Today I will look at a former promising young slugger  in the Royals’ organization, Ken Harvey. Harvey was one of those “Nebraska guys” that had a decorated college career and was highly-touted throughout the minor leagues, but never seemed to live up to the billing once they reached the majors. (Alex Gordon falls in this category, but has since redeemed himself, as Royals’ fans are all very thankful for—now pay the damn man!) 

Harvey was a fifth-round pick of the Royals in the 1999 MLB draft out of said University. Coming out of college, the first baseman was built like a ton of bricks (6’2, 240 pounds)—although his batting grip was quite feminine if I may assert—and he was known for his raw power.

Harvey did not disappoint in the minor leagues.

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Ken Harvey celebrating a rare victory.

I’m not so sure.

Earlier this off-season when it looked like Kevin Millwood and Luke Hochevar would be the most accomplished pitchers on the staff and the outfield seemed like the Island of Misfit Prospects, I had my reservations. It looked like another 100 loss season and I was bracing myself for a long summer of watching former Braves duff around the diamond while waiting for the Futures Game.

But in the past few weeks I’ve been doing my best to look for bright spots on the 2011 roster. Since Zack Greinke left the team, the Royals have actually made a fair amount of smart transactions. Jeff Francis and Bruce Chen were added to shore up the rotation, Alcides Escobar and Lorenzo Cain were brought in to tighten up the defense, and our stockpile of top-rated prospects continued to grow.

As Gage wrote earlier this week, the Royals have off-loaded a fair amount of money and are *GASP* finally making legitimate strides toward fruition of The Process.

But the question remains, how bad will this team be in comparison to the other terrible teams Royals fans endured in the past?

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