As our look around the Cardinals’ system, from the roof to the basement continues, we’ll move onto catcher, where the club is in a familiar situation. In Yadier Molina, the direction of the team is set with perhaps the face of the entire organization, yet even in as secure of a situation has there is, there still have to be contingencies. So what is the scenario behind Yadi? And is the future potentially as certain as the immediate past and present has been? Here’s how the current situation for the Cardinals’ backstops is playing out.

St. Louis: The scene is set with the big league squad, and isn’t changing for a while. Molina is arguably the best catcher in baseball currently. Since inheriting the job from now manager Mike Matheny in 2005, he’s grown into the best defensive player in baseball, a winner of five consecutive Gold Gloves and two Platinum Gloves as well. His bat has also began to rise up the level of his prodigious defense as well, has he has hit .310 over the past three seasons. This balance helped him finish fourth in the National League MVP vote a year ago. At 31, he’s the cornerstone of the team, and is an unapproachable role as the team’s top catcher.

Although the opportunities behind Molina are sparse, Tony Cruz made a solid impact in his part-time work and is a fairly good athlete. He’s in a good position to hold the spot for a while, as he is low cost, young and has an ability to play other positions if needed.

High Minors: At Memphis, the club currently has some veteran backstops stashed to provide depth, and most importantly, help groom the young arms reaching the brink of St. Louis. Rob Johnson and J.R. Towles are currently lining up behind the plate. While neither is much more than an extreme fallback option in case of an injury to Molina or Cruz, Johnson did perform well in the spring.

At Double-A Springfield, 26-year- old Audry Perez has been the part-time backstop for two years, splitting the duties three ways in 2011. While not a major prospect, in five seasons through the organization, he has hit .275.

Low Minors: Cody Stanley and Jesus Montero are the prime talents at the Class-A level, both at Palm Beach currently. A former pitcher, Montero the 21-year-old hit .308 at Low-A Batavia in 33 games a year ago. Of all the catchers in the system currently, he has among the best chances of breaking through into St. Louis. While he projects favorably, but needs to get healthy to starve off his teammate this season, Cody Stanley. The 24-year-old is hitting .250, with a home run and two triples, and while he isn’t a great threat to make an impact in St. Louis, he can be a solid player in the minors.

Steve Bean, the team’s second round pick a year ago, showed some potential as well. He split his first professional year at Johnson City and the GCL Cardinals at the Rookie level. After a slow start at Johnson City, he hit .320 in 50 plate appearances in the Gulf Coast League, and at only 19 years old, he has a decent amount promise to still deliver on. He’ll continue in the GCL when season play starts June 21.

Prognosis: In a lot of ways, it’s really Yadi and then everybody else. And while that would be the case regardless of the talent behind him, it’s a rather extreme difference. From veteran backups to young, but one-dimensional prospects, there’s not a clear player that is “next” in the organization right now. While Cruz is talented, he’s not displayed himself to be a candidate for much more of a role than he carries now, for any club. And while Montero and Bean are showing potential, they are some way off from being even among the better players in the system as whole. So for the time being, in Molina’s value is even greater than is seen daily, just due to how much taller he is than the pool he’s standing in.

St. Louis Cardinals players reported to Jupiter, Fla., last week to kick off spring training 2013, but that first week was full of contract talk instead of baseball talk, an unfortunate situation that has become the norm at Cardinals camp in recent years.

The Cardinals even went bigger than usual in the first week this year by having three contract announcements, but at least two of those were positive announcements. The organization picked up the option on manager Mike Matheny’s contract for the 2014 season, and it signed general manager John Mozeliak to a three-year extension.

The other announcement wasn’t so joyful. Adam Wainwright and the team said contract negotiations with the pitcher are not active at the moment, and there is not a timetable for when that situation will be put to rest.

All of these are necessary procedures for a Major League Baseball organization, but it takes away from the excitement of spring training and shifts the focus away from what we all want to enjoy: players on the field preparing for the upcoming season.

Unfortunately, early spring training workouts have been an afterthought in the past three seasons.

In 2010, Albert Pujols arrived at spring training camp in much the same situation Wainwright walked into camp this year. Pujols was headed into the final year of his contract with the Cardinals, and people spent an incredible amount of time talking and analyzing Pujols’ situation, nevermind the team was actually preparing for a season that would end with a World Series championship.

Spring training in 2011 wasn’t as bad, but that’s more because the result turned out much better for the Cardinals. Pujols had left the Cardinals and signed with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in December 2010, but the Cardinals had another important part of their team heading into the dreaded final year of a contract.

That important player was Yadier Molina. People were already speculating about him joining Pujols in Anaheim after his contract expired at the end of the year, but Molina and the Cardinals squashed that talk early in spring training when he signed a five-year, $75-million extension to stay with the club.

Then came this year, and the Cardinals are again stuck in contract negotiations with a star player. It’s anybody’s guess how Wainwrights contract situation will play out, but that’s what keeps people talking about it even though we are less than a week away from the start of actual spring training games.

Understandably, high-profile contract negotiations are part of the way of life for Major League Baseball teams these days as salaries rise to the next astronomical amount and the performance-enhancing drugs topic refuses to go away.

However, the quality of life for teams, players and their fans might be better if people spent more time talking about exciting new players or position battles instead of off-the-field issues.

Spring training is a seemingly magical time of year when teams go to the tropics to work on aspects of their game so they are ready to debut for an excited fan base when they return home for Opening Day.

Baseball is great when it is little more than those quaint storylines. It’s too bad much of that gets overshadowed by the modern realities of the sport.

The St. Louis Cardinals have been looking for a left handed relief pitcher this off season.  Today, they got their man.

Cards sign Choate to 3 years, $75 million contract

Randy Choate is a 37-year old left handed relief pitcher that has pitched for five teams in his twelve year major league career, spanning back to his rookie season in 2000 with the New York Yankees.

Choate is a true LOOGY (Left-handed One Out GuY) and exactly what the Cardinals were looking for.  He has lead the league in appearances two of the last three seasons with 85 in 2010 and 80 in 2012.  As the term suggests, however, many appearances do not lead to a ton of innings.  Choate threw just 38.2 innings last season.

Tough against lefties, he has held them to a .201 batting average over his career while compiling a 3.52 strikeout to walk ratio as well.

He split time last year between Florida and the Dodgers, having been part of the Hanley Ramirez trade.

Here’s a quick look at his career statistics, as well as his 2012 splits, courtesy of Baseball Reference:

Career Splits:

2012 Splits:

The Cardinals will turn their focus to the middle infield now, where there appear to be shopping for an upgrade at second base or a long term answer at shortstop.

In baseball, you can never have enough pitching and the Royals figure you can’t have enough hitting coaches. The Royals hired Jack Maloof as their new hitting coach and Andre David as the assistant hitting coach for the 2013 season, replacing the departed Kevin Seitzer.

Maloof, 63, spent the last five seasons as special assistant to player development and hitting coordinator. He was in the Atlanta organization from 2002-07 and the Marlins’ hitting coach from 1999-2001. Maloof will be the primary on-field batting coach.

David, 54, has been a part of the Royals organization for 14 years. He was the Royals Minor League hitting coach from May 2005 to May 2006. For the last three seasons, David was the hitting coach for Surprise in the Rookie Arizona League. David will assist Maloof with batting coach duties.

With both Maloof and David being a part of the Royals organization, they have familiarity with the current Major League players and players in the Minor League system. The 2012 Royals were fourth in the A.L. with a .265 batting average, but were 12th in the A.L. with 676 runs scored and tied for last in the A.L. with 131 home runs. Maloof and David hope to improve the Royals power hitting and home run totals.

But why two hitting coaches? There’s concern two hitting coaches might send mixed signals to the players, but Maloof and David insist they work well together and are on the same page hitting wise. If that’s the case, they can work on two different players at the same time, being able to coach more players. And though the hitting philosophy of Maloof and David are likely to be the same, some players might “click” better with one of the coaches, increasing their chances to improve their hitting. Of course there’s the danger of the players forming “cliques,” liking one coach over the other, which could cause friction.

There’s also the “extra set of eyes” from David that gives Maloof another perspective. During games, David will be in the stands, observing batters to see what they’re doing right or doing wrong. Maloof can use the information to improve the Royals hitting.

Many teams have their pitching coach as the “primary” coach and their bullpen coach as the “assistant” pitching coach, so it’s not too far fetched to have two hitting coaches. The Giants, Tigers, Braves, Cardinals, Phillies and Padres have two hitting coaches. The Giants and Tigers are in the World Series, and the Braves and Cardinals made the playoffs, so there’s the argument two hitting coaches can be successful. With the hire of Maloof and David, The Royals are the second A.L. team to employ two hitting coaches.

The promotions of Maloof and David won’t magically propel the Royals above .500 and into the playoffs. The Royals main focus this off season is starting pitching. But they need players like Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas to reach their offensive potential and the team needs to score more runs. The Royals hope Maloof and David will take the team’s offense to the next level. Who knows, maybe they’ll get Chris Getz hitting opposite field home runs. Hey, they’re hitting coaches, not miracle workers.

When the Colorado Rockies traded for starting Jeremy Guthrie last February, they expected him to be a reliable innings-eating pitcher with a deceptive fastball, a good slider and change up. The right-handed Guthrie was the Opening Day starter for the Baltimore Orioles the last three seasons and Guthrie was the Opening Day starter for the Rockies. By July 20, Guthrie’s 2012 season was a bust and the Rockies sent him to the Kansas City Royals for the disappointing lefty Jonathan Sanchez.

The 2012 season started out well with an Opening Day win against the Huston Astros. But the Rockies lost 13 of the 19 games Guthrie pitched in and he ended up with a 6.35 ERA, 4.5 K/9 and a 3.1 BB/9 over 90.2 innings. In late April and early May, Guthrie also missed 15 games with a right shoulder injury. By June 20, the Rockies sent the struggling Guthrie to the bullpen as their long reliever, going with a four-man rotation. Guthrie rejoined the rotation July 4, but the Rockies lost three of the last four games Guthrie started before being dealt to the Royals.

In his first three starts with the Royals, Guthrie looked like a right-handed version of Sanchez, giving up 14 earned runs over 16.1 innings, 12 strikeouts and five walks, being pegged as the losing pitcher in all three games.

But the last two starts reveal a different Jeremy Guthrie. In a combined 15 innings, Guthrie hasn’t given up a run, earned or unearned and thrown 14 strikeouts and given up just two walks. And the teams he pitched against were the Chicago White Sox and the Oakland A’s, both teams who are in the thick of the playoff hunt.

Since the trade, Guthrie has a 4.02 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and a 2.0 BB/9 over 31.3 innings. Meanwhile, Sanchez has a 9.53 ERA, 6.1 K/9 and a 7.4 BB/9 over 11.1 innings. So far, it looks like the Royals got the better end of the deal.

So why the turnaround? A big part of it is Guthrie’s change of scenery. When Guthrie pitched at Coors Field, he had a 7.84 ERA and a 5.1 K/9 over 12 games in 59.2 innings pitched. When he was away from Coors Field, Guthrie had a 3.75 ERA and a 5.3 K/9 over 12 games and 62.1 innings pitched. Guthrie also gave up 15 homers at Coors Field compared to nine homers in other ballparks. And did I mention Guthrie is a flyball pitcher? That’s not a good thing in the rarefied air of Coors Field.

Kauffman Stadium is more of a pitcher’s ballpark and with the Royals good defensive outfield, Guthrie can afford to be a flyball pitcher. Lately, the Royals offense is improving, so that gives Guthrie and the starting rotation better run support.

Another factor is Guthrie’s attitude when joining the Royals. Sanchez always acted like he didn’t want to be with the Royals and his performance showed it. But Guthrie says the Royals were one of the three teams he would like pitch for and so far he’s displaying a good attitude.

But two good starts doesn’t mean Guthrie will continue his good run. And Guthrie isn’t going to turn the Royals 2012 season around by himself. These are the Royals we’re talking about, and starting pitching is still the weak link of the team.

Guthrie will be a free agent at the end of the year. If he has a good rest of the season, he could command more than his current $8.2 million salary. Would the Royals be willing or able to sign him, or will Guthrie go somewhere else for a bigger paycheck? And the Royals may believe they have better and more affordable in-house options and let Guthrie walk.

For a trade that seemed to be a wash about a month ago, Jeremy Guthrie is becoming a pleasant surprise. And with yesterday’s news of former Royal outfielder Melky Cabrera being suspended for 50 games for testing positive for testosterone, the Sanchez/Cabrera trade doesn’t seem too bad, especially with getting Guthrie out of the deal.

This week, the St. Louis Cardinals found out exactly what a full Major League season of Allen Craig looks like. He has now played in 156 games and collected over 500 plate appearances in the big leagues. The numbers are in…and they look pretty good.

In his time with the Cardinals during the regular season, Craig sports a .297 batting average with 25 home runs, 95 RBI, and a better than .880 OPS. He does have 100 strikeouts against only 42 walks, so perhaps his pitch selection could be a bit better. But those numbers are great. Craig is just one of those players who goes out and rakes.

The problem, of course, is that it has taken Craig parts of three seasons to get one season’s worth of stats on his résumé. Injuries have definitely taken a toll on the slugger’s playing time early in his career. The good news is, the biggest injury he sustained was a result of hustling his ass off and crashing into the wall knee first and not some muscle or tendon pull as a result of poor conditioning or other weakness. The time he missed certainly still counts, but a freak accident injury is something entirely different from being injury prone. It will take more time to see if Craig is predisposed to weird injuries or not.

Craig’s true breakout may have come in the 2011 World Series. Though he only hit .263, Craig had three home runs and an otherworldly 1.154 OPS. Pretty much every other performance in that series got overshadowed by David Freese’s heroics, and he certainly deserved the MVP award. But Craig at least had a case to be in the conversation. Many of his offensive numbers were very close to Freese, and he added some flash with the catch over the wall and go-ahead home run in Game 7. In fact, most of his RBI were of either the go-ahead or game-winning variety. Craig was clutch in that World Series. Remember the hits off Alexei Ogando in the first two games? Overall, Craig had just as big a part in the Cards winning that series as Freese, Chris Carpenter, and Albert Pujols.

Not too shabby for a player who one week will play several positions and the next week seem to be a man without a position. Under Tony LaRussa, Craig played everywhere on the field except pitcher, catcher, and shortstop. New manager Mike Matheny has thus far kept Craig in the outfield or at first base, an important position for him to excel in with Lance Berkman’s return uncertain.

But that is a great question: What happens if/when Berkman does come back? Where do the Cardinals play Craig if everyone else is healthy? He was capable playing elsewhere in the infield, but he was not great. With an outfield of Matt Holliday, Jon Jan and Carlos Beltran and everyone’s healthy and producing, who sits? It would be a nice problem to have…unless your name is Allen Craig.

Craig has proven he belongs in the big leagues; now he needs to prove he can stay off the disabled list. He is forcing management on and off the field to take notice by putting up rock-solid numbers. If they continue and his time on the field stabilizes, Craig has a fine career in front of him.

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 are not aware: The Detroit Tigers signed Prince Fielder a nine year, $214 Million contract this past week. Adding Fielder not only makes the Detroit Tigers the undisputed favorite to win the AL Central. It makes the divide between where the Kansas City Royals are, and where they need to be, to win the AL Central much greater than before.

The Tigers are just one of the Royals’ four divisional opponents. With the unbalanced schedule they will play each opponent 18 or 19 times. The divisional opponent I despise the most is dependant upon who is having the most success. In 2003 that team was the Twins. The Indians and White Sox have at one time been my most despised divisional opponent. Right now, I really don’t like the Tigers. Who ever the Tigers are playing 2012, I’ll root for them.

The Divide between the Tigers & the Royals might be bigger than this.

This is a new realization for me. Even last year when the Tigers won the division by 15 games I did not despise them as much as I despise them now. Maybe it was the horrendous 2003 season. Maybe it’s that the Tigers seem to draft a lot of players from Wichita State. Maybe, deep down I like the demeanor of their chain smoking manager Jim Leyland. I’m not sure why I had a soft spot for the Tigers until now. In fact the Royals Franchise should have a soft spot for the Tigers. After all, that 119 loss 2003 team is the only thing separating the Royals from being the WORST TEAM IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL this century! In the end the joke was on the Royals. The Tigers won the American League Pennant three seasons later. Meanwhile the Royals lost another 100 games, fired their general manager a week before the draft, and had a pitching staff so terrible an over the hill Scott Elarton was the Opening Day starter.

Because of Detroit’s separation from the rest of the AL Central I no longer have a soft spot for them. The White Sox and Twins have entered rebuilding mode. If the Royals are an improved team they should beat these two teams like a rented mule. I’m not sure I can feel sorry for them. Even there are repeated trips behind the woodshed. The Cleveland Indians are in the same place developmentally as the Royals. They might be ahead. They have already pulled the trigger for an ace pitcher to supplement their farm system. Something the Royals seem reluctant to do. If the Royals are ever going to make the playoffs they have to get through the Indians to do it. No love for the Indians, here.

This is how see the AL Central shaping up for the 2012 Season. The Tigers are miles head of the rest of the division. The Royals and Indians will fight for second and third. That is a fight the Royals need to win if they are going to seriously contend in 2013. The Twins and White Sox will be scrumming in the basement. I guess you could call it progress that the Royals are not being picked to finish last. Progress is good, but there is a great divide between the Royals and the Tigers. Dayton Moore and the Glass Family need to find a way to build a bridge.

Left Field may not be a power position in the National League Central, but with Matt Holiday, it is shaping up to be one of the key positions for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Matt Holliday is a great player.  After his first season in 2004, when he batted .290, he has failed to hit .300 only once, and that was last year at .296 which was plagued by injury. His average stats over a 162 game season are .315 with 29 home runs and 110 RBI. He has been incredible consistent. He hit .319 with Colorado, and has hit .314 with St. Louis over the last three seasons.  Oh yeah, and he’s a five time All-Star. Not bad.

The National League Central is shaping up for the Cardinals to take. The Brewers will be weakened, are about to part with Prince Fielder and will lose MVP Ryan Braun for 50 games.  Cincinnati looked like a rudderless ship last year. Houston and Pittsburgh are terrible, and Chicago is rebuilding.  A 2012 return to the postseason will surely ease St. Louis’ collective minds about the future of the team. Which brings the conversation back to Matt Holliday.

Holliday seems as good as any to fill in the third spot in the order where Pujols used to reside.  And if 100%, which he looks and claims to be, with Carlos Beltran in place forms, in my opinion, the best outfield in the National League Central and one of the top in all of MLB.

Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano smacked 26 long balls in 2011, to go along with a pair of steals, 88 RBIs, 50 runs scored and a .244 batting average.  Soriano drove collected his highest RBI total since 2006 and highest home run total since 2008. However, the 35-year-old hasn’t hit over .260 in any of the past three seasons and 17 of those homers came in two months (April & August). At his age, it’s more likely that Soriano’s power drops off than his average rises in future campaigns.

Reds outfielder Chris Heisey made the most of his 279 at-bats in 2011, swatting 18 homers and hitting .254 with six steals, 50 RBIs and 44 runs scored.  Heisey smacked three homers in one game against the Yankees on June 22 and pushed for more playing time all season.  His 30-homer potential is hard to ignore with power hitting on the decline these days. The 26-year-old needs to cut down on the K’s (78 in 279 at-bats) but his power and defensive skills are an enticing package for manager Dusty Baker.

Astros rookie outfielder J.D. Martinez went deep six times, drove in 35 runs, scored 29 times and hit .274 in his initial Major League action during 2011.  After the departure of Hunter Pence, somebody had to step up and knock some run for the Astros. That somebody was Martinez.   With 35 RBIs in 208 at-bats, Martinez drove in more than his share of runs in the second half. The 24-year-old flashed enough power to earn a full-time job in 2012.

Ryan Braun had an outstanding five-category season in 2011, hitting .332 with 33 homers, 33 steals, 111 RBIs and 109 runs scored. He nearly won the NL batting title, hit over .400 in the postseason and at age 27; it’s likely that Braun will be among the top hitters for several seasons. Testing positive for steroids puts a dark cloud over Braun and his MVP campaign but perhaps more damaging to his and the Brewers 2012 is the possibility of him missing 50 games.

The 26-year-old Alex Presley put together a 2011 season that would warrant the chance to start in left. In 87 games with Triple-A Indianapolis, Presley batted .333 with 31 extra-base hits, 41 RBIs, 58 runs scored and 22 stolen bases. That earned him a midseason call up, an opportunity Presley also seized. Plugged into the starting lineup immediately, Presley posted a .298 batting average and .339 on-base percentage. He swiped another nine bases and scored 27 runs in 52 games.

Matt Holliday hit 22 homers, with 75 RBIs, 83 runs scored, a pair of steals and a .296 batting average in an injury-plagued 2011 regular season. A strange season for Holliday who had two DL stints in 2011, as an April appendectomy a June quadriceps injury hurt his at-bat total. A wrist injury ended his postseason run one game early.  He was off to an MVP pace coming out of the gate until injuries like these and freak other occurrences like a moth flying into his year stalled his season. He’s expected to be fine for Spring Training and when healthy is one of the best outfielders in all of baseball.

My Rankings

1. Matt Holliday
2. Ryan Braun
3. Alfonso Soriano
4. Chris Heisey
5. Alex Presley
6. J.D. Martinez

This year looks to be different for Holliday. He will now be playing in the key spot in the lineup for the defending World Series champions. Holliday, who usually flies below the baseball radar, will be front-and-center in 2012 to see how he and the Cardinals respond to Pujols’ departure.

Still, if the Cardinals can get one of those patented .315/29/110 RBI seasons I don’t think anyone will be too upset.

The baseball winter meetings have concluded with a number of moves that significantly altered the landscape of baseball. While the Royals did not strike any deals, there are a few trades that would be interesting to see them explore in the coming months in an effort to help get them to the next level.

Photo Courtesy of Minda Haas

Proposed Trade #1: Royals trade Billy Butler and Jeremy Jeffress to the Rays for Jeff Niemann, Brandon Guyer, and Tim Beckham.

The Rays are looking for a right-handed bat to play at DH and first base, and Butler would be a perfect fit for them. He is young and talented, yet has a reasonable contract. Jeffress has the reputation of having a million dollar arm and a 10 cent head. Any sting from his departure could be absorbed by the deep Royal bullpen.

The right-handed Niemann has won at least 11 games in each of the past three seasons, and would provide sorely needed stability in the Royals rotation. Brandon Guyer, an outfielder, has a .297 career average in the minors, but has not yet been given an opportunity to play regularly in the majors. Beckham, the first overall selection in the 2008 draft started out his career in disappointing fashion, but has been building momentum the past couple of seasons, and could fit in nicely at shortstop for the Royals.

There could be concern that this trade would leave the Royals lineup too lefty-oriented, but the Red Sox had a potent offense this past year with six or more left-handed hitters regularly starting. Giving up a great bat like Butler would be a major loss, but a trade centered on a player of his caliber would bring a good return and could help restock their starting rotation.

Proposed Trade #2: Royals trade Greg Holland to the Blue Jays for Travis Snider.

The Blue Jays have been rumored to be hot after Holland, and improving their middle relief corps. A talented pitcher like Holland would be difficult to give up, but might be worth it if they could pry Snider away in the deal. Snider has had several unimpressive trials with Toronto, but will still be just 24 in 2012 and has a ton of talent. A change of scenery could be just what he needs.

The middle of the Royals’ infield could use some more punch after this past season, when Chris Getz and Alcides Escobar, their starting second baseman and shortstop combined for 4 home runs and 72 RBI in 1,027 at bats. Lowrie could be the answer. His game is all about versatility; from his ability to play any position in the infield, to his switch hitting. Although he has struggled with injuries in the past, he would be worth taking a chance, and could likely be pried away for Jeffress, who would be coveted by Boston in their effort to restock their bullpen.

Because of their need to operate with a set budget, the Royals have a slimmer margin of error when it comes to assembling their roster. However, they also have the assets to afford to entice a trading partner and take a gamble or two. Spring training is still two months away, so there is plenty of time for the Royals to evaluate and explore every angle, and determine if it is in their best interest to stand pat, or jump into the trade market.