Can the Royals finally do it?

Question

After a 3 game sweep of the Angels, the Royals are only 1.5 games behind the White Sox for 4th place in the AL Central. They have a 3 game series against the ChiSox in KC starting tomorrow. Do you think we could be looking at a Royals team thats not in last place by July 1st??

Personally, I think the Royals take over 4th, never look back and leave the White Sox in the cellar this year. Oh, and for those of you preparing to say "It's the Royals, who cares?" - I care, that's who.

Answer 1

dont get your hopes up.


go tribe!

Answer 2

Difference between the Royals and the White Sox= The White Sox have good starting pitching. All 5 of their starters consistently put up good numbers while although Meche has been solid, the Royals pretty much have been slugging their way out of jams. Also, the White Sox have an excellent middle of the order that has just been slumping. Thome was injured and Paul Konerko tinkered with his batting stance a little too much. Thome and Konerko are both back on track, and Jermaine Dye will either get traded for some good relievers or will eventually get hot. The Royals have plenty of potential with Alex Gordon, but Sweeney is getting old and will eventually decline. Theres a decent possibility that the Royals will at some point int he season pass the Sox, but eventually they will finish as the cellar dwellers theyve come to be known as.

Answer 3

As a long time Royals fan, I hope you are right. The Sox have won three in a row, yes I realize that it was against the lowly D-Rays, but the Sox have looked better of late. It would be nice to see them out of the cellar.

Answer 4

It's a tough division. Even the White Sox have the capability to turn things around, as miserable as they look. No matter what happens, I think the last place team in this division will be one of the best last place teams in the majors, and better than 4th and possibly 3rd place teams in other divisions. I would love to see the Royals do this though, they're long overdue.

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Answer 5

I ran across this article (Antique Sale, in sources below) and I thought it was interesting given your Royals fandom (or masochism). I agree with Tim Brown in the desire of the Royals organization to trade away Sweeney, but I don't see the Royals getting too many helpful parts in exchange. Yet, I don't think the Royals need it:

They've got a great core of players, especially expected All-Star Mark Teahan, hot rookie Alex Gordon, and big John Buck (though I expect him to cool off to finish with 20 HR, 60 RBIs). Their pitching is alright, though I wouldn't expect too many plus outings from Gil Meche and Brian Bannister,. What happened to Zack Greinke; I remember a couple of years ago, people thinking he would be the next Gaylord Perry.

Anyway, with the impending White Sox sale off (good bye Mark Buerhle), the True Blue Tradition have a chance to finish the year not in the cellar. Here's the key, though, the team holds their destiny: the two teams have four series left to play, and their remaining schedules look remarkably similar. So, if KC stays solid, ChiSox lose players to build for the future, and the games swing the blues ways, you've got your wish.

Prediction: KC finishes fourth, magically trades John Buck, George Brett's HOF plaque, and a player to be named later for Elijah Dukes, Scott Kazmir, and B.J. Upton in '08, and wins the whole darn thing in '09.

Answer 6

I was in the stands for WS games 6 and 7 in 1985. This period has been worse than the 'dark ages". I hope you are right, but here are the important things to consider. Getting out of the cellar would be a good first step.

Get Teahan off of first and back to the outfield. We need him to develop out there and there are plenty of candidates to replace him.

Send Shealy down to Omaha. Let him work on cutting down his K's. He hasn't hit for enough power to forgive the K's. See Adam Dunn for an acceptable ratio of K's and dingers.

Think about signing Gordon to long term deal. This guy is going to amazing. I hate to say the second coming of #5 but it has crossed my mind.

Sign or trade for another top flight #1 or #2 starter. Meche has been a godsend. Trade for Buehrle or sign Zambrano as top dog or Westbrook & Jennings as #2 to Meche.

Sign Torii Hunter...Period...Sweeney's 11 million is gone so pay the man.

Trade Dotel for top pitching prospects. Dayton has to be good on this one. He has the most trade value of any Royal right now. This is where the rubber meets the road. We lack pitching depth in minors.

It would be fine to see the Post Season in 2009

Answer 7

The best thing that could happen for the game of baseball would be to have the Royals finish at or near .500 ball this year. Like Oakland and Minnesota, there would be yet another small market team proving they can win without a large payroll. Go Royals!!

Answer 8

Well, obviously we dropped 2 of 3 to the Sox, but we lost two very close and tough games and our win was a blowout. We're not in fourth yet, but we've got a great young nucleus and I could definitely see us finishing out of the cellar this year. Buddy Bell is the worst manager in the bigs but the players tend to win despite his bad managerial decisions-- if Dayton Moore fires him and gets us a new manager soon (Girardi?) we will surprise a lot of people.

Also, don't be surprised to see a lot of guys get shipped at or before the deadline. Dotel, Sweeney, Sanders, LaRue, Perez, Elarton, and possibly John Thomson are all guys who might be gone before the month is out. Hopefully we can replace them with stud prospects and/or quality starting pitchers.

Answer 9

The Royals can make 4th place in the A.L. Central but no farther. The team is too young and inexperienced.

Answer 10

I will be cheering for the Royals just to see the White Sox in last. Tell them to make sure to punch AJ while they are at it.

Answer 11

Good luck to your Royals. Maybe they can be next year's Brewers or Tigers. I only wish their moving out of the cellar could be at the expense of the Yankees.