MONTREAL (CP)--Rusty Greer is one of the most promising young outfielders in the game today, and arguably the best leadoff hitter in the league. He led all leadoff hitters in batting average and OBP. Greer is not known for his speed, but he led the Royals in steals this season, with 26. He ended the season second in the league in walks despite being out with an injury for almost a month.
Without a doubt, Greer is the most valuable component of the Royals' offense, more so than Bonilla, veteran thirdbaseman Gaetti or Hal Morris, who led the team in RBIs with 95.
"With all the home run hitters, such as Higginson and Sosa and Junior, leadoff hitters are seriously undervalued," says leadoff hitter Kenny Lofton. "Especially because the value of a leadoff hitter doesn't show up in the important columns--home runs and RBIs. But the best leadoff hitters are the ones who start every rally and give the team a chance to score."
Staying with the Royals won't help Greer get any more attention, either. Despite being first on the team in Runs Created, he is fourth on the team in RBIs and has come home less than Bonilla and Gaetti.
"Hal Morris has come through for us this year," says Greer, "but we've never really had the prototypical power-hitting cleanup hitter. Bonilla is an excellent two-way hitter, but since Bagwell was traded we haven't had that pure power any club needs to excel."
Rusty Greer is paving the way for the team, but there are still deep concerns about the team's outfield. Over the 1998 season, five players have regularily started in the outfield, and only one is under 32, that being Rusty. Tim Raines, Tony Phillips and Danny Tartabull were all acquired during the season, but they are all considered depth players. Alex Ochoa was already traded, the heir to either Hal Morris or Bobby Bonilla. And to make matters worse, Ray Lankford, potentially a 30/30 player, was traded to fill the gap at second base.
The Royals are hoping Curtis Goodwin or Orlando Palmeiro break through in the Bigs, but time is running short. Goodwin can't be expected to hit much more than .250, and that's about the only thing stopping him from a 100-steal season (although his defense at centerfield is atrocious). Last year he played good enough to merit the leadoff position for a while, but this season he hit only .173.
Orlando Palmeiro should be nearing the prime of his career at 26 years of age, but has far as the Royals are concerned, he still needs more development.
Could Greer take over centerfield? "He's a solid fielder, but doesn't have enough range to cover it," says Gary Carter.
The 64-thousand dollar question is, what name will we see on the centerfielder's jersey?
