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This is the first of a very simplistic series comparing the Royals to the rest of the Central Division. The current projected lineups are offered below with 2012 triple slash and fWAR. Use 'new' stats, 'old' stats, your guts, your grit...whatever.
To be a little different, we will start with the 'up the middle' positions, move onto the corners, then starting pitching and finally relief.
| Chicago | Cleveland | Detroit |
Kansas City |
Minnesota | |
| Catcher |
Tyler Flowers 213/296/412 fWAR: 1.2 (51 games) Age: 27 |
Carlos Santana 252/365/420 fWAR: 3.4 (143 games) Age: 27 |
Alex Avila 243/352/384 fWAR: 2.6 (116 games) Age: 26 |
Salvador Perez 301/328/471 fWAR: 2.6 (76 games) Age: 23 |
Joe Mauer 319/416/446 fWAR: 5.0 (147 games) Age: 30 |
| Second Base |
Gordon Beckham 234/296/371 fWAR: 0.8 (151 games) Age: 26 |
Jason Kipnis 257/335/379 fWAR: 3.1 (152 games) Age: 26 |
Omar Infante 257/283/385 fWAR: 0.8 (64 games) Age: 31 |
Chris Getz 275/312/360 fWAR: 0.5 (64 games) Age: 29 |
Jamey Carroll 268/343/317 fWAR: 2.4 (138 games) Age: 39 |
| Shortstop |
Alexei Ramirez 265/287/364 fWAR: 1.8 (158 games) Age: 31 |
Asdrubal Cabrera 270/338/423 fWAR: 2.9 (143 games) Age: 27 |
Jhonny Peralta 239/305/384 fWAR: 2.6 (150 games) Age: 31 |
Alcides Escobar 293/331/390 fWAR: 2.6 (155 games) Age: 26 |
Pedro Floriman 219/272/307 fWAR: 0.3 (43 games) Age: 26 |
| Centerfield |
Alejandro De Aza 281/349/410 fWAR: 2.7 (131 games) Age: 29 |
Michael Bourn 274/348/391 fWAR: 6.4 (155 games) Age: 30 |
Austin Jackson 300/377/479 fWAR: 5.5 (137 games) Age: 26 |
Lorenzo Cain 266/316/419 fWAR: 1.7 (61 games) Age: 27 |
Darin Mastroianni 252/328/350 fWAR: 1.5 (77 games) Age: 27 |
Can anybody play second base anymore?
Can Lorenzo Cain stay healthy AND produce? If so, can Cain provide enough production to at least stay within shouting distance of the likes of Michael Bourn (aging as he may be) and Austin Jackson (BABIP luck not withstanding)?
Will Alcides Escober regress at the plate? Will he progress in the field - at least with respect to the metrics? Would you trade him for any other shortstop in the Central?
This will sound crazy, but would you trade Salvador Perez for Joe Mauer? I doubt there are many Royals' fans who would. I don't know that it is completely logical given that we are talking about a guy with a plus .400 on-base percentage, but I would not trade Perez.
The Royals are not horribly outclassed up the middle if you truly believe that Perez is about to assume the mantle of one of the league's elite catchers and also hold out hope that Cain, should he manage to play 140 games this year, could be a 2.4 to 3.0 WAR player.