KC Royals: Starting Pitching Needs to be Priority in Offseason

The KC Royals are supposedly not going to be aggressive in free agency this offseason, but they should really try to add at least one more pitcher to their roster.

The Kansas City Royals really haven’t had a true ace on their team since the late 2000s when Zack Greinke donned a Royals jersey. Arguments could be made for James Shields and maybe even the up and coming Danny Duffy, but outside of the organization, do other people think that about those guys?

Not having a true ace isn’t always a bad thing. The Royals didn’t have one in 2015 and they won the World Series behind the likes of Edinzon Volquez, Yordano Ventura, and Chris Young. What a weird time.

It’s one thing to not have an ace pitcher, but it’s another thing to rely on mediocre pitchers all together. I do think that the Royals rotation is much improved this season with Duffy, Ventura, Jason Vargas, and Ian Kennedy, but they need one more guy to beef up that rotation.

Guys like Brett Anderson and Derek Holland could be options for the Royals, but Anderson has struggled with injuries, and Holland might be a bit pricey for the boys in blue.

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Dayton Moore has stated that the payroll this offseason will be regressing, and that means they’ll be less aggressive in free agency. That puts a big damper on this team trying to punch their ticket into the postseason again in 2017, as they have one spot to fill in that rotation.

Once that rotation spot is filled, the Kansas City Royals would have a fairly impressive rotation. Duffy is set to be the number one guy, Ventura was on fire at one point last year, Kennedy can eat innings, and Vargas looked good in his limited starts last season.

Throwing a youngster like Matt Strahm into that fifth spot could be an option, but it’s probably better for the kid to spend the beginning of the season in the bullpen.

We saw what great pitching can do this past season, as both the Cubs and the Indians had tremendous rotations. The Cubs didn’t even put their fifth starter (Jason Hammel) on their World Series 25-man roster!

Next: Free Agent Pitchers to Target This Offseason

While the offense needs some touching up with Kendrys Morales heading to Toronto, the starting pitching is an area that needs to be addressed this offseason. It’d be nice to see Moore do something about it, but at the end of the day, I honestly see the KC Royals just putting Chris Young back into the rotation and hoping for the best.

What do you think, Royals fans? Do you think the team should address starting pitching or do you want to roll the dice with what they have?

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