Modest Proposal

There's a freedom in managing the 2011 Royals, one that Ned Yost should exploit. Not only are they likely to be the worst team in the AL, but also few players on the current roster will be part of the contender that Kansas City figures to be in 2013 and beyond. (Only Joakim Soria and Billy Butler are even signed for 2012.) Yost should experiment with styles this year: maybe use a four-man rotation, or a 1970s-style bullpen with five men throwing longer outings and less attention paid to lefty-righty matchups. He could use the roster spots he would save to implement aggressive platooning at four or five positions. Tactically, he could try innovative defensive alignments based on spray charts of opposition batters. He can also use 2011 to work on his own game. Yost lost his job as manager of the Brewers in 2008 in no small part because he was a poor tactician whose bad decisions cost Milwaukee critical games in a pennant race. If Yost improves in that department, he might not meet the same fate when the Royals need wins a lot more than they will this year.