Nine-year-old Hayden Johnson, clad in an oversized blue John Buck Kansas City Royals jersey, and his 11-year-old brother Riley waited anxiously, baseballs bearing old autographs in their hands. After going through the line three times, gathering autographs of catcher John Buck, pitcher Luke Hudson and former Royals pitcher Dennis Leonard, the brothers offered their prediction for the 2007 season.
“We’re going to win more games. We’ll be a little better,” they said.
This cautious optimism echoed the thoughts of Buck, Hudson and Leonard who made up the Royals’ caravan along with the Royals’ mascot. The caravan made a stop Thursday evening at the Hy-Vee grocery store. The group signed autographs, took pictures and chatted up fans for about an hour.
All three players were excited about the potential for improving the 62-100 record the Royals posted last year. The Royals begin spring training in February in Surprise, Ariz.
“I think that we ended the season off pretty strong, you know, and I think that we hopefully can carry that momentum into the beginning of this year,” Hudson said. “With the new additions, I think everyone is pretty optimistic going into the season. We got a tough division, so no promises, but everyone feels really good thinking that we’re going to do better this year than last year.”
Acquisitions made in the offseason are part of the reason for the optimism. The Royals signed free agent pitcher Gil Meche to a five-year deal and added pitcher Brian Bannister in a deal with the New York Mets for Ambiorix Burgos. Octavio Dotel also was brought in to help the bullpen.
Buck said he was excited to develop working relationships with the new pitchers, and is in favor of the changes made to the roster.
“I think that the people they brought in and the people they kept are a good mix,” he said. “There’s a good mix of character. We weeded out the people we needed to. I’m excited about the people we’re bringing in.”
Leonard, a three-time 20-game winner in Kansas City, said he thinks the changes made to the pitching staff will help the team avoid past failures.
“Not to knock any of the other young pitchers they had, but a lot of them were high on potential, you know, the (Mike) MacDougals and the (Jeremy) Affeldts, and they were all good pitchers, and I think a change of scenery will do them good. But when you have a staff with a lot of young players, there wasn’t a lot of veteran leadership with experience for them to lean on.”
Hudson will be called upon to provide some of that leadership. He has been in the league since 2002 when he broke in with the Cincinnati Reds. After the right-handed starter battled through the lingering effects of his 2003 shoulder surgery in 2004 and 2005, he finished the season 7-6, posting a 5.12 ERA.
He was also the Royals’ Pitcher of the Month in July and August, going 7-2 in that span.
“I feel real healthy right now,” he said. “I feel great physically. Mentally I feel confident, you know..”
Hudson and the rest of the staff will look to Buck for some leadership as well. The catcher hit .245 with 11 home runs and 50 RBIs last season. The biggest challenge for Buck might be holding off newcomer Jason LaRue, who was acquired from the Cincinnati Reds Nov. 20. Buck, however, said he sees the competition for playing time as a positive.
“The competition is a little more heightened because he (LaRue) was a starter before,” Buck said. “They’re can’t be any bad come out of it. It’ll only make us both better.“
Hudson, who was LaRue’s teammate in Cincinnati, agrees.
“I think it’s always good to have a guy with a lot of experience,” Hudson said. “I know John has caught here for a couple years now, and he probably knows a lot of the guys like myself better. Jason brings a lot more experience overall. I think probably they could feed off of each other in that regard.”