Guest Blogger: Paul Cousineau

This post is provided to Royally Speaking by Cleveland Indians blogger Paul Cousineau.
Visit The DiaTribe to read more of Paul's writing.

The Royals, in 2008, have the look of a team with enough talent to begin to compete in the division but, ultimately, one that simply lacks the depth to become a bona-fide contender. The lineup is full of young talent with DeJesus, Gordon, Teahan, and Butler. Their rotation is solid (though not spectacular) at the top half with Meche and Bannister and their bullpen (notably Soria and Gobble) is one that most of MLB would like to count as their own.

So, some pieces are certainly there.

But the Royals find themselves in that awkward stage of trying to win with young players who are not quite established as MLB stars before they hit arbitration and, eventually, Free Agency. The stage is awkward because the Royals, in an attempt to augment their young talent, fill out the remainder of their lineup with marginal veterans like Ross Gload and Mark Grudzielanek or find themselves vastly overpaying for the services of a player like Jose Guillen. It’s the conundrum that most small market teams find themselves in year after year – attempting to build for the future while filling in the cracks with placeholders. The hope being that the cavalry will arrive (Daniel Cortes and Luke Hochevar to bolster the thin rotation) and thrive in MLB just as the likes of Gordon and Butler (and maybe even Mike Moutsakas, if he is fast-tracked) hit their stride. If the timing of it doesn’t work out, or if there are notable misses in player development, the team will remain mired in the perpetual state of rebuilding.

That all being said, I do like the Royals’ chances to make some noise in the AL Central and put up a fight to finish around .500 while battling the Twins and White Sox for 3^rd place in the Central. The Twins, past their few offensive stalwarts, Liriano, and Nathan, look to be a team on its way down and the White Sox look to be a team unaware that they should be blowing up their aging roster in an attempt to rebuild. The Royals, then, with their young talent in the lineup and their envied bullpen could make some noise, particularly if one of the young starters (and I’m not talking Davies or de la Rosa) are able to contribute quality innings this year.

I see the Royals finishing 3^rd in the division, behind the Tribe and the Tigers, mainly due to a strong finish that will see them vault themselves in front of the Twins (likely to jettison more payroll at the Trading Deadline) and the fading (though not ready to admit it) White Sox.