Stretch Run

Things are just as they should be with the Royals battling for last place heading into the final games of the season.  The Royals head to Cleveland tonight to start a big four game series to see whose late season call-ups and rookies are better than the other team's, also to avoid the distinction of last place in the American League Central.  While this may seem like another in a long string of disappointing years for the Royals and being 4th or 5th in the division is not much to play for, well...that's all we've got.  However, this year is one of the few that you can actually say, hey maybe next year, and here's why:

Center Field:  Not since the days of Carlos Beltran have the Royals been fairly secure at this position, we have a rookie who has come-up and made a nice first impression (Jarrod Dyson), and a youngish, serviceable guy we got in a trade (Gregor Blanco) and Mr. Steady Eddie (Mitch Maier) who all can do the job.  This puts us in the position not to have to trade for a Joey Gathwright or a Coco Crisp, nor to have to sign a Rick Ankiel and that is a big improvement. CF is obviously an important position and being fairly certain that you will have someone who is about average playing out there next year is comforting from a fan's viewpoint (A Royals Fan's viewpoint).

"If we get him back" (offense):  Normally this is how an oblivious fan starts out a rant about how their team just came up short because of an injury and that some decent player was really going to make the difference between them and last place.  However this year, if you say that about David DeJesus, you might actually have to pause and think if you had Billy Butler, DDJ and Wilson Betimit hitting in a row this would be the best Royals 3-4-5 combo since, I don't know, but if those guys put together full seasons like they have this year, come next year we might be talking about battling for third place!

 "If we get him back" (pitching):  See above, but this time re:  Luke Hochevar.  Now maybe he is going to be that pitcher who never can quite go a full season and he hasn't been insanely impressive this year, BUT he actually could be better.  A full season from him with standard improvement and voila you have a #3 starter    

Brayan Pena:  Who knew? We actually had a catcher who was capable of hitting the ball over the fence.  How can you not like Pena?

Hope:  This year, above all other (recent) years, blind hope is warranted.  Okay so Kila and Alex haven't quite carried their AAA number to the bigs, but just look at them, there is a reasonable expectation that at least one of the two could be an above average player next year.  While we haven't seen many of them yet, keeping your fingers crossed and hoping for some miracle rookie to come-up next season and actually live-up to wild expectations is not that far-fetched.  There are at least enough of them that we have some odds working in our favor as opposed to putting all of our money on one number at the roulette table we can spread it out and spin the wheel a few times.

Returning Players:  The more guys you have on your current roster whom you actually want to see back next year and who are having solid years this year is a strong indicator of how well your team is doing.  Zach had somewhat of a disappointing year by his unsustainable standards, but I'm looking forward to seeing him back.  No Billy Butler may never be Miguel Cabrera, but I think it's safe to say he won't be Bob Hamelin either and that we can expect his solid production to be there again next year.  Joakim Soria, we've commented on it here at the PBR as have all of the other Royals' Blogs and even though having a great closer on a losing team isn't helpful, just knowing that your losing team has one of the best at its position is worth something.  Wilson probably won't sustain his MVP caliber numbers through an entire season next year but anything resembling what he's done this year would be a welcome sight.  Mike Aviles, much like Pena, you just have to like the guy and if nothing else, he is WAY WAY better than Willie Bloomquist.  Not to mention, this is his first year back from major surgery.  I could probably go on a bit more, but being that the number of players that you want to see back outnumbers the ones who you would prefer didn't play on your team is proof enough that this year's last place finish might not be as bad as some of the previous ones.

As is stand we now hold a narrow 1/2 game lead on the Indians and we all know that fourth place is nothing to shoot for, but looking for signs of a third place team is actually reason enough to watch this year's 4th or 5th place team.