2010 Major League Baseball Season Preview: Kansas City Royals

Charlie Klein

Key Additions:

Chris Getz (2B)
Rick Ankiel (OF)
Scott Podsednik (OF)
Brian Andreson (OF)
Jason Kendall (C)
Aaron Crow (SP)

Key Departures:

Mark Teahen (IF/OF)
Coco Crisp (OF)
Miguel Olivo (C)
John Buck (C)

The Kansas City Royals are not going to win the World Series this year. There. I said it. It's out of the way. But we do not just write team previews on this blog just because we think those teams have a shot at a World Series, we also like to write about the little guy. And the Royals have been the quintessence of 'Little Guy' ever since the mid 80s when, believe it or not, they actually won a World Series. And that's a little known fact about this downtrodden franchise.

There is, however, hope that this team can eventually return to those great heights once again in the next five years. From experience, I know plenty of Royals fans who have grown tired of five year plan after five year plan after their best player gets dealt at the deadline because they have no one else on the roster around whom to build. The 2010 edition of the Royals has a few interesting pieces built in this season, and any discussion of the Royals has to begin and end with Zack Greinke. The 2009 AL Cy Young Award Winner with a lion share of the voting dominated the American League last season and was undoubtedly the best pitcher on the circuit. On a team that generally speaking does not win, Greinke won 16 games with a 2.16 ERA with 242 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.07 in 229.1 innings-pitched. Those numbers are simply unheard of in the DH era.

Aside from Super Zack there really is not much else on this roster to be excited about in 2010. The Royals are waiting on prospects Alex Gordon, Billy Butler, and Luke Hochevar to turn into the players they thought they'd be when they drafted them. Hochevar was the number one overall pick in the same draft that produced Tim Lincecum and Clayton Kershaw. Royals brass would prefer that he validated their evaluation rather soon to avoid looking like bigger prats by the day. Gordon had an injury plagued 2009 and is looking forward to getting regular at bats now that Mark Teahen was traded to the Chicago White Sox. He has produced decent numbers in his two 400+ at bat seasons, but the Royals will be counting on him to hit better than his career best .262 this season. Billy Butler is probably one of the best kept secrets in baseball. He quietly hit .301 with 21 homeruns and 93 RBIs in 603 at bats. I expect him to grab the full attention of Major League Baseball this season at Kauffman Stadium.

There are many questions about the Royals going into 2010. Will Rick Ankiel be able to A) produce and B) remain healthy? If the answer to both of those questions is yes, then one may expect the Royals to be one of the more improved teams around baseball. I am unconvinced on whether or not Jason Kendall can handle the wear and tear of a 162 game season behind the plate at the tender age of 35. It will be interesting to see how the Royals handle the second base controversy between Alberto Callaspo and Chris Getz. Callaspo was one of the few fantasy ownable players on the Royals last season hitting 41 doubles with a .300 average and 73 RBIs. And the Royals would not have insisted upon getting Getz in the deal with the White Sox if they did not envision using the young second baseman somewhere. I'd say Callaspo is the better player, but the Royals have been known to make mistakes when it comes to talent evaluation. Podsednik should give them speed at the top of the order and great defense. And don't sleep on David DeJesus either. The Royals probably will not win the Central this year, but they just might be one of the more interesting teams to watch with all of the young players they have on the team. It might not be this year, and it might not be the next, but Royals fans, your team will be decent someday.

Projected Starting Nine:

1. Scott Podsednik (LF)
2. Alberto Callaspo (2B)
3. Billy Butler (1B)
4. Rick Ankiel (CF)
5. Alex Gordon (3B)
6. Jose Guillen (DH)
7. David DeJesus (RF)
8. Jason Kendall (C)
9. Yuniesky Betancourt (SS)

Projected Starting Rotation:

1. Zack Grienke
2. Gil Meche
3. Luke Hochevar
4. Brian Bannister
5. Kyle Davies

Best Reliever: Kyle Farnsworth

Closer: Joakim Soria

Predicted Finish: 5th in the AL Central.