Restoring the rosters: No. 29 - Kansas City

This is part of a series articles examining what every team’s roster would look like if given only the players it originally signed. I’m compiling the rosters, ranking them and presenting them in a countdown from Nos. 30 to 1. No. 30 - Cincinnati As I’m starting out writing these articles, I still don’t have a set order for how I’m going to rank most of the teams. However, three rosters really stood out from the pack with only a casual view. One of those rosters will take the top spot in the rankings. The other two belonged to Kansas City and Cincinnati. Rotation Zack Greinke Luke Hochevar Chad Durbin Kyle Snyder Glendon Rusch Bullpen J.P. Howell Jeremy Affeldt Kiko Calero Mike MacDougal Brian Sanches Brian Bass Tim Byrdak Well, the Royals have an ace. And the bullpen looks pretty solid with Howell, Affeldt and Calero. Unfortunately, there’s just no rotation after Greinke and Hochevar, and Hochevar has a 5.40 ERA despite showing signs of improvement this year. Durbin, Snyder and Rusch all had ERAs right around 6.00 in their Royals career, combining to go 25-56. Still, they might at least be able to eat some innings. One could argue for putting Howell or Affeldt in the rotation, but both had plenty of time to succeed as starters and never did. They’re almost certainly more valuable protecting leads, not that they’d have much chance of that on this squad. If you think Tom Gordon might have something left, you can squeeze him in over Bass or the third lefty, Byrdak. There isn’t much else to choose from. Lineup LF Johnny Damon CF Carlos Beltran RF David DeJesus DH Billy Butler 3B Alex Gordon 2B Mark Ellis 1B Kila Ka’aihue SS Mike Aviles C Matt Treanor Bench INF Joe Dillon C Sal Fasano OF Mitch Maier INF Andres Blanco Kansas City’s lineup outshines its pitching staff, thanks largely to a pair of outfielders who have long since moved on. DeJesus will have to play out of position in right, but that’s still a strong outfield. The rest of the group is less impressive. Butler and Gordon still have some work to do to prove they’re going to be above average regulars. Ellis is solid, but prone to injury and there isn’t much behind him. I’m going with Ka’aihue at first, with Dillon as his platoonmate against lefties. Aviles gets the nod at short, since the only alternative is Blanco. Treanor and Fasano comprise the catching duo, leaving Paul Phillips out of the mix. Mike Sweeney didn’t make the cut. Dillon is probably the better hitter right now, and he offers some versatility. Summary GM Dayton Moore doesn’t deserve much of the blame for this mess, even if it does look like the Royals are 0-for-3 in hiring GMs since John Schuerholz left in 1990. Herk Robinson brought in Beltran and Damon, but that’s still not much of a haul for a 10-year reign, and Allard Baird’s run was brutal. If it seems that the Royals have had a lot of bad luck when it comes to prospects, they’ve brought much of it on themselves. They overworked their young pitchers, and they encouraged their young hitters to be overly aggressive at the plate. Those practices seem to have stopped, and the team’s drafts have gotten considerably better under Moore. Still, it’s going to be a long time before the turnaround is complete.