The Royals have been inactive again this week.  This week, will continue our look at the American League Central infielders by reviewing the second basemen of each team.  The following statistics will give us a view of each player’s 2011 season.

                The Chicago White Sox will start one of the once highly touted prospect Gordon Beckham at second.  Beckham had a breakout rookie season hitting .270 with a .460 slg and a .347 obp.  Beckham has struggled to live up to the hype the last two seasons.  His offensive production has steadily decreased each year.  Will his bad streak have finally hit rock bottom last season or will become continue to digress.  The White Sox still have hopes Beckham can perform like he did his rookie season.

The Cleveland Indians will be starting Jason Kipnis.  Kipnis had his first taste of the big leagues last season.  In his first 36 games Kipnis hit .272.  Throughout the minor leagues Kipnis has always been a solid contributor with the bat.  In his three seasons in the minors Kipnis hit .300.  The Cleveland Indians plan on Kipnis being an everyday player for the next six seasons.  The Indians feel Kipnis will be a solid offensive contributor and continue to improve his numbers at the big league level.

The Detroit Tigers will start Ramon Santiago at second. Santiago is the most seasoned second basemen in the American League Central.  Santiago has never been an everyday player.  The most games he has played in a single season was 141 in 2003.  Since then, 112 in 2010 and 101 in 2011 are his next highest totals for games played in a season.  Santiago will really just be there to fill a position in the offensive line of an infield the Tigers will be trotting out everyday.  Santiago has been a .260 hitter over the past three seasons.  With Santiago you know what you are getting and that is not much production.  With that said in the Detroit offense, this should not be a problem.

The Kansas City Royals will start Johnny Giavotella.  Johnny forced the Royals hand last season with his hugely productive season at AAA.  Giavotella hit .338 in 110 games at AAA.  This followed up a season where Giavotella hit .322 at AA.  The Royals know the potential for Giavotella to hit is there, but in 46 games last season Johnny struggled to adapt to big league pitching.  He hit only .247 and got on base at only a .273 clip.  Throughout the minor leagues Giavotella showed better patience and the Royals see him as a potential staple in their lineup.  Giavotella will have to continue to improve his patience at the plate at the big league level.  He also must work on making contact at the plate, in the 46 big league games he played he struck out 32 times.  In AAA in 110 games he struck out only 57 times.  If Giovatella is able to make a few adjustments he will be a solid contributor for the Royals.

                The Minnesota Twins will begin the season with Alexi Casilla at second.  Casilla is another player who has never been an everyday starter.  Casilla played a career high 97 games last season.  Casilla is a prototypical second baseman.  Not much power, hits .250 and steals a couple bases.  The Twins may have a tough time scoring runs this year unless Mauer and Morneau are healthy.  Even then the middle infield for Minnesota has no power and hits for a low average.

Now that all second basemen have briefly been discussed, I will rank them from 1 to 5 in my point of view as to how their overall production for the 2012 season will stack up.

1. Jason Kipnis
2. Johnny Giavotella
3. Ramon Santiago
4. Gordon Beckham
5. Alexi Casilla

From my point of view, none of the second basemen have ever shown much of a reason to get overly excited.  Jason Kipnis showed throughout the minors he could hit, and in limited big league time he proved he could hit at this level too.  If Johnny Giavotella makes a few adjustments and shows his is not a AAAA player, but a solid major leaguer he could easily move to #1 on this list.  With Santiago you know what you are going to get .260 a little pop, but just watching the Detroit infield is entertainment enough.  Gordon Beckham could be the best player on this list.  He proved for a full season that he could produce at the big league level.  If he can revert to his rookie form Beckham could easily head up this list.  As for Casilla, well he has never played 100 games hits .250, nothing to be excited about.  The second base position for the AL Central could be a battle of mediocrity, but only time will tell if any of the young players can have break out seasons.

If you want to identify a date at which the Royals hit rock bottom, look no further than June 6, 2001.

Ten years ago, nearly to the day, the Royals may have reached their high point, or low point rather, in futility at the 2001 amateur draft. And there have been plenty of days to choose from.

Colt Griffin

To say that a draft would mark the low point in the history of a franchise may seem odd. But consider where the team was at that point. The once-proud franchise had finished the last six seasons below .500. The team was struggling to retain its top talent in the free agent market, and had missed on several of its recent draft picks. The farm system was depleted. An infusion of talent was needed.

On that day in 2001, however, spirits were riding high. The Royals spent their first two picks in the major league baseball draft on two high school phenoms. No, make that legends.

Colt Griffin and Roscoe Crosby. The two conjured up memories of Nolan Ryan and Ken Griffey, Jr.

“We got the best high school arm in the country, and we got probably the best athlete in the draft,” said Allard Baird about the picks. “If somebody would have told me before the draft we were going to get Mr. Griffin and Mr. Crosby, I would have said ‘You’re nuts.’”

Today it looks like Baird was the one who was nuts. But he wasn’t the only one who coveted Griffin and Crosby. The two were considered risky picks, but not without off-the-charts potential.

Griffin and Crosby never panned out, however. The 2001 draft turned out to be simply the culmination of several consecutive bad drafts that left the franchise devoid of young talent. The draft of 2001 was not the beginning of the Royals problems, as you can see by reading here.

But the pinnacle of imperfection was the 2001 draft, which netted two legendary flameouts.

The Royals took Griffin with the ninth pick of the draft because he was reported to have topped 100 mph, supposedly the first high schooler known to have done so. KC risked a $2.4 million signing bonus on the 6’4” Texan, knowing he would have to conquer control problems.

He never did.

Griffin bounced back and forth between Burlington and Wilmington for two consecutive seasons, trying to gain some semblance of control over, and develop anything besides, his blazing fastball. He worked on changing his mechanics, developed arm problems, and languished in A-ball.

In one last-ditch effort to get something out of his golden arm, he converted to the bullpen at Wichita. He got his walks more under control there. But faced with shoulder surgery following the 2005 season, he opted to retire at age 22.

Griffin could have served as the model for Bull Durham’s “Nuke” LaLoosh. For his minor league career, he struck out 271, walked 278, hit 44 batters, and threw 82 wild pitches in 373 minor league innings. He posted a career 4.79 ERA.

If Griffin’s story is disappointing, Crosby’s is tragic.

The South Carolina high schooler had the tools, according to Royals scouts, to rival Griffey. The only reason Crosby was still available in the second round, at pick number 53, was because he was also one of the most sought-after football talents in the nation.

The Royals, willing to let Crosby play football at Clemson, planned to develop his talents as a center-fielder on a part-time basis, hoping their patience would eventually pay dividends. The Royals had, of course, been the part-time home of none other than Bo Jackson in days past.

But their new young star was star-crossed. While setting freshman receiving records at Clemson, he injured his elbow. He worked to rehab the injury during the summer under the watchful eyes of the Royals.

But tragedy struck when several of his high school friends, en route to visit him at Baseball City, FL, were killed in a horrific car crash. Crosby was devastated.

He planned to red-shirt the upcoming football season to recover from the elbow injury. But he wound up going AWOL, seeking psychological counseling, and battling the Royals over arbitration when he didn’t return to the field.

Later, his brother died in a swimming accident. Crosby couldn’t recover.

Crosby never played a baseball game after high school, and wound up getting just $1 million of his $1.75 signing bonus after arbitration.

He made one final attempt to tap his limitless potential by trying out for NFL teams in 2005. But he never stuck.

The 2001 draft, which inspired such high hopes at the time, left the farm system completely empty. The only player taken by the Royals who actually made the majors is Devon Lowery, who pitched in five games in 2008.

Every franchise has its spectacular flops. Players who just couldn’t miss, but somehow did. But the 2001 draft followed a disastrous string of failed drafts when the team could ill afford it.

No one thought it would turn out this way for Griffin and Crosby. And the franchise paid a steep price for it. About a decade’s worth.