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+