Fansided

10 storylines entering Spring Training

By Jeff Weisinger

Feb 19, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Detailed view of an official MLB baseball on the field during San Francisco Giants spring training workouts at Scottsdale Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 19, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Detailed view of an official MLB baseball on the field during San Francisco Giants spring training workouts at Scottsdale Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 28, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer hits a RBI double against the San Francisco Giants in the second inning during game six of the 2014 World Series at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 28, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer hits a RBI double against the San Francisco Giants in the second inning during game six of the 2014 World Series at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports /

Royal Return to Playoffs?

After returning to the World Series for the first time in nearly three decades, let alone pushing the eventual champion San Francisco Giants to seven games, what does a team do for an encore?

Simple, they reset — but they won’t “wait ’til next year.”

The Royals return a majority of the 2014 World Series squad in 2015 minus two big names: James Shields (Padres) and Billy Butler (Athletics).

While both are big losses for the team, Kansas City found some pretty good replacements for the holes that were made in both of their departures.

Royals general manager Dayton Moore signed right-hander Edinson Volquez to a two-year, $20 million deal, veteran DH Kendrys Morales to a two-year, $17 million deal and Alex Rios to an $11 million deal this winter, effectively filling in the holes left by both Butler and Shields while adding the belief that the Royals could in fact make another run at the Fall Classic in 2015.

They still have Salvador Perez behind the plate and Gold Glovers Alex Gordon and Eric Hosmer along with Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain and Omar Infante.

The question with the Royals however won’t be on the mound or out on the field, but at the plate.  Kansas City hit the fewest home runs in the bigs last year and they had issues just squeaking out single runs.  They hope that the arrivals of Rios and Morales along with their young core can help fix the power outage from a year ago.

So can Kansas City shock the world again in 2015?

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