Kansas City Royals: Offseason Outlook
By Paul York
Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Starting Pitcher
Note: This list is assuming the Royals lean on Yordano Ventura and Danny Duffy as their top two starters, thus trying to round out the rotation with a serviceable mid-roation type.
1. Jake Peavy– Outside of Madison Bumgarner, the Giants rotation is a pretty big mess. He didn’t meet the requirements of his contract to exercise a 2015 player option, so he should be on the market. If you think James Shields is an emotional pitcher, you have to see Peavy pitch. He’s a battler and a grinder, and would look good in the middle of that Royals rotation.
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He’ll be 34 at the end of next May, and has only logged 200 IP twice since 2007 (’12 and ’14 respectively). That might be just perfect for the Royals as you figure prospects like Sean Manaea, Brandon Finnegan, and/or Kyle Zimmer could be knocking on the door my mid-2015.
2. Jason Hammel– After being a part of the blockbuster deal that sent Jeff Samardzija to the Oakland Athletics last year, Hammel hits the market. He’ll be 32 years old for the vast majority of the 2015 season. He had posted very good numbers last year before being traded to the A’s, but then struggled a little with the American League adjustment. He’s a guy I would think would be in the Royals budget, but comes with some significant concerns. Outside of his struggles once in the American League, he’s also never logged 200 innings in a season.
3. Brandon McCarthy– Other than Peavy, simply because I’ve been a fan of Peavy since his Padres days, McCarthy would be my choice among the secondary/tertiary free agent starting pitchers. Much like Hammel, you can’t really consider him a workhorse. Prior to 2014, McCarthy had only made more than 25 starts in a season once in his career, and that was in 2011. He’s battled injuries throughout his career, but again, could be a nice place-holder until a prospect is ready to take over a rotation spot.
McCarthy made a huge change in his pitching repertoire after getting trading to the Yankees last year, and it paid off in a big way. During his time with the Diamondbacks, McCarthy claims they really emphasized his sinker, and wanted him to throw that pitch predominantly. Once traded to the Yankees last year, they encouraged him to go back to throwing more four-seam fastballs and cutters. The result: 2.89 ERA over 14 starts with the Yankees.