Kansas City Royals

Contributor: Clark Fosler, mvn.com/mlb-royals

2007 Record: 69-93

2007 Summary: The Royals actually improved by seven games over their 2006 campaign and might have done even better had they not suffered through a dismal September.

Widely disparaged by many for the signing of pitcher Gil Meche, the Royals were rewarded by Meche setting career highs in every category but wins and emerging as one of the top 10 or 15 starting pitchers in the American League. Kansas City also struck gold in the Rule 5 draft, landing Joakim Soria who finished the year with 17 saves and a 2.48 ERA.

Offensively, the team got the future started by bringing Alex Gordon to the majors on Opening Day and calling up Billy Butler for good in June. After an awful first two months, Gordon settled down to hit .275/.320/.461 from June 1st on. Butler, widely regarded as a better pure hitting prospect than Gordon, compiled a very nice rookie line of .292/.347/.447.

While the Royals were a long way from being considered a good baseball team in 2007, they were also a long way from being viewed as a laughingstock. That's progress.

2008 Key Additions: GM Dayton Moore tried to get in on both Andruw Jones and Torii Hunter, but ended up signing Jose Guillen to a 3 year/$36 million deal. Also inked were free agent relievers Ron Mahay and Yashuhiko Yabuta, along with backup catcher Miguel Olivo.

2008 Key Losses: No attempt was made to resign Mike Sweeney during the off-season and Emil Brown was sent packing (although considering this a 'loss' is up for debate).

2008 Royals Starting Lineup:
1. David DeJesus CF
2. Mark Grudzielanek 2B
3. Mark Teahen LF
4. Jose Guillen RF
5. Billy Butler DH
6. Ross Gload 1B
7. Alex Gordon 3B
8. John Buck C
9. Tony Pena Jr. SS

2008 Royals Starting Rotation: Gil Meche, Brian Bannister, Zack Greinke, Brett Tomko, John Bale

2008 Royals Closer: Joakim Soria

2008 MVP: Billy Butler - Look for the 22 year old Butler to establish himself as one of the more feared hitters in the league.

The Royals will be successful if: Alex Gordon and Billy Butler are the real deal. You can talk about the back of the rotation or finding setup guys to get to Soria, but the truth is that the organization's foundation for future success is riding almost totally on Gordon and Butler becoming perennial All-Stars. Those two have the ability to turn an anemic offensive attack into a potent force.

2008 Season Prediction: The Royals are not ready to stand in against the likes of Detroit and Cleveland, but they should continue to improve. They are young team, but not necessarily an inexperienced one and may well make a nine or ten game improvement to something on the order of 78-84.

Standings Prediction:
1. Cleveland Indians
2. Detroit Tigers
3. Minnesota Twins
4. Chicago White Sox
5. Kansas City Royals