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Kansas City Royals Spring Training 2006 Report

Kansas City assembled a cast of characters worthy of the Irwin Allen version of The Poseidon Adventure. The only one not guest-starring this Spring was possibly Shelly Winters. Overall, the club looked about as disparate, disconnected, and upside down on our visit.

Arms

Of the few pitchers who spent time in the minors coming into camp, we like J.P. Howell, who pitched well in High Desert for the Mavs (1.96) and a short stint in Wichita (2.50) with a solid time in Omaha where he posted 4.06 with a 3-1 record. In 37.2 innings pitched he allowed 17 earned runs and struck out 29. He struggled in 15 games for KC, but still delivered 54 strikeouts in 72 innings pitched. He may start out in KC, but he may need more seasoning in Omaha to stick in the big leagues. Leo Nunez was rushed to KC where he developed an ERA approaching a shoe size. Brian Bass, who went 12-8 for Wichita last season with a 5.24 ERA on 165 innings pitched. He was a bit high on earned runs, with 96, but he also struck out 102. He needs more time and consistency, but he could shape into something in either Wichita or Omaha this season.

Plate

No minor league catchers were invited to the big list. We did not evaluate minor league catchers on our visit.

Base Path

Justin Huber, the Australian import hit for .343 at Wichita in 2005 with 16 home runs and 74 RBI with only 70 Ks. Esteban German comes in from Oklahoma in the Rangers organization, where he batted .313 for the RedHawks. This guy is a great hitter with an array of talents, first of which is base stealing. He hit 27 doubles, 6 triples, 5 dingers and stole 43 bases. He batted .750 in his four plate appearances for the Texas Rangers. Their loss may be KC's gain.

Deep Grass

Chip Ambres came from the Boston Red Sox Pawtucket AAA club to play in KC. He did reasonably well for the call-up and the organization shift all at once. We look for him to make the KC clubhouse again in 2006. Aaron Guiel hit .276 for Omaha, but he delivered a whopping 32 doubles, 4 triples, 30 home runs, and 64 RBIs. He did equally well in KC batting .294, although his bomb and RBI records came down to Earth. He is on the fence of a good major league career if consistency and patience can come his way.