Moustakas appears to be fit to play in the majors, but I think that they’d wait until at least the beginning of June to start him, largely because of his Super 2 status. I think that it would be good to get an extra year out of him, and it would also help to give him some more time in AAA-ball, and it would help not to rush him up like we did with Gordon.

I think that we pretty much have our 1st basemen/DH’s for this year set in stone. Kila looks pretty solid, although he has some issues with his fielding. Billybutt looks good as well, and he is a better fielder than Kila. I think they will make a pretty good one-two punch for this year, and I think that Kila/Billy will play 1b/dh all year. They will probably wait until 2012 to bring up Hosmer, but it could be a possibility that he could come up in August-September, although that would be a longshot.

GMDM agreed to give Frenchy/Melky some time in the outfield this year, but expect Melky to be released or traded sometime before the All-star break. Wouldn’t surprise me if Frenchy gets traded sometime this season for some quality prospects or a couple of solid rookie/sophmore players. I could easily see Cain coming up a little before the all-star break. We might (Just might) see Wil Meyers come up in July-August, but we’ll probably have to wait until next year for him. Expect Gordon to play all year in left. I think he might still have something to prove, but, if he doesn’t do anything this year, he’ll probably get released in the offseason.

The midseason Outfield should look something like this:
LF: Alex Gordon
CF: Lorenzo Cain
RF: Jermaine Dyson (Mayyyyyybe Meyers).

Second base should be something to worry about, at least at the beginning of the year. Guess who’s playing? Chris CantGetzahit… er… Getz. He is probably the worst player we have on the 25-man roster. The good news is: That will change, as early as June 1st. When Mous comes up, Aviles should move to second. Expect Escobar to not budge from SS for the whole year, though, which could be either good or bad, depending on how he pans out in Spring Training.

Starting pitching could pose a bit of a problem as well. Unless they all step up, we might not do too good this year. Hochevar has had his problems with injuries, and he is pretty much carrying the weight this year for the royals. Unless he can make a statement, along with two or 3 of the other starters, the Royals might not get more than 70 wins. Expect Lamb and Monty to come up late this year. They will probably start out in the bullpen, then work their ways up to starting jobs.

The relievers this year look pretty good. We will most likely have Collins and Jefferes break camp, and Teaford and Adcock will maybe break camp as well. Other than that, we have Tejada, Blake Wood, Jesse Chavez, and Holland relieving. Collins will probably be the set-up guy for Soria. Not much to say about Soria, other than that he’s awesome.

The bottom line: If we can play solid defense, if our pitchers show up, and if we can build a solid 40-man roster over the course of the year, Expect us to WIN the division.

Playoffs, here we come!

And it has been widely reported that McClure nudged Greinke toward his changeup, and probably also his two-seamer, both important in his pitching arsenal. And Mellinger just recently reported that McClure helped Greinke develop a sharper curveball. For his part, Greinke has often credited McClure with helping him develop and trust his pitches.

So, yeah, I think McClure has had some success as our pitching coach.

How long is Tony Getz Jr gonna be allowed to throw at bats away? He’s not fast enough to steal first. I’d like to see Giavotella get a long look. I know he’s not on the 40man but there are handful that shouldn’t be anyway.