The deadline for the roster was today as teams are protecting minor league talent from the upcoming Rule 5 draft.

The Royals filled their roster by selecting the contracts of infielder Jeff Bianchi, outfielders Jarrod Dyson and Jordan Parraz, catcher Manuel Pina and right-handed pitcher Blake Wood from the Omaha (AAA) roster.

Most of these additions aren't surprising.  Bianchi was finally healthy last summer and hit .308/.358/.435 splitting time between High-A and Double-A.  Parraz was obtained for Tyler Lumsden and hit .348/.432/.541 in Double-A and Triple-A.  Pina arrived in the Danny Guttierez deal and projects to be a solid defensive catcher.  Wood struggled last year, but has the command that can help him be successful.  I guess a surprise would be Dyson, a former 50th round pick (2006), is a guy only Dayton Moore could love - a speedy outfielder with zero power.

Dyson was protected at the expense of Chris "Disco" Hayes.  I'm not surprised the Royals didn't protect Disco, but the Dyson choice is really kind of strange.

To make room on the 40-man roster, the Royals outrighted right-handed pitchers Devon Lowery and Doug Waechter to Omaha.  Both can elect free agency beginning tomorrow.  In addition, the Royals designated infielder Tug Hulett for assignment and requested Unconditional Release Waivers on right-handed pitcher Julio Pimentel.

Lowery and Waechter are fillers. Both will probably elect free agency, but the Royals can bring them back if they're interested.  Both have had injury issues.  Hulett was surplus after the Royals traded for Chris Getz.  (Although Hulett was surplus last year, as well.)  I'm certain he'll pass through waivers.  And Pimentel was injured all of last year.

Because I don't do this often enough...

Let's start with some takes on this week's big news... The signing of Brad Thompson to a minor league contract.  Gotcha!  How about some Zack Greinke links?

-- Allard Baird was justifiably proud of his former first round draft pick.

“I knew,” Baird said, “we had to do what was right for this kid. He was going to be a father one day, and a husband, and a grandfather. So, baseball, when this went down, it was a lot bigger than that. We had to think about the person over the player."

Damn.  Baird did a few stupid things in his tenure as the Royals GM, but quotes like that make me forget about Neifi Perez.  Almost.

-- Greinke pays attention to his FIP.  Wow.  Seriously, if he figures out how to incorporate advanced statistics into his approach, the 2009 Cy Young could be his first of many.

-- Of course, we all want to know how Greinke put together such an outstanding season.  I'm just guessing here, but perhaps it had something to do with his curve and his slider.

-- More Greinke salutes at Kings of Kauffman, Royalscentricity and Royally Speaking.

-- I offer a few additional thoughts at Baseball Daily Digest.

Obviously, the Greinke story was huge, but there's plenty of other stuff to keep your interest.  Check out some of these:

--  Just 88 days until pitchers and catchers report.  The Royals unveiled their 2010 Spring Training schedule.  Time to plan your Arizona vacation.

--  Fangraphs Marc Hulett unveils his Top Ten Royals Prospects.  Mike Moustakas is number two.  Doesn't he know Moose is huge?

--  The Royals Review community prospect list is underway.  Mike Montgomery was the number one choice, and voting is now open for number two.

--  David Pinto at Baseball Musings is undertaking the huge task of writing about every player who appeared in a major league game last summer.  Here are his posts on Josh Anderson and Mike Aviles.

Money quote on Anderson:

Somehow, in 2009, he played in 118 games despite posting a slash line of .240/.276/.304. It’s not a surprise he ended up with the Royals.

-- One of my favorite parts of the winter is when the projections for the next year start rolling out.  Chone is one of the first out of the gate.  The Royals aren't looking so hot.

-- Hey, have you guys heard about the All-Star Game coming to Kansas City in 2012?  That's probably not going to happen, since Ken Rosenthal says the players will probably be on strike.

--  Zach Sanders spells his first name wrong, but does a crackerjack job in charge at the new MLB Notebook.  It's a great place for some general baseball info.  Check them out.

--  Don't forget to follow us on Twitter.

This coming Friday is the deadline for teams to set their 40 man rosters for the off-season.  The exemptions for players on the sixty day disabled list go away, which puts the mighty Bruce Chen back on the roster as 'man number forty'.   Of course, the relevant part of this deadline is that the 40 man roster is also the protected list from the upcoming Rule 5 Draft.  

Briefly, any minor league player who is not on his organization's forty man roster and has four seasons of minor league experience is eligible to be plucked from the organization, so long as the drafting team is willing to carry said player on their major league roster for all of 2010.   There is a exemption for players who were eighteen years old or younger at the time they were signed:  those players must have five years of minor league service time to be subject to the Rule 5.

That last line is a critical one to remember and important to the Royals as it (by my calculations) means that Jeff Bianchi is exempt from the Rule 5 for one more season as he signed just a few months prior to turning nineteen.

If Bianchi is safe, then who among the position players is not?   Obviously, we could come up with quite a list of players, but most would be unlikely to garner even fleeting interest from other clubs or even trigger a memory in many of our minds.   There are some 'organizational' names you will recognize such as Josh Johnson, Chris McConnell, Ed Lucas, Jose Duarte and Irving Falu.    You might be looking for Chris Lubanski, but he has reached the point of being a minor league free agent.  

None of those guys has the resume to entice a team to draft AND carry them for a full season.   Nor do any of them have the talent or potential to take up a roster spot protecting them.   

One player might, however, and that guy is outfielder Jordan Parraz.      Now, Parraz has one season (2009) above A ball, but he posted outstanding numbers between AA and AAA:  .348/.432/.541/.973.   To be honest, I am not sure anyone would bite on Parraz, but why take the risk when you have the likes of Luis Hernandez and a raft of relievers I can no longer bear to even mention taking up roster space?

So, the Royals should protect Parraz, say at the expense of Luis Hernandez just for talking purposes.   Now, how about the pitchers?

Pitching is often the place were teams are willing to gamble with a major league roster spot for a full season.   Even if your Rule 5 draftee does not turn into Johan Santana or Joakim Soria, he might well be at least serviceable ala D.J. Carrasco or Andy Sisco.   Given that, the Royals have a number of hurlers who might draw some attention.

The most notable of names is submarining, blogger Chris Hayes.   Although Hayes was only average in 49 innings of AAA work, his dominance in a season and a half at AA.   His unconvential delivery only makes Hayes worthy of protecting.   With the likes of Devon Lowery, Doug Waechter, Jamey Wright and Chen on the 40 man roster, the Royals can certainly drop one to make room for Hayes.

In my opinion, the Hayes decision was the easy one.  What about two other relievers:  Chris Nicoll and Gilbert de la Vara.

The Royals actually lost de la Vara to the Rule 5 last year and he came within a couple of spots of making the Astros before being returned.   Gilbert struggled in 2009, giving up 83 hits in 64 innings of AA ball and posting the worst strikeout to walk ratio of his career.   A team might gamble on him, but if I were the Royals, I would let them.   That does not mean that de la Vara should not be kept around if he is not taken, but simply that the world would not end if he was.

I kind of have this gut feeling that I think more of Chris Nicoll than most watchers of the Royals' minor league system.   After imploding as a starter in 2007, Nicoll rebounded as a reliever in 2008 and posting a 1.15 WHIP and 4.52 SO/BB ratio.   While 2009 was not as impressive, it was still solid.   Chris struck out 58 hitters in 61 innings of AA work before getting promoted to AAA and being lit up in five games as a starter.

The Omaha Royals basically ran out of starting pitchers at the end of last season and were forced to press Nicoll into service.  My guess is that some other organizations (hopefully including the Royals) will discount the AAA experience and consider Nicoll as a decent gamble as the last guy in their major league bullpen.   Given the names I listed at the end of Chris Hayes' paragraph above, is there any reason not to protect Nicoll?

 It is probably relevant to point out that two AA starters are also eligible for selection:  Blake Johnson and Matt Kinginyzky.   Neither warrants protection as it is unlikely someone will burn a 25 man spot on either.

So, in my world, the Royals should move to protect Jordan Parraz, Chris Nicoll and Chris Hayes at the expense of Luis Hernandez, Devon Lowery and Bruce Chen (or pick you generic veteran arm).  By the weekend, we will know what Dayton Moore and staff actually do.

It's official.  Zack Greinke is your 2009 American League Cy Young Award winner.

Here's how the voting went:

So he wasn't a unanimous number one.  Big freaking deal.  He got the most points and that's all that counts.  I'll leave someone else to do put the pitchfork to the three who didn't give him their first place vote.

In many ways, Greinke’s award is not only a validation of his excellent season, it’s a validation of what we went through as fans in 2009.  Or at least, that’s what it feels like to me.  As a group, all of us have been so excited by theprospect of Greinke winning the Cy Young.  We wished each other Happy Greinke Day on his starts and hung letters for ZacKKKKKK to celebrate his punch-outs.  How many of you, once the season was over for the Royals (according to the calendar, not the standings) immediately went to the calendar and circled this date?

I did.

That’s because in 2009, Zack Greinke meant everything to the fan base of the Royals.  His starts were special.  Part of the reason is because he was so damn great.  Obviously.  However, another part I think has to do with his journey.  The guy went to hell and back.  He quit baseball and wanted to do nothing more than eat Chipotle and mow lawns.  Then he came back.  He wobbled at times and even when he returned, we weren’t really sure if he would ever be able to put everything together and realize his awesome potential. 

Damn, how many times have we seen the spectacular flameouts over the last 20 years?  Guys like Joe Vitiello, Jeff Austin, Michael Tucker and Kyle Snyder.  All were high draft picks and all bombed out in one way or another.  We knew from the start that Greinke was different, but despite the gap in talent, we weren’t sure how this story would play out.  Greinke had all the tools to be a stud pitcher in the major leagues.  That was obvious from the moment he arrived.  What wasn’t so obvious was if he had the mentality to focus and harness those talents to become a quality pitcher. 

So maybe that’s why we’re so heavily invested in the success of Zack Greinke.  His story isn’t so different from so many of ours:  He didn’t like his job, left, came back, was still unsure about his place and then, at some point, gained a clarity and focus.  And found success.

That’s what makes his story so great.  He walked away from the game.  Walked away.  And thanks to the efforts of Buddy Bell and Allard Baird, Greinke was slowly brought back into the fold - on his terms and his timetable.  I’m not a fan of either Bell or Baird, but I sure as hell respect the way they handled the kid during his darkest times.  I hope they are having a little celebration of their own today, because I will always be convinced that without their patience and understanding from a few years ago, Grienke wouldn’t be at the top of his profession today. 

I’m not gonna lie… The 2009 season was my most difficult as a fan.  The bone-headed trades, the condescending attitude from the front office, the manager who is unbelievably dense, watching Yuniesky Betancourt play defense, and loss after loss… This was simply a horrible season.  From the moment Kyle Farnsworth grooved a fastball to Jim Thome in April to watching Mark Teahen misplay a fly ball in the Metrodome in October, this season was a comedy of errors.  It was the worst fundamental baseball I’ve ever seen.

Yet, I couldn’t wait for every fifth day to roll around because it was Greinke Day. 

Answer this question:  What would you have done if Greinke wasn’t on the Royals this year?  Wow.  That’s just a scary thought.  A similar question would be something like, “What would things be like without the sun?”  Or, “Imagine you’ve never eaten pizza.”

Some things you just don’t want to contemplate.  Greinke not pitching is one of them.

He salvaged a portion of this unsalvagable season.  He was the only reason to watch this otherwise wretched team.  He mattered.  By extension, he made us care.  Even if it was only six times a month, we cared.  I watched game 161 as if it were a freaking playoff game.  I wanted to smash my TV when Willie Bloomquist hobbled after that ball down the left field line and when Teahen took that bizarre route in right field that cost Greinke the win and the shot at posting the sub 2.00 ERA.  My team is 20 games out of first and I’m hanging on every pitch on the second to last game of the season.  Why?  Because Greinke matters.

I bounce back and forth between the relevance of the BBWAA awards.  Sometimes, the writers get these awards horribly, horribly wrong.  Other times, they show some surprising insight and savvy and make a quality selection.  The fear - and it was real - was Greinke could be denied this award because of his paucity of wins.  Just insane really, unless these writers are voting for best pitcher for fantasy baseball, wins are a an irrelevant stat for pitchers.  Today, most of those writers - enough to give Greinke the most points - made the correct selection.  I applaud them.  Today. 

Greinke has been justly rewarded for his outstanding season, but it’s as if we’ve all been rewarded.  As fans, we always feel a connection to those who wear the blue, but I think our connection to Grienke runs deeper than usual.  We know where he’s come from.  And now we know where he’s going.  Happy Greinke Day.

Thanks, Zack.

Today is the big day.  I don't have to tell you this.  You already know it.

In preparation, I offer a photo essay of Greinke's 2009 season.

The Extension:

The SI Cover:

The All-Star Game:

The Ace:

The Campaign:

THE NEXT STOP:

....to make a deal.

Dayton Moore has made public statements that the Royals are ready to make deals:  preferably through trades for players with zero to three years service time.

The Mark Teahen to Chicago deal was a perfect example of this philosophy.   You trade an at best average player who is starting to cost real money for two younger players with very little service time.   Sure, you run the risk that Teahen suddenly finds 2006 again, but that appears unlikely at this point.   You also run a risk of both Chris Getz and Josh Fields never panning out, but in the end, all the Royals have done is give up a year of average service on a player who they likely would not pursue in free agency to gamble on two younger players.

So, with one trade down, what would it take to for you to pull the trigger on some of the more likely trade commodities on the roster?

David DeJesus

I don't buy the argument that DeJesus is 'really just a fourth outfielder', particularly given that he was the best leftfielder in the American League Central last year.   Is he a superstar?  Certainly not.   Is he untouchable?  Definitely not.  

The problem with DeJesus is that his value to the Royals is probably high enough that the return in trade simply does not match up.  While David's contract is still reasonable, it has reached the point of not being a bargain anymore.   This is a player that is better defenisvely at his position (left field) than any other Royal is at his position.   He will post an OPS right around .800 every year, miss 20 games or so and reach the low double figures in home runs.   DeJesus is okay, above league average, but not good enough for a team to part with a top level prospect to get him.

What would it take for me to move DeJesus?  A near major league ready centerfielder who is a top tier prospect or a similar player who played in AA last year, plus a secondary prospect.  I think it is unlikely that a team parts with that booty to get a couple of years of DeJesus.  

For the Royals, somebody has to be on base in front of Billy Butler's bat.  It might as well be DeJesus.

Alberto Callaspo

The rumors of Callaspo for AAA catcher A.J. Ellis has quieted and that is simply not enough in return for a  guy who can really hit.

Still, Callaspo is a horrible defender at second base and his lack of instincts and hands makes me skeptical of a rumored move to third base.   The same lack of instincts and, in this case, foot-speed, seems to make Alberto a poor candidate for an outfield position.   All this would not be such a huge issue if Callaspo was surrounded by good defensive players as opposed to, well, the Royals.

There are two questions with regard to trading Callaspo.  One, would a good defensive team be willing to absorb his poor defense to Callaspo's bat into their lineup?  Two, do you think the power Callapso showed in 2009 is for real?   If the answer to either of those questions is 'yes', then trading Alberto is doable and advisable.

If the return for Callaspo is a long time minor league catcher who plays good defense but has never hit well outside of hitter's ballparks (aka A.J. Ellis), then the Royals would likely be ahead to make Callaspo their everyday DH, bat him second and see if he continues to be a .300 hitter who bangs out fifty plus extra base hits.

Now, if the return is a legitimate catching prospect ready for major league action or an A.J. Ellis type PLUS a mid-level outfield prospect, then I think it is a reasonable risk to take.   

I think the chances are relatively good that Callaspo is in a different uniform next season.  The odds that Dayton Moore pulls the trigger on the right kind of deal (or is even offered such a deal for that matter) are less than 50-50.

Gil Meche

The likely return for Meche prior to 2009 was probably about double what it is right now.   Most teams are going to consider Gil damaged goods until he can prove that the abuse suffered at the hands of Trey Hillman in the summer of 2009 had no long-term effects.

For the Royals, you have to get a starting pitching prospect back, plus at least two other minor leaguers to even start talking about moving Meche.   Right now, they won't get this kind of deal.

I don't like the idea of trading Meche simply because no one else in the organization but Gil and Zack Greinke haves the capability to put up 200+ innings with an sub-four earned run average in 2010.  

The wise move is to keep Meche to start the season.   If he's healthy and effective and the Royals find themselves buried once more on July 1st, then Meche will be a hot commodity at the trade deadline.    There is no reason for Dayton Moore to part ways with Gil for a bargain price at this point in time.

Jose Guillen

The only trade is going to be of the 'here's our malcontent overpaid player for your malcontent overpaid player'.  There has been some Guillen for Milton Bradley talk, but I think that's all speculation.   There is too much bad history between Bradley and the Royals for this to work.

Again, Guillen might well have more value (i.e. some value) by the trade deadline.   The Royals are on the hook for twelve million dollars no matter what so it is probably worth their while to put up with at least a couple months of Jose just to see if he actually hits the ball for a change.

Simply cutting Guillen in November does not make much sense.   If he's causing trouble and covering about fourteen square feet in rightfield come June 1st, then you cut him.

Trade?  I'd listen to any offer made, but I doubt there will be many, if any at all.

In the end, the four players listed above are really the only tradable commodities the Royals have.   Brian Bannister probably could be added to the list, but with his injury status the paragraph would read much like Gil Meche's only with about half the return.  It would be selling low once more.

They would also be selling low on Alex Gordon, Kyle Davies and Luke Hochevar, so I don't think they are a consideration.   At least not as the primary pieces in a trade.   I could foresee a trade in which Davies might be the add-in piece with a DeJesus or Callaspo, but that gets into a entirely different discussion.

For now, what would it take for you to pull the trigger on any of the four above?  

Spinning around the Royals Universe...

Mike Moustakas is blowing up

Literally.  And not in a good way.  The gospel according to John Sickles:

On the negative side, Royals prospect Mike Moustakas doesn't look like the same player I saw in the Midwest League last year. His lower half is thicker, as if the size proportion  between his hips and his shoulders has been altered in a negative way. He's slower and less mobile in general compared to last year. He still has a solid-looking swing, but his plate discipline is weak and problems with lefties are evident. I had given him a Grade B+ a couple of weeks ago, but am strongly reconsidering that now and could lower it down to B or maybe even B-.. He's still very young, but I'm worried about him.

Joe Sheehan at Baseball Prospectus agrees:

Mike Moustakas has gained a ton of weight, and not in any good way.

I'm not an East Coast guy.  Are the buffets in Delaware that awesome?

OK, Moustakas is a young guy and young guys often fill out in their late teens and early twenties.  Except as Sickles points out (and Sheehan implies) this is some serious filling out that has affected his mobility.  The whole plate discipline thing bothers me as well.  This is not looking good.

So the scorecard on the last couple of drafts:  Hosmer needs Lasik and Moustakas needs Jenny Craig.  Awesome.

The Royals sign Wilson Betemit to a minor league deal.

On a normal team, this doesn't rate as news.  That's because a normal team would use Betemit properly - keeping him in the minor leagues until an emergency situation necessitated his placement on the 25 man roster.

However, this is the Royals.  Or as I'm beginning to think of them... The Kansas City Braves.  That's right... Guess where Betemit broke into pro ball.

Money quote from Dayton Moore:

"His Major League statistics are solid."

Uh, OK.  Betemit has hit .258/.324/.432 in almost 1,300 plate appearances.  That's not really solid, but whatever.  I like how GMDM was praising his career OBP.  Normally, a .324 OPB is nothing to write home about.  Again, this is the Royals, so I guess expectations are a little different.  Anyway, Betemit's not really good.  Let's call him league average.  Fangraphs agrees as Betemit has a career WAR of 1.7.

Again, this seems to be a lot of bandwidth for a minor player in the cog of the Royals machine.  I guess the problem I have with this deal is it wouldn't surprise me if Betemit started the year on the big league team and then accumulated 400 plate appearances.  Remember how last year I wrote that if Willie Bloomquist got more than 300 plate appearances (he got 468) the Royals would be in trouble?  I may be able to apply the same corollary to Betemit for 2010.

Lenny DiNardo named to Triple-A All-Star Team

A nice honor I suppose.  Perhaps that news salved the pain of being removed from the 40 man roster, which happened on the same day.  Both DiNardo and Yashuhiko Yabuta were taken off the roster, refused the assignment to the minors and elected to become free agents.

Yabuta... Did we give GMDM and Trey Hillman a free pass on this guy or what?  Six million dollars for 51 major league innings and an ERA of 7.14.  Just a collosal blunder on the part of the Royals dynamic duo.  Honestly, I have no clue why the Royals grabbed this guy... It was pretty obvious he never fooled major league hitters and he was on the downside of his career in Japan.

When the history of the Moore/Hillman regime is written, Yabuta should get star billing as the first chink in the armor.

We continue our look at the Royals Team of the Decade by shining the spotlight on the outfield.  Last week, I published the first installment - the infield - and in that post I outlined the requirements a player needed to be considered for this most prestigious honor.  Basically, a player needed to accumulate 500 plate appearances as a Royal and needed to play at least half his games at a particular position for him to be eligible for selection.

The infield post may have gotten lost in the all the Mark Teahen trade hullabaloo, so you may want to refresh your memory as to the first five who were included on the squad.

On to the outfield…

Left Field
Johnny Damon 2000
.327/.382/.495 
OPS+ 118

Yes, Damon squeaks on to the All-Decade Team despite playing only a single year for the Royals in the aughts.  Again, this speaks to the horrendous decade we as fans just suffered through.

(Yes, I had to fudge my own rules to put Damon in left field.  The Royals had only one player in the entire decade who played more than half his games in left - Dee Brown.  I don’t care… I’m not freaking putting Dee Brown on an All-Decade Team.  Besides, in 2000 Damon played 570 innings in left and 579 innings in center.  Close enough.)

We all know the story of Damon… A sandwich pick by the Royals in the 1992 draft, he made his debut in 1995 and was the full time center fielder the following year.  Of course by this time the Royals were in perpetual rebuilding mode and Damon fancied himself something of the de facto general manager.  By the end of the 90’s, it was clear he had no interest in signing a hometown discount to stay in Kansas City, so the Royals pulled the plug following his 2000 season. 

2000 was a pretty good year for Damon.  He led the AL with 136 runs and with 46 steals.  That Royals team was damn fine, offensively and Damon was the spark.  And for that, he makes our All-Decade Team.

Center Field
Carlos Beltran  2000-2004
.286/.356/.492
OPS+ 114

Beltran was the complete package… A true five tool player.  It was only a matter of time before he was sprung from Kansas City.

He finished the decade with the second highest home run total (101 to Mike Sweeney’s 156) among Royals.  (Trivia time:  Who has the third highest home run total for the Royals this decade?  Answer below…)

The knock on Beltran was he could be inconsistent from year to year.  He opened the decade hitting .247/.309/.366 with an OPS+ of 69.  This was the year after he won the AL Rookie of the Year Award.  Many of us feared he was going to pull a Bob Hamelin.  (Of course, that’s been replaced with pulling an Angel Berroa.)  Beltran bounced back in 2001 with a year where he hit .306/.362/.514 with an OPS+ of 122.  He was down again in ’02, but rallied in 2003 with his best season as a Royal where he hit .307/.389/.522.  He was expected to be a key player on a contending team in 2004, but when the Royals stumbled, he was shipped to Houston in what was a three team trade that netted the Royals Teahen, John Buck and Mike Wood.  At the time of the deal, Beltran was hitting .278/.367/.534.

He certainly had a couple of subpar seasons, but Beltran’s strong years were enough to solidify his position on the All-Decade Team.

Right Field
Jermaine Dye 2000-2001
.303/.369/.506
OPS+ 119

It was only one and a half great seasons, but Dye was the Royals second best offensive performer this decade.  His .506 slugging percentage is one point lower than Sweeney’s team best mark and his OBP was third best this decade behind only Damon and Sweeney. 

Around these parts, Dye will likely be remembered as the guy the Royals gave up to get Neifi Perez.  That’s unfortunate.  (Anytime anyone is associated with Perez, that has to be unfortunate.)  At least the Royals got one of the best years of Dye’s career.  His 2000 season where he hit .321/.390/.561 and was named to his first All-Star team was the best year of his career until he topped it in 2006. 

He was a great defensive outfielder as well, with above average range and a great arm. 

Designated Hitter
Raul Ibanez 2001-2003
.291/.347/.492
OPS+ 112

Ibanez was more of an outfielder than DH during his time in KC, but he was simply too good a hitter to leave off the All-Decade Team.  He wasn’t anything special while he was with the Royals, but he was steady.  That’s high praise because there just weren’t that many “steady” players on this team in the aughts.  His best year with the team was in 2002 when he hit .294/.346/.537 and was second in just about every offensive category (2B, 3B, HR, RBI, AVG, OBP, SLG) you can think of.

The Royals let him walk following the 2003 season and decided to replace him with Juan Gonzalez.  Ummm, in retrospect that may have been a horrible move.  Horrible.

There’s the Royals Team of the Decade - The Outfielders.  Overall, much better than the infield, but since Beltran left in 2004, there hasn’t been much to be excited about.  I mean when the likes of Willie Bloomquist and Jose Guillen are patrolling the corners…  But I digress.  This is supposed to be a celebration, so let’s ignore the bleak present for the time being.

As usual, leave your thoughts in the comments.  Next time out, we’ll look at the pitchers.

Dayton Moore stole my thunder.

And my computer destroyed my nearly finished, extremely long column - some of you may think that is a good thing.

After taking the past few weeks to review the Royals versus the American League Central on a position by position basis, my plan was to then lay out a blueprint for the off-season.   In doing so, this plan was not going to be another 'here's what I would do if I were general manager' column, but instead a 'here's what I think Dayton Moore should do' mixed with a 'here's what I think Dayton Moore might do'.

To be honest, we can write all the 'what I would do' type columns we want, but the truth is Yuniesky Betancourt will still be the shortstop come April of 2010.   So, I will save my 'what I would do' column for next July.....and probably write about five of them that month!

Anyway, back to the thunder stealing.   My sketchy ideas began with trading, of all people, Mark Teahen.    Here is the quasi-funny thing about my thoughts.   I was going to trade Mark Teahen and something (I had yet to decide what that something would need to be and, in fact, was halfway through an email to a Twins blogger to try to discover that somethingwhen the actual Teahen trade came down) to Minnesota for Carlos Gomez.    Of course, not only did the Royals trade Teahen, but the Twins actually traded Gomez the next day.   The only problem with my reality versus THE reality is that Teahen and Gomez were involved in seperate trades.

That is all out the window at this point, as is the question of picking up Miguel Olivo's option.   I like the trade of Teahen for Chris Getz and Josh Fields.   As I posted on Friday, Getz has at least some hope of becoming Brian Roberts-esque and Fields is, well, one year less removed from his 'big' year than Mark Teahen was and a whole lot cheaper.

All things considered, I was prepared to make a case to picking up the team's side of Olivo's option.   Although, as it turned out, Miguel probably was not going to pick up his side of the mutual option anyway.  Given that the Royals simply refused to find out if Brayan Pena could handle the everyday catching job defensively last summer (my guess is no, by the way), that leaves John Buck as a central figure in the equation.

That is, until I opened up MLBTraderumors this morning and read a rumor of Alberto Callaspo to the Dodgers for A.J. Ellis.   By all accounts, Ellis is a very good defensive catcher who at age twenty-eight has recieved a grand total of thirteen major league plate appearances.   Ellis sports a career minor league line of .278/.398/.375/.772 with more walks than strikeouts.  

Okay, so now what?

Let's assume/hope/pray that Gil Meche and Brian Bannister are both healthy come spring training.  If that is the case, then I am fully behind the idea of staying in-house with a rotation of Greinke, Meche, Bannister and some combination of Robinson Tejeda, Kyle Davies, Luke Hochevar and Anthony Lerew.   With any luck, Aaron Crow debuts in September and this 'decent' unit gets even stronger.

As for the bullpen, the Royals have Soria (who I might trade, but Dayton Moore almost certainly won't) and are stuck with Juan Cruz and Kyle Farnsworth.   The remaining three or four spots should be filled in-house with the Carlos Rosa, Chris Hayes, Chris Nicoll, Dusty Hughes, Lenny DiNardo and maybe even Greg Holland at some point.

The infield will almost certainly be Butler, Getz, Betancourt, and Gordon.   Billy likes playing in the field and is your best hitter:  leave him be.   There was no point in acquiring Getz unless the intent is to play him everyday at second and hope he becomes Brian Roberts - I think there is a one in three chance he might.   The Royals are stuck with Betancourt and simply have to spend one more year 'finding out' about Alex Gordon.   Reports are that Mike Aviles will be ready by spring and he gives you a backup at second, short and third - with the outside chance of forcing one of those three out of the lineup.

The outfield....ugh.  Well, it is David DeJesus and a wasteland.  

Designated hitter?  Don't do it, Dayton!  Don't offer Mike Jacobs arbitration!   I don't think he will.  I mean, he can't can he?

What to Do

I kind of like A.J. Ellis, but I'm skeptical of his ability to not have the bat knocked out of his hands in the majors.   Callapso for all his faults is too much to offer to only get Ellis in return.

My idea of Carlos Gomez roaming center field and becoming Willie Wilson with power is gone, but I still view center field as the single biggest need on this team and for this organization.   The Royals idea of playing Josh Fields at a corner outfield spot (with his 180 innings of outfield experience) seems a little 'out there'.   The thought of Jose Guillen spending another inning, much less 180 or, shudder, 1,000 in right field is horrifying.

If the Royals keep their pitchers, then they are left with two tradeable commodities:  David DeJesus and Alberto Callaspo.   Somewhow, they need to get a centerfielder or at least a better than what they have outfielder.

Here's the Deal

I just cannot seem to make straight up deals work with what the Royals have to offer.   Callaspo is either not enough or too much and adding a prospect tips the scale to too much to give up.   So, when in doubt, a three way deal always makes for good conversation.

The Royals would part ways with Alberto Callaspo and, hold on kids,  Danny Duffy.   Callaspo would go the Dodgers while Duffy would go to the Reds.  

In return, the Dodgers would send A.J. Ellis the Royals way and a pitcher (and I'm being lazy here) with less upside, but farther along than Duffy to the Reds.

The Reds would send outfielder Chris Dickerson to Kansas City.   To make this deal work, they might also have to send some minor prospect to the Dodgers, but nothing to major as LA is giving up a 28 year old minor league catcher and an 'outside the Top 10' prospect.

Too much?  Maybe, but the Royals need a centerfielder who can hit and they would still have promising pitchers Aaron Crow, Mike Montgomery and Tim Melville in their system.

And That's Not All!

The Royals have saved some cash in trading Teahen, so they would be wise to use it on a Brian Schneider:  a veteran, defensive catcher with a touch of on-base ability.  In addition, a reliever along the lines of a Kiko Calero ought to be doable on a one-year two or three million dollar deal.

Plus, the idea of resigning Coco Crisp to a low base salary one year deal with a bunch of incentives sounds like a nice insurance policy.

The 2010 Royals

Your pitching staff was outlined above, with the addition of Calero or a Calero-type.

Your everyday lineup is:

Catcher:  Schneider/Ellis

First: Billy Butler

Second:  Chris Getz

Short: Y. Betancourt

Third:  Alex Gordon

Left:  David DeJesus

Center:  Chris Dickerson

Right:  Josh Fields/Jose Guillen

DH:  Kila Kaaihue (seriously, he would be better than Jacobs and five times as cheap).

Utility:  Mike Aviles, Brayan Pena

Does this group contend in 2010?  Certainly not, but is anyone thinking there is anything you could reasonably do to be a contender in 2010?  

The hope is that Dickerson is the real deal and Getz is above average.   Maybe Josh Fields can hit and takes over DH duties to make room for David Lough or Jordan Parraz at mid-season.  Maybe Coco Crisp comes back and you run with an outfield of Crisp/Dickerson/DeJesus in the second half.    You can also hope that under the watchful eye of Schneider, A.J. Ellis does become a real life major league catcher.

Come 2011, the Royals can look to adding Aaron Crow to the rotation and, free of Guillen's salary, have some money to throw around to address at least one, if not two needs that arise.

That is a lot of maybe and hopefully, but it sounds better than 'no chance at all'.  

I have to apologize as this column had a lot more stats and thoughts before it blew up.  The above is the high points of the tortured musings of my mind without a lot of the groundwork originally done.  Man, I hate it when real life cuts into my blogging time!