I’ve waited three days, and it’s not going to happen.   Joe Posnanski is not going to write an article about how the Royals are going to win the division.  Joe is a national sports writer now, and can’t be linked too heavily to the local nine anymore.  OK, fair enough.   Somebody has to write it though, and I’m just the eternal optimist to do it.  So, let’s begin, shall we?

Kevin Seitzer has worked his magic with Jeff Francouer and Alex Gordon.  They are both poised for 25 home runs and 80 RBIs.  Butler and Ka’ahiue will OBP their way into our hearts, and the Melkman has found his form again.  Escobar will hit .260, and Getz will be replaced by Aviles at mid-season when Moustakas is called up.

Trained by Ned Yost in the fine art of basestealonamics, the Royals will steal more than Congress.  Opposing pitchers will lose their concentration once Escobar, Dyson, or Butler (he did have more steals than Escobar in ST, you know) get on first.  The result will be walks aplenty for the tablesetters and cleanup crew.  "Baseball the right way" is the team's mantra, and even sabremetricians will grow to love the sacrifice bunt and the hit and run.

Despite having 5 errors (yikes!) in the first two games, the Royals defense will do just fine, thank you very much.  We will soon chant “Escobar to Getz to Ka’ahiue” just like “Tinkers to Evers to Chance” (although it will admittedly not be nearly as lyrical).  Cabrera, Dyson, and eventually Cain will roam the outfield like they own it.  Treanor will teach grittiness and charm to Pena, and Kendall will never recover from his shoulder surgery and “rewind himself” into retirement.  ESPN will show nightly highlight reels consisting solely of the Royals.

Anchored by the stalwarts of Soria and Tejada, and fronted by the Rookie Three (Crow, Adcock, and Collins), the bullpen will hold leads and shut down opposing offenses.  The rest of the team will be so inspired by their performance that they will get untracked and score runs to support them.  At the end of the season, we will gloat over our bullpen’s 2.0 ERA.

OK, there is no way to sugarcoat this-we will not win the division because of our starting rotation.  We will win the division despite our starting rotation.  Given our terrific performance from April-June, Dayton will pull off a couple of mid-year trades for starting pitchers that will put us over the top, talent-wise.  Bolstered by the new acquisitions, the team will gel and take the division with a one-game playoff win against Chicago at the end of the regular season.