Really feel like they're one more power bat and another solid rotation arm away from making a run at this division.

As it stands today, I think they're just good enough to NOT be good enough (same as last season).

Ya unfortunately that's how it looks to me too.

At some point they're going to have to make a couple big moves or it's rinse/repeat. I guess best case scenario is they're holding out to see if any of these young guys come on & if not pull the trigger on something midseason assuming we're in it.

What's more likely is they'd make a small move or 2 & that's about it.

An in-house solution:

Zimmer and Ventura - both dudes could be special - we just need one to do it.

Mike Moustakas - if he can crawl out of his offensive slump and have a breakout year with a little power, our lineup could be damned good.

Anyone have Moose's winter ball stats?

I'm guessing they're at or around his norm. Hence no one has heard.

Where does this "power bat" play? The only option I can see is to give up on Moose and get a 3B, or give up on Cain, move Aoki to CF, and get a RF. Our lineup doesn't have a gaping hole in it. If I'm going to worry about anything, its our rotation, but surely at least one of the young guys is going to step it up.

They need to improve by 3-5 wins to get into reasonable range for making the playoffs/winning a wild card spot.

I'm not CONFIDENT they've done that, but I could see how they have.

According to pythag, their record was very close last year to what it should have been. Final numbers were within a half win of what they should have been.

The offense should be improved, and has potential to be improved by a lot. IF Aoki does what he has done the past two years as the leadoff man and Alex Gordon slugs .450 again (his average over the past 3 years), the Royals HAVE added a power bat to the middle of the lineup (unconventionally). A bounce back year from Butler improves the offense. And it's not unreasonable to expect Hosmer and Perez to improve a little bit. Just a quick glance at offensive projections, based on established guys performing to norm/young guys taking small steps:

Aoki - . 285/.355/.400 (30 SB, 90 R)
Infante - . 290/.330/.420
Hosmer - .300/.360/.500 (24 HR, 35 2B)
Butler - .300/.370/.450 (19 HR, 40 2B)
Gordon - .290/.360/.460 (20 HR, 40 2B)
Sal Perez - .290/.330/.440 (15 HR)
Moustakas - .250/.300/.400 (15 HR)
Cain - .260/.320/.400
Escobar - .270/.300/.370 (30 SB - these are his numbers hitting 9th for KC in his 3 years here)

That's maybe not a flashy offense, but it's a deeper and more consistent one that should score more runs.

They also have improved by leaps and bounds in what they'll get offensively out of RF and 2B. Whole lineup should be much deeper and more dangerous.

The key question is going to be the pitching staff. They're likely not going to get as much out of the No. 2 spot in the rotation as a year ago, unless Vargas has a real renaissance. If they can get MORE out of the 4/5 spots in the rotation (and avoid 33 starts of high-5 ERA performance like they got a year ago), it can bridge some of the gap at No. 2.

And the bullpen... it's not fair to expect it to be QUITE as dominant as it was a year ago, but it still should be one of the 2-3 best units in baseball.

Add it all up... and I think you can make a good case for a Royals team that, at its best, could win 90-92 games (and maybe even jump up a little more if it has some positive luck).

No guarantees. Obviously. But it's much easier to make a case for this team winning 90+ games because it has many fewer holes.

His stats looked good (in 17 games), but I heard not to read too much into it because anyone should have been able to hit the pitchers in the league he played in.

Hosmer and Moose need to truly step up.

Hosmer did last season, but needs to do it the whole year.

Both of them need to become 100 RBI guys.

.288/.360/.515
3 HR
6 2B

It was a small sample size (just 17 games/66 ABs), but Moustakas played like the player we all hoped he'd become in Venezuela. Over a full season, that would be good for 25 HR and 50 2B.

I'd be thrilled to get .260/.320/425 out of Moustakas, if he's playing the defense he showed in 2012. That would be an above average player, if not a star.

A sign of things to come? Probably not, but I guess you could hope a little bit.

If Moose has 100 RBI, then I can see us making a run at the playoffs.

If Hosmer is .300/.360/.500 with the guys that will be hitting in front of him, the RBIs will come.

If Butler and Gordon hit to career norms to round out the 3-4-5 spots, they don't need Moustakas to be an offensive star. Just getting solid offensive contributions from him would make him a valuable player.

Uhhh yeah no shit, dude.

If that happens and our rotation doesn't come unglued, then we should all be doing backflips.

Highly unlikely for both - and very unlikely for Moose without a major correction in his mechanics.