Billy Butler

You know how there are some guys that you just have a good feeling about?

Billy Butler is one of those guys for me.

I used to be an avid baseball card collector and there was always this sector of the hobby that only collected unproven prospects in hopes of hitting it big with one.

It's going to be extremely difficult for the Royals to compete this season. 

They lost 95 games last year, and lost the likes of Zack Greinke, Yuniesky Betancourt, and Jose Guillen, to boot.

2012 is the target date; several baseball experts have proclaimed that the Royals' farm system is baseball's best in a decade.

It's been 25 years since Kansas City last made the postseason, and they've had just one winning season in the past 16 years. 

The future is bright, and patience is a virtue.

This is something that the Royals haven't had for awhile: two All-Stars in the same season.

However, it could very well be a reality this year for KC, with a strong possibility of their two best players making the cut.

If you really think about this, it starts to make some sense.

On one hand, you have a two-time All-Star closer in Joakim Soria, and on the other hand, you have an emerging, young hitter in Billy Butler who has really improved in many areas throughout his short big league career.

Kansas City Royals (2010 record: 67-95)

Opening Day is just over a week away, and it is time to look at what this season holds for the Kansas City Royals.

With many new players being added to the team over the past year, many will be looking for players that have been on the team in the past to step up their game and take charge this season.

The following is my guide to five players that will be very crucial to the club's success in 2011.

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Billy Butler was supposed to be on the verge of breaking out for an awe-inspiring amount of home runs last year. Finishing the year at 15 was obviously extremely low compared to the hopes and expectations the Kansas City Royal fans had.

Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings.

Billy Butler regressed to just 15 HRs in 2010 after whacking 21 the season before. His ISO power also dropped from .191 to .151, fifth-lowest among qualified first basemen.

One of the most interesting races in baseball should be the AL Central Division.  The Midwestern division isn't the sexiest in baseball, but it's highly underrated. 

ESPN will give more coverage to one Red Sox/Yankees series than they will to the combined seasons of the five teams in the division, but the fans of those teams know it's shaping up to be a great race in 2011.

Over the past three or four years, third base has been one of the shallowest positions in fantasy baseball—with only a few players worthy of an early-round pick.  

As the 2011 season quickly approaches and fantasy owners begin drafting their teams, many owners will be pleasantly surprised to see that the third base pool is no longer filled with just a small handful of players.

Last week we reviewed the sleeper that is Ryan Raburn (here).