36-year old righty swinging Jason Kendall will be the starting catcher for the Royals in 2011. Kendall played in 118 games for the Royals last season and he was 111 of 434 (.256 avg, .615 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 0 homers, 37 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. His days of hitting .300 are in the past and the Royals would be happy with him if he hit around .260 next year. Kendall made 13 errors and he had 6 passed balls in 118 games behind the plate last season for the Royals as he was pretty awful defensively. Kendall threw out 32 of 142 runners (22.5%) trying to steal against him last night and Royals’ pitchers had a 5.13 ERA with him behind the plate. The Royals need Kendall to step up or they will have to replace him as the starting catcher during 2011.

28-year old switch hitting Brayan Pena played in 60 games for the Royals last season and he was 40 of 158 (.253 avg, .642 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 1 homer, 19 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Pena is a decent hitter but he’s nothing special either. He made 3 errors and had 1 passed ball in 47 games behind the plate for the Royals last season so he’s a better catcher than Kendall defensively. Pena threw out 11 of 41 runners (26.8%) trying to steal against him last year and Royals’ pitchers had a 4.75 ERA with him behind the plate. Pena could be the Royals starting catcher by the end of 2011.

26-year old righty swinging Lucas May likely enters spring training as the Royals’ #3 catcher, but he can move up. May played in 104 games in AA+AAA-ball last year and he was 106 of 375 (.283 avg, .831 OPS) with 63 runs scored, 16 homers, 59 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. May also played in 12 games for the Royals at the end of last season and he was 7 of 37 (.189 avg, .421 OPS) with 3 runs scored and 6 RBIs. He’s a much better hitter than he showed in K.C. May didn’t make any errors in 10 games behind the plate for the Royals last season but he had 4 passed balls as he appeared nervous. May threw out 1 of 9 (11.1%) runners trying to steal on him last season but Royals’ pitchers had a 4.00 ERA with him behind the plate which isn’t too bad. May could start 2011 in AAA or he could be the starting catcher or #2, it really depends on how the catchers play in spring training.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE ROYALS CATCHERS IN 2011: D

The Royals have designated 28-year old lefty reliever Dusty Hughes for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Jeff Francis. Hughes pitched in 57 games (0 starts) for the Royals last season and he was 1-3 with a 3.83 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. He has pitched in 65 games (1 start) in his two years with the Royals and he is 1-5 with a 4.09 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. I will be very surprised if some team doesn’t claim Hughes off of waivers. I don’t think this was too smart of a move unless the Royals sign a free agent lefty to replace Hughes in the bullpen in 2011.

UPDATE: (1/26/2011) - The Royals have lost Dusty Hughes on waivers to the Minnesota Twins in the worst possible scenario. Now the Royals will have to deal with Hughes quite a bit in 2011 if he wins a spot on the Twins’ pitching staff.

32-year old righty starter/reliever Gil Meche has retired from major league baseball. He was going to need more surgery on his right shoulder if he was going to pitch this year and he decided against it leaving $12 million bucks on the table. Meche pitched in 20 games (9 starts) for the Royals last season and he was 0-5 with a 5.69 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. Meche pitched in 111 games (100 starts) in his four years with the Royals and he was 29-39 with a 4.27 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. I think this was a smart move for Meche as he considered his health to be more important than the money. Hopefully the Royals will get back into the free agency market for a big time hitter and some bullpen help due to the money they won’t be paying Meche in 2011.

The Kansas City Royals have re-signed 33-year old lefty starting pitcher Bruce Chen to a 1-year, $2 million dollar deal. Chen pitched in 33 games (23 starts) for the Royals last season and he was 12-7 with 1 save, a 4.17 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Chen has now pitched in 50 games (32 starts) in his first two years with the Royals and he is 13-13 with 1 save, a 4.66 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. He has now pitched in 292 games (144 starts) in his first 12 years in the majors and he is 48-50 with 1 save, a 4.64 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. It was smart of the Royals to bring back Chen as he pitched pretty well for them last season. They hope he can keep up the good work in 2011.

The Kansas City Royals have signed 30-year old lefty starting pitcher Jeff Francis to a 1-year deal. Francis pitched in 20 games (19 starts) for the Rockies last season and he was 4-6 with a 5.00 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. Francis has now pitched in 150 games (149 starts) in his first six years in the majors and he is 55-50 with a 4.77 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. The Royals are taking a little risk here as Francis missed all of the 2009 season due to surgery. But, the Royals are desperate for starting pitching so they will be giving Francis a chance to get his career back on the right path. I believe this is a risk that was worth taking for the Royals as they need all the help they can get.