Fixing the Royals.Fixing the Royals.This morning, a re-worked version of my 'Five ideas for the Royals' piece appeared in the print edition of The Star, in the Daily Download space. I wanted to link to it and post here to serve as a forum to discuss some of these ideas. I'd really be interested in hearing feedback not only on those items, but also to hear any ideas of your own. I'm planning to do a Q&A with a Royals official soon and if anyone comes up with something intriguing, I'll throw it out there in the Q&A.

I would say the most "controversial" suggestion I made would be the platooning of Jose Guillen and Mike Jacobs. The Royals, I would guess, feel that the two, as a duo, are the team's best hopes for generating power in the lineup. I feel that the results dictate that the most production you're going to get from these two is in a job-sharing arrangement at DH. You are then able to improve the defense -- by a lot -- and offer better support to the pitching staff that is the bedrock of the team. However, Guillen's contract is excessive for a player that DHs against lefties. I say: Who cares?

I've already heard from someone that thinks Alex Gordon should not be given the starting job over Mark Teahen when he returns. Without elaborating right now, I'm wondering how many agree with this sentiment?

Finally, the item on flipping Coco Crisp and David DeJesus was based on a tip from mlb.com's Rustin Dodd. I don't pay too much attention to batting order issues because my basic philosophy is that the names in the lineup are everything -- the order you put them in is nearly meaningless. However, the splits Rustin pointed out are startling. Why is it that the number written next to a player's name in the lineup card would have such an effect on the player's performance? It baffles me.