Whispers From Surprise 2/17/11

• Royals have lowest payroll in baseball at $35 million. Second lowest is Rays at $41 million.
• Royals have youngest Spring roster at an average of 25.7 years old. Second lowest are the Indians at 26.2 years old.
• According to some in the organization "Perez is Sandy Alomar Jr., but better." Yost believes Perez to be major league ready.
• Crow pitched well throwing live batting practice today. He continuously jammed hitters inside and even busted a bat.
• Jeffress consistently was in triple digits on the gun. But it was his curveball that impressed Bob Fescoe as it came from virtually the same slot as the fastball.
• Also according to Fescoe: Teaford looked filthy and broke multiple bats.
• In an interview Dayton Moore said "it would be prudent to start (Hosmer) in AAA."
• When asked about the excess payroll, Dayton Moore said "It will absolutely be used toward the future."
• Dayton Moore prefers to develop starters as starters and not use the Major League bullpen as a development tool.
• It wasn't until Milwaukee entered the Greinke discussions that the Royals found an outfielder that they truly coveted.
• Dayton Moore expects 20-25 home runs from Gordon with a good on base, and good defense. He also expects strikeouts at the plate and compared him to Jason Kubel.
• Yost favors Getz at second.
• Aviles has continued to hit well in Spring, but is having difficulty turning double play.
• Francouer is back to the same playing weight he had in his first two professional seasons.
• Dayton Moore points to the team's athleticism as a reason for optimism. He expects that with it the team will play much better defense in 2011.
• I have noticed that unlike in the past when the optimism seemed forced and cliche. There is a quiet confidence about the team. They aren't trying to convince people that they will contend. However, many have noted a change in the atmosphere. Dayton Moore described an energy level that hasn't existed in the past. He also stated that every player is at a point in their career when they have high incentive to perform.

This blog wouldn't be possible without the outstanding work by Bob Fescoe in Surprise, Arizona. Any Royals fan with twitter should follow him immediately.