SI's 2009 MLB Scouting Reports

Choose a Team Main page Arizona Diamondbacks Atlanta Braves Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox Chicago Cubs Chicago White Sox Cincinnati Reds Cleveland Indians Colorado Rockies Detroit Tigers Florida Marlins Houston Astros Kansas City Royals Los Angeles Angels Los Angeles Dodgers Milwaukee Brewers Minnesota Twins New York Mets New York Yankees Oakland Athletics Philadelphia Phillies Pittsburgh Pirates San Diego Padres San Francisco Giants Seattle Mariners St. Louis Cardinals Tampa Bay Rays Texas Rangers Toronto Blue Jays Washington Nationals Main page

Kansas City Royals

SI Prediction: 5th in AL Central

On the verge of stardom, Greinke re-signed because he saw a franchise heading in the same direction. Brad Mangin/SI FAST FACTS Manager Trey Hillman Second season with Royals Team Page | 2009 Schedule THE NUMBERS LIE | DON'T LIE 27 Combined victories by Gil Meche and Zack Greinke last season, the highest win total for two Royals hurlers in the same season in 12 years. Meche, mocked for the five-year, $55 million deal he signed before the '07 season, is one of only seven pitchers (CC Sabathia, Roy Halladay, Johan Santana, Brandon Webb, Dan Haren and James Shields are the others) to have thrown at least 210 innings in each of the last two seasons. CONSIDER THIS Trading for Mike Jacobs in October was a curious move given the Royals' logjam at the corners and general manager Dayton Moore's stated desire to improve the team's on-base percentage (.320, third worst in the AL). Jacobs has a career .318 OBP and a full-season high of .325; last year he struck out nearly five times for every unintentional walk he drew. Jacobs is the lefthanded version of Jose Guillen, and the last thing the Royals needed was another player with that skill set. K.C. would be better off putting 25-year-old Kila Ka'ahiue at first base. He has a career .380 OBP in the minors and discovered his power stroke last season, hitting 37 homers in Double A and Triple A combined. He's also a better defensive player than Jacobs, who was rated as one of the worst glove men in the majors last year. BATTING ORDER POS. PLAYER B-T PVR BA HR RBI SB CF Coco Crisp S-R 123 .283 7 41 20 LF David DeJesus L 143 .307 12 73 11 2B Mark Teahen L-R 161 .255 15 59 4 RF Jose Guillen R 119 .264 20 97 2 1B Mike Jacobs L-R 103 .247 32 93 1 DH Billy Butler R 170 .275 11 55 0 3B Alex Gordon L-R 158 .260 16 59 9 C Miguel Olivo R 177 .255 12 41 7 SS Mike Aviles R 131 .325 10 51 8 BENCH POS. PLAYER B-T PVR BA HR RBI SB IF Alberto Callaspo S-R 322 .305 0 16 2 IF-OF Willie Bloomquist R 316 .279 0 9 14 ROTATION PITCHER PVR W L K/9 WHIP ERA RH Gil Meche 58 14 11 7.8 1.32 3.98 RH Zack Greinke 46 13 10 8.1 1.28 3.47 RH Kyle Davies 126 9 7 5.7 1.45 4.06 LH Horacio Ramirez 278 1 4 3.1 1.45 4.34 RH Luke Hochevar 205 6 12 5.0 1.47 5.51 BULLPEN PITCHER PVR W SV K/9 WHIP ERA RH Joakim Soria 20 2 42 8.8 0.86 1.60 RH Kyle Farnsworth 239 2 1 9.1 1.68 4.48 RH Juan Cruz 246 4 0 12.4 1.26 2.61

The last time Zack Greinke received an award from the Royals, he could not help but view it as a joke. It was in 2004, after his rookie season, when he was named the club's pitcher of the year despite his not-especially-imposing 8-11 record and 3.97 ERA. What made the award even more disconcerting was that no other Kansas City pitcher was even close. Every other starter had an ERA of 5.58 or higher. "They wanted me to come to a luncheon to get the award," Greinke says. "I was like, Yeah, whatever. I came, but it didn't mean anything."

Greinke believes that times have changed for the franchise, and he can point to the team awards for 2008 as a starting point. Greinke had something of a breakthrough season, winning a career-high 13 games while placing fifth in the AL in strikeouts (183) and 10th in ERA (3.47) -- but it wasn't good enough to make him pitcher of the year. That award went to closer Joakim Soria, who had 42 saves and a 1.60 ERA. And if it had not been Soria, the award might have gone to Gil Meche, who won 14 games and was one of the best pitchers in baseball in his last 20 starts (11-3, 3.16 ERA, 120 K's in 128 innings).

The vastly improved pitching, along with a $25 million spike in payroll, has made Greinke such a believer in the Royals' future that he signed a four-year, $38 million extension. "I'm not saying we're going to win the World Series," Greinke says. "I'm saying that the talent level is here for us to contend."

Kansas City won 75 games in 2008 -- the most in five years -- and general manager Dayton Moore brought in several veterans he hopes will jump-start the team to contender status in '09. He traded for Boston centerfielder Coco Crisp, who adds speed plus defensive range in the biggest outfield in the AL. He traded for Florida first baseman Mike Jacobs, who had a .299 on-base percentage a year ago but hit 32 home runs in a tough hitter's park, Dolphin Stadium.

Moore also signed hard-throwing free-agent relievers Kyle Farnsworth and Juan Cruz, giving the bullpen three relievers (including Soria) who have averaged around a strikeout per inning. "We want to make it a six-inning game," Moore says, "and you do that with power arms in the bullpen."

For the Royals to contend for only the second time in 15 years, the biggest key may be Greinke. He was the consensus choice as the best pitching prospect in baseball in 2003, and he pitched relatively well his rookie year. Things took a dramatic turn after that. He went 5-17 with a 5.80 ERA in his second year, and in spring training '06 he left the team to deal with personal issues. The way Greinke describes it, he did not feel comfortable around people, and even common tasks caused him distress. He spent most of '06 in the minor leagues and much of '07 in the bullpen. After he began taking prescribed medication, Greinke says that he began to come to grips with his emotions.

Then he had his solid 2008 season and left no question about his stuff: He had command of a mid-90s fastball and threw a plus slider. This spring he worked on a changeup that could make him one of a handful of true aces in the game.

And, for the first time, Greinke says he really believes in this team. Should he? The offense is still a bit deficient (though big-time prospects Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer are on the way), the infield defense could be shaky, and the bottom half of the rotation is a mystery. "If things go right, we could be really good," Greinke says. "Thing is, we're good enough that if things go wrong, we should still finish around .500. That's different from the last few years."

-- Joe Posnanski

Issue date: April 6, 2009