The bulk of this column was drafted late last week, before the terrible news about Yordano Ventura. Part of me feels like these thoughts are insignificant and maybe they are or even maybe they were. That said, life and even the insignificance of baseball goes on. Spring Training will come whether we want it to or not and behind that will come the 2017 season.
With that, I will, as I have for many years, take a monthly look at what the Royals’ likely 25 man roster might be as we approach Opening Day. There is a big hole where Yordano Ventura’s name was, and only a part of it has anything to do with what he could do on the pitching mound. There is no getting around the existence of that void, but we will move forward nonetheless.
It is just late January. Not only have teams not even reported for Spring Training, but many are likely to continue to add to their player inventory. As such, projecting (i.e. guessing) what the Opening Day roster of the Kansas City Royals might be is problematical at best. I will take a stab today and a month from now and a couple of weeks after that and, shockingly, probably still won’t have it exactly right come April 3rd.
Let’s give it a shot anyway.
CATCHERS: Salvador Perez, Drew Butera
Barring injury, this is the biggest lock on the team as a unit. I don’t even know that there is anything to discuss, unless you feel like wringing your hands over a few hundred thousand too much spent to bring Butera back.
INFIELD: Eric Hosmer, Whit Merrifield, Alcides Escobar, Mike Moustakas, Christian Colon, Cheslor Cuthbert
There are three obvious ones here: Hosmer at first, Moustakas at third and Escobar at shortstop. Somebody has to play second (I think there is a rule about that) and I am sure the Royals would love it to be Raul Mondesi, but I’m skeptical that he is any more ready this spring as he was last summer. Whit Merrifield, Christian Colon and, at least in some minds, Cheslor Cuthbert are the other options. I think Merrifield makes the team on versatility alone and, if pressed, is the starting second basemen with Mondesi in Omaha to start the season. I think Cuthbert sticks as part of a designated hitter rotation. Colon? Well, he provides a better backup (not to be confused with ‘good’) option at shortstop. I would not put it beyond the Royals to break camp without a true backup to Escobar – they’ve done it before – but maybe we’ll save that for next month.
OUTFIELD: Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain, Jorge Soler, Paulo Orlando, Peter O’Brien
Again, three obvious ones (Gordon, Cain, Soler) and quite frankly it is hard to envision a world where Orlando is not a virtual roster lock as well. Sure, the odds that he hits .302 again are low, but he did enough and offers enough speed and defensive flexibility to warrant a spot now that Jarrod Dyson is gone. I have put Peter O’Brien on the roster, mostly out of hope that he connects often enough for the Royals to reap the benefits of his immense power at designated hitter.
STARTING ROTATION: Danny Duffy, Ian Kennedy, Jason Vargas, Nate Karns, Chris Young
I deleted the entire paragraph I had written for this last week and have a pit in my stomach writing this one. Duffy, Kennedy and Vargas are locks, and it is hard to envision that Kansas City traded Dyson for a guy they are not planning on having in the rotation. Chris Young? I know, I know. There is a stable of young arms on the rise…and Kyle Zimmer…but I am skeptical that any are ready to be in the Opening Day five, especially if you put Matt Strahm in the bullpen to start the year. In case you were wondering, the Royals need a fifth starter on Sunday, April 9th (the first Sunday of the season) and again the following Sunday, the 16th.
BULLPEN: Kelvin Herrera, Joakim Soria, Matt Strahm, Brian Flynn, Scott Alexander, Kevin McCarthy, Brandon League
We will go the traditional route and project a 12-man pitching staff to start the season. I can make a case, even with the early need for a fifth starter, for still being able to break camp with an 11-man unit (I make the same argument every year), but we’ll save it for next month. Right now, Herrera, Soria and Flynn are locks and, unless the Royals want Strahm to lengthen out in the minors, he’s a lock too. After that, it is a true crapshoot and likely will be effected by players not yet signed (Moylan, Holland, Hochevar or many others). I took the easy route, taking two guys in Alexander and McCarthy who saw action last year. My final pick is from the fleet of non-roster invitees. While it may not be League who comes back from oblivion, I will be shocked if someone like that does not break camp with the team. I mean, even when we were all doubting Dayton Moore’s ability as a general manager, the one thing he could always do is find a gem in the scrap heap.
So, there is your stab at twenty-five from here in the middle of the winter. The bullpen, obviously, is a moving picture and, sadly, the idea of Kansas City trying to find another starter is now front and center. That factor may result in lessening whatever appetite the team had to go get another bat and makes my guess on the position player side quite a bit more likely.
A lot is yet to transpire and a lot is suddenly in front of this organization to overcome. By this time next month, the picture will be different, but certainly not much clearer.