The Royals signed 30-year old lefty swinging Rick Ankiel to serve as their starting CF in 2010. Ankiel played in 122 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 86 of 372 (.231 avg, .672 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 11 homers, 38 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Ankiel has a career batting average of .251 with a .763 OPS in 342 games so the Royals expect him to improve on his 2009 numbers. Ankiel played in 66 games in CF last season and he made 4 errors while showing slightly above average range. He only had 1 assist while in CF but he sports a strong throwing arm.

27-year old lefty swinging Mitch Maier will likely be Ankiel’s top backup in 2010. Maier played in 127 games for the Royals last season and he was 83 of 341 (.243 avg, .665 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 3 homers, 31 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. Maier played in 85 error-free games in CF last season while showing good range. He also had an amazing 10 assists in CF as he showed off a remarkable throwing arm. Maier will likely be the Royals’ #4 outfielder this season.

33-year old lefty swinging Scott Podsednik played in 49 games in CF last season for the White Sox in which he made 1 error while showing slightly above average range. He also had 3 assists in CF as runners tried to challenge his arm quite a bit.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CF IN 2010: C