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The guys at Royals Review Radio thought they’d start the off-season with a fun diversion - a fantasy draft of all-time Royals greats! Join Alex Duvall, Jeremy “Hokius” Greco, Josh Keiser, and Max Rieper as they pick the best in Royals history to field their own fantasy teams.
The qualifications for the draft required players to have either taken 1,000 PA in a Royals uniform, or have thrown 250 innings in a Royals uniform. For the draft, we only took into account how a player performed in a Royals uniform, but we also took into account their entire Royals career. So, for instance, if you draft Zack Greinke, you have to take the good with the bad. Part “Stanky Greinke,” part Cy Young Greinke. If you draft Miguel Tejada, you’re only getting the Miguel Tejada who played for KC at the end of his career. You’re not allowed to consider his MVP season in Baltimore. The rest of this was just for fun, so don’t take any of it too seriously. Please enjoy the rosters and please enjoy the podcast as well!
Here is a look at how the draft fell. It was a snake draft, so Josh picked George Brett 1st, Carlos Beltran 8th, Zack Greinke 9th, etc.:
Royals All-Time Fantasy Draft
| Round | Josh | Alex | Hokius | Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Josh | Alex | Hokius | Max |
| 1 | George Brett | Salvador Perez | Frank White | Kevin Appier |
| 2 | Carlos Beltran | David Cone | Bret Saberhagen | Amos Otis |
| 3 | Zack Greinke | Lorenzo Cain | Mike Sweeney | Willie Wilson |
| 4 | Darrell Porter | Danny Tartabull | David DeJesus | John Mayberry |
| 5 | James Shields | Hal McRae | Fred Patek | Dennis Leonard |
| 6 | Greg Holland | Willie Aikens | Jeff Montgomery | Dan Quisenberry |
| 7 | Wade Davis | Kevin Seitzer | Alex Gordon | Whit Merrifield |
| 8 | Gary Gaetti | Kelvin Herrera | Paul Splittorff | Mark Gubicza |
| 9 | Johnny Damon | Joakim Soria | Jermaine Dye | Joe Randa |
| 10 | Jose Offerman | Roger Nelson | Tom Gordon | Alcides Escobar |
| 11 | Adalberto Mondesi | Bo Jackson | Danny Duffy | Steve Busby |
| 12 | Raul Ibanez | Jarrod Dyson | Ed Kirkpatrick | Mike MacFarlane |
| 13 | Eric Hosmer | Yordano Ventura | Mike Moustakas | Billy Butler |
| 14 | Steve Balboni | Ervin Santana | Luke Hochevar | Steve Farr |
| 15 | Jason Grimsley | Paul Schaal | Mark Teahen | Al Cowens |
| 16 | Mark Littell | Nicky Lopez | Matt Stairs | Kendrys Morales |
| 17 | Dick Drago | Brad Keller | Al Fitzmorris | Ted Abernathy |
Let’s break down the individual rosters:
Team Keiser:
Optimized Lineup (wRC+): 5.487 Runs/Game
1: C Darrell Porter (121)
2: 3B George Brett (132)
3: RF Johnny Damon (98)
4: LF Raul Ibanez (110)
5: CF Carlos Beltran (110)
6: DH Gary Gaetti (106)
7: 1B Eric Hosmer (111)
8: SS Adalberto Mondesi (82)
9: Jose Offerman (109)
Bench: Steve Balboni (101)
Lineup production: 188.4 PA per 1.0 fWAR
Rotation (ERA-):
Zack Greinke (86)
James Shields (80)
Dick Drago (99)
Bullpen:
Mark Littel
Jason Grimsley
Wade Davis - SU
Greg Holland - CL
Team Awards:
MVP: 1
Cy Young: 1
Silver Slugger: 5
Gold Glove: 4
Batting Titles: 3
Team Duvall:
Optimized Lineup (wRC+): 5.30 Runs/Game
1: 3B Kevin Seitzer (118)
2: 1B Willie Aikens (128)
3: CF Lorenzo Cain (107)
4: RF Danny Tartabull (145)
5: DH Hal McRae (125)
6: LF Bo Jackson (114)
7: C Salvador Perez (103)
8: SS Nicky Lopez (80)
9: 2B Paul Schaal (110)
Bench: Jarrod Dyson (83)
Lineup Production: 226 PA per 1.0 fWAR
Rotation (ERA-):
David Cone (73)
Yordano Ventura (95)
Roger Nelson (89)
Bullpen:
Ervin Santana
Brad Keller
Kelvin Herrera - SU
Joakim Soria - CL
Team Awards:
MVP: 0
Cy Young: 1
Silver Slugger: 3
Gold Glove: 5
Batting Titles: 0
Team Greco:
Optimized Lineup (wRC+): 4.834 Runs/Game
1: CF David DeJesus (108)
2: 1B Mike Sweeney (118)
3: C Ed Kirkpatrick (103)
4: RF Jermaine Dye (103)
5: LF Alex Gordon (102)
6: 3B Mike Moustakas (97)
7: DH Mark Teahen (94)
8: 2B Frank White (84)
9: SS Freddie Patek (79)
Bench: Matt Stairs (108)
Lineup Production: 271 PA per 1.0 fWAR
Rotation (ERA-):
Bret Saberhagen (78)
Paul Splittorff (99)
Danny Duffy (92)
Bullpen:
Tom Gordon
Al Fitzmorris
Luke Hochevar - SU
Jeff Montgomery - CL
Team Awards:
MVP: 0
Cy Young: 2
Silver Slugger: 1
Gold Glove: 18
Batting Titles: 0
Team Rieper:
Optimized Lineup (wRC+): 4.918 Runs/Game
1: 1B John Mayberry (133)
2: DH Billy Butler (117)
3: 3B Joe Randa (93)
4: 2B Whit Merrifield (105)
5: CF Amos Otis (118)
6: C Mike MacFarlane (104)
7: RF AL Cowens (103)
8: SS Alcides Escobar (71)
9: CF Willie Wilson (95)
Bench: Kendrys Morales (121)
Lineup Production: 251.6 PA per 1.0 fWAR
Rotation (ERA-):
Kevin Appier (77)
Dennis Leonard (93)
Steve Busby (97)
Bullpen:
Mark Gubicza
Tim Abernathy
Steve Farr - SU
Dan Quisenberry - CL
Team Awards:
MVP: 0
Cy Young: 0
Silver Slugger: 4
Gold Glove: 6
Batting Titles: 1
So, who would you pick to win in a 3-game playoff series? Which team is your favorite? Who got the most value in the draft? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments and/or on Twitter. We had a great time doing this. Thanks for reading and listening.
You can follow Alex Duvall on Twitter at @RoyalsFarm, Hokius at @hokius, Max Rieper at @maxrieper and Josh Keiser at @joshkeiser40. You can also read Alex Duvall’s work at Royals Farm Report.
Royals Review Radio is available on iTunes.