Hoping for Change

 The criticisms of Dayton Moore &Co. could go on and on and on, but that isn't quite what I wanted to write about with this post. I wanted to focus on a more specific problem with Dayton Moore and hope...and HOPE that it is not an issue THIS season. In short, the Royals have three younger players in Mike Aviles, Alberto Callaspo and Mitch Maier that are working their tails off to prove they deserve starting spots on this roster. Their respective competition is somewhat abysmal in Yuniesky Betancourt, Alex Gordon, and the rest of the outfield (Anderson, Posednik and Ankiel).

Aviles has not yet returned to 2008 form, but his attitude, work ethic and progress thus far lead me to believe he can return to something resembling pre-injury form. I will be pulling for Mike Aviles, and not for altruistic reasons alone. I mean, I like what I have heard him say in interviews and from that and that alone...he seems like a nice enough guy and I hope he does well. The real reason, however, would be to spare the Royals the regular service of Yuniesky Betancourt (Major League Baseball's worst player). A healthy Aviles versus a healthy Betancourt... fighting for one spot...can only help the Royals.            


Callaspo (up to this point, which isn't saying much) has shown that he could be a defensive upgrade over Alex Gordon at third base. As stated in a previous post, it is not realistic to compare their fielding numbers...Callaspo only had 99.0 innings at third last year, Gordon has a lot more. There are some positive for Callaspo and negatives for Gordon that really fuel this argument, regardless. The Royals know that Callaspo can: play decent enough third to be considered for the starting role, hit for average, get on base, and not strike out a lot. The Royals know that Gordon: has been less than good at third, has yet to hit for average for an entire season, struggles to get on base, and strikes out easily. If the Alex Gordon project were made into a movie, the Royals could call it "Waiting for Gordon" and that could sum up the past three seasons. Callaspo has shown what kind of player he is: CONSISTENT. Why wait for Gordon, when Callaspo is ready?


Mitch Maier has indicated that he is following a trend that started in the minor leagues: he struggled in his first year every time he advanced a level in the farm system. His second year in A-ball was better, his second year in AA was better, second year in AAA...BETTER. This would be his second season in the Majors. His first year was below average...his Spring Training looks good...the Royals might be able to anticipate a much improved Maier this season. Maybe Maier amounts to nothing, but he should get a strong look He is out of options and he is cheap (this would be the business motivation). He is also younger and COULD be at least as good as Posednik (the 34-35 year old Posednik), Ankiel (post HGH) and Anderson (merely a big ball of potential up to this point). I don't think Maier is worth starting yet, but cutting him would be a huge mistake.


Here's to HOPE. Hoping the Royals play the players they should this year. Hoping Betancourt and Bloomquist don't see anything close to 400 at bats and hoping that the Royals wake up and utilize the young players they have.