Musings From Roy F. Almania: "A Little Borrowed, A Little Old, But Mostly 'New' and 'Blue' With a Hearty Side of 'Tradition'"

(Editor's Note: In one of our numerous "off-season" conferences, the HoG scrutinized the features run in 2007, and debated which of those would grace our pages again in 2008. The semi-periodic postings offered by my cousin Roy regarding his beloved Kansas City baseball team somehow made the cut, so we'll hear from him on occasion as the Royals put a facelift on their club and their stadium simultaneously.)

What up, bitches? I'll tell you what. Dayton Moore's ingenious efforts to win. That's what. With April just around the corner, the man in charge has done good. Nabbing the skipper of them champion Nippon Ham Fighters kicked my winter off with a bang. And it's only gotten better.

Sweeners, much as I love the kid, is gone. Royals future HOFer for sure; no longer a need for him on the payroll, though. Angel Berroa, much as I hate still having to type that name, currently occupies no roster spot. He did get an invite to Surprise, but hopefully he won't be coming home with the boys. Teahen and Greinke had their papers re-upped for another year, and Billy Butler looks to nab either the DH spot, or make a go of it at first base. The Royals have extended their efforts to make room for what I like to call the Mitch Maier Project, and I see good things coming of it. And speaking of good things, the Alex Gordon got his old college number, swiped it even, from the aforementioned worthless Berroa.

David DeJesus and Mark Grudzielanek are back, as is Tony Pena, Jr, and Mr. John Buck. Joey Gathright will make another stab at pretending to be a professional ball player, while Shane Costa, Ross Gload and Esteban German fight to keep spots on the roster.

On the mound, Mexican closing phenom Joakim Soria will kick of the campaign as the guy to take us home in the ninth, only this year he'll likely have the wily Yasuhiko Yabuta as a setup man. If not, Soria's paisano Joel Peralta will fit the bill. Other news of Royal Japanese interest would be the training camp invite thrown the way of Hideo Nomo. The Royals have also asked Mike Maroth to make an appearance, filling what was already a varied bullpen, to say the least.

In the rotation, Gil Meche promises to be numero uno for the boys in blue again. He'll lead it off and be followed by guys like multiple 2007 AL Pitcher of the Month winner Brian Bannister, late 2007 acquistion Kyle Davies -- who, I might add, Moore got from Atlanta in exchange for Octavio Dotel, a stellar closer that wound up back in the AL Central playing for that loon Ozzie --, Greinke, Jorge de la Rosa, (thank Christ we may've seen the last of Odalis Perez), perhaps young prospect Luke Hochevar, maybe even Brett Tomko.

The outfield, however, promises a better trio than Kansas City has seen since the Beltran days. With DeJesus and Teahen all but locked in, the third leg of that iron triangle will feature Senor Jose Guillen. And I, for one, am flippin' pumped about it. His 23 jacks and near-100 RsBI last year make for one impressive outfield.

With all that excitement, I'm 'bout due for a Schlitz. Or seven. Like I mentioned last year on these HoGs, though, look for the 'New' to translate to a .500 season; the Tradition will unveil itself as a 2009 AL Central championship.