FanPost

What do you do when you have 5 players for 4 positions?

Everyone has been enchanted by Alberto Callaspo's amazing start.  Inteestingly, this performance was made possible by Alex Gordon's hip injury.  So many of us have wondered what might happen or what should happen when Gordon comes back.  Suddenly there would be too many players for too few positions.  There has been talk about potentially moving Gordon or Teahen to first base, or some other significant position change.  This is what I would do:

C - Buck

1B - Butler

2B - Callaspo

3B - Gordon

SS - Aviles

LF - DeJesus

CF - Crisp

RF - Teahen

DH - Jacobs/Guillen platoon

Now this demotion of Guillen might lead to some kind of epic explosion in the clubhouse, but I'd do it anyway.  But the above is unrealistic.  It's fun to discuss, but like using a 4-man rotation or making Soria a starter, it just isn't going to happen.  Unless he is injured, Trey Hillman is going to keep Guillen in RF.  So, within the bounds of realism, what are the Royals options?  I think the following are positions are, for all intents and purposes, immutable:

C - Buck or Olivo (for the purposes of this discussion, it doesn't matter which one as they are the two catchers and those are the only positions they can play, other than DH)

SS - Aviles

LF - DeJesus

CF - Crisp

RF - Guillen

That leaves five players (Gordon, Teahen, Callaspo, Butler and Jacobs) for four positions (3B, 2B, 1B, and DH).  I would suggest the following:

C - Buck

1B - Butler

2B - Teahen/Callaspo

3B - Gordon

SS - Aviles

LF - DeJesus

CF - Crisp

RF - Guillen

DH - Jacobs

The key to my plan would be Teahen and Callaspo.  I am not suggesting any kind of platoon.  My idea is to use them both nearly everyday by starting one and using the other to give a day off to another player.  Teahen's versatility would allow it to work something like this:

Day 1 - DeJesus gets a day off (Teahen to LF, Callaspo to 2B

Day 2 - Crisp gets a day off (Teahen to LF, DeJesus to CF, Callaspo to 2B)

Day 3 - Guillen gets a day off (Teahen to RF, Callaspo to 2B)

Day 4 - Butler gets a day off (Teahen to 1B, Callaspo to 2B)

Day 5 - Jacobs gets a day off (Teahen to DH, Callaspo to 2B, or vice versa)

Day 6 - Gordon gets a day off (Teahen to 3B, Callaspo to 2B)

Day 7 - Callaspo gets a day off (Teahen to 2B)

Day 8 - Teahen gets a day off (Callaspo to 2B)

[I would also occasionally sit Aviles against a RHP and put Callaspo at SS, but I don't think Trey Hillman sees Callaspo as anything but an emergency SS, so I'm not going to include that possibility as it is unrealistic.]

Now, I recognize that not all of the above players are likely to get a day off in 1 out of every 7 games.  But, by the same token, Jacobs could be sat twice in a week when there are some lefty starters (as he has already this season).  Regardless, some version of the above is a good way to get both Teahen and Callaspo starts in 5-7 games a week.  And this is tweakable by having Teahen play more second base and having Callaspo move to the OF sometimes if you want Teahen to get more work at second so he continues to develop as a middle IFer.

One of the reasons I think this is doable is that in the long, hot summer and late in this long season, it's going to be good to give frequently injured players like Crisp, DeJesus and Guillen some days off.  I think it will also be a good idea to give Gordon a regular day off as he comes back from his injury.  Also, Jacobs shouldn't face too many lefty starters.  Add that all up and you've got a lot of opportunities to give 10 starters nearly full-time work.

And, of course, if someone goes on the DL or if Teahen or Callaspo crater, this kind of depth helps the Royals keep going possibly without breaking stride.

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.