Kansas City Royals
Key Additions: Norichika Aoki, Omar Infante, Jason Vargas
Key Subtractions: David Lough, Will Smith Potential: Bruce Chen, Ervin Santana
Biggest Strength: Bullpen
Biggest Weakness: Run Scoring
Last season was supposed to be a step forward for the Royals and, largely, it was. For just the second time in 19 seasons, and the first since 2003, Kansas City finished above .500. The 86 wins were the organization’s most since 1989. So things are looking up for the franchise. This is the period when the team was really hoping to start to contend as they nurtured and developed their young prospects. Players like Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, and Salvador Perez have already contributed to the Major League club, but now with more experience, will be called upon to lead the charge toward playoff relevance. The lineup will look very similar to what it was in 2013, outside of second base and right field. The Royals signed Infante, and traded for Aoki to replace Lough, who turned in a nice rookie season. Infante will be a big upgrade over Chris Getz, while Aoki could provide some much needed power, but will still add to the team’s strength: speed. Kansas City led all of baseball with 153 stolen bases last season, and had eight players with at least 10 steals. Conversely, though, the team was third-worst with just 112 home runs. It all resulted in just 648 runs, which was actually the fewest for the team since 1995.
The pitching staff is what carried the Royals in 2013 and that could be the case this year, too. The bullpen’s 2.55 ERA was the best in the American League by a wide margin, led by closer Greg Holland. Holland’s 47 saves were second-most in baseball, and his 1.21 ERA was second-lowest among closers. He will return, along with nearly all the relievers who were a part of that great bullpen. The rotation, meanwhile, has a couple more potential holes, but is still led by James Shields. Vargas will join Jeremy Guthrie in the middle part of the rotation, but it’s the back two spots that are more questionable. Youngster Danny Duffy will get a chance to prove himself out of the gate and Wade Davis will look to improve on last year. If they can, this team could challenge for a playoff spot.
