Kansas City Royals Spring Training Preview

With the signing of free agents Scott Podsednik and Rick Ankiel, the Kansas City Royals seem to have cleared up what had been a rather murky outfield picture. Ankiel will play center, with Podsednik in left, while David Dejesus will move to right. With this collection of outfielders the Royals have improved their defense, but have failed to get significantly better in any other phase of the game.

The pitching staff starts and finishes with the ace, Zach Greinke. The 2009 Cy Young Award recipient would be close to the twenty win mark every year on almost any other team. In Kansas City he will have to be happy with perhaps fifteen. Gil Meche will likely take the number two spot in the rotation. Meche is coming off shoulder troubles that ended his 2009 season and remains a big question mark for 2010. Kyle Davies should take the third spot in the pitching order. Davies is a pitcher who does not bring overpowering stuff, and yet continues to walk far too many batters. Up forth will probably be Luke Hochever, the Royals number one pick in the 2006 Amateur Draft. Hochever's career took a giant step backwards last year when he managed to win only seven games while posting a horrendous 6.55 ERA. Rounding out the rotation will be Brian Bannister. Bannister has always been a serviceable major league starter, but he is also coming off shoulder trouble and has usually been very hittable. This is a rotation that aside from Zack Greinke will probably not have another starter put up double digit win numbers.

Joakim Soria will again be the closer for Kansas City. Soria put up 30 saves with an ERA of 2.21 in 2009 and would certainly have even better numbers on any other club. He is simply a very good closer on a team that will not produce many save opportunities. He will be set up by Juan Cruz, a right hander that has always posted a high rate of strikeouts. When the Royals get to the late innings with the lead they should be in good hands. It just won't happen that often.

The offense is the other half of the problem for the Kansas City Royals. The acquisition of free agents Rick Ankiel and Scott Podsednik, while solidifying the outfield do little to help the offensive production of a team desperately in need of run producers. Ankiel had a terrible year with the Cardinals in 2009 putting up only 11 HR's and a measly .231 Avg. In fact Ankiel's production has dropped in each of the last three years. Podsednik is a serviceable leadoff man but will produce nothing in the way of HR's or RBI's. He will approach 20 stolen bases in a good year, and at 34, even that is not a sure bet. David Dejesus, the third member of this outfield, is one of those guys who always seem capable of producing more than he actually does. The bright spots on this team offensively will have to come from the right side of the infield. Billy Butler is knocking on the door, and may become one of the elite hitting first baseman in the American League. His defense, at times, has been a liability however. With Jose Guillen and his salary occupying the DH position, Butler will have to get better defensively. At second base Alberto Callaspo was a pleasant surprise last year for the Royals. If he can repeat that performance this year he would be a welcome source of consistent offense in an otherwise anemic lineup.

Simply put, the Royals are a team that will not score enough runs on a consistent basis to make up for a well below average pitching staff. If Alex Gordon were to reach his potential he could make a big difference to the Royals offense with Callaspo and Butler continuing to improve. They might even be able to fight their way past the Cleveland Indians and get out of the cellar. Don't bet your mortgage on it though. The pick here is 63 wins and fifth place in the American League Central.