For many Kansas City Royals fans, Joey Votto’s 12-year $251-million deal with the Cincinnati Reds was the worst news they had heard all spring. Fans speculated on Twitter that this would make Eric Hosmer worth at least $300 million in 4 years. Sam Mellinger wrote of how the Reds could afford such a deal, and yet the Kansas City Royals (with a slightly larger TV market) have put themselves in a position where they could not. For many the idea that Eric Hosmer is destined to leave Kansas City in 4-5 short years is just further proof that this team will never compete, the Kool Aid Drinker says not so fast.

Now it’s certainly possible that I am a little more optimistic about Hosmer’s prospects than most. I did predict he would break Steve Balboni’s HR record and win an MVP this season. While that may seem a little bit far-fetched, the odds of him doing both within in the next 4 years may be better than anyone that has ever put on a Royals uniform. If he does, the Royals have virtually no shot of locking him up long term, short of him giving the club one of the biggest hometown discounts ever. Who amongst us would fault him for not doing that? Who thinks the Royals should really lock up $250-$300 million in one player?

I’m sure a large percentage of Royals fans wonder how losing a player of this caliber could not be a complete disaster for a franchise, and to them I would suggest looking at the Texas Rangers after they lost Mark Teixeira. In 2007, the Rangers traded 1 ½ years of Tex for Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison, and Jarros Saltamacchia. Andrus, Feliz and Harrison all contributed heavily to last year’s AL pennant winning club. Now sure, there’s no guarantee when trading for “prospects” that things will turn that well, but I’d like to think that Dayton Moore’s success in dealing Zack Greinke bodes well.

The Rangers had learned of the perils of a $200 million contract before anyone else thanks to Alex Rodriguez. The also had the foresight to see that a Scott Boras client of his caliber was going to test the free agent market and end up with a ridiculous contract. I’m sure at the time it was a terrible feeling for Rangers fans, but do you think the last two years have been?

While it may be depressing to think about, the fact is the Royals were probably never going to have Eric Hosmer for more than the 6 years that they are guaranteed, and that is not a complete disaster. Dayton Moore has set this club up to make a serious run over the next 4-5 years, and the nucleus is almost completely locked up over that time frame. Eric Hosmer looks to be one of those rare players that hits the ground running, and should only improve over that time frame. As Royals fans we should not be worried about Hosmer being so good that he becomes too expensive in 5 years, we should be hoping he does exactly that because it will most likely lead to our best chance at a World Championship in nearly 30 years.

For far too long we as Royals fans have had to manufacture reasons to get excited about this club as plan after plan failed miserably. Today, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas homered, our starting pitching shut down the Angels for a second consecutive day, and we fielded a lineup of (mostly) homegrown up-and-coming players that are virtually guaranteed to stay together and improve over the next 4 seasons. Our minor league system is second only to last year’s in the history of the franchise. We may very well be standing in line for what proves to be the greatest ride this club has ever given us. Let’s not start crying now about being sad that it’s over, it’s only just begun.

The St. Louis Cardinals technically have a full pitching staff that includes five starting pitchers with a combined eight World Series championship rings, but they still might trade one of them for a pitcher who has no rings.

Rumors continue to swirl that the Cardinals will add Roy Oswalt to the rotation before the season begins. Oswalt, 34, has said he wants to remain a starting pitcher and play for either the Cardinals or Texas Rangers. However, he reportedly wants $10 million to do so.

Understandably, talks with both of those teams have gone incredibly slow. Sure, it would be nice to pitch for one of the two teams in last year’s World Series, but neither team really needs a starting pitcher.

The Rangers’ staff is set for the upcoming season with talented young pitchers, and they would be foolish to move one of them to add a veteran with health concerns.

The Cardinals are in a slightly different position, but still don’t have an opening.

Aces Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter will be fine, and Jamie Garcia fits the same mold as Rangers pitchers Derek Holland and Matt Harrison. The other two starters, Kyle Lohse and Jake Westbrook are veterans who are both in the final year of their current contracts.

Neither Lohse nor Westbrook have been outstanding at any point in their careers. Therefore, the Cardinals would not have to gamble as much on bringing in Oswalt.

Even if Oswalt is only a .500 pitcher at this point in his career, that’s not much different than what Lohse and Westbrook have been since they joined the Cardinals in 2008 and 2010, respectively. Lohse is 39-32 with a 4.62 ERA, and Westbrook is 16-13 with a 4.07 ERA. Oswalt’s career ERA is 3.21, and even with his injuries in Philadelphia he had a 16-10 record with a 2.96 ERA.

The biggest obstacle between Oswalt and the Cardinals might be the same obstacle that caused Albert Pujols to leave and sign with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Money.

Oswalt apparently wants a $10-million contract for 2012. But, the Cardinals let starting pitcher Edwin Jackson leave to sign with the Washington Nationals in part because he would’ve cost too much when the team already had five starting pitchers.

Jackson signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Nationals.

Oswalt is a better pitcher than Jackson, but the Cardinals don’t need either pitcher at the $10 million level, especially when the team is currently projected to enter the season with a franchise-record $113.6 million payroll.

Pitching will be even more important for the Cardinals this season after their offense lost an average of 42 homeruns and 126 RBIs from the lineup when Pujols left. However, Wainwright will fill a void at the top of the rotation, and Lohse and Westbrook have been as serviceable as any back-of-the-rotation starters the Cardinals had during the Tony La Russa era.

Plus, the Cardinals would have to make some kind of roster move for Oswalt to fit. Lohse and Westbrook have full no-trade clauses, and nobody has bitten on the Cardinals’ attempts to trade Kyle McClellan.

Even if the team did trade McClellan, it would have to convince Westbrook to pitch from the bullpen as he did in the 2011 playoffs. Westbrook did well in that position during the playoffs, but it’s unlikely a starting pitcher would want to move to middle relief when he will be up for free agency the following offseason.

If he stays healthy, Oswalt might put up much better numbers than Lohse or Westbrook this season, but the Cardinals don’t need to pay him $10 million to find out.