Cactus League Game 16 - Open Thread

Conspiracy theories or not, the Royals forge ever onward in Cactus League play, taking on the Giants. Sure the Giants have won two of the last three World Series, but they are just 4-6 in Cactus League play. The Royals, standing tall at 11-1-1, know who the real powerhouse is.

Yordano Ventura gets the start this afternoon and Bob Dutton speculates that Ventura may be reassigned to minor league camp after this game. Ventura is almost certainly going to start the year in AA Northwest Arkansas, but a quick start could see him move to Omaha by early summer. The speed at which Ventura is moved through the system is, of course, first based on how well he pitches, but will also be contingent on how well or poorly the back end of the major league rotation performs the first few months of the season.

The rest of today's starting lineup:

Jarrod Dyson CF, Elliot Johnson SS, Billy Butler 1B, Max Ramirez DH, David Lough RF, Johnny Giavotella 2B, Anthony Seratelli 3B, Brett Hayes C, Endy Chavez LF

Did you catch the Mexico-USA game last night? I have to admit only a passing interest in the WBC, but when you can tune it to watch Luis Mendoza strike out Joe Mauer it does keep me on the channel. Some of you were on this train last spring (each of you take a cookie out of the RR commissary free of charge), but I was skeptical of Dayton Moore's 2012 nervousness over losing Mendoza ala Phil Humber the year before. Now, I have to wonder why Moore and the Royals seem so set on Mendoza not figuring into the race for the fifth starter spot. Can Luis be great? No. Good? Doubtful. Average? I think almost certainly. As a fifth starter, a team - a good team - could do a lot worse.

Makes one wonder, does Mendoza have more trade value than either Luke Hochevar or Bruce Chen?

I've been periodically comparing the Royals to the rest of the AL Central. This seems like as good a place to squeeze in the designated hitters as any.

All stats are from 2012, except for Victor Martinez's whose are from the 2011 season. I don't know, think I will take our guy out of this group.

The forecast for Scottsdale this afternoon is mid-fifties, partly cloudy and a 20% chance of rain.