10 Questions Surrounding the Royals in 2010

Will Zack Greinke return to his 2009 dominance in 2010?

Absolutely. No question that Zack will mesmerize Kansas City this year. The only problem is that he still has a soft swinging offense and haphazard defense. Maybe he gets to 20 wins this year, maybe he doesn't. I still think he at least matches his win total of 17 last year. Obviously the preseason favorite for the 2010 Cy Young.

How will the Royals draw this year?

Obviously being a year removed from a freshly renovated stadium, I think we will see a decently sized drop off, unless this team can stick around .500 through June, which is doubtful. Most likely we will see crowds of less than 20,000 on a regular basis.

Who is going to be the anchor of the lineup?

Billy Butler. No question here. Unless Alex Gordon can bust out in a big way, Butler is going to be the horse in this lineup.

Who is the Royal that will surprise us the most this year?

Call me crazy, but I think it will be Luke Hochevar. Luke showed us some flashes of brilliance last year. I could be very wrong, but he was the first overall pick for a reason. I think most of us would be pleased with a sub 4.50 ERA, which is very possible.

Who is the Royal most likely to be traded this year?

Pick from these three: Alex Gordon, Gil Meche, Jose Guillen. For Gordon: the price must be right. For Meche: He must be healthy. For Guillen: we'll have to eat up to $9 million of his final salary. In a trade for all three, the Royals have to beef up their upper minors.

Is there anyone on this team who can make a run at the club record for home runs (36)?

My first thought is no. But then you look at Alex Gordon and Billy Butler. Butler has proven he can hit doubles at a frightening rate and mash homers at a good rate. If some of those doubles can get muscled over the fence in 2010, then I think he has a decent shot. If Gordon can stay healthy and finally improve, then they both have good shots.

Is this Trey Hillman's last year as Royals' manager?

If I am the GM, yes. But I'm not. Dayton is going to give Trey every chance he can. I talked with Angels' TV announcer Terry Smith last year, and he gave Trey a big vote of confidence. Then again, we could never judge Trey until he has talent around him. He just doesn't. You can't fault him for that.

Will Jason Kendall's patience at the plate rub off on the team?

No. Not with this bunch. You have some ok OBP guys on the team like Butler, Gordon, Callaspo and DeJesus, but counter them with Betancourt, Fields, Getz, et al and you have a motley crew of guys who have trouble getting on base.


Of the acquisitions so far, who has the best chance of having the most impact?

Honestly, I'm not sure. If anyone it would be a player who makes the 25-man roster out of spring training. Kila Kai'ihue has a good chance to be an impact player if he can translate his AAA power and OBP to the majors. Chris "Disco" Hayes could be a solid reliever out of the bullpen. I just can't make the assumption that any of these players can make a significant impact.

If the season started tomorrow, where would the Royals finish?

72-90. 4th or 5th place.

Royals Ten Best Moments of the 2000s

Say what you will about this being the worst decade in Royals' History, but there were still plenty of moments that reminded us about why we are fans. The following is a list of those moments. After this post, I'm cleansing myself of the 00s, and moving on to the 10s. Here it is, folks, your 10 Best Moments of the Royals This Decade:

Carlos Beltran's catch against Dan Wilson July 19, 2003- Beltran vaulted himself into iconic status when he robbed Dan Wilson on perhaps the greatest defensive play in Royals' history.

Ken Harvey walks off against the Tigers April 18, 2003- An unknown at this point in his career, the future All-Star hits a mammoth homer in the 11th inning vs. Detroit to push the Royals further into the lead in the AL Central, sitting at 12-3.

Zack Greinke sets franchise record for strikeouts in a single game August 25, 2009- A long standing record finally fell as Greinke mowed down the Cleveland Indians, 6-2 while striking out 15, strengthening his case for the Cy Young Award.

Opening Day 2004 April 5, 2004- Coming off of a miraculous 2003 campaign in which they won 83 games, the Royals entered the 2004 season as a favorite to win the AL Central and got quite an emotional start to the season. Trailing 7-3 to the Chicago White Sox in the bottom of the ninth, the Royals engineered a six-run ninth inning, ending with a tying homer by Utility Infielder, Mendy Lopez and a game winning 2 run shot by Carlos Beltran.

Zack Greinke Wins the 2009 AL Cy Young Award- For a franchise that has been notorious for losing, at least one Royal was victorious as Greinke was awarded the franchise's first Cy Young Award in over 15 years.

Unveiling of "The New K" April 10, 2009- Long considered one of the great venues in sport, Kauffman Stadium received a facelift in '09. $250 million worth of renovations were complete by Opening Day, which saw the New York Yankees come to town to face the Royals in the Grand Re-Opening of "The K". The only downside: the game was started by Sidney Ponson for the Royals.

Royals Extend Zack Greinke- With former star players like Dye, Damon, Beltran, Ibanez, Appier and others leaving for free agency in the past, Royals fans only awaited the inevitable with Zack Greinke. Until GM Dayton Moore re-signed Greinke to a 4 year extension through the 2013 season.

Mike Sweeney breaks franchise record for RBIs- In 2000, Mike Sweeney terrorized the opposition with one of the greatest offensive seasons in Royals' history, swatting 29 HRs and batting in 144 RBIs.

"We Believe" 2003 Season- Coming off the first 100 loss season in team history, the Royals were reeling. Manager Tony Pena took a mixed bag of prospects, veterans and all stars to an 83-79 record, including a 17-7 April, and a 3rd place finish in the AL Central. It was the only winning season in the decade.

Denny Matthews Receives Frick Award and Is Inducted Into The Baseball Hall of Fame- The voice of the Royals since the beginning, Denny is recognized as one of the greatest announcers of all time.

Royals Kingdom Radio Show Launches!

Exciting news for all of us Royals fans. With the help of James Puester and JPeg Sports, The Royals Kingdom Radio Show will host its first broadcast this Sunday (January 3) at 4pm on KCXL 1140 AM (Liberty).

Also, if you are interested in appearing on the show, please email me at mcgannonbrian@gmail.com or brian@thejpegshow.com

Happy Holidays from Royals Kingdom!

Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year, Happy Festivus, and Happy Boxing Day to our neighbors to the north!

Royals Kingdom will be back after the New Year. Keep coming back for updates on the Royals Kingdom Radio Show, which will launch in mid-January!

Have a blessed Holiday season.

What Dayton Moore's Moves Mean

Well, just about everyone and their mother has weighed in on what they think about the recent signing of veteran Catcher Jason Kendall. I don't hate the signing, I really don't. Kendall had the best OBP out of this offseason's crop (almost wanted to say crap) of free agent catchers. Kendall is signed to a two year deal worth $6 million. Now Dayton Moore says that Kendall was the best fit for the price. Sure he was. But DM didn't have to go out and get a Free Agent catcher. JR Towles, a once super prospect in Houston's minors (sound familiar?) was made available by Houston through trade. John Buck would have been cheaper than Kendall, but Buck's defense was just too bad last year to justify keeping him on the roster. I'm glad that DM has kept Brayan Pena on the roster. I don't think Pena is capable of holding down the starting role unless he sheds some pounds and adds some durability and muscle in the offseason, because I honestly think that he has some half decent potential. Either way, he was somewhat of a bright spot on the roster in 2009.

Now, what does this move mean in the short term and the long term. Short term, it means that we have acquired a catcher who has been spoken highly of his entire career and has been a solid defensive catcher. It also means that we have another hole in the lineup. Jason Kendall cannot provide power. He just can't. He used to hit a decent number of doubles a year, but that number has fallen and he is essentially a singles hitter now. He still walks quite a bit, but his batting average has dropped so severely in recent years that his OBP is no longer a strong suit. It seems that Dayton Moore still doesn't even understand his own OBP philosophy. Last year it was Mike Jacobs, who had mashing ability, but couldn't walk to save his life. This year, it is Kendall, a guy who can draw walks, but also can't seem to make contact any more. But the good from this acquisition and others is that the Royals are trying to solidify themselves up the middle defensively. Kendall only had four passed balls in 133 games in 2009.

Dayton Moore was right, there weren't that many options out there at catcher this offseason. But was it really necessary to get rid of John Buck? Were the Astros asking too much for JR Towles? Is there a Royals catcher banging on the door at AAA? No. There isn't. We all may argue that John Buck should have gotten the nod over Kendall, but lets be honest. John Buck was a disaster. His best season came 3 years ago. I think many of us didn't want to see Buck go because maybe we had that fledgling hope that the Beltran trade wasn't awful, that Buck could put it together for one more year. Fact is, he probably wouldn't have. The Royals may have overpaid for Kendall, but in reality, you have to look at this through Dayton Moore's eyes. This team was devastated by poor defense last year. How many times did we see balls go through Miguel Olivo's legs last year? How many times did John Buck miss the target at second base? Kendall is what he is. This team is better defensively with the Kendall signing, but a lot worse offensively.

But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. When Dayton Moore arrived in 2006, he preached pitching and defense, claiming that if you take care of those, then the offense will take care of itself. We'll see Dayton, we'll see.

Catcher in the Why?

I don't know what to think about the Royals lack of moves, yet the plethora of rumors surrounding the team have been somewhat entertaining. Ivan Rodriguez, Felix Pie, Milton Bradley, Jason Kendall have all been names associated with the Royals. None so far are actually wearing Royal blue.

It is obvious that Dayton Moore is treading lightly, not making bad trades...yet, and getting a feel for the market. I would hope that he stays away from overpriced vets like he did with Ivan Rodriguez, and perhaps stick with actually better options that he already has on the roster like Brayan Pena and John Buck. Pena's OPS+ was 100 last year, while Buck's was 103. Pena caught steals at a rate of 35% in 2009, while Buck had a career low of 16%. Here now are the OPS+ and Caught Stealing rates of Royals' suitors Jason Kendall, Bengie Molina and Rod Barajas from 2009:

Kendall: 72 OPS+, 20% CS
B. Molina: 88 OPS+, 23% CS
Barajas: 73 OPS+, 34%

Put those numbers up against Buck and Pena's and it is clear that the Royals have a better catching tandem already on their 25-man roster than Free Agency can provide them. Buck and Pena should enter Spring Training as the two candidates for the starting catcher's job. It's not like the Royals have a rookie laden rotation that needs a veteran to teach them the way of success. Buck and Pena showed that they could handle the pitching staff with relative ease last year. There is no need to change this. There are much bigger problems that the Royals should be addressing. Like re-stocking a depleted bullpen, adding a lefty power bat to compliment Billy Butler and take pressure off Alex Gordon. Lefty starter anyone???

Once Dayton Moore gets over his love affair with overrated, awful, old catchers, then the Royals automatically become a better team.

Arguelles Deal Benefits KC

Dayton Moore promised several things when he came to Kansas City. Organizational depth, responsible spending, a parade on the plaza and more emphasis on signing latino players.

So far, one of those things has come true.

This weekend, the Royals allegedly signed "19 year old" Cuban pitcher Noel Arguelles. Next to Aroldis Chapman, he is the biggest international free agent out there. So much in fact that a few experts even had him listed in the top ten Free Agents amongst the likes of John Lackey and Jason Bay.

This signing is a big sign of progress. Heading in to 2010, our lower minor league system is stocked with talent. The point is, you can only build so much through the draft. The best teams in baseball go down into the Carribean and South America and find the next Johan Santanas and Miguel Cabreras. Is Arguelles going to be as good as Santana? Doubtful. But we won't know that until you get the kid into your system and start breeding him as a big leaguer. We have yet to see ANY of Dayton Moore's draft picks come up through the system to the big leagues. Arguelles has the potential to fly through the lower minors and be knocking on the AA or even AAA door by the end of the 2010 season which would put him on the heels of Aaron Crow, if Crow can develop quickly. If Crow and Arguelles can be on the same page development-wise, then the Royals rotation looks very solid heading in to the final years of Zack Greinke's contract.

This is why I still have one foot on the Dayton Moore bandwagon. We haven't seen any of HIS players yet. Lets wait and see, Royals fans. Maybe Dayton Moore has drafted the players to compliment and maybe even outshine Zack Greinke and Billy Butler. For now, there is still some reason to hope.

Dayton Moore hasn't given up yet and neither should you.