You Down With OBP?

"Yeah you know me!"

Or in the case of Royals GM Dayton Moore: "No, not really."

Rick Ankiel is the latest in a flurry of off-season moves that have left me scratching my head. Looking at what he did last year, and yes I know he was banged up, paired with what he's projected to do in 2010...I don't like it one bit. I'd be surprised if his OBP can keep it's little head above water (and by above water, I'm only asking the guy goes .300+).

The addition of Ankiel also creates another problem, the Royals seem to have a surplus of outfielders now (seems like they have about 12 or so at this point). Clearly, there is going to be an odd man (or men) out. Who will it be? Since our shiny new toys are Ankiel and Scott Podsednik, I highly doubt one of them will be put out to pasture. I would hope they don't do anything with David DeJesus...although I keep wondering if they'll dangle him out in a trade and see what they can get (he's one of the few valuable pieces KC has to move in a trade).

So, that being said, at this point I assume our outfield is DeJesus in LF, Pods in CF, and Ankiel in RF.

That leaves us with Pods leading off (most likely) with a career OBP of .340 - which isn't terrible, but I'd think we'd demand more from a leadoff hitter. Not to mention he's 34 and on the decline. Dayton Moore will point to last year's numbers when defending this signing .Hell, at the Royals Fan Fest, Moore was talking Pods up based on his rookie year - back in 2003...pretty relevant, right?

Anyway...Pods leading off, DeJesus batting second maybe, and guessing Ankiel will hit somewhere between four and six in the order. Yikes.

Sorry, sidetracked...where were we? Odd men out in the outfield jumble...

Assuming they don't trade DeJesus - we've still got Jose Guillen, Mitch Maier, and Brian Anderson - which leaves us with six outfielders on the big league roster right now - not to mention Josh Fields (who can play corner outfield and corner infield), Willie Bloomquist, etc.

Not sure what to think at this point. If the plan is to move Guillen to DH full time, where does that leave Alberto Callaspo? I mean, he was only the second best hitter on the team last year behind Billy Butler. In the Mark Teahen trade, we picked up Chris Getz to play second base due to Callaspo's atrocious defense, which I assumed meant he would DH. Maybe not? Maybe he splits time with Guillen at DH, and also fills in at second and third?

As it stood a few weeks ago, I had a pretty good idea of what the starting lineup would be (and it wasn't pretty). Now, I really have no idea (outside of a couple of guys) and the moves we've made to add depth haven't made the team any better. Especially when you consider the guys we've brought in can't get on base....which I suppose ends my rambling and brings me back to OBP.

Some of our leftover players from last season who will likely start, or could at least see a lot of playing time, in 2010:

Yuni Betancourt (.274 OBP in 2009)
Bloomquist (.308)
Maier (.333)
Guillen (.314)

New guys:

Kendall (.331)
Podsednik (.353, although it was .322 in '08 and .299 in '07)
Ankiel (.285)
Fields (.301)
Getz (.324 - but I do like his potential)
Brian Anderson (.328 - his career OBP is .290)

Podsednik I'm guessing will come back to earth a bit, maybe have an OBP around .330...which means, looking at last year, Kendall and Maier are the "bright spots" and Maier has been squeezed out of a job (most likely). As far as potential, I like Getz, and that's about it. Although Dayton Moore, again at the Fan Fest, reminded those of us who watched his Q&A session that Betancourt was a very highly touted prospect once upon a time. When he was 16. Which was 12 freaking years ago.

Royals baseball...catch the fever!