MVN - Most Valuable Network

Odd Men Out

The Kansas City Royals have a ‘quirky’ roster. It has been that way since Opening Day: no backup shortstop or backup centerfielder, three leftfielders, a utility man who can’t play defense but hits like a DH and six, soon to be eight starting pitchers. The names have begun changing, but the makeup remains the same.

Despite injuries to Ryan Shealy and now Reggie Sanders, the organization did little to adjust the roster imbalance (although who didn’t want to see Billy Butler in KC?). With the impending return of up to four veteran pitchers, something’s gotta give…and soon.

The Rotation
For starters, Gil Meche and Jorge DeLa Rosa are not going anywhere. Watching those two toss in the last two games should give every fan hope for the future. Meche is simply the best pitcher the Royals have thrown out on the mound since Kevin Appier.

Odalis Perez is not the pitcher he was five years ago (when he was a LOT like Kevin Appier, by the way). He is arguably the weakest link in the five man rotation right now, but is also unlikely to be shifted to the pen. First off, his stuff simply does not translate well into a relief role, nor does his mentality. Odalis would likely be a clubhouse problem if demoted, too. Now, you might say ’so what?’ to that, but on a young team like this, I don’t think we need to have clubhouse turmoil.

Brian Bannister IS one of the odd men out. When Scott Elarton comes back after his next rehab start, Bannister will be sent down to Omaha. It’s nothing Brian has done. In fact, he has pitched fine, but he is the young guy with options. A month or two back in AAA while the Royals market veteran starters will not measurably effect Bannister.

Marketing veteran starters is where Scott Elarton comes in. Like Perez, his stuff is not really ‘bullpen stuff’ and he has not pitched in relief exactly once this decade, so that (combined with Buddy Bell’s apparent admiration and affection for him) means that Elarton will be in the rotation. It makes sense, you cannot trade a starting pitcher to a contender if he is not even in your own rotation.

Think there is not a market for guys like Perez and Elarton? Well, assuming both are able to pitch consistently into the sixth inning while giving up four runs and watch. You think the Yankees and their big offense would not kill for someone that can keep them close for six innings? The Royals still won’t get rich in prospects from either, but they will get more than burying either in the bullpen where they will both be unhappy and ineffective.

That brings us to Zack Greinke and Luke Hudson.

GREINKE ON THE MOVE? (Charlie Riedel/AP)

All Hudson did as a starter in 2006 was post 13 quality starts out of 15 appearances. I thought the Royals might toy with putting Luke in the bullpen; particularly with Brandon Duckworth doing so well in relief after a similar move. However, all the rumblings from Bell and Dayton Moore lead me to believe Hudson is back in the rotation once he complets another rehab start. That puts the bullseye squarely on young Zack.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Scouts have raved about Greinke’s stuff this year and he has been impressive at times. Still, Zack has struggled as of late - not Brian Anderson/Darrel May implosive struggling, but struggling nonetheless. I do not believe there is anything to be learned in Triple A ball, but that is an option. However, the idea of Greinke coming out of the pen intrigues me a little. Would the thought of possibly pitching four times a week make the rather flaky Greinke a little more mentally sharp? Would such a move harm his development as a future cornerstone of the rotation? Those are questions that will be asked an answered in the next couple of weeks. It will be interesting to see what ends up happening on this front.

The Bullpen
I have ended up being more wordy than I originally thought, so we’ll make this one brief.

Octavio Dotel and lefty John Bale both appear to be on their way back this month. It’s really simple: Dotel will be the closer, Bale and Soria will be the setup men, Duckworth will slide into a 6th/7th inning slot - possibly with Greinke if he’s moved to the pen. Neal Musser will make the drive up I-29 to Omaha once more, probably with Joel Peralta tagging along (he doesn’t deserve it, but it’s a numbers thing).

Sure, Jimmy Gobble and Todd Wellemeyer are still in the pen, but even with them that projects as a pretty solid unit.

Those Pesky Position Players
Ryan Shealy is hurt and the Royals will take as long as possible to rehab him in an attempt to get the first baseman of the future’s confidence and stroke back. Up came Billy Butler who has immediately become the everyday left fielder. Billy, by the way, ain’t giving leftfield back.

Yesterday, Reggie Sanders went on the diabled list with a hamstring tear. No matter when he returns, that pretty much makes Reggie a Royal for the remainder of 2007. After all, if there was not a market for a 39 year old rightfielder before, how much is there going to be for one with a bad hammy? Curiously, the Royals opted to recall Shane Costa to take Sanders’ spot.

Now, I am a Costa guy. I think the Shane could be a doubles hitting machine and he was basically taking batting practice against AAA pitching for the second straight year. Sure, he is marginal in the field - although he has good range - and Costa gets pull happy at times and will spend weeks grounding out to second base, but the kid also was the Royals best player in April 2006, has some pop and will certainly hold his own as a fourth outfielder.

What I do not get is, what are the Royals going to do with him? Butler and DeJesus are not going to sit down. Teahen is not moving to third, because Alex Gordon is not going anywhere. Costa might get a day or two when Sweeney sits, but then what about Emil Brown?

Oh, what about our old friend Lime?

EMIL BROWN LOOKING FOR A NEW HOME? (Kevin P. Casey/AP)

have to get Berroa in the lineup. Who else just got chills up their spines?

Bottom line, what we know is that, after a month of relative quiet, the roster is going to go through some rather major gyrations during the month of May. That is nothing new for this organization. Once more, however, these moves just feel different than in the past. Let’s hope they actually are.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 4th, 2007 at 6:13 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.