George Brett Doesn't Live Here Anymore

There was an article not too long ago in the New York Times which commented on the present state of the Kansas City Royals. The franchise which captured a World Series title in 1985 has spent more than a decade reduced to an AL West, and now an AL Central, footnote. Their most recent World Series is, we must point out, less distant than for some clubs (ie. My Orioles), but, the recent past has not been kind to Kansas City baseball.

The 2009 incarnation of the Royals is far from the most hopeless group of the past two decades. In fact, theres some cause for optimism that the recently refurbished Kauffman Stadium may once again play host to someting that vaguely resembles good baseball. To paraphrase Casey Stengal when he took over the Yankees, There is less wrong with the Royals this year than with many of their AL counterparts.

The Royals front office has fought, and fought smartly, towards pushing the club upwards in the standings. The 2007 signing of pitcher Gil Meche was initially treated by many commentators as a pathetic example of a losing team overpaying for a mediocre starting pitcher. Meche has turned out to be a quality starter. Not a Cy Young candidate, but a staff anchor nevertheless. Many teams have paid way more and gotten infinitely less productivity in return (see the experiences of the Dodgers with Jason Schmidt and the Carl Pavano ordeal in New York for particularly egregious examples)

Pre 2008-signee Jose Guillen, for his myriad of character flaws, is a power bat in the lineup. Mike Jacobs is potentially, a better-than-average bat at first base. Coco Crisp simply needed to get out of Boston. He has a world of talent and gives the Royals some name recognition appeal as well.

Additionally, the Royals have made great strides in forking out large wads of cash to young arms and power bats taken in the MLB amateur draft. A big signing bonus up front will look like a bargain if the royals end up with a staff ace or two or three on their hands in a couple of years. If not, then, well, at least they didn't waste all of that bonus money on Jason Schmidt.


Pitching

After Gil Meche, the starting rotation becomes alot less certain. Zack Grienke seems to have his social anxiety disorder and depression under control at last. He won 13 games in 2008 with a 3.47 ERA. Despite having been in the bigs for several years, he is still only 25 and, if he c an keep it together emotionally, he will provide the Roayls with a reliable 2nd starter. No. 3 starter Kyle Davies also posted a winning record in 2008 and, for the first time in his career, he kept his ERA below 5.00. His 4.06 mark from last year would be nice to see again in 2009.

Then things get a little dicier. Sidney Ponson is in Royals camp this spring. Keep the Aruban judges as far away as is humanly possible. It must be remembered however that it was not so very long ago that Ponson was a serviceable front end of the rotation kind of pitcher. Horacio Ramirez, Brian Bannister, and 2006 top draft choice Luke Hochevar are also in the mix for rotation slots.

The bullpen has Joakim Soria. He is one of the top 7 or 8 closers in baseball. his miniscule 0.86 WHIP in 2008 means that he isn't one of those Joe Borowski-type heart attack inducers in late innings. Soria is a real deal lockdown game-ender. In a move that seems out of place with their other savvy signings, the Royals inked Kyle Fransworth to serve as the setup man and surrender homeruns. He joins with Joel Peralta (who gave up 15 homeruns in barely over 50 innings last year) to provide manager Trey Hillman with plenty to fret about in middle innings. Juan Cruz's arrival from Arizona means that, when Farnsworth and Peralta truly implode, Hillman has a much more polished set-up option. Veteran lefty Ron Mahay figures to see plenty of work as well.


The Lumber

The infield corners should hit and hit well in 2009. Third baseman Alex Gordon's offensive numbers inched upward in 2008, his second season in the big leagues. Mike Jacobs arrives from Florida with 32 homers from a season ago to his credit.

The double play combination or Alberto Callaspo and Mike Aviles each hit over .300 last season. The only problem with that pair is that in a June traffic stop, Callaspo's Blood Alcohol Content was approaching the level of his batting average. Drunk Driving is a traditional bad behavior among professional athletes (see Phelps, Michael and Barkley, Charles) but its cause for concern that Callaspo may not have the makeup to be a long term star.

Miguel Olivo wrested the catching job away from a slumping John Buck in 2008. He put up double digit homers but his miserable On-Base Percentage of .278 is such that Roylas fans may secretly hope that John Buck regains his form and steals the No. 1 job back by season's end.

Jose Guillen drove in 97 runs last season and did alot to alienate the KC fanbase as well as his Royals teammates. He's just not a nice guy. If he's batting in the middle of the order on a winning team, however, the soft-spoken angel on Guillen's right shoulder may become a bit more visible. If the 2005 version of Coco Crisp shows up in KC this season, then centerfield will be a non-issue. If something less shows up, then, well, we'll know why Theo Epstein was willing to let him go. Mark Teahan and David DeJesus will also see time in the outfield.

Designated Hitter Billy Butler led the American League in grounding into double plays in 2008. The eye-catching power numbers he put up in AAA have yet to fully show up against major league pitching, but the talent is certainly there.

Overall:

The pitching staff has more than a couple good arms. The offense has more than a couple of good bats. They certainly wouldn't be totally coming out of nowhere if the Royals made a run at the AL Central this season. Everyone else has enough question marks that even a slightly better than .500 performance in KC could at least keep the season interesting until September.

Prediction 81-81 Third Place AL Central.