I'm so ready for Royals regular season baseball. I need my sports fix bad.
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Seems like the best defensive alignment to me. If Witt makes the team, it's to play every day. They aren't going to regularly bench either Dozier or Merrifield to play Lopez.

Nicky will be relegated to a bench role if Witt makes the trip north with the team.
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And Taylor in center field.
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I know we've been winning a lot in Spring Training (which means Bupkus) but it seems like our offense is still striking out a lot. I mean a LOT. Hope this improves.
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I doubt they'd relegate Lopez to a bench/utility player this quickly. I would think they would rather him play everyday at Omaha and try to figure things out. The guy has 2 or 3 options left. If they're willing to burn a 40 spot on Alberto, he would seem to make more sense for the bench.
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Four Bold(ish) Predictions for the American League
by Ben Clemens
March 17, 2021




Kansas City Will Finish Ahead of Cleveland

This one might be a bridge too far, but I like a lot of what Kansas City has done this offseason. A solid starter to complement Brad Keller, Kris Bubic, and Brady Singer atop the rotation? Mike Minor fits the bill. Not enough OBP in the lineup? Bring in Carlos Santana. Andrew Benintendi didn’t cost them much, and he’ll be a big upgrade from their previous left field situation. Even Michael A. Taylor could be an asset, and a Benintendi/Taylor/Whit Merrifield outfield will play well in Kaufman.

When I wrote about the Carlos Santana signing earlier this offseason, I said that the Royals still looked to be short of contention. Adding Benintendi doesn’t change my view on that. Tussling with the Twins and White Sox at the top of the division never seemed very likely, and it’s not like the Wild Card is within easy reach either. The AL East has four teams who look better than the Royals, and only one of them can win that division.

But this isn’t just about the Royals. I might think they’re slightly over their skis, but Cleveland didn’t even buy a lift ticket. José Ramírez is awesome. Shane Bieber is an ace. After that, the entire roster is a giant question mark.

Will Andrés Giménez provide enough value with his glove to cushion the loss of Francisco Lindor? Will one of their seemingly endless array of young pitchers – Zach Plesac and Aaron Civale spring to mind — turn into a star? Will a Cleveland outfielder be even average? All of these are open questions, and the team needs to have several of them break their way, because there are some thin roster patches here.

The aforementioned outfield is dicey enough that Amed Rosario has been taking centerfield reps after 3,306 career innings in the infield. Jake Bauers is their presumptive starter at first base, and our 0.2 WAR projection for him roughly captures how I feel about that. Roberto Pérez and Cesar Hernandez are the best non-Ramírez position players here, most likely, and that isn’t an enviable spot to be in before the season starts.

More than that, though, I just don’t think Cleveland wants to compete. After slashing their payroll from $140 million to $124 million to a pre-proration $100 million from 2018 to 2020, they went down as low as $40 million this year while they shed everything that wasn’t nailed down. They used that newfound flexibility to… sign Eddie Rosario, basically. Their payroll stands at $53 million going into the year, ahead of only the Pirates.

Could this all be a setup? Could the team rush in with checkbooks blazing and acquire expensive missing pieces? Sure, theoretically. For a team that assiduously swapped out of its contracts to the point that it has zero salary guarantees past this year, it doesn’t seem likely. More likely, the fear of higher salaries in 2022 — Bieber will hit arbitration for the first time, for example — will keep them on the sidelines and perhaps even induce them to shed more money.

Put it all together, and it feels like a team that’s still in the process of turning the squad over to youngsters. They do boast six players in our top 100, but only Nolan Jones looks likely to arrive as a reinforcement this year; Triston McKenzie is already up, and the other four haven’t advanced past A ball.

Combine a thin roster with a penurious ownership group, and a Cleveland collapse feels exceedingly possible. Meanwhile, the Royals look game to try, even if I think they’ll come up short in the end. These teams are five games apart in our projections, and we’re the most optimistic on Kansas City, but I’m calling my shot; the Royals will end up no worse than third in their division, and Cleveland will share the cellar with Detroit.


https://blogs.fangraphs.com/four-bol...erican-league/
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Ben Clemens purposely leaves Indians out of the write up. Another pajama boy writing about baseball.
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I was just sitting here thinking about the Royals lineup with Bobby Witt Jr starting the season in KC. I think you put him in the 9th hole to take the pressure off of him to start & move him up as the season goes along. I put Mondesi ahead of Dozier thinking that he might lead off an inning more often in the 6th hole with Dozier behind him to drive him in.

1. Whit Merrifield, RF
2. Andrew Benintendi, LF
3. Carlos Santana, 1B
4. Jorge Soler, DH
5. Salvy Perez, C
6. Adalberto Mondesi, SS
7. Hunter Dozier, 3B
8. Michael A Taylor, CF
9. Bobby Witt Jr, 2B

That's a deep lineup.
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Someone PM me regarding how they plan on watching Royals games this year. Please explain to me like I'm 5 because I'm not super tech savvy
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The team officially dropped the moniker.

Why would anyone refer to them as the Indians on purpose? Because they want to channel Howard Cosell?
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isn't another option (although unlikely) is Witt at short, Merrifield at 2B, Dozier at 3B and Mondesi in CF?
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I don't think they'd make that move without giving Mondesi some significant reps in CF.

Has that happened? I haven't see anything about it.
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Witt Jr has been playing at 2B in a few games this spring.
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Well, I still call Sporting KC the Wizards.
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That might be a future look into our Opening Day Lineup.
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