Royal Reconstruction In Kansas City Will Work

We all know that the Kansas City Royals are a big-time laughing stock throughout the league this year, but don't expect that 3-5 years from now. Sources say that they are going to dump all the veterans at the all-star break, which is very interesting. A possible contender like the Philadelphia Phillies is in desperate need of starting pitching, likewise the Tigers now that Mike Maroth is down for quite some time. Those two teams and a handful of others are going to be on the phone often up to the All-Star break trying to acquire Mark Redman and Scott Elarton. They are both experienced and can be vital #4 or #5 starters in a team's rotations. The foundation is set for Kansas City and Alex Gordon and Billy Butler lead the way. Alex Gordon is well known for his $7,500 baseball card, but he is very good baseball player as well. He was the top pick by the Royals in 2005 and is expected to be a dependable major leaguer throughout his career. Billy Butler (OF) is another really good player. Last season, split between A and AA, he had 30 HR's and 100 RBI. Butler has great size at 6'2 225 and can play OF, 1B or 3B. They also have Shane Costa (OF) in the minors, who got 81 AB's in the major's last year and is a well rounded player. As for the Royals pitching prospects, they wear thin. Jimmy Gobble is just 24 and has a ton of major league experience, and J.P. Howell is another highly thought of prospect. Their top young reliever is Ambiorix Burgos who is a tremendous talent that has been holding his own at the MLB level this season. Hopefully for the Royals sake, 5 years from now, they might look like this.

• 1. SS Angel Berroa
• 2. 3B Alex Gordon
• 3. LF Billy Butler
• 4. C John Buck
• 5. CF Chris Lubanski
• 6. 1B Justin Huber
• 7. 2B Mike Aviles
• 8. DH Shane Costa
• 9. RF Jose Duarte

Pitching:

• 1. Jimmy Gobble
• 2. Zach Greinke
• 3. J.P. Howell
• 4. Runelvys Hernandez
• 5. Luis Cota
• CL: Ambiorix Burgos

And obviously, future drafts and free agency will play a major role in my projected lineup and rotation.

-Buf

Source

• Street and Smith's
• eBay

Date

Sun 06/04/06, 6:09 pm EST

DNLLegend

1282 days ago

Score 1

KC is dead until they realize that kids have to play. With the Begyourpardon duo on the right side of the infield, the Royals are managing to block prospects. So, so stupid.

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SteaksammichRed-Shirting

1282 days ago

Score 2

The Royals do have a couple of potential impact players...but their farm system is in almost as bad a shape as their major league club. There's very little depth and absolutely nothing in the way of impact arms in the minors. Dumping the vets at the all-star break would be a good move (not signing them in the first place would've been a better move), but they're not going to get much at all in return for guys like Elarton who are less than mediocre. The Royals are in trouble now and they are in trouble 3-5 years from now. Unless they completely change the way they do business they're not going to amount to much of anything.

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Bball3345Draft Pick

1282 days ago

Score 3

About three or four years ago, I tried to take the same optimistic approach with the Pirates. They had a TON of minor leaugue arms(Sean Burnett, John VanBenSchoten, Brian Bullington, Ian Snell, etc.) all to be ready for the 2006 season. Well, it is the 2006 season now and they have all been hurt or turned out to be flops. Also, the Pirates front office has never committed to rebuilding; instead, they bring in one-year rentals like Burnitz, Lofton, Sanders (kind of like the Royals). With organizations as incompetent as Pittsburgh and KC, it is silly to expect them to make the right moves to bring the team over the hump in three-five years. They always will find a way to mess it up.

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XinophDraft Pick

1282 days ago

Score 1

"a laughing stock this year" - is the "this year" really necessary? Seriously, if their prospects pan out and they actually keep them, you may be right. But it can be very difficult, both for the franchise and the fans, to be entirely focused on rebuilding at the minor league level and not have a competitive major league teamn in the meantime.

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