FanPost

Opening Day Roster


There are a lot of names and options floating around out there for 25 spots. Most of the guys who make the cut will deserve to be there, but some likely won't, at least in the eyes of the RR faithful. And then, there will be some who should make it, but instead will start the year in AAA. Let's break it down by Make and Rightfully So, Benefits from Blind Management, and Daytoned. (I'm not actually very anti-Moore.)

Make and Rightfully So

1. Brayan Pena

2. Jason Kendall (overpaid, but the second-best cather makes the team)

3. Butler

4. Getz

5. Callaspo

6. DeJesus

7. Ankiel

8. Bloomquist (good to have a guy who can back up any position)

9. ZG

10. Banny

11. Meche

12. Hoch

13. Soria

14. Tejeda (whether as a starter or a reliever, he should make the team)

15. Davies (see above)

16. Cruz (one bad year isn't cause to cut in ST)

17. Farnsworth (mediocre and certainly overpaid, but won't be the worst player to make the team)

18. Osuna (Rule 5 makes it to start the year)

19. Lerew? (This is really the mandatory 1 LH pitcher in the bullpen. Don't know who it will be, but it will be someone unexciting.)

20. Rosa? (Need one more bullpen guy for 12-man pitching staff. Rosa seems to be an early frontrunner and would probably be a good choice.)

21. Fields (Royals lose him if he doesn't make the 25-man)

22. Pods (Need an OF. I don't really care between Pods and Maier, but it seems clear they'll go with Pods.)

Benefits from the Blind

23. Yuni

24. Guillen

Won't Make Club on Opening Day Due to Injury, but Will Quickly Return

25. Gordon

26. Aviles

Daytoned

Maier

Kila

Assuming I haven't missed anyone important, it looks like either Maier or Kila will have a chance to make the team for at least a few days without the Royals doing anything totally unexpected like cutting its losses with Guillen. Also, whoa--what did I do wrong? Assuming everyone's healthy, can the club really not carry Gordon and Aviles on the 25-man roster without cutting someone who's seemingly a lock to make the club? Osuna will have to really perform or he won't stick for long. There will probably be an extra roster spot of flexibility since we won't need the full 12-man pitching staff right away with everyone starting fresh and all the off-days they pepper into the start of the season, but this is going to be a tight squeeze for some pretty decent players. I'd like to see Dayton cut ties with Guillen ASAP and if Aviles shows he's healthy enough to play SS every day (which will take a while), it will be time to put Yuni through waivers and have him play in Omaha when he clears.

This FanPost was written by a member of the Royals Review community. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the editors and writers of this site.