Sleepers: Kansas City Royals

By Adam Forsyth

The Shallow

Coco Crisp – Outfield (CF)

AKA Covelli Loyce Crisp, the “Breakfast Cereal”, at 29-years of age, has an opportunity at a re-birth, and the ability to influence some fantasy buzz should he get back on track after three forgettable seasons in Boston. Crisp will be depended on to leadoff what should be a more potent Royals attack, and could return to the level that made him very valuable in the fantasy world when he was with the Cleveland Indians.

This well-traveled original draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals was climbing his way to 20/20 type consideration before nearly derailing his career in Beantown. No one is certain as to what happened when he wore the Red Sox jersey; however, the ability to wipe the slate clean can be a refreshing, career-rescuing exercise.

Never one to strike out, or walk a bunch, Crisp relies on his high contact rate to get on base, and on his speed to move along around the bases. Should he add patience to his skill-set, this native of Los Angeles could be even more valuable.

Injuries have been a bit of a concern in recent years, but Crisp appears to be healthy and happy to be given the opportunity at hand. Kansas City can sometimes be a drowning pool for talent, as players can get uninspired by the lackluster play and constant battle to stay out of the basement. However, they are rounding out some talent in Missouri, to play at the newly renovated Kauffman Stadium, and could slowly creep up on the rest of the AL Central. Coco is hoping that he will be a big player in that shift, and motivation can do wonders. Crisp is a solid third of fourth option in a deep fantasy outfield, and can be depended on to raise his statistical value a notch in his new situation.

The Deep

Kila Ka’aihue – First Base

The big Hawaiian, drafted in 2002, has taken the long straining path to the majors. Ka'aihue got his first taste of a cup of coffee producing six hits (including his first MLB home run) in 21 AB’s at the conclusion of the 2008 season.

Still only 25-years old, Ka’aihue has the potential to become a big part of the movement in K.C. With decent power and the ability to drive in runs, this left-handed hitter also has a tremendous eye, discipline at the plate, and walks nearly as much as he strikes out. He has a low BA in his seven year minor league career (.262), but has worked on a new batting stance, which improved his numbers last season, where he split time in AA-Northwest Arkansas and AAA-Omaha, en route to a .314 BA in just over 400 AB’s.

His patience influences his effectiveness though, as he gets on base nearly two of every five AB’s (.380 career OBP). There are several roadblocks in his way before he can be an everyday consideration for the Royals line-up. A trade may be necessary for Ka'aihue to get a true shot, as the newly acquired Mike Jacobs, Ryan Shealy, top-prospect Eric Hosmer and even Billy Butler (even though he is probably going to be a career DH) are all higher in the Royals food chain. Time will tell, but with one of the cooler names in the rounds of baseball (his brother Kala Ka'aihue is also a first baseman toiling in the Atlanta Braves system, with the AA-Mississippi Braves) hopefully he’ll get a chance to display that there is more to him than his name.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 at 5:21 am and is filed under First Basemen, Outfield, The Shallow & The Deep. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.