The Kansas City Royals addressed one of their needs when they signed innings-eater Jason Vargas. Three of the five rotation spots were solidified with the signing, but what would the team do to fill the back-end of the rotation?
James Shields, Jeremy Guthrie and Vargas provide a solid foundation to build a rotation on. They will go deep into games and allow the team to be in position to win consistently. Reports of the team being near the top of their budget, according to Bob Dutton of KansasCity.com, seemingly suggest that the last two spots will be filled from within the current roster.
The team has a large amount of young talent but only a select few that seem poised to make the jump to the big league roster. What follows are six pitchers that are poised to seize a position at the back-end of this rotation.
Statistics in the following slides are courtesy of KansasCityRoyals.com and are current as of the end of the 2013 season.