FanPost

Optimism

Even though the Royals record is not much better this year than it has been in recent years, I do feel more optimism about the club now than I did last September.  Why?

1.    We now know we have three solid young bats to build upon (DeJesus, Shealy and Teahen).

2.    We now know that Emil Brown was not a one year flash.  That he really is an average batsman who will stay here in KC as long as he is paid a few million a year.

3.    We now know that Mark Grudzielanek can hold down 2B and continue to play well despite his age.

4.    We draw hope from the somewhat positive performances of Costa, German and Gathright.  All year Bell treated German like an unwanted pot-luck guest grudgingly accepted because of he came bearing chocolate cake.  Well the cake was great and Bell ought to put German on the invite list for next year's get-together.  Costa had a great AAA year, and looks almost worthy of a roster spot now.  Gathright performed better than might have been feared, but not as well as might have been hoped.  All three provide long-shot hopes for next year.

5.    Gobble, Peralta, Wellemeyer and Nelson are unexpected contributors in the pen.  Hopefully they will not follow the Sisco/Burgos plan in 2007.

6.    Who expected anything from Hudson?

7.    It seems reasonable to hope that Perez, Grienke, Hudson, Redman (if he resigns), Elarton and maybe even Hernandez (?), De la Rosa (????), Duckworth (?), Bernero (??) and Wood (?) will give the Royals some starting pitching depth next year.  Perhaps this collection of spare parts and debris will result in more coherence in 2007 than we had this year (I think it likely.)

8.    Is it possible that Sisco, Burgos and Hernandez can really be this bad again next year?  Is it possible that Sweeny can miss over a hundred games again next year?  Can the DL really be this greedy for Royal's starting pitchers again next year?  Can Buck stay locked in neutral forever?  Can Bell continue to use Berroa indefinitely?  Can Sanders phone in another second half of a season when he is campaigning for one last contract?  Well...yes, but!, there is the law of averages to take into account.  

9.    Finally, for the first time in years the Royals will have some real prospects working their way up next year who might actually be ready to help out in Kaufman before the season plays out.

All in all, I do feel significantly more optimistic about the direction of the team.  I think the near future may well hold a golden era in which the Royals do not finish last, in which they win more than 70 games in a year, an era when Sport Center stops finding them lovable and ridiculous and instead just finds them irrelevant.  An era in which the Royals can have a winning month and produce an All-Star candidate who can only be turned into a punch line by a person of above average wit.  I have some hope that this era may be as close as 2007.

Provided DeJesus, Shealy and Teahen do not regress.... and if the Royals can bring in a couple of free agent pitchers, find a graceful way to unload Berroa, and somehow figure out what went wrong with Hernandez, Sisco and Burgos the Royals could really take a step forward next year.

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.