CNN/SI Preview: Kansas City Royals
Posted: Friday March 12, 1999 12:54 PM
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Appier was the Royals' Opening Day starter from 1991-97. Otto Greule Jr./Allsport |
By Dan George, CNN/SI The key player for the Royals in 1999 probably won't even be
with the team on Opening Day. Kansas City is turning to youth and as a
result Kevin Appier, the Royals' ace of the '90s, is on the trading block.
The hitch is that Appier, after averaging 13 1/2 victories from
1990 through 1996, has won just 10 games the past two seasons because of
injuries, including a broken collarbone that sidelined him for most of '98.
When he did pitch, the result was an uninspiring 1-2 mark with a 7.82 ERA
in 15 innings. That, along with his $4.8 million salary, is enough to give
potential suitors pause. But Appier, 31, is willing to waive his
no-trade clause for the chance to pitch for a contender, and if the
hard-throwing right-hander continues to look good in training camp he'll
almost certainly leave Kansas City behind. Both Cleveland and Boston are
said to be interested, and prospects like the Indians' Russell Branyan or
the Red Sox's Dernell Stenson would be a lot more important to a rebuilding
team like K.C. than an aging -- and expensive -- veteran. 1998
Recap (72-89, 3rd place, AL Central) The good news for Royals fans
was that Kansas City avoided another last-place finish. But that's about
all they could expect of a team whose top players were second-tier hitters
like Dean
Palmer, Jeff
King, Jose
Offerman and Hal Morris, and
journeymen pitchers like Tim Belcher and
Pat Rapp.
True, Palmer hit 34 homers with a career-high 119 RBIs, but
Offerman was a defensive liability at second, King's numbers (24 HRs, 93
RBIs .263) paled besides those of other AL first basemen and Morris may
have been the most innocuous .309 hitter in recent history. And nobody
mistook Belcher and Rapp -- whose combined 26 victories were accompanied by
a 4.72 ERA -- for Maddux and Glavine. All but King are gone now,
and none will be terribly missed. But GM Herk Robinson could have traded
some or all of them to contenders for prospects during the season. Instead,
he focused on avoiding the cellar. So they became free agents at season's
end, and K.C. ended up with nothing -- except for that sterling finish 16
1/2 games back of the Indians. 1999 Outlook
Popular wisdom is that the Royals - who invited a franchise-record 69
players to spring training -- will be the worst team in baseball this
season. A 500,000-to-1 shot to win the World Series. A lock to lose 100
games. But wait a minute -- aren't the Twins still in the AL Central? And
isn't Jaime
Navarro still the White Sox ace? The Royals of manager Tony
Muser will be young in '99, very young. Three rookies -- center fielder
Carlos Beltran, second baseman Carlos Febles and DH Jeremy Giambi -- are
expected to win starting jobs. K.C. may be rushing them, but all have
offensive potential. If Robinson can unload King and his $4 million salary,
25-year-old left fielder Johnny Damon
could be the team's senior everyday player.
Appier's
departure would make Jose Rosado, 24,
the ace; he struggled last season but reportedly threw well in winter ball.
Lefty Glendon
Rusch, starting his second full season in Kansas City, is also just 24.
Former Stanford pitching star Jeff Austin, K.C.'s top draft pick in 1998,
may be in the rotation by midseason, and one-time Red Sox pitching phenom
Jeff Suppan
will also get a good look. Veterans like first baseman/outfielder
Jeff Conine,
catcher Chad Kreuter and closer Jeff
Montgomery add a necessary touch of experience. Expect the
Royals to be very rough around the edges this season, but Muser is
promising a lot of hustle and enthusiasm. A couple of breaks here and
there, and another third-place finish isn't out of the question. This time,
though, it could be the start of something good.
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