeats or improves on his ’08, fans might actually take notice. Gordon has been putting in extra time with hitting coach Kevin Seitzer this spring to try and become a more consistent hitter as he enters his third MLB campaign.
Tony Peña Jr. and Ryan Shealy figure to be infield backups. Shealy might find a new home however before we get to April 6.
In the outfield, the primary trio should be David DeJesus in left, Coco Crisp in center and Jose Guillen in right. DeJesus had a nice ’08 hitting .307 with 12 homers and 22 steals. Crisp was acquired in the offseason from the Red Sox for yet another one of their nice bullpen arms last year, Ramon Ramirez, and should solve the leadoff hitter dilemma in KC this season. Guillen, the only consistent power stick in the order last year, could benefit from having Jacobs in the lineup with him and improve on that .738 OPS, ridiculously low for a hitter that’s the best power threat in your order.
Outfield backups figure to be Mark Teahen and Ross Gload, with Mitch Maier or Shane Costa also fighting for one of those jobs.
Billy Butler is listed as the team’s No. 1 DH, and having just turned 23 still has plenty of time to show why he was the 14th overall pick in 2004. Teahen, Guillen, Jacobs and Ryan Shealy could also get some time in at the full-time pinch hitter slot.
Miguel Olivo and John Buck will once again split catching chores barring a late spring trade. Though neither gets on base much, they did combine for 21 homers in 2008.
PITCHING
If you put a gun to my head and made me choose between being Bob McClure, the Royals’ pitching coach, and Randy St. Claire, his counterpart for the Nationals, I’d pick McClure in a heartbeat. Either way, I’d still be in for a long summer.
Kansas City once again had a pretty fair bullpen last year, and once again had some pretty lackluster starting pitching. Granted, Gil Meche and Zack Greinke posted up some decent numbers, as did Kyle Davies. But the staff 4.50 ERA ranked 10th in the league, and the 1.38 WHIP didn’t hold offenses in check enough for KC’s own hitters that were scoring at just over 4¼ runs per game.
Remember what I said earlier about taking the spring numbers Royals hitters are posting with a grain of salt? The same holds true for their pitchers who should find playing at Kauffman Stadium more to their liking once they leave Arizona. Meche, Greinke and Brian Bannister have all been banged around this spring, with Greinke’s 8.27 ERA the lowest among the three. Horacio Ramirez, counted on to serve as the lone lefty in the rotation, has a 10.29 ERA in four spring starts.
Meche, Greinke and Davies will be the top three in the order with Ramirez, Bannister and Luck Hochevar fighting for the last two slots in the rotation. But wait! The plot thickens with the Royals bringing in Sidney Ponson to vie for a place in the mix. Stay tuned.
Joakim Soria had a fabulous year in 2008 closing out the few leads the bullpen was handed. The skinny righthander from Mexico saved 42 games, with only three blown saves, closing out the season with saves in each of his final eight appearances. His 66/19 K/BB ratio was more than good enough while he allowed just 39 hits – 5 HR – in 67.1 innings of work. He should be good to go again this season.
Trouble is, who is going to set him up and bridge the game from the sixth or seventh innings to the ninth? KC’s two most reliable relievers in front of Soria – Ramirez and Nuñez – were dealt away in separate deals this winter while the two arms added were Kyle Farnsworth and Juan Cruz, with Cruz only now really getting into the swing of things after signing in late February.
Veteran Ron Mahay figures to man the lefty specialist role, and Lenny DiNardo gives Hillman a second southpaw for relief work. John Bale could provide Hillman with a third lefty out of the pen once he’s back to 100% following some minor surgery due to a thyroid problem. Heath Phillips, another lefthander, could be the long man out of the pen, or he could work his way into the rotation once the club gives up on Horacio Ramirez.
Doug Waechter and Jamey Wright are two more relief options.
SCHEDULE
The Royals will get a chance to show if they are going to be any kind of force in the AL Central this year with four of their first six series, and five of their first eight, against their division rivals. Kansas City also has a home-heavy slate in May.
Based on the numbers the simulations spit out, the Royals will once again improve their win total, albeit by one lone win over their 75 from last year. And the 76.0 KC averaged in the five mock runs is right at the 75½ that The Greek has posted for their win break (Over -105, Under -115). Without much to sway me based on the sims, I won’t play either but would go Under if I did.
The Greek couples the Royals and ChiSox together to be the Field in the AL Central at +405. Betting odds at 5Dimes show the Royals +1100 in the AL Central.
It's been 23 seasons since Kansas City played on past the regular season. The Royals have been making a slow and steady climb the past few seasons, but slow and steady won't help in 2009.
The first of four consecutive AL Central teams, Kansas City had cause to celebrate in 2008 after the Royals broke a four-year string of basement finished in the division. No, there wasn’t a parade downtown with Mayor Mark Funkhouser handing keys to the city to Gil Meche, Billy Butler and David DeJesus.
Now, if the Royals were to break their postseason drought, currently standing at 23 years and counting, then we might see a real celebration.
Though it was a good feeling for the Royals and their fans in escaping the cellar of the AL Central, it came with one very large caveat: The Detroit Tigers messed their britches in 2008, finishing last in the five team group after being picked by most to lead the division.
For the third straight season, Kansas City improved their win total last year, upping the number by six from 2007 to 75 victories. That comes on the heels of a 7-win increase from 2006-07 and six extra from 2005-2006. Granted, when the Royals bottomed out with 56 wins in 2005 they pretty much had nowhere to go but up. Still, they’ve been making that move which is at least a positive step.
This franchise reminds me a little of the Pirates. Back when they made their last playoff appearance, a World Series win in 1985, this club looked like it was going to be a force to reckon with for years to come. The Royals had built their team from expansion in 1969 to a playoff contender in very quick fashion to play in two World Series within the first 17 years of existence. KC even continued to play pretty good ball after their ’85 Series.
But just like Pittsburgh, the club has not been a factor since the early-90s, and the Royals have really hit the skids since we moved from the 1990s with four 100-loss seasons the past seven seasons. There is reason for optimism as the Glass Family sitting at the top of the organization chart seems committed to bringing winning baseball back to Kansas City. Hiring Dayton Moore a little less than three years ago to serve as the GM – and Moore bringing in Trey Hillman before the 2008 campaign to run the show on the field – serves as a testament to that commitment.
Playing in the AL Central should also help the Royals some. The Twins have proven time and again that small market clubs can win in that division. There’s no reason the Royals can’t do the same, though it’s going to take either much better work by the scouting department or a commitment to keeping some of their young stars and paying for them instead of trading them off, or both.
OFFENSE / DEFENSE
It’s also going to take more offense and better defense if Kansas City hopes to get back to being at least in the playoff hunt soon. The Royals ranked 12th out of 14 AL teams with 691 runs scored, finishing 13th in homers, 12th in both on-base and slugging, last in drawing walks (392, lowest in the majors) and 11th in stolen bases in 2008. To the offense’s credit, they were consistent in terms of scoring at home or on the road…consistently mediocre, that is.
One problem is the team is loaded with 1B/DH types – all of them overpaid – and last I checked there was only two spots in the lineup each game for those players. Naturally, the biggest move made by the Royals this winter was acquiring another first baseman which has me leaning heavily to taking back my compliments for Moore and the front office.
And please, don’t be fooled by the offense the Royals are putting up this spring in Arizona. They won’t find the altitude in Kansas City (740’) to be near as friendly to those fly balls as the altitude at their camp in Surprise, AZ.
Desperate for more power in the order, the Royals dealt reliever Leo Nuñez to the Marlins for Mike Jacobs. Not to belittle Jacobs’ ability, but he’s pretty much a one dimensional player with hitting the long ball that lone dimension.
To the right of Jacobs at first will probably be Alberto Callaspo. I say probably because until recently, Callaspo was seemingly trying to play his way out of the job with a very poor showing this spring. If he doesn’t get the Opening Day nod, then it will go to the versatile Willie Bloomquist.
The left side of the diamond will find Mike Aviles at short and Alex Gordon at third. Aviles quietly hit .325 last season in his first look at big league arms; if he repeats or improves on his ’08, fans might actually take notice. Gordon has been putting in extra time with hitting coach Kevin Seitzer this spring to try and become a more consistent hitter as he enters his third MLB campaign.
Tony Peña Jr. and Ryan Shealy figure to be infield backups. Shealy might find a new home however before we get to April 6.
In the outfield, the primary trio should be David DeJesus in left, Coco Crisp in center and Jose Guillen in right. DeJesus had a nice ’08 hitting .307 with 12 homers and 22 steals. Crisp was acquired in the offseason from the Red Sox for yet another one of their nice bullpen arms last year, Ramon Ramirez, and should solve the leadoff hitter dilemma in KC this season. Guillen, the only consistent power stick in the order last year, could benefit from having Jacobs in the lineup with him and improve on that .738 OPS, ridiculously low for a hitter that’s the best power threat in your order.
Outfield backups figure to be Mark Teahen and Ross Gload, with Mitch Maier or Shane Costa also fighting for one of those jobs.
Billy Butler is listed as the team’s No. 1 DH, and having just turned 23 still has plenty of time to show why he was the 14th overall pick in 2004. Teahen, Guillen, Jacobs and Ryan Shealy could also get some time in at the full-time pinch hitter slot.
Miguel Olivo and John Buck will once again split catching chores barring a late spring trade. Though neither gets on base much, they did combine for 21 homers in 2008.
PITCHING
If you put a gun to my head and made me choose between being Bob McClure, the Royals’ pitching coach, and Randy St. Claire, his counterpart for the Nationals, I’d pick McClure in a heartbeat. Either way, I’d still be in for a long summer.
Kansas City once again had a pretty fair bullpen last year, and once again had some pretty lackluster starting pitching. Granted, Gil Meche and Zack Greinke posted up some decent numbers, as did Kyle Davies. But the staff 4.50 ERA ranked 10th in the league, and the 1.38 WHIP didn’t hold offenses in check enough for KC’s own hitters that were scoring at just over 4¼ runs per game.
Remember what I said earlier about taking the spring numbers Royals hitters are posting with a grain of salt? The same holds true for their pitchers who should find playing at Kauffman Stadium more to their liking once they leave Arizona. Meche, Greinke and Brian Bannister have all been banged around this spring, with Greinke’s 8.27 ERA the lowest among the three. Horacio Ramirez, counted on to serve as the lone lefty in the rotation, has a 10.29 ERA in four spring starts.
Meche, Greinke and Davies will be the top three in the order with Ramirez, Bannister and Luck Hochevar fighting for the last two slots in the rotation. But wait! The plot thickens with the Royals bringing in Sidney Ponson to vie for a place in the mix. Stay tuned.
Joakim Soria had a fabulous year in 2008 closing out the few leads the bullpen was handed. The skinny righthander from Mexico saved 42 games, with only three blown saves, closing out the season with saves in each of his final eight appearances. His 66/19 K/BB ratio was more than good enough while he allowed just 39 hits – 5 HR – in 67.1 innings of work. He should be good to go again this season.
Trouble is, who is going to set him up and bridge the game from the sixth or seventh innings to the ninth? KC’s two most reliable relievers in front of Soria – Ramirez and Nuñez – were dealt away in separate deals this winter while the two arms added were Kyle Farnsworth and Juan Cruz, with Cruz only now really getting into the swing of things after signing in late February.
Veteran Ron Mahay figures to man the lefty specialist role, and Lenny DiNardo gives Hillman a second southpaw for relief work. John Bale could provide Hillman with a third lefty out of the pen once he’s back to 100% following some minor surgery due to a thyroid problem. Heath Phillips, another lefthander, could be the long man out of the pen, or he could work his way into the rotation once the club gives up on Horacio Ramirez.
Doug Waechter and Jamey Wright are two more relief options.
SCHEDULE
The Royals will get a chance to show if they are going to be any kind of force in the AL Central this year with four of their first six series, and five of their first eight, against their division rivals. Kansas City also has a home-heavy slate in May.
- 30-20 (Home-Away) through May
- 67-64 (Home-Away) through August
- 3-7 (Home-Away) vs. Rays; 7-3 vs Angels
Based on the numbers the simulations spit out, the Royals will once again improve their win total, albeit by one lone win over their 75 from last year. And the 76.0 KC averaged in the five mock runs is right at the 75½ that The Greek has posted for their win break (Over -105, Under -115). Without much to sway me based on the sims, I won’t play either but would go Under if I did.
The Greek couples the Royals and ChiSox together to be the Field in the AL Central at +405. Betting odds at 5Dimes show the Royals +1100 in the AL Central.