Keep Alberto Callaspo!!

I know, I know, I know, IT IS STILL SPRING TRAINING and nothing we can see means much of anything. I think a lot of fans, and maybe the top brass were looking forward to seeing Alex Gordon show signs of being healthy and improving at the plate. Unfortunately, Alex Gordon is injured... again. Three to four weeks isn't that bad, and really he was trying to hustle and play hard...it's hard to get down a player who is giving it his all. Props to you Alex Gordon, and I sincerely hope to see you on the field soon...putting up numbers we have long been waiting to see. In the meantime, the Royals may not have a chance to screw something up.
Working for a small market team, offers a general manager multiple opportunities to worsen a franchise for the future. Because the Royals cannot put up the payroll dollars to "buy themselves better", trades, the amateur draft, and development of young talent become paramount. The Royals have had many trades (usually involving the trading away of good players) that haven't worked out as they might have hoped. This off-season and Spring Training, there have been many questions surrounding the future of Alberto Callaspo with the Kansas City Royals. Speculation has led fans to believe that they had been looking to deal the recent hitting talent who, as of late, doesn't appear to have a clear position on the team.
In 2008, the somewhat unknown Callaspo managed a .305 BA average and a .361 OBP in 231 at bats. It was the first time in his career he managed to hit over .240 with any amount of at bats. I think for most fans, it was more of a pleasant surprise than an indication of Callaspo potentially being a good hitter. Then 2009 rolled around and Callaspo saw more playing time for his positive production. In 576 at bats, he was arguably the Royals best all around hitter with a .300 BA and a .356 OBP with only 51 strikeouts. Say all you want about other offensive numbers and how other players did better here or there; what I liked about Callaspo was his plate discipline. Discipline is something the Royals have struggled with as a team for quite some time. His defense at second base, however, left a lot to be desired. The Royals then traded Mark Teahen, and in came Chris Getz and by all assessments, he should be a defensive upgrade from Callaspo. It is hard to argue with wanting the Royals to get better defensively, and if Getz does that...then he should play 2B over Callaspo. So what would the Royals do with Alberto??
 Suddenly, the Royals most disciplined hitter appeared "position-less". Getz at 2B, Betancourt/Aviles at SS, Gordon/Fields(and maybe Callaspo) at 3B and Guillen assumed the DH role. Trey HIllman insisted that he would work to find Callaspo the at bats, but it is hard to imagine Hillman's love affair with Bloomquist dying down anytime soon and I was struggling to see 400 plus at bats for Callaspo.
Spring Training started and Callaspo remained on the team, begging the question: "Is there not any interest or adequate trade options for Callaspo, or, do the Royals really want to keep this guy around?". I don't know, and it doesn't matter.The injury to Alex Gordon seemed to be enough to warrant keeping Callaspo, and it might give even the Royals enough time to realize the potential value of having him around.
I didn't really give much thought to Callaspo manning third until the return of Alex Gordon...until today (many of you probably entertained this thought before, so bear with my slow processing speed).

Why shouldn't Callaspo be the regular third baseman for the Royals??

Initially, this was just a passing thought in mind my mind. Then, of course, I had to do some digging to satisfy myself. What did I find? Well, the move might make more sense than not.

(Looks like a legit third baseman. I mean, just look at him!)

In 2009, Callaspo played some third base for the Royals to help fill in for the injured Alex Gordon. He spent a mere 99.0 innings there over 14 games. It is not an adequate enough sample to really place much value on the defensive numbers that resulted. However, he could have been downright bad for those 99.0 innings and HE WASN'T (I am not going into the details. Check them out on fangraphs.com if you like). The point is this: When compared to Alex Gordon, Callaspo seems like a pretty good option at third. Let's Compare:
                  
                                              GORDON                             CALLASPO
Age for most of 2010:                  26                                            27
Career at bats:                           1200                                         975
Career BA:                                .250                                         .286
Career OBP:                              .331                                         .341
Career SLG:                              .415                                         .404
Career OPS:                              .746                                         .746

Callaspo is not overwhelmingly better than Gordon offensively. Consider this, however. In staring Gordon, you gain whatever power he has and the potential power he might have...but, you take on his love of the strikeout. With Callaspo you lose power, but as shown with the OPS...he makes up for it and then some. Callaspo is not a strikeout kind of guy and he can hit for average (something that can be said of few players on the Royals). With so many things being equal, and Callaspo arguably having the edge...why not take the next 4-5 weeks and figure out if Callaspo could potentially be a regular at third. According to baseball history, he should be at his peak for the next three years (give or take) and his offensive numbers warrant finding him an everyday position.