The Royals are getting a little notice for the deep pool of pitching they are building in their minor league system....it does look pretty good. So credit them for that....however quite a few of their top hopes are a ways off right now from being at the MLB level (depending on the path of ascendancy Aaron Crow takes).
But the overall state of their organization is best summed by seeing how little help is on the way for their big-league club on the immediate horizon. I'm pretty sure, not 100% but close, that only one Royals' ballplayer made his major league debut last year. (and the ONE was a 27-yr old LOOGY called up in September...in other words, a non-entity) In an also-ran season of nothingness they didn't really have anybody judged worthy of a look-see. That's mind-blowing to me.
The best part is that if you look over their roster it doesn't appear they'll have anyone on the cusp of debuting this year either unless the aforementioned Aaron Crow zooms thru the system and breaks down the door. Instead the Royals have "re-tooled" w/old guys on short deals. I suppose they are viewed as a bridge to the time the young talent arrives....someday.
So Rick Ankiel, Scott Pods, Jason Kendall join the likes of Willie Bloomquist, Jose Guillen, Yuniesky Betancourt, and Mitch Maier in trying to complement Greinke, Soria, and Butler. Sadly, given what the AL Central is, if somebody like Gil Meche has a big rebound and Luke Hochevar finally puts it together, maybe the Royals can push .500. If you can push .500 in this division you're suddenly able to kid yourself in late July you can contend.
Typically adding old washed up vets in a desperate attempt to get from 73-wins to 78-wins is a fool's play and waste of resources and playing time devoted to those players....those 5 wins don't typically add much to the bottom line when you're only winning at that level. But if pushing .500 can cause some irrational hope on the part of Royals fans that this club can contend then adding these vets might pay for itself. Maybe...
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