One of the roster decisions in front of me was the choice between organizational stalwart Mitch Maier and former Brave Gregor Blanco for one of the outfield bench spots (I have to assume either Melky Cabrera or Lorenzo Cain start in center). One of our readers asked me why I prefer Mitch over Blanco and at the time, I really had no strong basis for the decision.

I like to joke that it’s because I have a franchise on MVP 2005 for PlayStation 2 where I’d updated the minor league system to reflect minor league prospects and major league transactions (Mark Teahen has won the MVP award twice, by the way).  On that game, Maier had developed from a fourth outfielder to unseating David DeJesus in the starting lineup. Not really a good basis to keep  a guy off the real Royals roster though, huh? … [visit site to read more]

Luke Hochevar, doin' his thing

By now its fairly well known that our starting rotation next year isn’t going to be very good.

We’re staring down a rotation where Luke Hochevar, Kyle Davies, Sean O’Sullivan and Vin Mazzaro are locks and the fifth starter is still up in the air.

As for our set in stone guys, Hochevar’s likely the best out of all of them and our Opening Day starter. “The Hoch” like many Royals, is big on potential. He was, of course, a star at Tennesee and the number one pick in the 2006 draft and he’s been bred for a high rotation spot since then. However, his career is pockmarked with injuries and underachievement. Hochevar only mustered 17 starts last year while dealing with an injury in his throwing shoulder. Otherwise, his performance and numbers have been shaky at best. In four years, he’s averaged a beyond mediocre 5.60 ERA and a far below average 78 ERA+, but not all of his stats are terrible.

… [visit site to read more]