baseball

and even if it isn't great at 2nd base it will be the best infield the Royals have had in a long time.

I'm a huge fan of Starling. Don't think there was a bigger advocate for him on the board than me when talking about prospects.

I think it would get tricky, however, if Cain ends up being a .300 20/20 guy with + defense. If Starling shows flashes but doesn't rocket through the system, he might go a long way toward fetching the requisite ace to get to and through October.

But let's hope that Starling is a phenom, and he's knocking on the door at 20/21, a la Hosmer. In which case, Cain should certainly be on the block.

If Yuni Betancourt was signed to be a utility infielder and grab occasional starts against lefties, it works out OK.

He's a lifetime .728 OPS guy against lefthanders, which isn't great but plays just fine if you start a lefthanded hitter at positions he can sub at. With Moustakas at third and Getz a possibility at second, Betancourt plays pretty well as a sub for them.

Side note: Betancourt actually never played SS until he got to pro ball. He was a 2B in Cuba. His biggest problem at short was the extreme lack of range, something that will be less of an issue at 2B. There's less ground to cover, and with his arm strength, he can play deeper there than normal to make up for it, too.

If he's an everyday player, it's a goddamn disaster, because it means Gio didn't get it done and is back at AAA.

I just don't understand how one Spring Training determines that Yuni is worth starting over Gio. Gio would almost have to go hitless with 15 errors before I'd go there. While we want to win, we're still in the process of developing young players. Gio needs time to develop at this level.

I meant to put "Have had".

Agreed.

Only way it makes sense is if they think Gio needs more time to work his way back from the hip surgery. If that's the case, it's smart to allow him to work out a few kinks at a level where he's succeeded in the past.

I just laned in PHX I a hoping to get as much info as what I see. I am pretty sure I flew with Toby Cook then Royals CP of marketing and advertising. Got to catch some of thenPhillies today. They have a player with the same batting stance as Matt Stairs.

Shikera hips don't like is currently playing and it reminds me of the powe hosmer gets out of his hips while crushing the ball over the fence.

Welp, UCL damage for Soria, so likely headed for TJ surgery. Awesome.

Of course, we finally have reason for hope, and things begin to fall apart at the seams.

Guess most of us were right in wanting to trade him this offseason. God damn this is turning into a horrible early spring for the Royals.

If you told me to pick one popular fan-favorite type of player to go down with a season and a half-ending injury, it would easily be Soria. Not that I wish him ill at all, but closers are highly overrated.

In other words, could be worse, and if we don't win this year, it wont be because Soria went down.

Plus there are guys named Holland and Broxton. Losing Soria is far from the end of the world, let alone the season.

It's not a huge deal, but it's his last year on contract. I think we have an option year, but for quite a bit of money. So if he's out for the season, he could be done as a Royal.

Yea... and no one get me wrong... I hate that he's out. I'm a big fan of the guy. But luckily we planned ahead signing Broxton and Holland stepped up last year and Crow could be in the mix so we should be fine even without Soria.

Hopefully he'll be one of those guys who comes back even better from Tommy John if that's what he has to have and we'll bring him back for his triumphant return.