24-year old righty Joakim Soria will be the closer for the Royals this season and he’s quite an impressive pitcher. He pitched in 62 games (0 starts) for the Royals last season and he was 2-3 with 17 saves, a 2.48 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. Soria only allowed 46 hits while whiffing 75 batters in only 69 innings last season. He is a star in the making.

34-year old righty Yasuhiko Yabuta was brought from the Far East in the off-season to provide help at the back end of the Royals’ bullpen. Yabuta pitched in 58 games last season in Japan and he was 4-6 with 4 saves, a 2.73 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. Yabuta has pitched in 343 games (86 starts) in his Japanese baseball career and he is 44-59 with 9 saves, a 4.03 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Look for Yabuta to do a good job for the Royals and help strengthen the bullpen in 2008.

37-year old lefty Ron Mahay will be the top lefty in the bullpen this season for the Royals. He pitched in 58 games (0 starts) for the Rangers & Braves last season and he was 3-0 with 1 save, a 2.55 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. He will have a solid year in 2008 for the Royals.

24-year old righty Leo Nunez will be throwing bullets out of the bullpen this season for the Royals. Nunez pitched in 13 games (6 starts) for the Royals last season and he was 2-4 with a 3.92 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. He could be a dominant relief pitcher with his stuff.

26-year old lefty Jimmy Gobble will be the #2 lefty in the Royals bullpen this season. He pitched in 74 games (0 starts) for the Royals last year and he was 4-1 with a 3.02 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. He whiffed 50 batters in 54.2 innings as his stuff looked much better in relief than it did when he was a starting pitcher.

26-year old righty Ramon Ramirez also has a nice upside. He pitched in 22 games (0 starts) for the Rockies last season and he was 2-2 with a 8.31 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP.

32-year old righty Joel Peralta was shockingly sent to AAA after spring training. He should be really upset as he has been one of the best relievers on the Royals the last couple of season. Peralta pitched in 62 games (0 starts) for the Royals last season and he was 1-3 with 1 save, a 3.80 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. If the Royals don’t call him up soon they will no doubt be able to get something for him in a trade.

27-year old righty Chin-hui Tsao will also likely help the Royals at some point in 2008. He pitched in 21 games (0 starts) for the Dodgers last season and he was 0-1 with a 4.38 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP.

27-year old lefty Neal Musser will get a chance at some point in the season for the Royals. He pitched in 17 games (0 starts) for the Royals last season and he was 0-1 with a 4.38 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP. Musser was completely dominant in AAA last season. He pitched in 32 games (0 starts) in AAA ball last season and he was 4-1 with 8 saves, a 0.49 ERA and a 0.78 WHIP.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: B

The Kansas City Royals over under in Las Vegas is 73.5 wins for the 2008 season. This is a good number for them as I could see reasons for taking either over or under. I have to side with the under though as I don’t think the Royals improved enough on offense. But, if Alex Gordon and Mark Teahan hit like everyone thinks they can then the Royals could win more than 73 games in 2008.

The Royals are hoping that Brian Bannister and Zack Greinke can continue their success in 2008. But, 29-year old righty Gil Meche is still the ace of the staff. He started 34 games for the Royals last season and he was 9-13 with a 3.67 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. He should have won at least 15 games last season but the Royals offense didn’t help him too much when he pitched.

27-year old righty Brian Bannister will be the #2 starter for the Royals. He doesn’t have a big arm or lights out stuff but he knows how to pitch. He started 27 games for the Royals last season and he was 12-9 with a 3.87 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Look for him to have a solid season in 2008 for the Royals.

24-year old righty Zack Greinke will be the #3 starter for the Royals and he has the best stuff of any pitcher in the rotation. He pitched in 52 games (14 starts) for the Royals last season and he was 7-7 with a 3.69 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. I will go out on a limb and say that Greinke will lead the Royals in wins this season.

35-year old righty Brett Tomko will be the #4 starter for the Royals this season. He pitched in 40 games (19 starts) for the Padres & Dodgers last season and he was 4-12 with a 5.55 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. He’s a much better pitcher than that as he has pitched in 346 games (250 starts) and he was a career record of 93-92 with a 4.62 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP.

34-year old lefty John Bale won the #5 starter job for the Royals in spring training. He pitched in 26 games (0 starts) for the Royals last season and he was 1-1 with a 4.05 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. He also pitched in 11 games (2 starts) in AA+AAA ball last season and he was 0-1 with a 3.24 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP.

If the Royals have any injuries in the rotation, Kyle Davies, Jorge de la Rosa, Luke Hochevar, Mike Maroth and Brian Lawrence will be awaiting a call in the minors.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: C+

32-year old righty swinging Jose Guillen will be the new starting RF for the Royals after he serves a 15-game suspension for using performance enhancing drugs. He played in 153 games for the Mariners last season and he was 172 for 593 (.290 avg, .813 OPS) with 84 runs scored, 23 homers and 99 RBIs. He’s somewhat overrated on defense as he made 8 errors in 150 games in RF last season while showing below average range. He does have a decent throwing arm as he had 9 assists last season.

Shane Costa will likely be Guillen’s backup this season. He played in 13 games in RF last season for the Royals and he didn’t make an error while showing outstanding range.

25-year old lefty swinging Mitch Maier also has a shot to make the Royals. He played in 140 games in AAA ball last season and he was 152 for 544 (.279 avg, .748 OPS) with 75 runs scored, 14 homers and 62 RBIs.

Mark Teahan will likely play some RF until Guillen returns from his suspension with Joey Gathright playing left field.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: B

28-year old lefty swinging David DeJesus never has lived up to the comparisons to Johnny Damon. He played in 157 games for the Royals last season and he was 157 for 605 (.260 avg, .723 OPS) with 101 runs scored, 7 homers, 58 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. He made 4 errors in 157 games in CF last season while showing average range.

Joey Gathright will also get some time in CF this season. He made 1 error in 10 games in CF for the Royals while showing below average range, but he has the speed to sometimes out run mistakes.

33-year old righty swinging Damon Hollins is having a good spring and he might make the Royals final roster. He didn’t play last season but he doesn’t look rusty. Hollins has played in 256 games in his major league career and he is 172 for 712 (.242 avg, .701 OPS) with 85 runs scored, 28 homers, 86 RBIs and 11 stolen bases.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: C