Though they’ve already acquired one solid asset for their starting rotation this off-season, the Kansas City Royals still need an anchor for the front-end of what has long been the achilles heel of the club. That said, the Royals have reportedly been among the suitors for Mark Buehrle, the longtime Chicago White Sox starter and he could provide what the Royals need if he’s as interested as the Royals are. One piece of good news is that he’s not giving his former team any leg up over the competition.
The word is that the ChiSox aren’t going to get the old ‘hometown discount’ (even if it’s not his hometown, which is actually St. Charles, Missouri), which means that the playing field for Buerhle’s services is level. The starting pitcher has been a model for solid, consistent work year after year in the major leagues and that’s clearly what the Royals need most among a staff of young prospects finding their footing and the high risk/high reward acquisition of Jonathan Sanchez in the Melky Cabrera trade.
The Royals are likely in on Bruce Chen as well, but the team could honestly use as many additions as they can bring in. Every competitive team in the majors runs six deep in their rotations anymore given the difficulty in keeping a staff completely healthy. While the Royals have some impressive arms coming up, there’s no way the team can count on those pitchers just yet.