Kansas City Royals

Previous Team Analyses

Kansas City has been making strides over the past few years, with the owner showing a willingness to pour some money into his struggling franchise. My concern for the team is that they can't compete with the Tigers or the Indians for at least two years, and after that I expect the Twins rebuilding operations to have paid off. However, once the effects of the ridiculous White Sox spending fades, these guys shouldn't dwell at the bottom of their division.

Lineup

• David DeJesus
• Mark Grudzielanek
• Mark Teahen
• Jose Guillen
• Billy Butler
• Ross Gload
• Alex Gordon
• John Buck
• Tony Pena Jr.

Rotation

• Gil Meche
• Brian Bannister
• Zack Greinke
• Jorge De La Rosa
• Kyle Davies

Closer: Joakim Soria

Thoughts...

As always, it is worth mentioning that this is FoxSports projected lineup, and I think that it will change dramatically for the Royals. Joey Gathright is proving his worth during Spring Training, having already stolen seven bases. Alex Gordon will work his way into the middle of the order, creating a possible 1-5 of Gathright, DeJesus, Teahen, Butler, and Gordon, which is a formidable opening five.

I'm a big fan of Gordon and Butler, as both carry a solid upside even in shallow leagues. Despite opening off last season with more disappointment than a 2007 Royals 3B sleeper had hype--yes, same person--the rookie still approached 20-20. He won't have the runs, average, or RBI totals that Wright will, but if he bats .280 and approaches 100 RBI with 25 HR, 25 SB stats, he will be a steal. Wright is going with the third pick, Gordon with the 135th. Yahoo! has Butler grossly misranked, and in a low to middle competitive league he will be there late. He should be owned in all leagues, since he serves as a reliable bench player due to OF/1B eligibility.

The pitching isn't anything to brag about, but you could do worse than Bannister and Greinke. I'd take both ahead of Meche, whose surprising season last year has less chance of repeating than either youngster has of breaking out.

Soria is a good guy to fill your bullpen with. He had great peripherals last year, and still was tagged as "inconsistent". As a former Rule 5 selection, he should improve heading into his sophomore season. Throw out May last year, and the rookie had only one month with a BAA above .208. He's falling in drafts because he's closing for a bad team, but with a Post-All Star WHIP of .80 and BAA of .183, he's very underrated.