TEAM PREVIEW
Projected Depth Chart
| Kansas City Royals Depth Chart - 2010 |
| STARTER | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH |
| C | Jason Kendall | Brayan Pena | | |
| 1B | Billy Butler | | | |
| 2B | Chris Getz | Alberto Callaspo | Josh Fields | |
| 3B | Willie Bloomquist | Josh Fields | Alberto Callaspo | |
| SS | Yuniesky Betancourt | Mike Aviles | | |
| LF | Scott Podsednik | Jose Guillen | | |
| CF | Rick Ankiel | David DeJesus | | |
| RF | David DeJesus | Scott Podsednik | | |
| DH | Jose Guillen | Alberto Callaspo | | |
| SP | Zack Greinke | Luke Hochevar | Brian Bannister | Gil Meche |
| RP | John Parrish | Robinson Tejeda | Kyle Farnsworth | Roman Colon |
| CL | Joakim Soria | | | |
KANSAS CITY, MO -- The 2010 Kansas City Royals have their work cut out for them. Right off the bat you may notice the absence of A-potential 3B
Alex Gordon from the initial depth chart. Gordon will be starting the year at AAA Omaha to try to further assist his development into one of today's young stars. Gordon has seen multiple years at the big league level but has just not become who everyone thought he would be. Yet anyway.
Also returning for the 2010 campaign is the 2009 AL CY Young award winner
Zack Greinke. Throughout the years Greinke has always had decent stats but a lack of run support has held him back. With the additions of
Rick Ankiel and
Scott Podsednik in the off-season look for the offensive output to increase and expect big things from Mr. Greinke again this year.
Grades
Offense: D. The Yankees had a team .362 on-base percentage last season; Butler's .362 OBP led the Royals. Alberto Callaspo, who hit .300 with a team-high 79 runs and had more walks (52) than strikeouts (51) will move to the bench in favor of Chris Getz, a superior defensive player. There is much work to do.
Pitching: C. Even with A-plus guys Greinke and Soria, this unit is a concern. If Gil Meche is healthy, that would be a big plus; he won 23 games with a 3.82 ERA in his first two seasons with K.C. Trying to convert Kyle Farnsworth from a setup man to a reliever is a long shot at this point in his career.
Bench: B. Callaspo should be an offensive asset, assuming the demotion doesn't affect him. Mike Aviles -- when healthy -- can play multiple infield spots as well as Josh Fields.
Manager: C. After the 75-win season and the strong start to the 2009 season, things came crashing down for Trey Hillman. The challenge this season is to not only get off to another strong start, but to learn from the mistakes of last season and maintain it.
Prediction: The Royals have a great young core with Greinke, Butler and Soria, but there aren't many other reasons to expect better than a fourth-place finish in the AL Central.