Last year after Sal went down, many said he was the guy we could least afford to lose because the backup options weren't great.  Who is that guy this year ... still Sal?

Shields.

We can't afford to lose any of our good players for an extended amount of time, but he's at the top of that list in my book.

Gordon or Escobar.  Perez is a close third. 

We can't have Shields or Guthrie but chances are they will go on the DL for a stint this year.  We have lots of numbers at pitcher so one or two down will not hurt us two bad especially once Paulino and Duffy start thier comeback.

I'd say it's still Perez, with Shields being a close second.

Frenchy.

How can this team function without that wonderful leadership?

Perez, Escobar, Gordon

ryancrist86 wrote: I'd say it's still Perez, with Shields being a close second.

Ditto.

Although I'll throw another name out there:  Butler.

I shudder to think about where our offense would be without him.

Shields....if shields goes down and Santana and Guthrie don't have the best years if their lives, we are toast...

To all saying Perez: I'm curious as to your reasoning.

Not saying anyone is wrong, I'm just curious. I know he's a good/great player, but we have plenty of guys who either are already there or we hope make the jump to that level in 2013 and anyone really can't go wrong picking any of those players.

Is catcher defense that important to you? Is it how Perez will call the games for the pitching staff as a whole? Is it that you think Perez's bat will be that irreplacable? Something I didn't even account for here that you feel makes him the most important single cog in the 2013 Royals?

Butler

Gbwoy wrote: To all saying Perez: I'm curious as to your reasoning.

Not saying anyone is wrong, I'm just curious. I know he's a good/great player, but we have plenty of guys who either are already there or we hope make the jump to that level in 2013 and anyone really can't go wrong picking any of those players.

Is catcher defense that important to you? Is it how Perez will call the games for the pitching staff as a whole? Is it that you think Perez's bat will be that irreplacable? Something I didn't even account for here that you feel makes him the most important single cog in the 2013 Royals?

He's the best player on the team. It's everything you mentioned. I think he's likely to make the pitching staff better when he's behind the plate because of everything he does so well. And I think his right handed bat is critically important to our lineup.

I will say, however, that I think Kottaras gives us a stronger backup option this year.

This team at 100% health isn't the best team in the AL Central, nor is it a top 6 team in the AL (a wildcard birth). So, with that said, they can't really afford to lose anyone other than Francoeur.

In all seriousness, I'd say it's Butler or Gordon. Everyone talks about how much our pitching held us back last year, but seems to forget that our offense sucked too. While I have hope for Hos, Moose, etc...Butler and Gordon are our only proven hitters.

If Gordon or Butler goes down, the extra ABs likely go to some combination of: Dyson, Tejada, Nady...that is horrible. You are talking about a 4+ loss in WAR.

Kotteras is a capable replacement to Salvy. He will post an wRC+ close to 100, although his Defense will be worse. I won't prgnosticate the loss in WAR here, because catcher WAR is flawed due to defensive metrics.

As much of a boost as we all hope Shields can give us, losing him is replaced by Chen, with Duffy/Paulino availble in July. A rotation of Guthrie, Santana, Davis, Hoch, Chen isn't super, but still a hell of a lot better than last year. Replacing Shields with Chen/Hoch/Dozer is about a 3 WAR loss (over a full season).

RoyalsCorner wrote:

Gbwoy wrote: To all saying Perez: I'm curious as to your reasoning.

Not saying anyone is wrong, I'm just curious. I know he's a good/great player, but we have plenty of guys who either are already there or we hope make the jump to that level in 2013 and anyone really can't go wrong picking any of those players.

Is catcher defense that important to you? Is it how Perez will call the games for the pitching staff as a whole? Is it that you think Perez's bat will be that irreplacable? Something I didn't even account for here that you feel makes him the most important single cog in the 2013 Royals?

He's the best player on the team. It's everything you mentioned. I think he's likely to make the pitching staff better when he's behind the plate because of everything he does so well. And I think his right handed bat is critically important to our lineup.

I will say, however, that I think Kottaras gives us a stronger backup option this year.

Gotcha.  Like I said I don't disagree, just curious.

I think we have a number of good choices for this.  One could make good arguments to support Gordon, Butler, Hosmer, Moustakas, Perez, Escobar and/or Shields.

I think it's even possible to make an argument that centers around Cain, Davis or Guthrie.

Personally I also worry about Holland's health, even though from a depth standpoint the bullpen is as good a shape as any area of our roster.  I just really think Herrera is much more valuable being able to pitch when needed as opposed to the traditional closer role (only in the 9th).  This is the same thing I said about Holland before he was moved to full-time closer. 

I say Shields just because outside of improvement of young players like Hosmer and Moose, that's the biggest hope for us this year.  If he doesn't throw around 200 innings for us, that pitching staff is no where near as improved as we would've hoped.  Mainly because we see more starts from Hochevar, Chen, et al...but any of the other choices seem just as valid to me.

Simple WAR data says that it is Gordon due to lack of depth. His overall worth is the most difficult to replace. Shields probably 2nd.

Shields and it's not even close

This surprises me.  So, catchers DO make a difference to a pitcher's performance, in a measurable and quantifiable way?

As to the question, I'd say (in order) Gordon, Butler, Escobar, Shields.

RoyalsCorner wrote:

Gbwoy wrote: To all saying Perez: I'm curious as to your reasoning.

Not saying anyone is wrong, I'm just curious. I know he's a good/great player, but we have plenty of guys who either are already there or we hope make the jump to that level in 2013 and anyone really can't go wrong picking any of those players.

Is catcher defense that important to you? Is it how Perez will call the games for the pitching staff as a whole? Is it that you think Perez's bat will be that irreplacable? Something I didn't even account for here that you feel makes him the most important single cog in the 2013 Royals?

He's the best player on the team. It's everything you mentioned. I think he's likely to make the pitching staff better when he's behind the plate because of everything he does so well. And I think his right handed bat is critically important to our lineup.

I will say, however, that I think Kottaras gives us a stronger backup option this year.

Shields, Perez, Gordon, Butler, Escobar in any order.

MrMorden wrote: This surprises me.  So, catchers DO make a difference to a pitcher's performance, in a measurable and quantifiable way?

Ah, the "defensive metrics have not yet come up with a way to accurately gauge catcher defense outside of caught stealing and passed balls so it must not exist/matter" theory.  Also known as ignorance.

Escobar.