Re: the Zambrano comments…

First, I wouldn’t complain if Carlos Zambrano became a Royal this year. I’m sure GMDM thinks Cadahia’s presence would keep his nerves tranquillo. A Zamby resurgence could propel us like Jose Lima (RIP) did for that short streak, and give us a possible the front-line starter.

Second, I like GMDM’s interview in itself. Fresh off the heals of saving Melky’s career, GMDM needs to keep building the Royal’s street cred amongst MLB athletes. “Yes, come play for KC, we won’t ruin your career. We might actually make you a better player.”

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=sanchjo01&year=Career&t=p

Not sure why that’s the case, but at the very least, we may not need to apply a ball park adjustment to his projections (though I agree we should apply an NL-to-AL adjustment).

Depends on who follows him in the line-up. Billy’s OBP was over .400 when hitting ahead of Aviles, about .350 when batting ahead of Hosmer, less an independent stat than a context one. Frenchy’s OBP jumped nicely to .350 when moved to 5th and hitting ahead of the slumping Moose. The 3-hole is where Billy is most productive. Gordon is nearly a perfect lead-off for this team, nice combination of average, speed, power, and eye.

“he doesn’t often run into outs on the base paths because he is a conservative runner, and he isn’t really a prototypical third hitter either (yes he is our best hitter, but he doesn’t pound the ball with enough authority to make him a clearer of bases).”

Billy’s a big, strong kid who can thump, as he showed the second half of the season in which he led the team in RBIs after adjusting his swing and moving a spot ahead of Hoz in the line-up. Pitchers lost interest in pitching around Billy when followed by Hosmer. If Hoz stays consistent, ’12 may be the year Billy hits 30 HRs.

“even someone likely to hit 20-30 doubles and steal 20-30 bases (except maybe Gordon)”

And Frenchy. Hosmer has that potential, being physically Frenchy’s little brother.

“Definitely bat him lower in the order to begin the season though.”

Agree. If Seitzer can tighten up his swing and if Cain shows plate discipline, he’ll move up in the order. On paper, based on AAA, Gio probably should at least get a chance to hit second, but Cain could earn it over the first couple of months. Whoever hits second won’t be an OBP machine with Butler and Hosmer following, so will need to hit their way on.

Or maybe Gordon bats first and Billy bats second.

Or maybe leave Gordon and Billy alone and try Perez second — from what I saw of him last season there is a lot to like about batting him second. Sure he doesn’t walk much, but neither does he strike out much, and I think that skill will continue as he appears to have very good bat control and is able to consistently make contact. Maybe he can be like a Paul lo Duca-type hitter (the comparison jumps to mind only because they share a position). I don’t know if Perez will continue to hit like he did last season, but between him and Gio I would prefer Perez hitting second.

I don’t know, all of these ideas intrigue me but they could all be absolute crap

But I do agree with most of the sentiment here: Cain is probably not a leadoff hitter, though maybe he could make a decent #2 if he shows enough contact ability early in the season. Definitely bat him lower in the order to begin the season though.