The St. Louis Cardinals entered the offseason with a shopping list that includes a shortstop and a left-handed relief pitcher. Unfortunately, those are currently two of the most talent-thin positions in Major League Baseball.

The Cardinals’ regular shortstop for the 2012 season, Rafael Furcal, hit .264 and had an on-base percentage of .325 in 121 games before he tore an elbow ligament that ended his season. Those certainly aren’t terrific numbers, but he ranked 11th in baseball in batting average and eighth in on-base percentage. He also played his typically solid defense throughout the season.

Furcal expects to be healthy by Opening Day, so the Cardinals will have to either be satisfied with his production, take a chance that late-season star Pete Kozma will continue his remarkable play or try and find an upgrade elsewhere.

Various rumors say the Cardinals are interested in Cleveland Indians’ shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, who ranked eighth in batting average and fifth in on-base percentage last season. That could be an option, but the Cardinals would likely have to part with at least two young pitchers and a position player.

That’s a high price to pay when the team already has serviceable players on its roster, especially when the list of above-average shortstops who might be available is likely limited to Cabrera and Texas Rangers’ shortstop Elvis Andrus.

The biggest problem is simply a shortage of very good shortstops. Cabrera and Andrus have spots in most top-five lists of shortstops, along with Derek Jeter, Troy Tulowitski and Jose Reyes. Starlin Castro would also receive consideration.

The next tier might include a veteran player such as Jimmy Rollins or a young player such as Alcides Escobar who has played well for a year or two, but has yet to establish themselves as a consistent all-star caliber player.

The lack of supply at the shortstop position also means demand is high, which could cost the Cardinals dearly in terms of young players and prospects if they make a move for a shortstop this offseason.

Pitching, particularly hard-throwing, young pitching, is currently a position of strength for the Cardinals, except for left-handed relievers.

Although there aren’t many high-quality shortstops currently roaming infields at big-league stadiums, there might be fewer left-handed relievers.

The Cardinals have lefty Marc Rzepczynski in their bullpen, but he had a 4.24 ERA last season and certainly can’t carry the load alone, as the Cardinals found out in the National League Championship Series against the San Francisco Giants when Rzepczynski posted a 6. 75 ERA and the Giants faced right-handers when Rzepczynski wasn’t available.

But, the same problem faces the Cardinals for left-handed relievers as it does for shortstops. There aren’t many available, especially at a relatively moderate price.

Left-handed reliever Jeremy Affeldt recently signed a three-year, $18 million deal with the Giants, and the best options in free agency are pitchers such as Brian Fuentes, Will Ohman and Wesley Wright.

Those aren’t exactly household names. While that isn’t a requirement for the position, the Cardinals would be foolish to think they would be much better off heading into the 2013 season with one of those pitchers as their second left-handed option in the bullpen.

Rumors also link the Cardinals to non-tendered pitcher Tom Gorzelanny, who threw well for the Washington Nationals last year, posting a 2.88 ERA in 46 innings. Gorzelanny could be a better option, but he is sure to draw interest from several teams and command a fairly high price given the weak market at the position.

Fans can yearn for the Cardinals to make moves to address both positions, but there just isn’t much talent in stock at either spot.

Thankfully, a better shortstop or left-handed reliever isn’t going to determine whether or not the Cardinals will be good next season. The Cardinals have enough talent to be a good team, but those spots could be important factors when the team has to beat other playoff-caliber teams late in the season or the playoffs.

But given the current market at those spots, many other teams could be in similar positions.

Kansas City, MO (November 5, 2012) – The Kansas City Royals have announced that shortstop Alcides Escobar was selected as the 2012 Joe Burke Special Achievement Award winner.  The award was voted on by the Kansas City Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA).  The Joe Burke is awarded to an unsung player who contributed above and beyond what was expected, or someone who the writers felt deserved some recognition for an outstanding season.

Escobar had a breakout offensive season in 2012, his second with Kansas City after being acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers on December 19, 2010.  The 25-year old set career highs with a .293 average, 177 hits, 30 doubles, five home runs, 52 RBI, and 35 stolen bases.  The 177 hits were 13 more than the previous single-season mark for a Royals shortstop.  His .293 average ranked second to New York’s Derek Jeter among MLB shortstops and was the third-highest single-season mark at the position by a Royal.  Escobar’s 35 stolen bases ranked fifth in the American League and were the most by a Royals player since 2003.  He became the first infielder in franchise history to post at least 30 doubles and 30 steals in the same season and the first Royal to accomplish the feat since Carlos Beltran in 2002.  Escobar’s first career multi-homer game on July 14 vs. Chicago was the first by a Royals shortstop since 1997.

I have to admit I was a little surprised Billy Butler was the Royals representative for the 2012 All-Star Game (unless Jonathan Broxton is voted in as the Final Vote) instead of Mike Moustakas or Alcides Escobar. After all, Moose was getting a lot of deserving All-Star voting attention and Escobar is having an All-Star kind of year. But I shouldn’t be surprised Butler got the All-Star nod over Moustakas and Escobar.

One, Butler is having another good year, which is Billy being Billy. It’s easy to take Butler for granted because he’s consistently good. His batting average is at .290 and his on base percentage is at .366. He leads the team in slugging percentage at .500, home runs with 16 and RBI with 48. Yes, his defense is bad and Eric Hosmer is a much better defensive first baseman. But the designated hitter is an offensive position, and Butler is an excellent hitter.

Another reason why Butler was picked over Moustakas and Escobar was the makeup of the American League All-Star roster and fan and player voting. For third base, Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre is a starter, voted in by the fans. Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera was voted in by the players, managers and coaches as a reserve. And compared to Moustakas, Cabrera is having a better year offensively, even if Moose’s defense is better than Cabrera’s.

As for shortstop, the Yankees Derek Jeter will be a starting A.L. All-Star shortstop until he retires. Cleveland Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera was voted in by players, managers and coaches as a reserve shortstop. And Texas has a good shortstop in Elvis Andrus, who is one of the reserves picked by Rangers manager Ron Washington. In Escoabar’s case, he didn’t have the player votes Cabrera had, and it was natural for Washington to pick Andrus.

Three designated hitters are on the A.L. All-Star roster. Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz, another fan favorite like Jeter, is having a good year and will start. Next is Butler, who was selected by Washington. Finally, the Comeback Kid, Chicago White Sox DH Adam Dunn, who was voted in by the players, managers and coaches.

Butler is a first time All-Star and a deserving one. Moustakas is having a great year, but Miguel Cabrera is having a better year and is better known among his peers. One could argue Escobar was snubbed, but the players were more familiar with Asdrubal Cabrera and voted for him. If the Royals had a better record and more national attention, Escobar would have had a better chance to make the All-Star roster.

There is one more chance for the Royals to add another player to the All-Star roster. Closer Jonathan Broxton is on the A. L. Final Vote ballot. As of this writing, starting pitcher Yu Darvish is leading the A. L. Final Vote tally. To be honest, I doubt a lot of Royals fans will vote for Broxton. Yes, he has 20 saves. But those saves didn’t come easy and when he’s on the mound, fans wish for the halcyon days of Joakim Soria.

It’s a little disappointing the Royals have only one player on the roster, since the game is being played in Kansas City. But the Royals brought this on themselves. If they were playing better, there would be more Royals on the All-Star roster. The best way to get more players on an All-Star roster is the win the American League Pennant. For the Royals, let’s hope that’s sooner than later.

The All-Star game will be coming to Kansas City on Tuesday July 10. About a month ago, we took a look at 4 players who could be in position to to make the team. While it doesn’t appear that any Royals player will be voted in, it does appear that they still have 4 players in position to possibly make the team. Only one of those is different than a month ago.

Billy Butler
“The Butler” is proving to be the best hitter on the team, and the most clutch performer as well. Starting in St. Louis on Father’s Day when he hit the game-tying home run in the top of the 9th, he has continued to get big hit after big hit. Most recently, he homered in today’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays in the bottom of the 8th to put the Royals ahead 5-4 and help secure the 3-game sweep. Butler has stiff competition at the DH position. It appears that David Ortiz will win the fan voting, and Butler will be competing agains the likes of Adam Dunn and Edwin Encarnacion for a spot. Both of whom are having outstanding years. Butler will have the advantage of being the hometown guy though, and would be a great choice to participate in the Home Run Derby as well.

Mike Moustakas
“Moose” has continued to swing a hot bat just about the entire year. Along with that, he has played surprisingly stellar defense at 3rd base. It looks like the fan vote is going to go to either Adrian Beltre or Miguel Cabrera. Along with those 2 players, the Anaheim Angels’ Mark Trumbo is also having a terriffic offensive year. Moustakas has his work cut out for him to make the team, but like Butler, the hometown advantage will help his cause.

Alcides Escobar
Relative to the competition at the position, Escobar is the most deserving Royal. As of now, it appears Derek Jeter will get the nod as the starter. He is having a fine year, but Escobar has been phenomenal. Along with playing a gold-glove caliber defense, he is hitting .315/.353/.427 with 12 stolen bases. There are other shortstops having good years like Elvis Andrus and Asdrubal Cabrera, but nobody has been as good all-around in the American League at the position as Escobar has.

Jonathan Broxton
Broxton is quietly putting together a very good year. He currently ranks 4th in the American League in Saves with 19 and has blown just 3 all season. Royals fans have been treated to a few tense moments by the man they call “Johnny Drama”, but overall, he has been a very solid door-closer all season. While Broxton is somewhat deserving, he is more of a longshot and it would be very disappointing if the Royals only got one all-star and the spot wen to him.

The Royals took Kyle Zimmer with their first pick in the 2012 draft, and though the team isn’t exactly in the hunt for a pennant, they have been winners on draft day the past several years.

Zimmer, a 6’4” right-hander from the University of San Francisco, is expected to move quickly to Double-A Northwest Arkansas, if he doesn’t start his career there. In desperate need of advanced pitching prospects, the Royals found themselves in a fortunate position when the first three choices in the draft were position players.

The Royals have chosen pitchers with their first pick twice in the past decade. They have to hope Zimmer develops into an anchor of their rotation. Thus far Luke Hochevar and Aaron Crow have not.

The Royals’ current lineup is peppered with choices from the past decade of drafts. And while we’d like for Hochevar to pitch like a number one pick, and we’d like for Alex Gordon to live up to his draft-day expectations, there is no argument that the Royals have built an up-and-coming unit through the draft.

• 2003 Mitch Maier, Irving Falu
• 2004 Billy Butler
• 2005 Gordon
• 2006 Hochevar, Everett Teaford, Jarrod Dyson
• 2007 Mike Moustakas, Danny Duffy, Greg Holland
• 2008 Eric Hosmer, Johnny Giavotella
• 2009 Crow, Louis Coleman

That’s 14 members of the 2012 Royals who were drafted and developed by the team. That’s what a small-market team that’s not dipping into the free-agent market has to do.

Compare the Royals’ 14 to the New York Yankees’ 6 – Derek Jeter, Brett Gardner, DJ Mitchell, Phil Hughes, David Robertson and David Phelps. Without deep pockets, the Royals have to draft smarter and get better results from their picks.

Making the Grade:

No team gets it right every year, but the Royals have done quite well the past several drafts with their first round picks. With Zimmer left to sign, they hope that last year’s pick – Bubba Starling – and 2010’s selection – Christian Colon – can keep up the string of success.

Last year I gave the Royals a grade for each draft going back to 2002. See how each class is progressing.

Coulda done better:

If the Royals had owned a crystal ball the past decade, they probably would have gone this route:

• 2002 – Prince Fielder and Nick Swisher might not have been any more loyal to KC than Zach Greinke proved to be. Maybe the Royals should have taken Jeff Francoeur back in 2002 when they had the chance.
• 2003 – Mitch Maier made it. Chris Lubanski didn’t make it. But nobody else looks much better.
• 2004 – Billy Butler. Keeper.
• 2005 – Alex Gordon has his moments, but Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun or Troy Tulowitzki would all be better.
• 2006 – Evan Longoria, Tim Lincecum and Clayton Kershaw would all look better in Royal blue than Luke Hochevar.
• 2007 – Two years ago, it looked like Jason Heyward would have been a better choice than Mike Moustakas. Now Moustakas looks like a keeper, but good catchers are tough to find. Still, KC would probably keep Moustakas over Matt Wieters and JP Arencibia.
• 2008 – Eric Hosmer would probably still be the Royals’ choice, although Buster Posey and Jemile Weeks are solid starters elsewhere.
• 2009 – Aaron Crow has done well enough, but Mike Trout is as coveted a prospect as you’ll find.
• 2010, 2011 – I’ll give Colon and Starling a little more time before I subject them to this critique.

Feeling a draft:

Read other articles I’ve written in the past about the Royals in the draft.

Two curious washouts – Colt Griffin and Roscoe Crosby – set the team back in 2001

The Royals approach to the draft during the late 90s produced a whole lot of nothing

Why Bubba Starling means so much to Kansas City

In my novice evaluations of June drafts, I have often contemplated just how major college competition compares to the various levels of the minor leagues. Northwest Arkansas prospect Christian Colon might just provide a useful gauge for comparison.

When the Royals tabbed Colon as the fourth pick of the 2010 draft, he was the heralded leader of Cal-State Fullerton’s run in the College World Series. That season, in which he was named All-American by Baseball America, Colon batted .358 with 17 homers, 68 RBI and 13 stolen bases.

Colon played at the highest level of the college ranks. In the CWS, he experienced playoff baseball against the best pitchers colleges could offer. So how did that translate to the professional level?

Not well. At least not at first. His average at High-A Wilmington languished below .250 for the first month, and he showed none of the power seen at the college level.

But then, .250 looks about like what can be expected from Colon. He bumped his A-ball average to .278 by the close of 2010. But this season at Northwest Arkansas, it’s been more of the same. He currently sits at .256 after more than 450 at bats.

Increasingly disturbing is that Colon isn’t doing much else with the stick. His OPS is an uninspiring .691 and his eight homers don’t make up any of the deficiencies. Not in the hitter-friendly Texas League. Colon rarely has multi-hit games, much less multi-RBI games or multi-homer games.

If I had to describe Colon’s performance, I would call it “steadily unspectacular.”

The descriptions of Colon entering the 2010 draft seemed to focus more on intangibles than talent. He was called a leader, the consummate team player, a college version of Derek Jeter. But a quick read between the lines revealed something less flattering. Where were the descriptions like “fluid, great range, quick bat, power to all fields, etc.?”

They weren’t there. No one really seemed to sense that Colon had great talent. Just great character. Not that that’s a bad thing. But character alone won’t get you to the big leagues.

Colon himself seems a bit shaken by his struggles. He admits that he’s faced a steep learning curve.

“For me it’s been a learning process,” Colon said. “It’s my first full season and I’m at Double A, so I’m just learning and trying to get better every day.”

Colon admits that the leap from college to the pros was tough, and the jump from High-A ball to the Texas League has been equally challenging.

“You can get a call up to the big leagues from Double A. So this is just a big step up and it’s a learning process for me and it’s going to take some time. I’ve just got to be patient and understand that and focus on getting better every day. That’s what you go to the minor leagues for, to prepare to be a good big league player.”

He’s had more than a year to adjust to wood bats and to the life of a professional. While he is facing a lot of older pitchers, Colon is not young – he turned 22 in May. But Double-A pitching is posing him significant challenges.

“The pitching is a lot better,” he said. “They know what they’re doing, and the defenses are a lot better. Guys are closer to the big leagues, and it’s just harder to do things. I think it’s a big jump from High-A to Double A. Guys just really separate themselves. These guys are older and have been around. Some of them have been in the big leagues.”

So judging by Colon’s performance, it would appear that major college baseball isn’t comparable to anything higher than A-level baseball. Colon has yet to flourish against professional pitching, and may be deemed a bust if he doesn’t get it going soon.

Colon is a good-character, team-first player on a team in the Texas League playoffs. It may be unfair to label such a solid performer a bust. And Colon may become the slugging middle infielder the Royals hoped for.

But success isn’t guaranteed for the former college star. In a second article, I’ll look at how he handles the pressure and what lies ahead for the fourth pick in the 2010 draft.

For the first two and a half weeks of the season, the Royals seemed to have found the path towards becoming a successful ball club in the 2011 season. However, in the last week though, they seemed to have lost their way. Lack of offensive production and quality innings out of the starting rotation took the Royals from several games above .500 and a half game out of first down to below .500 and 4.5 games out of first place.

It is not all bad news from this past week; a few individuals are setting both personal and league records with their bats. Alex Gordon’s hitting streak ended at 19 games but saw his fellow teammate, Jeff Francoeur, keep his streak alive. This dynamic hitting duo has done something only one other pair of teammates has done since 1900 in the month of April. Both of them had streaks of more than fifteen games, and only Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez can claim to have also completed this feat (They did so in 2007). That is some good company to be in my friend.

Three every day players are hitting at .315 or above but unfortunately, you cannot send those three up to the plate every inning. The Royals have moved up to third in terms of team batting average going into Friday night’s contest but the poor pitching has left them near the bottom of the food chain (Soria did not have a save opportunity all week). The defense has continued to improve and only made one error during this horrendous road trip.

Another come from behind win late in the game on Friday night against the Twins and the Royals are back on the winning track. Despite the nearly week-long skid, the coaching staff does not want to make any drastic changes to the current roster at this time because they have already experienced more success than most anticipated this early in the season.

If the Royals continue to follow the method of winning baseball (solid pitching and defense combined with timely hitting), they will continue to turn heads in May just as they have in April. Will they be in contention come September? Nothing is for sure in this crazy game, but why not the Royals? The past few seasons the team that has won the division has finished just a handful of games above .500 and the Royals are a team that is capable of playing at that level.

However, in order to be a .500 or better team you have to win division games and series. You also have to be able to play on the road and the first significant road test of the year, the Royals failed. The good news is that the Royals will not be road tested until after Mother’s Day, but when they do go on the road, it will be against a perennial post-season team in the New York Yankees. However, they will have a chance to build some momentum at home against the Twins, Orioles and Athletics.

A solid start by both individuals and a young, enthusiastic ball club is just what Royals fans have been looking for.

It’s tough to talk about the Royals this week. Usually a daily topic among my friends and I, even in the winter, we’ve found it hard to talk about the Royals this week. There’s simply nothing else to discuss. A precipitous falling back to earth has occurred. There is a myriad of topics that if they were the proverbial horse and we beat them anymore, PETA would be in front of www.I70baseball.com Headquarters protesting the cruelty to said horse.

Streakers can be entertaining

But I made a promise to write something every week. So this week I’m going to talk about streaking. Not the type of streaking that happens in less civilized Major League Stadiums. The type of streaking the Royals as a team, and Royals players have been doing. Alex Gordon went on a 19 game hitting streak. Certainly the longest of Gordon’s career, and one of the longest in recent memory for any Royals player. Last September Gordon declared to the Kansas City Star that he expected “to dominate next year”. Since then my friends and I have been calling him The Dominator. At first it was in jest, mocking Gordon’s domination of the American League. Now we call him The Dominator because he is actually dominating. Of Course, it’s only one month of domination. We reserve the right to switch at any time.

Not to be out done: Jeff Francoeur, at the time of this writing has at least a 17 game hitting streak. It’s the longest of Francoeur’s career. Francoeur and Gordon’s hitting streaks are the second time since 1900 teammates have had hitting streaks of longer than 15 games in April. Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez did in April 2007. Even if Francoeur’s streak ends, hopefully he continues on his hitting tear, and let’s a teammate become the Fan’s whipping boy this season.

Despite the awesome streaks from individual players. The Royals are on a six game losing streak. Another American League team had a six game losing streak to begin the season and you would have thought the sky was falling. Royals fans go through a six game losing streak and just assume that it’s supposed to happen. Certainly any baseball team can go on a six game losing streak and still have a nice season. Most of us understand the expectations were low for this season anyway. However, it’s frustrating to see a team give everything back in one road trip, and as of this writing the streak has not ended.

Like I wrote last week. This team is going to be a roller coaster. Right now we’re on the first big drop. But do not fear. Coasters usually go back up….at some point. They way the starting rotation is going, come June I expect the young arms in Omaha to ditch their Nexrad Radars and mesonets for crowns and scepters. At least I hope so. If not, the next time I go to Kauffman Stadium I’m going to root for a real streaker.

Let’s lay off Alcides Escobar, okay people?

The 24-year-old Venezuelan-born shortstop was the key piece in the trade that sent Zack Greinke to Milwaukee, and within hours after the trade, Royals fans were complaining about being ripped off.

Doubtless, Alcides had a rough year in 2011. He batted only .235 over the course of 145 games, and his on-base percentage was well below .300. In 552 plate appearances, he walked only 36 times while striking out 70. He did manage to steal 10 bases.

But the expectations for this young man were so much higher. In Milwaukee, Escobar was believed to be the Second Coming of Derek Jeter. He was the prospect upon which all future hopes were pinned.

After one horrendous year, those hopes were thrown out the window, and Escobar was shipped out of town along with a few prospects to land Greinke and to rebuild what is now a fully loaded Brewers squad.

Fans have been awfully quick to write off Escobar because of his 2010 performance. But let’s be realistic: this young man has played in a grand total of 192 Major League games. One hundred ninety-two. That’s barely over a full season. He’s still extremely young, and he hasn’t yet reached his peak age, the “sweet spot” so to speak, when a ballplayer reaches his full maturity level (usually between 26 and 30).

Let’s give Escobar the benefit of the doubt.

Escobar is a lock to win the starting shortstop job in Kansas City. And that’s a good thing: defensively, Escobar is a huge upgrade from Yuniesky Betancourt, who also left town in the Greinke trade (good luck with Yuni, Brewers fans!). Alcides will get a long-term chance to prove himself.

That being said… nobody in this year’s Royals lineup can assume guaranteed job security – not even Billy Butler, who is without question the best hitter on the team (and one of the most underrated hitters in the league) and the club’s first baseman, and who should feel the glut of slugging first base prospects nipping at his heels.

The shortstop position is no different, especially with 2010 first-round draft pick Christian Colon looking like a natural fit for that spot in the future.

But Alcides has a little wiggle room. Even if he repeats a lousy 2010 performance, he may have competition in Spring Training 2012, but I’m certain he’d still be the front-runner for a starting position.

At his very best, Alcides Escobar has the potential to be Jeter-like. At worst, he’s a light-hitting glove wizard. Those guys may be a dime a dozen in the world of baseball (see: Getz, Chris), but every team has at least one roaming the middle infield and anchoring the back of the lineup. Somewhere in the middle is a great fielder and an above-average hitter who can use his speed to generate runs.

There’s nothing wrong with that.

Matt Kelsey is a Royals writer and associate editor for I-70 Baseball. He can be reached at mattkelsey14@yahoo.com.