Kansas City Royals 2014 Plethora of Back-end Rotation Options

Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Luke Hochevar (44) Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

The 2014 Kansas City Royals seem to be in quite the predicament of choosing end-of-the-rotation pitchers. James Shields, Jeremy Guthrie, and Jason Vargas are set in stone as the first three starters.

After those three, it gets a little cloudy as to who us fans will see on the bump come April. While it is nice to have choices, not all options are good ones. That being said, it wasn’t that long ago when the 5 pitchers listed here would be the 5 starters, with no other options.

The fact there is three starters already slotted, who are all legitimate major league pitchers, is a good thing.

The way I see it, there are two spots with five legitimate candidates available. Who will win it will depend heavily on Spring Training performances. Let’s take a look at what options the Kansas City Royals’ front office will have to watch.