Missouri has not had two successful baseball teams since the early 1990's. Whereas the Saint Louis Cardinals have been successful, the Kansas City Royals have been the doormat of the American League since 1995. Change is in the air at Kauffman Stadium.
Small market teams are forced to build through drafts, or they will have little to no chance of competing with large market clubs. Scouting director Lonnie Goldberg and gm Dayton Moore have put together several successful draft classes, and will likely not be the joke of the AL Central division in the future. Drafts headlined by shortstop Michael Moustakas in 2007, followed by Mike Montgomery and Eric Hosmer in 2008, Will Meyers and Aaron Crow in 2009, and recently Bubba Starling, should have teams like Detroit and Chicago looking over their shoulders.
Before the 2011 season, the Royals dumped off their ace, Zack Greinke, and left themselves without a clear number one starter to anchor the rotation. In return for the former Cy Young winner, the Royals acquired Brewers high ranking pitching prospect Jake Odorizzi, who currently ranks sixth among all Royals prospects. Pitching in Kansas City left much to be desired in 2011. A 4.48 ERA, held by Luke Hochevar, was the best among all Royals starters. The wins leader, Bruce Chen, had only 12 wins. These statistics speak for themselves. It looks as if the Royals have found the replacement for Zack Greinke. Former San Francisco Giant Jonathan Sanchez will be open the 2012 season for the Royals against Anaheim.
Sanchez is coming of an injury plagued 2011 season, in which he started 19 games and only won four of them. Looking back to 2010, a season in which Sanchez remained healthy for 32 starts, he earned 13 wins. His 3.07 ERA and 1.231 WHIP were career lows. Sanchez's 2011 season definitely benefitted the Royals. All they needed to give up get him was center fielder Melky Cabrera.
Cabrera's 2011 season his best yet, as he broke the 200 hit plateau for the first time in his career. He set career highs in every offensive category: batting average (.305), home runs (18), extra base hits (49), and stolen bases (20). This production will surely be missed by the Royals going forward. Fortunately, outfield prospect Lorenzo Cain looks ready to make the transition to the Major League level in 2012.
Cain spent the 2011 season playing for the Triple A Omaha Storm Chasers, where he had 16 home runs and a .312 batting average. He saw action in the last six games of the 2011 campaign for Kansas City, though it is impossible to come to any conclusions after such a short stretch.
The Royals are a few years away from being competitive. If they can find a way to keep their core players together, better days are on the way.
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