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Daily Jolt: Beware the Roster Crunch

The Daily Jolt is a dose of baseball reality every weekday morning.

The Nationals made it official Thursday, inking slugger Adam Dunn to a two-year, $20 million deal and introducing him in Washington. Dunn fills a glaring need for the Nats -- left-handed power -- but he also creates a roster crunch that general manager Jim Bowden will have to clear up before the team heads north for the start of the season.

Of course, Washington isn't the only club with a bit of a logjam heading into Spring Training. Here are a look at five rosters that will need to be un-cluttered in the coming six weeks, and how they might be.

The Dugout's Wikipedia Report: the Kansas City Royals

Today: the debut of a new Dugout feature which may or may not end up visiting every clubhouse in baseball. I would wager that I read about a half hour's worth of Wikipedia every day, but if you dig deep enough, you can find molten rivers of hilarious, transparent, terrible writing. As such, these Dugouts will feature ballplayers unearthing their own Wikipedia entries.

This one concerns the Kansas City Royals, flaming tennis balls, and an ominous secret society of watercolor painters. Read it after the jump.

Kids Are Alright: Old Faces, Small Samples

Kids Are Alright will examine some hot minor league prospects and their potential to be fantasy relevant towards both seasonal and keeper leagues. If you'd like to read more of Will Brinson's minor-league rantings, check out Greensboro Grassbloggers, his Single-A blog.

I can almost guarantee you that next week, this space will get filled by Evan Longoria descriptions. I'm headed to see him in Durham on Friday, so if you're around the area, holler. In the meantime though, we're staring down a pile of small sample sizes with which to judge our minor leaguers. In doing some quick sorts, a few interesting names popped up. Bear in mind, again, it's early.

Dallas McPherson
Once upon a not too long ago time, McPherson was considered a can't miss prospect at third base for the Halos, sure to team up with Brandon Wood and form a dominant left side of the infield for years to come. Obviously, that didn't pan out. A season's worth of DL time (back surgery) left him to float and the Marlins (or the Alburquerque Isotopes, if you will) to sign him. He's a Greensboro, NC, guy, so I gotta give him a little dap, although it's unlikely he'll be falling back to his hometown Grasshoppers with the way he's swinging the bat early.

Through three games and just 10 at bats (yes, I know, sample size), D has busted out with three homers and this line: .400/.455/1.300. Now yes, it's early. But it's the Marlins we're talking about. Jeremy Hermida is still DL-bound. Are Cody Ross and Luis Gonzalez so good to stop them from giving McPherson a run. And what if his back surgery fixed him up? Is he that horrible of a flier to try and backdoor in your really deep/NL-only league? I think not.

The Royals May Want Hillenbrand

With the Angels about to end their short relationship with Shea Hillenbrand sometime today, most people are convinced he'll end up in the Bronx. After all, the Yankees could use a first baseman with some pop and they don't want to pay the hefty price the Rangers are seeking for Mark Teixeira.

The Angels will have options though, as apparently the Royals may be interested in Hillenbrand as well.
The Royals were willing to take on outfielder Milton Bradley and his checkered reputation in an effort to bolster their erratic attack. Why not Shea Hillenbrand?

Hillenbrand, 31, is expected to become available today - assuming the Angels follow through on announced intentions to designate him for assignment.
It's a good point. Forgetting about Bradley's or Hillenbrand's past, the Royals are obviously interested in acquiring a veteran with some power to their team. Ryan Shealy is not living up to the expectations the Royals had for him after getting him from Colorado last year in a trade. He's hitting only .221 with 3 home runs and 21 RBI.

Not exactly the kind of production you want from your first baseman.

So adding Hillenbrand to the lineup would be an improvement for the Royals. Now whether they'll be able to outbid the Yankees in pursuit of Shea, that's an entirely different story.

Previously at The FanHouse:
Angels Close to Cutting Ties with Hillenbrand
Shea Hillenbrand: 'Play Me or Trade Me'

Mike Sweeney Is Going Back To His Roots

Mike Sweeney isn't stupid. He knows that when the Royals announced they're plans on moving prized prospect Billy Butler to first base that Butler will be Ryan Shealy's backup and spend most of his time as the designated hitter.

He also knows that his contract ends after this season, so it's highly unlikely the Royals will want to bring him back since they've nowhere to put him.

His solution?

He's going to go back to being a catcher.

"I've been talking to my agent," Sweeney said, "and I'm thinking about becoming a catcher again."

That's right. Sweeney, 33, wants to return to his roots. He last caught regularly in 1998 and was the team's opening-day catcher that year.

"It's always been my passion," Sweeney said. "I still fool around and catch in the bullpen. I'm not a Gold Glover, but I think I know what I'm doing."

If Mike Sweeney wants to go back to catching so that he can stay in Kansas City, more power to him. It says a lot about a great guy, and his love for Kansas City, but I'm not so sure he'll be able to do it.

Let's face it, Sweeney spends a lot of time on the disabled list as it is, and he's not even playing in the field. A move to catcher would probably just end up in a lot more time on the disabled list. As much as it might pain him to do so, his best option is probably leaving KC to be a designated hitter someplace else.

Previously at The Fanhouse:

Mike Sweeney Is A Nice Guy
Mike Sweeney: Barry Bonds Was A Class Act

The Royals Do As I Tell Them

Way back, in the long long ago of March 2007, I expressed the opinion that the Royals needed to include Billy Butler on their Major League roster. Well, better late than never I suppose, as the Royals finally heeded my advice and called Butler up on Tuesday.

The gee-whiz quality in Billy Butler is rarely hard to spot. So it's no surprise he spent his first major-league moments Tuesday afternoon veering about the Royals' clubhouse simply "because I can."

Or that he referred to the call earlier in the day informing him of his promotion as the "greatest moment so far in my life." The "so far" part carries emphasis.

In his first game as a Royal, Butler went 2-for-4 and got his first hit in his first at bat against Bartolo Colon.

"It's one of those things you remember for the rest of your life," he said. "You can't put words to it."

Of course Butler's hitting has never been in question. Simply put, the kid can rake. It's his adventures in the outfield that kept the Royals from bringing him up earlier. But now that Ryan Shealy will be spending time on the disabled list, and the Royals had the worst April record in baseball, I guess they figure it can't hurt.

Butler's defensive limitations showed up as well, as a routine fly out in the third inning was turned into a shoestring catch by Butler. Still, I'm guessing the Royals will learn to live with it as long as Butler is firing line drives all over the field.


Previously at the Fanhouse:
Rooting For Billy Butler
Billy Butler Loves Boobies
Billy Butler Is Getting Defensive

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