For better or worse...

the Royals are headed into the 2006 season. Over the past week, the KC roster has been pared down to 25, somewhat controversially. Baird/Glass believers have had their arguments for the moves made while the numerous Royals detractors out there have had their fun at the team's expense.
First move -- Tony Graffanino in as utility infielder, Joe McEwing out. Yeah yeah, McEwing had a good spring but he has been and always will be roster filler. If he was gonna show anything in the majors, he would have by now. He's 32 and has a .303 lifetime OBP and .356 lifetime SLG when the games count. Plus he's an average fielder, so he's not bringing enough to the table there to make him a crucial part of the roster. Graffanino isn't a spectacular fielder but he's solid enough and gets on base better with a little more pop in the bat than McEwing. He's a little older but won't be around more than this season, most likely. And if the Royals can get anything out of the Astros in the trade for McEwing, that's fine with me. This one made the least amount of ripples in the news.
Second move -- Shane Costa in as 4th OF, Aaron Guiel to Omaha and Chip Ambres clears waivers to Omaha. This one is a little more open to debate. I don't understand why the organization keeps jerking Guiel around. Last year he had a great year in AAA and couldn't crack the majors for more than 109 ABs. This season he has a great spring and still gets sent down. He is 32 compared to Costa at 24 and Ambres at 26, so that counted against him but I can't think of another reason Baird and Bell would decide he needs to go. Actually, Costa was arguably the weakest option of the three (despite the fact he outhit Ambres in ST) but got picked for the opening day roster. This is the kind of fuel the detractors look for when they want to sling mud on the organization.
Third move -- Relievers Stephen Andrade and Joel Peralta out, Steve Stemle and Luke Hudson in. Stemle had a 5.00 ERA in 9 IP this spring so picking him over Andrade's 3 IP of 0.00 ERA (I'm betting he's the first Omaha call-up) or Peralta's 3.48 ERA in 10 1/3 IP (also a good candidate for an early call to KC) is puzzling to say the least. At least Hudson had a 1.50 ERA in 6 IP and some major league experience to back him up.
Every season you have those moments where you wonder if the powers-that-be in the organization know what they're doing. In 2005 a couple examples were bringing in Hocking and McEwing and letting Lima ring up roster bonuses despite one of the worst SP seasons ever. In 2006, beside the Guiel and Andrade/Peralta moves, the expansion of the weak payroll by signing three mediocre pitchers and the decision to let Matt Diaz go (he made the Braves' roster). The Elarton/Mays/Redman signings have been started off with ST ERAs of 6-plus for both Elarton and Mays and Redman on the DL already. On the flipside, the Mientkiewicz signing looked good in ST and I'm a believer that Esteban German will end up being a good pick-up. I gotta tell the truth on my opinion, though -- the questionable moves made by the front office and/or Bell make me wonder how much improvement can be made with the organization in its current state. My 2006 prediction for the Royals is 70-92.

Spring training stats link:
http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/stats/sortable_player_stats.jsp?c_id=kc