KC Royals - Offseason

[RoyalShock]

This article?

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/12/02/3298952/im-done-with-the-royals-frank.html#storylink=misearch

maybe my reading comprehension isnt as good as it used to be but I read nothing how you interpret it.

When he started doing more work for Fox and couldn't do all he was supposed to do as part of his job with the Royals he got upset when asked to take a pay cut. Who expects to get paid the same for doing less and less work? White had no cause to get upset at that.

White only felt more disrespected by an organization he cared about his entire life, and the Royals grew more tired of what some viewed as a sense of entitlement and paranoia unbecoming of a man of such accomplishment.

But White is complicit in getting to this point. His reputation for privately badmouthing the Royals caught up to him, as well as a feeling from some that he’s a diva who longs to be treated as George Brett’s equal without the Hall of Fame status to justify it.

The Royals have done a lot for White. They gave him a coaching job, and, when White cut an original five-year commitment in Wichita after three years, pushed him for the broadcasting job.White is the common denominator in a tension-filled relationship with the club that stretches back to his playing days — through different general managers, front office personnel, coaches, even ownership.

I've read several other Royals blogs that have pointed to White's sense of entitlement, the bad-mouthing of KC to other teams, and the non-descript problems going back to his playing days. And again, I'm not saying the Royals could not have handled this better, but I'm tired of all the one-sided opinions from people bowing at White's feet all over twitter and blog/column/article comments.

What I've noticed is that regular fans mostly support White but those who are a level deeper with club and other MLB contacts (the bloggers, writers, etc.) mostly take the balanced position of blaming both sides. I give more credence to the ones with more inside knowledge than the emotional response of regular fans.

I think the lesson to be learned is, don't hire the hometown heroes or legends. An eventual split is virtually unavoidable and there's a good chance it won't be amicable and will be a PR hit.

Just because it's worked out - so far - with Brett, doesn't mean it always will.

[Awesome Sauce Malone]

As a guy on the TV I didnt think he was very good. I wanted to shoot myself everytime he talked about bunting.

For now Im not buying into anything anyone is saying. Frank White demands a certain aspect of respect largely because he is a hometown guy and has done so much for the Royals. Almost Antoine Carrish if you will. However there is a line that can be crossed and Im not privileged enough to know if he has or hasn't.

With that said..... For a organization that has been as inept as the Kansas City Royals have been for over 20 years they need not to be so thinned skinned when it comes to criticism. No matter where it comes from.

[SubGod22]

Picollo interviews for Astros' GM post

DALLAS -- J.J. Picollo, the Royals' assistant general manager/scouting and player development, was interviewed for the Houston Astros' general manager job on Monday at the Winter Meetings.

Picollo, 40, is one of four candidates known to have been interviewed as new Astros owner Jim Crane seeks a replacement for dismissed GM Ed Wade.

Winter Meetings interview with Ned Yost

Winter Meeting Dispatch

Rumors, news and notes from the Winter Meetings in Dallas…

– Ned Yost says the Royals will, “Play much better than .500.”

And I’d like to be an astronaut.

What Yost just said is, he thinks the Royals are going to be contenders. Because “much better than .500” in the Central, means you’re in the hunt. As much as I like the idea of Project 2012, I think the smart money is on using this year (again) as a developmental year and targeting 2013. I’d be more optimistic if the starting rotation wasn’t so unsettled.

Yes, I think the 2012 team is going to be better than the 2011 version, but 10 games better? I don’t think so. Not yet anyway. I’m good with Hochevar and Chen is fine. I’m not a fan of Sanchez and I’m a little surprised at the talk that Paulino has to “earn” his spot. Right now I see three middle of the road starters, a back of the rotation guy in Sanchez and a wild card for the last spot.

Besides, it’s a little early to be placing markers on win totals. Talk to me in March when there is some clarity to the pitching situation. Right now, I’d peg the 2012 Royals at 76-80 wins.

[SubGod22]

Moore interested in long-term deal for Gordon

DALLAS -- Getting left fielder Alex Gordon's name on a long-term contract is being explored by Royals general manager Dayton Moore.

"We respect Alex a great deal in what he's accomplished here," Moore said Wednesday at the Winter Meetings. "We believe he's going to continue to perform very well into the future. And we are going to work very hard to keep him here -- we want to keep all of our players here long-term.

"I don't think either side feels any pressure. We have him under control for two more years. There's certainly a willingness to move forward together and get something done."

There was no indication that a signing was imminent, and Moore declined to say if he'd been in contact with Gordon's agent.

Royals content to stand pat for moment

DALLAS -- Got another starting pitcher? Nope. Picked up a backup infielder yet? Nope. How about that situational left-handed reliever? Nope.

As the 2011 Winter Meetings went into their final night on Wednesday and none of those items on the Kansas City wish list had been filled, it appeared that the Royals might close up shop on Thursday without making a deal.

That didn't bother general manager Dayton Moore at all. Looking back to a year ago when the Meetings concluded at Lake Buena Vista, Fla., he noted that the makeup of the Royals was quite different from the team that would finish the 2011 season.

The Royals had agreements then with outfielders Jeff Francoeur and Melky Cabrera but the Zack Greinke trade had not been made, so shortstop Alcides Escobar had not yet arrived. Pitcher Danny Duffy, first baseman Eric Hosmer, third baseman Mike Moustakas, second baseman Johnny Giavotella and catcher Salvador Perez were merely Minor Leaguers, not essential parts of the KC roster as they became during the 2011 season.

[SubGod22]

Alcides Escobar:The Straw that Stirst the Defensive Drink

I wrote over the summer about the offensive transformation of Alcides Escobar and how amazing it was to see him go from pretty insanely worthless at the plate to actually someone who could be counted on for a hit from time to time. Ultimately, Escobar’s offense has to be at least mediocre for him to stick as a starting shortstop in the big leagues, no matter how good he is defensively. For now, though, you can make an argument that he’s actually one of the more important Royals. No, I wouldn’t put him ahead of Hosmer or Salvador Perez or Alex Gordon, but maybe Billy Butler. I hadn’t actually thought of who I’d put him ahead, but that’d be an interesting exercise also. For the cost and what he provides, Escobar is pretty important to the Royals and their chances of succeeding in 2012.

For starters, it helps that the Royals expect to have a pretty good offense next season. Gordon, Giavotella, Hosmer, Butler, Moustakas, Francoeur, Perez, Cain, Escobar is a lineup that should produce some runs and that’s even with Escobar at the bottom of the order. If he doesn’t improve at all offensively, the Royals offense won’t exactly go into a tailspin. You can hide Escobar’s bat at the bottom of a lineup and it doesn’t hurt too much. I might even consider hitting Cain ninth in order to get some turnover before you get to the top of the order. It’s a similar theory to the one LaRussa had when he hit his pitcher eighth, but if you’re constructing your lineup correctly, your best hitters will be at the top of the lineup, so it makes sense for a non-zero entity to be hitting right before them. This isn’t about lineup construction, though.

[SubGod22]

Royals deal Rule 5 Draft pick to Yankees

DALLAS -- The Royals took two left-handed pitchers in Thursday's Rule 5 Draft at the Winter Meetings, but they left the room with just one of them.

Their selection in the Major League portion of the annual draft of Minor Leaguers, Cesar Cabral from the Boston Red Sox organization, was immediately sold by the Royals to the New York Yankees.

The Royals had decided to not use their fifth selection and just prior to the Draft they made a deal with New York to select Cabral and send him along to the Yankees. Of course, the Yankees reimbursed the Royals the $50,000 purchase price and pitched in another reported $50,000 as a thank you.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Cabral will be looked at as a potential second left-hander in the bullpen with Boone Logan. Cabral, 22, was a combined 3-4 with a 2.95 ERA in 36 relief appearances with Class A Salem and Double-A Portland in 2011, recording 70 strikeouts in 55 innings.

The transaction kept the Royals' roster at 39, one below the minimum.

[SubGod22]

Crow ready to take on next challenge

KANSAS CITY -- A year ago, Aaron Crow had transformed from prized prospect to perplexing puzzle.

A No. 1 pick in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, Crow signed too late to play anything except fall ball. Even so, in Spring Training 2010, he almost pitched his way onto Kansas City's Major League roster. Yet, taking a cautious approach, the Royals dispatched him to Double-A. But he was so mediocre for Northwest Arkansas (7-7, 5.66 ERA in 22 starts), he was demoted to Class A, where he wasn't any better for Wilmington (2-3, 5.93 ERA in seven starts).

Then came a big change in his professional life. Last March, the Royals decided to try Crow as a relief pitcher. He made the club, and darned if he wasn't so good that he made the American League All-Star team as a rookie. Now comes the possibility of another big change -- when the Royals' camp opens on Feb. 21 at Surprise, Ariz., Crow will get a shot at the starting rotation, joining Bruce Chen, Luke Hochevar and the gang.

"I admire a guy that can struggle in Double-A and A-ball and come back in Spring Training and dominate so much that he makes the team," Chen said. "He not only makes the team, he pitches so well that he's our All-Star player. ... There's no reason for me to think that if he wants to be a starter, he cannot be successful."

LOOGY Bound

The Royals were recently linked, via rumor, to lefty reliever George Sherrill. At first, this seemed a little odd to me given the Royals recently signed Jonathan Broxton to an already crowded bullpen picture. However, we all know that Ned Yost loves to play the match-ups with his relievers. Why use two relievers when four makes it so much more interesting?

In Sherrill, should the Royals actually make a run at him, Dayton Moore will have acquired the true lefty specialist that Yost spent 2011 hoping Tim Collins would become. Last season for Atlanta, yes Atlanta, Sherrill faced 81 left handed batters and struck out 32 of them. By the way, of those 81, George walked exactly ONE of them. Contrast that to his 11 walks and 6 strikeouts against 68 right handers he faced and you can see that the 34 year old has truly morphed into a LOOGY. Sherrill actually had some bad luck last year as left handed hitters managed an astounding .422 BABIP against him. Yet, they still managed a rather weak line of just .256/.273/.333. Imagine what lefthanders would do against Sherrill if they had a more reasonable BABIP number in 2012?

Sanchez walks Duffy will rise

With the winter meetings over and Trevor Cahill traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks it looks as if the Royals are going to stand pat with their current rotation to go into 2012. A rotation of Jonathan Sanchez, Bruce Chen, Luke Hochevar, Felipe Paulino and Danny Duffy definitely doesn’t have the appearance of a division winner and likely won’t be but there is one arm that could change that scenario in a average AL Central.

While Sanchez was brought over from the Giants to try to bottle the magic he put together in 2010 to give Kansas City a top of the rotation power lefty with the ability to strikeout and dominate in the end I believe he’ll be walking in another power lefties shadow. There was plenty of hand wringing over Danny Duffy’s inability to throw strikes during his rookie year it should be noted that has never been a problem of Duffy’s in the minors maintaining a 2.8 BB/9 rate during his 350 minor league innings which is nearly a walk per inning short of Jonathan’s 3.5 rate. Sanchez best walk rate is just under Duffy’s 4.36 and has only hovered in that region one time, his 2010 World Series season. Yet some Royals fans see Jonathan as the upside and possible front of the rotation guy while hinting that maybe Danny heading to Omaha to fine tune things if KC can acquire someone between now and the start of the season would as a good thing.

I think this is a misnomer on the part of those fans. Duffy has proven all he needs to at the minor league level maintaining over a 10 K/9 and 2.5 or under BB/9 rate in each of his last two minor league seasons. Danny’s walk rate isn’t all that different from some of the better lefties in the game during their first year or so.

Jon Lester 81.1 IP 4.76 BB/9
Cliff Lee 62.2 IP 4.0 BB/9
Clayton Kershaw 107.2 IP 4.3 BB/9
Danny Duffy 105.1 IP 4.36 BB/9

[SubGod22]

Royals offer contracts to 31, but not Laffey

KANSAS CITY -- Pitcher Aaron Laffey was the only player not offered a 2012 contract by the Royals on Monday night.

Laffey, a left-handed reliever, becomes a free agent. He was claimed on waivers on Oct. 11 after going 3-2 with a 3.88 ERA in 47 games for the Yankees and Mariners last season.

The Royals have offered contracts to 31 unsigned players. including seven eligible for salary arbitration -- outfielders Alex Gordon and Mitch Maier; pitchers Luke Hochevar, Felipe Paulino and Jonathan Sanchez; catcher Brayan Pena; and infielder Chris Getz. This means that the club is bound to the arbitration process if no contract agreement is reached.

The only players on the 40-man roster under contract are designated hitter Billy Butler, outfielder Jeff Francoeur and pitchers Joakim Soria, Bruce Chen, Aaron Crow, Jonathan Broxton and Noel Arguelles. The departure of Laffey leaves 38 players on the roster.

Tender Time

The Royals had a few decisions to make at last night’s non-tender deadline as several players needed to be tendered contracts or they could leave the team as free agents. For a number of the roster, this is simply procedural. Alex Gordon was never in danger, for example.

The Royals had a couple of players they could have non-tendered. Brayan Pena figures to be a backup to Sal Perez next year… He could have been gone. Except the Royals don’t want to be caught short behind the plate. Mitch Maier was a candidate as well. He couldn’t buy his way into a game last summer, but with the Melk-Man roaming the San Francisco outfield next summer, Ned Yost has been talking about Our Mitch a little more. Chris Getz could have been gone. That’s probably just wishful thinking on my part. I seriously doubt the Royals were ever going to let him hit the open market. Can you imagine the frenzy?

So in the end, the Royals tendered contracts to 31 of the 32 unsigned players for next season. Aaron Laffey was the lone non-tender.

One does have to wonder what KC is doing with these roster moves. It doesn't make a lot of sense at this time.

[SubGod22]

Royals sign four to Minor League contracts

KANSAS CITY -- Four players with varying degrees of Major League service have signed Minor League contracts with the Royals for 2012 -- outfielder Greg Golson, right-handed pitcher Juan Gutierrez, catcher Max Ramirez and left-handed pitcher Francisley Bueno.

[SubGod22]

Fresh faces - Royals add 4 via Minor League contracts

A little more detail/speculation in this one with a few videos.

[SubGod22]

40 Man Roster Review - Salvador Perez

This column is the first of The Authority’s series reviewing each player on the Kansas City Royals’ 40 man roster. Throughout the next few months, Craig, Nick and myself will go in-depth on each member of the roster every weekday (or close to it). As rumors, signings and trades break and, on occasion, just at the whim of the writer, we may interrupt this series.

Today, we will get started with the youngest member of the roster: Salvador Perez.

Perez, who will not turn twenty-two until May of 2012, is a giant behind the plate at 6’3″ and 230 pounds (he looks even bigger). Despite his size, Salvador appears nimble and agile with borderline unbelievable pop times throwing to second. Those attributes led Perez to be voted the best defensive catcher in the system for three straight years and, in his very first major league game, Sal picked not one, but two runners off base.

As August and September droned on, the raw defensive numbers of Perez did not reflect the defensive wizardry many of us expected. Perez was tagged for two passed balls and three errors over the final 38 games he played. Pitchers uncorked 18 wild pitches with Sal behind the plate (a crude and unfair measurement of catching efficiency, I know) and opposing runners successfully stole 26 bases in 33 attempts. Those are not glowing defensive numbers, but we all know the inefficiency of any defensive metric – particularly these very crude numbers – and the added inefficiency when it comes to assessing catchers. What we saw, mostly, was a very young player playing a very demanding defensive position and showing a ton of potential.

[SubGod22]

Bowden Blunder

Former Reds and Nationals GM Jim Bowden released an article yesterday on ESPN.com(insider content) that has peaked the interest of a few Royals fans, bloggers, etc via twitter today. In short Bowden thinks that Padres should trade Mat Latos to the Royals for Jake Odorizzi, Aaron Crow and Blake Wood as part of his Five big trades that should happen piece.

A trade for a proven young starter would really jump start their ability to contend and they match up well with the Padres, while the Padres would get two young non-arbitration eligible starters in Crow and Odorizzi for the future and a respectable reliever in Wood.

I'd be for this.

[SubGod22]

Gordon primed to improve on breakout season

KANSAS CITY -- There's no doubt that the Royals' Alex Gordon will miss Melky Cabrera roaming beside him in center field and hitting just behind (or just ahead) of him in the batting order. But Gordon saw the wisdom in the deal that sent Cabrera to the San Francisco Giants for starting pitcher Jonathan Sanchez.

"We knew we had depth in the outfield and it was kind of the same way with the Giants. They had some pitching they could give up, and they needed some outfield help," Gordon said. "So it was a good trade for both teams. I've seen Sanchez in Spring Training a couple times, and he's got some great stuff, so we get a top starter out of it."

In fact, general manager Dayton Moore's moves for 2012 get a thumb's up from Gordon.

40 Man Roser Review - Kelvin Herrera

On April 9th last season, 21 year old Kelvin Herrera, who had just 12 games of expierence over three years in Low A and just 23 games total experience pitching in the United States, made his High A debut for the Wilmington Blue Rocks. The results were typical Herrera: two innings, one hit, no runs, one walk and four strikeouts.

There has seldom been any doubt about the young Dominican’s ability to get batters out. In his American debut with the Rookie Burlington team, Kelvin had struck out 45 and walked just 5 in 50 innings of work. That was enough to earn him a promotion to the Low A Midwest League at the tender age of 18. In three appearances over 13 innings, Herrera was touched for just 3 runs. Used mostly as a starter, hopes were high for Herrera.

Elbow trouble, however, limited Herrera to one appearance at Burlington in 2009 and shut him down again my mid-May in 2010. Simply put, the Royals spent the better part of two seasons seeing far too little of Herrera’s upper 90s fastball, excellent changeup and solid curve. To many, it seemed that Herrera would join the long list of promising young arms that could not hold together long enough to even get within spitting distance of the majors.

Fast forward (or reverse Jason Kendall) to that Wilmington debut. It came, not as a starter as he had been in 18 of his career 23 appearances, but in relief. With his fastball touching 100 working out of the pen, Kelvin made seven more appearances in Wilmington: allowing just one run (a solo homer), while striking out 12 and walking 2.

Rumor Mongering

A nice little rumor broke out on twitter yesterday of a possible trade between the Royals and Blue Jays. Pio Deportes, the people that brought you Albert Pujols to the Angels rumor is saying the Royals are in deep talks to trade Joakim Soria for uber catching prospect Travis D’Arnaud.

D’Arnaud for those that don’t know is an excellent offensive first catcher who just this past year earned Eastern League (AA) MVP while being ranked the 2nd best prospect in the loaded league by Baseball America behind only the phenom Bryce Harper but ahead of Anthony Gose, Brad Peacock, Jacob Turner, Manny Banuelos, Will Middlebrooks, Derek Norris, Dellin Betances and Starling Marte to name just a few. That list will likely all be in BA’s Top 100 while D’Arnaud is a lock to be in the Top 25 of all prospects after starting last season at #36 and putting up a .311/.371/.542 line with 33 doubles and 21 home runs.

Offense – D’Arnaud has plenty going for him in the offensive arena showing good power, contact ability and the hands that scouts believe will allow him to be an above average hitter with above average power at the major league level. D’Arnaud’s onbase skills haven’t been impressive in the minors after the 23 year old drew just 33 walks last season but many like his plate approach and don’t show it as a weakness going forward. Travis is plenty athletic making him a better runner on the bases than most catchers.

[SubGod22]

Royals Report Card 2011: Part Three.

I apologize for the long gap between posts, but – aside from the fact that it has been a surprisingly (happily so) busy time at the office, the Royals just haven’t done anything really worth talking about.


I have a sneaking suspicion that this period of quiet will soon end. Those of you who follow me on Twitter know that I’ve taken to referring to my “Daydar” – my sense that Dayton Moore is up to something. Well, as I write this, it’s six days until Christmas and both Edwin Jackson and Roy Oswalt – my two favorite free-agent targets this off-season – remain unsigned. Maybe the Royals reel in one of them, or maybe they pull off a trade for a starting pitcher. While it’s hard to see the Royals giving up the amount of talent the Reds surrendered for Mat Latos, the price that the A’s sold Trevor Cahill for was shockingly low, so much so that I’m writing a column for Grantland about it.


Cahill, as you might recall from my series on pitchers to acquire, was one of my favorite targets – he’s signed for the next four years for $29 million, along with two club options at $13 million each. The Diamondbacks got him (and Craig Breslow, a useful lefty reliever) for top prospect Jarrod Parker, and a pair of throw-ins in outfielder Colin Cowgill and reliever Ryan Cook. The Royals could have put together an equivalent package by offering, say, Mike Montgomery (or Jake Odorizzi), David Lough, and Kelvin Herrera. Parker is a slightly better prospect than Montgomery or Odorizzi, but then Herrera is a much better relief prospect than Cook. That’s a trade I absolutely would have made; it wouldn’t have gutted the farm system, and would have given the Royals an established #3 starter with genuine upside. (Cahill is one of the most groundball-oriented starting pitchers in the majors, his strikeout rate has jumped each of the last two years, and he doesn’t turn 24 until March. I think he’s a breakout waiting to happen.)


While not trading for Cahill was a missed opportunity, there are plenty of other starting pitchers still out there, and my Daydar is telling me that Moore won’t rest this off-season until he gets one. So stay tuned.

He eventually does get down to grading the infield...

[SubGod22]

40 Man Roster Review - Eric Hosmer

Eric Hosmer* was the least effective first basemen in the American League Central in 2010. Yes, I know that Carlos Santana hit .239, but he hit 27 bombs and got on base at a .351 clip. In 2011, the average AL first baseman hit .271/.340/.452 while Hosmer posted a .293/.334/.465. So what the Royals had last year in the young Hosmer was an average first baseman.

*It may be early, but I believe that Eric Hosmer needs a nickname. I say this primarily because I love nick names. They add so much fun and color to the game of baseball. Recently it seems the NBA has been completely stealing the nick name thunder from baseball. We need to reclaim that title. I’m throwing out Eric the Blue as a starting point. Add yours in the comments.

It’s not a knock on Hosmer, the kid is still only 21 years old and his best years are almost certainly in front of him and it’s been a long time since the Royals were anywhere near average at first. So there was a lot to like about his rookie campaign. However, if the Royals are going to really compete in the division in 2012, then he needs to be more than average. It’s probably not fair to heap expectations onto a twenty one year old, but it’s not fair that he’s already a multimillionaire. It comes with the territory. And what I know of the kid, he’s not phased by what some nerd writes on the computernets.

While the construction of playoff teams and World Series Champions is always a bit unique, there is nearly one constant. They all have at least one elite offensive player. Right now the Royals don’t have an elite offensive player, they have some players who could become elite but then again so do lots of teams that have sub .500 records. That’s not the goal.

More on a Potential Soria Deal

For some reason, I seem to be talking a lot about depth in this space this offseason. I’ve talked a lot about depth on the Major League roster with utility players and versatility and I have mentioned organizational depth a little bit, but as a bit of a piggyback to Clint’s article, I want to dive back into the subject. I also have to give an assist to Keith Blackburn (@doublestix) for the idea for this topic as he brought it up yesterday on Twitter. As Clint mentioned in his post earlier this morning, the report is that the Royals are deep in talks with the Blue Jays and the talks are centered around Joakim Soria and Travis D’Arnaud. When I went to bed last night, I had an idea of how to write this piece and I was going to talk about D’Arnaud’s accomplishments in the minor leagues, but lucky for me, we have an awesome writer on this site and I don’t have to get into that.

Before I get into the idea of why the Royals might be interested in D’Arnaud, I’d like to take a moment and talk about why I’m skeptical of this rumor. The Blue Jays just acquired Sergio Santos from the White Sox who they probably expected to be their closer. Of course, when you have the opportunity to acquire one of the best in the game who is on a team friendly contract, it’s probably worth doing regardless of who else you have. Not to sound like a broken record, but depth is important and an eighth and ninth inning filled by Santos and Soria makes the Blue Jays bullpen pretty darn impressive in the late innings. And from the Royals perspective, you might be wondering what the Royals need a top catching prospect for with the emergence of Salvador Perez. Well I’m glad you asked.

What if...

One year and one day ago the Kansas City Royals traded Zack Greinke and Yuniesky Betancourt to the Milwaukee Brewers. In return, they received four players – Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress and Jake Odorizzi. They also kicked in some money to help pay for Betancourt’s contract. The Brewers were looking to fortify their rotation to make a World Series run before Prince Fielder left for greener pastures and the Royals were looking to add key pieces to an organization that was receiving accolades every time it breathed last offseason. At just a glance, it looks like both teams benefited and got at least close to where they were hoping from the trade. The Brewers won the National League Central and were just a couple games away from a World Series appearance while the Royals acquired the guy they hope is their starting shortstop for years to come, a center fielder who can cover some ground and a top right-handed pitching prospect in an organization filled with lefties.

It’s an interesting thought, though, to look at the Royals now and wonder if they’d have been better off going after a free agent shortstop, trading for a different center fielder and keeping Zack Greinke. This Royals team looks like they are a legitimate ace pitcher away from contention. They’re not quite as far along as the Brewers were heading into the 2011 season, but because of the parity in the division, they are probably just as close to a division title. Would Zack Greinke put the Royals over the top? I guess the question is somewhat moot due to the fact that Greinke’s desire to get out was pretty highly publicized, but it’s interesting looking back that the Royals appear to be a Zack Greinke away from making a serious run for the playoffs.

So back to the title of this post, what if the Royals hadn’t traded Greinke and Betancourt? In order to truly explore this, we have to make some assumptions. The biggest assumption is that everything that occurred in 2011 for the Royals, Greinke and Betancourt happened exactly the same as they did in real life. So Eric Hosmer has to come up in early May and make a Rookie of the Year run. Melky Cabrera has to have the season he had. The biggest issue is the number of balls Escobar gets to that Betancourt doesn’t even dream of coming near. But that’s an issue for someone much smarter than me. This is just a fun post that looks more to the future.

Interesting...