Constructing a Royals bullpen

Next to Billy Butler's swing the best thing to watch this season should be the young arms coming out of the bullpen.

Bob McClure said this to Bob Dutton the other day.

“There’s nothing herky-jerky with Jeffress,” McClure said. “It’s smooth. It’s hard, too. It is firm. We’re telling him not to go overboard, and he’s faster than anyone else by far. You’ll see it.

“Keating has surprised the heck out of me. His control is good. He throws hard, and his control is good. You know who else has thrown well? Coleman. But it’s so early, and there are a lot of good arms out here.”

While I expected Coleman to challenge for a roster spot early this season I didn't see Jeffress or Keating with that same opportunity early on. Having McClure on your side is a great start for all three of these guys.

The Royals essentially have four possible spots open in the bullpen after you consider Soria, Tejeda and Wood locked in so lets breakdown the possible positions and where each arm in camp settles in.

The Lefty (2 possible)
Everett Teaford, Blaine Hardy, Brandon Sisk, Danny Duffy or Tim Collins - In January I predicted Tim Collins to win this job. While I'm not changing my prediction it wouldn't shock me if the Royals challenged Danny Duffy with a bullpen spot in the bigs. From some of the reports on Duffy's hiatus last season Danny was questioning his role in life as well as his life within baseball. He doesn't act like a young player from what I've read and could be up for the challenge of big league hitters. If the Royals decide they want two which Dutton has hinted at then I definitely give Duffy and Collins the edge with Blaine Hardy as the possible LOOGY darkhorse

The Long Man (1)
Sean O'Sullivan, Kevin Pucetas, Nate Adcock, Kanekoa Texeira - This isn't really much of a competition as O'Sullivan probably has the most talent and already has a major league track record even if it is bad. Texeira is not really a classic long man but could come in to play if the Royals decide to go with more veterans than youngsters.

The Power Arm (2 possible)
Henry Barrera, Jesse Chavez, Aaron Crow, Greg Holland, Louis Coleman, Patrick Keating and Jeremy Jeffress - If you like hard throwing you'll love this group. Coleman is the lightest thrower of the group but probably has the best combination of talent and current ability. In January I leaned heavily to Holland making it out of this group and while I think it makes the most sense for him to make it he might not have the control that McClure and Yost desire.

My Picks as of Jan. 24
O'Sullivan
Texeira
Holland
Collins

I still like my January picks for now but wouldn't be shocked if Tex or Holland got switched out in favor of Jeffress.


Baseball Intellect

Breaking down the potential Omaha Storm Chasers roster

Very Likely
Position Players
1b Clint Robinson - 2010 Texas League Triple Crown Winner
2b Johnny Giavotella - Texas Lg All Star .855 AA OPS
3b Mike Moustakas - 15 HR in 52 AAA games
C Manny Pina - 45% Caught Stealing rate at AA
CF Jarrod Dyson - Hit .272 in 46 AAA games also swiped 13 bags in that time
LF David Lough - 2nd Half of AAA Season .865 OPS w/.403 OBP 21/26 BB/SO rate
OF Derrick Robinson - 50 Stolen bases in 2010
OF Paulo Orlando - 2010 had career highs in every offensive category
Pitchers
SP Luis Mendoza - 4.10 ERA in 24 Games (22 starts) for Omaha in 2010
SP Everett Teaford - One of 6 Royals Minor Leaguers on the PanAm Team
SP Edgar Osuna - Lots of struggles in AAA 3.7 HR/9
SP Mario Santiago - Slipped thru the Rule 5 draft
RP Louis Coleman - delay the clock
RP Tim Collins - delay the clock
RP Blaine Hardy - Pitched 67 innings for Omaha with a 3.49 ERA
RP Brandon Sisk - Royal best 2.51 ERA in Arizona Fall League

Competition
SS Irving Falu - Escobar trade hurt his chances with Royals longterm
IF Lance Zawadzki - Organization depth
IF Joaquin Arias - Organization depth

50/50
1b Eric Hosmer - .977 OPS between AA and A+ 72 extra base hits compared to 59 Ks
SP Danny Duffy - Found new velocity in 2010 reaching 98 mph on some guns
SS Jeff Bianchi - Back from Tommy John surgery
RP Henry Barrera - High strikeout low BB reliever
RP Patrick Keating - Averaged 12.8 K/9 between High A and AA
RP Blake Johnson - 1.40 ERA in Winter Ball 22 IP
RP Jeremy Jeffres - Delay the clock

Strengths- Bullpen- The bullpen should be loaded with skilled and power arms. Tools- whether all the tools will translate or not this will be one of the most skilled set of players to come through Omaha in quite sometime.

Weakness- Youth - These players will get tested against the AAA veterans for the first time.

New Stadium, New Name, New Players, Young talent makes for the most interesting AAA season in Omaha in quite a long time.

Deadline Swap

Deadline Deal- KC Royals trade Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth to the Atlanta Braves for Gregor Blanco, Tim Collins and Jesse Chavez.

Gregor Blanco is a 5'11 170 lbs slap hitting average fielding centerfielder who has hit 3 HRs from '06-10 between the minors and bigs, what does he provide to the Royals? Nothing really, he doesn't run the bases well, doesn't play above average defense which he would need to be worth something, overall he is a below average player who probably does nothing more than move Maier to a corner OF spot where he loses his value. Blanco is the type of player that should be stored in AAA and brought up as an injury fill in.

Jesse Chavez - 6'2 Righty throws a mid 90s fastball with a 90 mph bump slider along with a high 80s change up. His fastball didn't appear to have much movement on it Sunday as he got tagged for a HR but he can throw hard and seems to be another possible reclamation project for McClure who had done well with Tejeda and Farnsworth the last couple seasons.

Tim Collins - Collins was the key to the deal for the Royals, he came into the season ranked as the #10 and #19 rated prospect for the Toronto Blue Jays(part of the SS deal with Braves) by Kevin Goldstein and Baseball America. Collins as I'm sure you've read elsewhere is a short hard throwing lefty with a 94 mph fastball and good 12 to 6 curve. He is only 20 and has dominated every level he has been at never recording a K/9 below 10.5 at any stop. Collins will report to AAA Omaha where he and Louis Coleman will hopefully team up as bullpen stoppers in AAA this season and in KC next.

Overall this trade is a major win for the Royals adding a couple BP arms one of which could be a real contributor with an AAA 5th OF fill in type for two soon to be Free Agents while also clearing room for younger players who need opportunities to play. Dayton Moore deserves alot of criticism for his mistakes with the big league roster in the past but the signings of Rick Ankiel, Kyle Farnsworth and Scott Podsednik turned out to be halfway decent. He got decent play from Podsednik and a half seasons worth from Farnsworth while Ankiel thanks to injury didn't block anyone. He overpaid for two of them but in the end it worked out to 5 prospects and some ok play. If GMDM continued to net those type of results from free agent signings I would be cool with it as should most Royals fans.

Ranking of the 3 deals:
#1 Sean O'Sullivan and Will Smith for Alberto Callaspo
#2 Tim Collins, Jesse Chavez and Gregor Blanco for Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth
#3 Lucas May and Elisaul Pimentel for Scott Podsednik