Big Three: The Three Big Needs/Solutions For The Kansas City Royals

Three major needs thatKansas City GM Dayton Moore has, and a possible solution to all three:

1. Left-Handed Starter

The Royals need to insert a lefthander into the rotation to avoid having a one through five of all righthanders. The free agent market is thin at lefties, but there are two intriguing options that KC could look at. Erik Bedard is the popular name being thrown around at the moment. If his price is too high, don't be surprised to see Doug Davis' name come up. Arizona declined to offer him arbitration, and he could come as an affordable No. 4 starter. The only issue is that Davis' agent is saying they will be looking for a multi-year deal . The fact that Davis has never had an arm-related injury could put the 34 year old in range for a 2-3 year deal with $3.5-4 million per year. 

2. Left-Handed Reliever(s)

The emphasis has to be on finding a set-up man for Joakim Soria. If Moore has his way, he will be able to also add 1-2 left handers to balance out the heavily-righty bullpen. One name that should come up is Darren Oliver . The 39-year-old set a career high in games last season (63), along with 20 HLDS. He was a Type-A free agent this offseason, but did not receive an offer of arbitration from Los Angeles. Coming off a career year, Oliver could be looking for a  one-year contract in the ballpark of $3 million. A high price that needs to be paid to get the AL's worst bullpen back on track.

3. Everyday Starting Catcher

The constant switching between John Buck and Miguel Olivo isn't going to be tolerated another season. This may be the position that the Royals may need to open the checkbook. Yorvit Torrealba is the ideal choice here. He turned down a two year/$4.5 million offer from the Rockies a few weeks back. The word from his agent, Melvin Roman, is that Torrealba is seeking a multi-year deal with bigger money. If Moore is serious about filling the question mark behind the plate, he'll have to bid up against the Dodgers and Giants for Torrealba.