January 18, 2006
Royals' Prospects
When you have too many third basemen, it's time to switch positions:
Of the Royals’ two top prospects, only one will be at major-league camp next month in Surprise, Ariz.
Alex Gordon, last year’s first-round pick, will start with the big-league Royals while Billy Butler, one of baseball’s best hitting prospects, will try working on his fielding in minor-league camp.
“We want him to play as much as he can in left field,” Royals general manager Allard Baird said. “It’s tough to play in left field in big-league camp when you’re playing for two, three innings. We want to shorten his defensive developmental time.”
Baird said Butler will play left field the entire season after switching from third base in the middle of last year. Gordon, on the other hand, will move back to his natural position, third base, after playing first base during the Arizona Fall League.
And of course, young Mark Teahen is the current third baseman on the team. Again, having too many good third basemen is a much better problem than having too many first basemen. You can move these players to the outfield or first base (or even second if they're good fielders), or trade them for what you need.
Correction: Fixed spelling of Teahen.
Posted by David Pinto at
03:31 PM
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Minor, minor typo (almost embarrassed to mention): KC's third-sacker's last name is actually "Teahen." Somewhere once I saw a visual aid for remembering the spelling: a cup of tea + a female chicken. Only his mom cares. And that's the news from pedant's corner.