Leon Halip – Getty Images Sport
Let’s talk for a moment about the Kansas City Royals’ 2016 starting rotation. KC’s likable Dominican duo of Yordano Ventura and Edinson Volquez are the only two surefire starters next season, which could seem scary to fans hoping for a realistic chance at a repeat of 2015. While it does make the rotation’s future particularly murky right now in these moments before the Winter Meetings, the amount of options should inspire just as much intrigue as fear.
Yo and Steady Edi are starters for sure, and then there’s Kris Medlen. KC management expects Medlen to return to his pre-surgery role as a starter this season. If all goes well, he’ll start games all year long and accomplish the goal that GM Dayton Moore envisioned when he offered Medlen that sneaky-smart contract. So, with these three guys expected to start, I’ll give an estimated guess that KC’s rotation will look something like this (in no particular order):
Ventura
Volquez
Danny Duffy
Medlen
New guy/Jason Vargas
Obviously, “new guy” isn’t much of a hot take, but hey, we’re still early in the offseason. There’s plenty of time to decide which “new guy” it will be, but providing all those details would turn this article into a book. That vague plan for a rotation really doesn’t look bad, especially if you think Ventura and Duffy can progress in the right direction. Duffy, of course, is a different story, but I want to think he can step up and start for KC next season.
No matter what happens, the Royals will still need a solid year from Medlen. If he never gets back to his pre-injury effectiveness and can’t be trusted to eat up innings to start 2016, things could get scary. If he stays steady and gives KC north of 150 innings while posting an ERA south of 3.75, the Royals have a foundation that makes them better than average on paper already.
That’s just with “new guy” representing the average free agent acquisition who gets you 150 innings and a sub-4 ERA. The quality of free agent starter KC could sign, if they do choose to go that route, will depend greatly on whether or not they spend on corner outfielder replacements. Then there’s the idea of Kyle Zimmer catching fire and starting in the bigs at some point. If it isn’t clear already, things are sorta complicated thanks to all the unanswerable questions everyone’s asking right now.
Doug LaCerte is www.RantSports.com’s Kansas City Royals beat writer. Follow him on Twitter @DLaC67, “like” him on Facebook and add him to your network in Google.
