26-year old switch-hitting Alberto Callaspo comes into spring training as the Royals’ starting 2B in 2010 but he will have to hold off 26-year old lefty swinging Chris Getz. Callaspo played in 155 games for the Royals last season and he was 173 for 576 (.300 avg, .813 OPS) with 79 runs scored, 11 homers, 73 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Callaspo was one of the best hitters on the Royals last season but he will need to improve his defense to hold off Getz this spring. Callaspo made 17 errors in 146 games last season for the Royals while showing poor range.

26-year old lefty swinging Chris Getz was brought over in the Mark Teahan trade this winter. He played in 107 games for the White Sox last season and he was 98 for 375 (.261 avg, .671 OPS) with 49 runs scored, 2 homers, 31 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. Getz made 7 errors in 106 games at 2B for the White Sox last season while showing good range. If the Royals move Callaspo in a trade this spring the job will be his.

32-year old righty swinging Willie Bloomquist played in 14 games at 2B last season for the Royals making 2 errors while showing good range. He plays all over the field for the Royals and that makes him valuable.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2B IN 2010: B-

Righty starting pitcher Dennis Leonard pitched his whole career (12 years) with the Kansas City Royals. He was a bulldog of a starting pitcher for the Royals as he liked to battle opposing teams the whole game. He pitched in 312 games (302 starts) for the Royals in his career and he was 144-106 with a 3.70 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. His best year with the Royals was in 1977 when he finished fourth in the Cy Young Award voting. He pitched in 38 games (37 starts) for the Royals in 1977 and he was 20-12 with 1 save, a 3.04 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. Leonard is all over the team record book for the Royals. He is #1 in Royals’ history in both complete games (103) and shutouts (23). He is also #5 in games pitched (312), #2 in wins (144), #3 in strikeouts (1,323) and he is #3 in games started (302). It’s a shame he couldn’t have pitched a little longer but his gun just ran out of bullets.

23-year old righty swinging Billy Butler will be starting at 1B again in 2010 for the Royals. He had a breakout season last year for the Royals but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. He played in 159 games for the Royals last season and he was 183 for 608 (.301 avg, .854 OPS) with 78 runs scored, 21 homers and 93 RBIs. The thing that really stands out to me on his stat line is the fact that he thumped 51 doubles last season. That makes me think that he is more than capable of turning 10 or more of those doubles into homers in 2010. It that happens the Royals will be ecstatic with him. Butler is not a good defensive player however as he made 10 errors in 145 games at 1B last season and that’s way too many. But, he has time to get better as long as he works hard at it.

27-year old righty swinging Josh Fields will probably be Butler’s back-up at 1B if he doesn’t beat out Alex Gordon for the starting job at 3B. Fields played 17 error-free games at 1B for the White Sox last season so he could get a lot of P.T. as a defensive replacement for Butler late in games.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 1B IN 2010: B+

The Royals have designated 25-year old righty swinging SS/3B Mario Lisson for assignment to make room on the roster for Rick Ankiel. Lisson played in 131 games in AA+AAA ball last season and he was 108 for 475 (.227 avg, .656 OPS) with 54 runs scored, 14 homers, 60 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Lisson has now played in 672 games in his minor league career and he is 610 for 2,403 (.254 avg, .737 OPS) with 367 runs scored, 63 homers, 344 RBIs and 144 stolen bases. The Royals shouldn’t miss Lisson too much in the future if at all.

The Royals have signed 30-year old lefty swinging outfielder Rick Ankiel to a 1-year, $3.25 million dollar deal with a mutual option worth $6 million bucks for the 2011 season. Ankiel played in 122 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 86 for 372 (.231 avg, .672 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 11 homers, 38 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He has now played in 342 games in his major league career and he is 262 for 1,044 (.251 avg, .763 OPS) with 155 runs scored, 49 homers, 157 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Signing Ankiel will have a domino effect on the team as Jose Guillen will now serve as the DH with Billy Butler now starting at 1B. Having Ankiel, DeJesus and Podsednik in the outfield should really improve the defense there as all three of them have been starting center fielders in the major leagues.