In a spring training that has included worries about contract negotiations and the health of starting pitchers, the stability of a right elbow ligament for a position player could be the St. Louis Cardinals’ biggest problem as games get underway.

Shortstop Rafael Furcal received an anti-inflammatory shot in his injured elbow Friday to help ease discomfort created by a bone spur, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Furcal tore a ligament in the elbow Aug. 30 in a game against the Washington Nationals, and he chose to forego surgery in favor of rehab during the offseason. But that decision could come back to haunt Furcal and the Cardinals for the 2013 season.

Furcal has yet to throw or take lefthanded at-bats during camp, and he didn’t sound optimistic about his condition Thursday.

“It still hurts, a lot, when I’m throwing,” Furcal said.

That is very bad news for a Cardinals team that doesn’t have a solid backup option at shortstop.

Pete Kozma played well at the end of last season, but that was a flash of brilliance in an otherwise mediocre career spent languishing in the minor leagues, and the Cardinals have been reluctant to put much faith in Kozma as a major part of the solution at shortstop.

But other than Kozma, the Cardinals are in a world of hurt in one of the most important positions on the field. They signed Ronny Cedeno during the offseason, but he has a career batting average of .247 and hasn’t been able to stick even with bad teams such as the Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners, Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets.

The Cardinals looked at making a move for a shortstop during the offseason and reportedly inquired about trading for Cleveland Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera.

Cabrera would be an excellent fit with the Cardinals and would fill a position of need, but other teams know the Cardinals are loaded with good, young pitching, and their asking prices are very high.

The Cardinals understandably don’t want to park with their treasure trove of pitching. Pitching and defense are what generally win championships, and decent hitters are usually easier to find than pitchers who can provide productive innings.

But because Furcal didn’t undergo surgery when he first injured his elbow, the Cardinals are in quite a bind just a month before the regular season begins.

Obviously, the decision to have surgery is ultimately that of the player, and the team likely has significant input, but right now the decision to try and rehab rather than have surgery is creating some anxious moments in spring training camp as Furcal struggles to heal enough to play.

Furcal also has a history of injuries that threatened to derail his career. He was an all-star-caliber shortstop with the Atlanta Braves during the first six years of his career, but he has not played more than 100 games in three of the last five years because of various injuries.

The Cardinals knew they were getting a fragile player when they traded for Furcal at the 2011 trading deadline, and they got quite a bit of production from him before the injury. Furcal has been a .259 hitter with 176 hits in 171 games played in the year and a half he’s been a Cardinals player, but the elbow injury is looking like it could be a problem longer than just the next couple of weeks.

So if Furcal can’t start the season, the Cardinals will have to make a decision just as important as Furcal’s decision about having surgery. They will have to make a deal to get a shortstop, which likely would cost highly regarded pitching prospects, or they’ll have to hope a Kozma-Cedeno platoon at shortstop is good enough to make the playoffs.

Otherwise, the Cardinals could have another one of those incredibly frustrating situations when they count on a player to eventually get healthy, and he never does.

That has happened repeatedly with Cardinals pitchers throughout the years, and it usually results in a not-so-great season because the team didn’t make necessary changes while hoping the injured player would return.

Hopefully, shortstop isn’t the Cardinals’ downfall this year, but it is already the position that will cause the most anxiety this spring.

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.

The St. Louis Cardinals made several changes to their coaching staff this week before free agency gets started. That’s not huge news, but it might be more than the team changes to its player roster during the offseason.

Hitting coach Mark McGwire said Friday he will take the same position with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Cardinals also announced earlier in the week that bullpen coach Dyar Miller had not been offered a contract to stay with the team.

The team will replace Miller with Blaise Ilsley, who had been the pitching coach for the AAA-affiliate Memphis Redbirds, and it is expected to promote John Mabry next week from assistant hitting coach to McGwire’s old position as hitting coach, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The team will likely fill the assistant hitting coach position with someone already in the organization.

But don’t expect a similar amount of changes to the Cardinals roster during the offseason.

The Cardinals offered a $13.3-million qualifying offer Friday to starting pitcher Kyle Lohse, but it would be shocking to see Lohse accept that offer or remain with the team heading into 2013. Lohse’s value is very high right now given his 16-3 record in 2012 and a weak free agent class.

But other than Lohse, the Cardinals will likely trot out a team very similar to the 2012 squad. Lance Berkman won’t return, but every other position player on the team’s regular postseason lineup is under contract for next year.

Following the Cardinals disappointing seven-game loss to the San Francisco Giants in the National League Championship Series, many people have trumpeted the need for improvements at the shortstop and second-base positions.

However, those yearnings for new faces up the middle might be misguided.

Assuming his elbow is healthy heading into Spring Training, Rafeal Furcal should be back for the start of the 2013 season. Regardless if people think he is the best possible solution, he is an accomplished veteran who can handle the position. That takes care of shortstop, and Pete Kozma can be Furcal’s back up.

Many also seem to think Kozma was a one-hit wonder down the stretch last season, which he very well might be, but he certainly played well enough while in the big leagues to earn serious consideration as the team’s back-up shortstop.

That is also a much cheaper scenario than signing a mid-level free agent such as Stephen Drew or Alex Gonzalez.

Second base is a tad more tricky. Skip Schumaker did not play well in the second half of the season, but he is still under contract for next season and has proven in the past that he can be an everyday starter. Daniel Descalso is the best fielder on the team besides Yadier Molina, but his surge at the plate in the postseason will have to become his norm for him to hold the second-base job for an entire season.

The Cardinals also have highly touted prospect Kolten Wong, who will have a shot to play second base for the Cardinals, perhaps as soon as 2013. Even if he needs more time in the minor leagues, he figures to be the team’s long-term plan at that position.

Maybe a veteran could fill the spot until Wong is ready, but this year’s free agent class at second base includes players such as Placido Polanco, Marco Scutaro and Adam Kennedy. The Cardinals have already had Polanco and Kennedy earlier in their careers, and both are surely in the final steps of their careers.

Scutaro might be an option. He played great for the Giants this year, hitting .362 in 61 games after he was traded mid-season from the Colorado Rockies, but he is a career .276 hitter. That’s not bad, but Schumaker is a career .288 hitter and does a fine job defensively.

All of that means the team that sneaked into the playoffs, made a miracle comeback to win the division series in the playoffs and missed the World Series by one game will likely be the same team that takes the field on Opening Day 2013.

Changes are always interesting and exciting, but St. Louis fans probably won’t have many of those feelings this winter.

The current team, with supposedly full seasons from Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter and a large group of talented, young pitchers, already has the pieces to create expectations that it should at minimum be in strong playoff contention at the end of the season.

Baseball is a performance driven business and as such it was really no surprise that the Kansas City Royals let hitting coach Kevin Seitzer go following the 2012 season. Eric Hosmer regressed, Mike Moustakas didn’t improve as much as the club had hoped and Jeff Francoeur ran out of pixie dust, so of course, the team fired the man in charge of their development (or in Francoeur’s case, salvation). While I agree with manager Ned Yost that I’d like to see our power hitters pull the ball more, there’s no way you can blame the 2012 Royals’ failures on Seitzer. What’s more, the factors that are most responsible are still in place.

First, we’ll start with the announcement that was made the same day, Luke Hochevar will likely be returning. If any one player could be blamed for the Royals failures over the last six years, it may just be Hochevar. The 29 year-old right hander has never been even a league average pitcher, and in 2012 he was far from it. With an ERA+ of 72, Hochevar was arguably the worst starter in the major leagues this year, but Dayton Moore and Ned Yost still think he’ll figure it out.

Even more absurdly, Jeff Francoeur, the player mentioned most prevalently in the press conference announcing the firing of Seitzer, will by all account be given a chance to start in right field again in 2013. Francoeur’s -1.3 WAR was the worst in the majors in 2012, barely edging out Eric Hosmer. While Francoeur does bring a great arm, in the field he was subpar, and at the plate he was simply atrocious.

Most importantly if you have the worst pitcher in baseball and the worst position player in baseball, and you choose to bring both players back, does that make you the worst general manager in baseball? Dayton Moore is brilliant at building a farm system, but his ability to handle a major league roster is no longer in question. He has made it clear he is absolutely terrible at it. Want proof? Just look at last year’s offseason:

November 7,2011 Traded Melky Cabrera for Jonathan Sanchez and Ryan Verdugo- Sanchez went 1-6 with a 7.76 ERA and finished with a Wins Above Average (WAA) of -1.8

November 23, 2011 Signed Bruce Chen to a 2 year/$9 million contract- Chen went 11-14 with a 5.07 ERA and finished with a WAA of -1.6

December 20, 2011 Signed Yuniesky Betancourt to a 1 year/$2 million contract- Yuni hit .228 with a .656 SLG % and finished with a WAA of -1.9

March 20, 2012 Traded prospect Kevin Chapman for Humberto Quintero and Jason Bourgeois- The two players combined for a WAA of -0.9

Yes, you can clearly point to Jonathan Broxton or Jeremy Guthrie as Moore’s better moves, but the Moore spent over $20 million this season on Bruce Chen, Jonathan Sanchez, Luke Hochevar, Jeff Fancoeur and Yuniesky Betancourt. $20 million!!! Those five players combined to cost the Royals 13 wins in the Wins Above Average category. They had a combined WAR of just below 0. Good thing we fired the hitting coach.

The Pittsburgh Pirates today clinched their 20^th consecutive losing season, a mark that surpasses even the futility of our Kansas City Royals. That brought to my mind a pretty good question, which franchise is really more hopeless? To start I’ll look at the recent performance of the two clubs, as putrid as it is, and then I’ll finish with the future prospects.

While it’s true that the Pirates haven’t had a winning season in 20 years, it’s easily arguable that they’ve been more competitive than our Royals. For one, they’ve only lost 100 games twice in the last 26 years, while the Royals have done it four times in the last eleven. However, in terms of actual wins, it’s ridiculously close with the Pirates averaging 68.2 wins to the Royals 67.7 since 2000. The Pirates have a more recent playoff appearance, with three straight from ’90-’92 but they’ve gone six years longer without a championship winning their last in 1979. Trying to compare these teams based on their past performances is like a race between a Prizm and a Sunfire, so let’s move on to what the future looks like.

It might be easy to think that since the Pirates have won more games in 2012 they’re better set up for next year, but I’m not sure that’s necessarily the case. For one thing, the Royals are much younger. The average position player for the Royals is a full year younger than the Pirates and their pitchers are an average of three years younger. The Pirates best two pitchers, A.J. Burnett and Wandy Rodriguez, are 35 and 33 respectively and it seems unlikely they’ll match this year’s performance. On the other hand, their best offensive players, Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez, are both under 26 and just entering the prime of their careers. Whit the Royals having club control of virtually their entire line up, and most of them at an age where improvement is expected, I think you’d have to give the position player advantage to the Royals. I’m not sure anyone has a worse prospective starting rotation in 2012 than the Royals though, so until David Glass actually opens his pocket book this winter, the starting pitching edge goes to the Pirates. Although the bullpen may be an advantage for the Royals, I’m not sure it’s enough to put them over the top.

Looking at the minor leagues doesn’t offer a much clearer picture. Wil Myers is the best prospect in either organization, but the Pirates probably have the next three best is Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, and Starling Marte. While both clubs have exceptional talent in the minors, if anything I’d give the edge to the Pirates if only because their top two prospects are pitchers and we’ve all seen what a need that is for small market clubs.

Essentially there’s no separating these two clubs because they’re almost mirror images. Young players, hungry fans, embarrassing recent history and cheap owners. I guess you could call them our sister club in the National League, and that should be depressing enough for both fan bases.

If you had been asleep since March and woke up and looked at the Major League Baseball standings, you would see that the Kansas City Royals are currently sitting in 4th place with a record of 24-34, 1/2 game out of last place in the American League Central, with only the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres having fewer wins in all of Major League Baseball. And if this was all you saw, your reaction would be “same old Royals”. However, it isn’t quite that simple.

In 2011, the Royals as a team stayed remarkably healthy. No everyday position player spent any considerable amount of time on the Disabled List. Danny Duffy got shut down early, but otherwise the starting rotation stayed relatively healthy.

2012 has been an entirely different story. 2 key position players that were penciled into the starting lineup for the entire season, Catcher Salvador Perez and CF Lorenzo Cain, have been out all and most of the season respectively. Starting 2nd baseman Chris Getz has been on the DL for about a month. Closer Joakim Soria was diagnosed with a torn elbow ligament in Spring Training and is out for the season with Tommy John surgery. SP Danny Duffy was diagnosed with the same a month ago and is finished for the year. SP Felipe Paulino, sandwiched around a very impressive month in the rotation, has 2 stints on the DL, the 2nd of which he is currently serving. And even though he wasn’t very good before the injury, SP Jonathan Sanchez is also serving time on the DL.

Even in their worst of nightmares, Dayton Moore and Ned Yost couldn’t have planned for this sort of contingency. 4 out of every 5 nights (Bruce Chen‘s outings being the lone exception), the Royals are bringing a knife to a gun fight with the starting pitchers they are sending out there. Of the 5 pitchers in the Royals current starting rotation (Bruce Chen, Luke Hochevar, Vin Mazzaro, Nate Adcock, and Luis Mendoza), only Chen figures at this point to be a sure thing in next year’s rotation, and none of the 5 would figure to be in the rotation beyond next year unless something goes terribly wrong. So what are we supposed to be watching? This is basically a competition between a bunch of guys who would all figure to be 5th starters at best, to determine who is worth keeping around at AAA for an emergency spot start in 2013.

So Royals fans, it is time to quit paying attention to the standings. Things to pay attention to going forward would include:

-Eric Hosmer‘s ability to continue to break out of his extended early season slump
-Alex Gordon as he continues to recover from his slow start to the year
-Mike Moustakas as he emerges as one of the best offensive and defensive 3rd basemen in the game much earlier than anyone anticipated
-Salvador Perez as he returns from the Disabled List this week
-Alcides Escobar as he continues to establish himself as the premier defensive SS in the game
-The development of SP Jake Odorizzi as he continues to excel at AAA Omaha
-And of course, the inevitable call-up of the later “golden boy” of the organization, Wil Myers.

There are plenty of things to be excited about the rest of this Royals season. Unfortunately, contending for the playoffs is no longer one of them. Perhaps 2013 will be “Our Time”

ROYALS SIGN FIRST-ROUND PICK KYLE ZIMMER

Kansas City, MO (June 7, 2012) – The Kansas City Royals today announced the club has signed first-round draft choice Kyle Zimmer, the fifth overall selection in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft.  Consistent with team policy, terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The 20-year-old Zimmer, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound right-handed starter, went 5-3 with a 2.85 ERA in 13 starts, including three complete games, for the Dons in 2012.  In 88.1 innings, he allowed 76 hits, 28 earned runs and 17 walks, while striking out 104.  Zimmer led the West Coast Conference in shutouts (2), strikeouts and strikeouts per nine innings (10.6).  Baseball America rated Zimmer as having the best fastball among all collegiate prospects and his curveball as the third-best in the collegiate ranks.  He was named a preseason second-team All-American by Baseball America entering 2012 and to the 2012 Midseason USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Watch List last month.  Zimmer was also a member of the 2012 WCC All-Academic team, posting a 3.72 GPA.

Born in San Francisco, Calif., he attended La Jolla (Calif.) High School in the San Diego area where he played four years of baseball, mostly as a third baseman, while also competing in water polo and basketball.  Serving mostly as a position player, he pitched a total of 21.1 innings during his high school career.  Zimmer converted to pitcher his freshman season at USF, but only made five appearances that year.  He then posted a 6-5 record with a 3.73 ERA last season, including outdueling 2011 first-overall selection Gerrit Cole and the UCLA Bruins, 3-0, in a four-hit complete-game shutout with 11 strikeouts in a NCAA regional game on June 3, 2011.

Zimmer is the 23^rd pitcher to be selected by the Royals in the first round and the first since 2011 All-Star Aaron Crow in 2009.

Almost all of the preseason fears have been realized in the last three weeks for St. Louis Cardinals fans as the team eventually fell from its perch atop the NL Central.

Aside from shortstop Rafeal Furcal, every older position player has experienced an injury that either placed them on the disabled list or kept them out of the starting lineup for multiple games. And those injuries are quickly taking their toll on the team.

First baseman Lance Berkman had knee surgery this week to repair meniscus damage that will likely keep him on the shelf for about two months. On top of that, center fielder Jon Jay, man-without-a-position Allen Craig and reliever Kyle McClellan are all biding their time on the DL, not to mention starting pitcher Chris Carpenter, who has been out since Spring Training.

The Cardinals entered play Friday in second-place for the first time this season, one half game behind the Cincinnati Reds. Then they lost again to the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 in 10 innings.

Granted, the Reds are 7-3 in their last 10 games, but heading into play Saturday the Cardinals haven’t beaten a team above .500 since May 16 when they beat the San Francisco Giants 4-1.

However, the most troubling aspect of this May slide is that it is tough to find silver linings for the near future. Starting pitcher Adam Wainwright finally pitched like the Wainwright everyone remembers Tuesday by shutting out the San Diego Padres on three hits. Other than that, the bullpen has been a mess, other starters haven’t gotten deep into ballgames and the offense has failed to come through in key spots late in games with runners in scoring position.

The latest example was in the ninth inning Friday when second baseman Tyler Greene and left fielder Matt Holliday both struck out with runners on second and third. One base hit would’ve one the game, but Greene watched strike three and Holliday swung threw the pitch from Raul Valdez.

Yes, the Cardinals offense ranks near the top of the league in several categories, but they are hitting .258 with runners in scoring position. That puts a lot of pressure on the pitching staff to consistently put up zeroes late in games.

Now that’s not to say the pitching staff doesn’t deserve a substantial amount of the blame. The bullpen, in particular, has sucked the life out of several potential late-inning rallies by giving up an extra run or two in the sixth inning or later.

Closer Jason Motte gave up the back-breaking two-run homer in the 10th that won the game for the Phillies, but the double reliever Mitchell Boggs gave up to Juan Pierre in the seventh to tie the game at three played just as much a part in the Cardinals losing that game.

The Cardinals had made winning baseball games look relatively easy at the beginning of the season, and they very well might get on a similar roll late in the season when several key players are back on the field recovered from their injuries.

But, fans might have to temper their expectations for the next month or so to hope the Cardinals play .500 ball and simply remain close to the Reds in the standings.

What an interesting Wednesday for the Kansas City Royals. Before the game with the Boston Red Sox, the Royals called up infielder Johnny Giavotella and put LHP Jonathan Sanchez on the 15-day disabled list with biceps tendinitis. Then for Wednesday’s game, Manager Ned Yost put Giavotella in the lineup as the designated hitter, Billy Butler at first base and Irving Falu at third base. Regulars Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer got the day off and the Royals Twitterverse responded favorably to the moves. If you call bewilderment, frustration and anger favorable.

Photo Courtesy of Minda Haas

The Sanchez to the DL move was a surprise, but the Royals replacing him with Giavotella was more of a surprise. Usually, a team moves a position player with a position player and a pitcher with a pitcher. But not this time.

With the Thursday off day, the Royals won’t need to replace Sanchez until next Tuesday against the Texas Rangers. With the current roster, the Royals could go with Nate Adcock, Luis Mendoza or wait for it, Vin Mazzaro. There’s a chance the team could call up Ryan Verdugo, who is on the 40-man roster and pitching pretty well for the AAA Omaha Storm Chasers with a 2.87 ERA, a 1.63 strikeout to walk ratio and a 1.213 WHIP. Verdugo doesn’t give up a lot of hits, but he leads the Chasers with 19 walks. But it’s more likely the Royals will use Adcock, Mendoza or Mazzaro as a spot starter.

So why is Giavotella with the Royals? According to General Manager Dayton Moore, the Royals will face left handed pitchers over the next week or so and Giavotella gives the team a right handed bat. In Omaha, Giavotella hit .331/.408/.504 with 25 RBI and five home runs. He also drew 18 walks and 11 strikeouts. Giavotella’s offense and being right handed were some of the reasons he joined the Royals.

But what about his defense? For now, the Royals plan to use Chris Getz as the everyday second baseman. There’s no denying Getz is playing well, with a .288/.338/.424 average and good defense. The Royals won’t sit Hosmer or Moustakas for extended periods of time, so unless Giavotella plays second base against left handed pitchers, most of Giavotella’s time with the Royals will be on the bench. I’m sure Giavotella and Mitch Maier will become good buddies.

To be honest, this move is maddening to some Royals fans. Giavotella was expected to be the Royals second baseman of the future and be the starting second baseman this season. Instead, Giavotella was sent to Omaha and Getz and Yuni Betancourt shared time at second, at least until Betancourt got hurt. With this latest move, the Royals are treating Giavotella less like a prized prospect and more like organizational filler.

But then again, perhaps the Royals had little choice but to call up Giavotella. With injuries to right handers Salvador Perez, Lorenzo Cain and Betancourt, the Royals have a left handed heavy lineup of Jarrod Dyson, Getz, Alex Gordon, Hosmer, Maier and Moustakas. And with Giavotella’s strong offense, he does provide a right handed bat.

But how long will Giavotella be in Kansas City? In his projected role, it’s likely he will go back to Omaha when Betancourt comes back from the DL. Or Giavotella might stay if Getz gets hurt or if he plays his way to a permanent spot on the roster. Either way, many fans are wondering what the Royals are doing with Johnny Giavotella. Time will tell.

I am digging probably too deep into Royals history to see who the top three position players by Baseball Reference’s Wins Above Replacement (WAR) have been for every five year period in team history. Not just the nice round chunks like 2000—04 and 2005—09, but every consecutive five year stretch: 1969—73, 1970—74, 1971—75, and so on. I believe I am stealing the idea from Joe Posnanski, who once looked at the best player in all of baseball by rolling five year periods. Here I look at the only team that matters. It is a lot of numbers to wade through, but it yields some interesting results. Assuming you are a Royals fiend.

1969-73

16.2 WAR Amos Otis CF
10.2 WAR John Mayberry 1B
9.6 WAR Paul Schaal 3B

1970-74

20.6 Amos Otis CF
11.7 John Mayberry 1B
9.9 Freddie Patek SS

1971-75

18.7 Amos Otis CF
18.6 John Mayberry 1B
10.7 Freddie Patek SS

Amos Otis does not get enough love in Royals-land. Many current Royals fans did not see him play, plus he does not live in the area and seems to keep a low profile (though he is coming to town soon for the Buck O’Neil golf tournament). He was a special player, perhaps the second best position player in team history. All hail AO.

1972-76

19.7 John Mayberry 1B
16.9 Amos Otis CF
13.7 George Brett 3B

George’s death grip on these lists begins…

1973-77

21.3 George Brett 3B
16.4 Amos Otis CF
15.1 John Mayberry 1B

1974-78

26.6 George Brett 3B
19.8 Amos Otis CF
16.6 Hal McRae DH/LF

1975-79

34.5 George Brett 3B
19.0 Amos Otis CF
15.3 Darrell Porter C

1976-80

39.0 George Brett 3B
18.2 Amos Otis CF
17.3 Darrell Porter C

George’s ’76—’80 is the best five-year stretch in Royals history by WAR. Here are Brett’s seasons in more detail: