The Royals have Anibal Sanchez and Kyle Lohse at the top of their wish list, according to The Kansas City Star’s Bob Dutton.
The front office realizes that they need to upgrade the rotation and will raise payroll in order to do it. General manager Dayton Moore wouldn’t say exactly how much money the team would spend but said he felt like the team’s payroll would be significantly higher than it was in 2012.
The Royals’ top targets will be Sanchez and Lohse. If they fail to sign either pitcher, they will likely look at Ryan Dempster, Hiroki Kuroda, Shaun Marcum, Carlos Villanueva and Carlos Zambrano.
In 195 2/3 innings this season split between Miami and Detroit, Sanchez had a 3.86 ERA and a 3.53 FIP. After some injuries earlier in his career, Sanchez has thrown three straight seasons with at least 190 innings pitched.
Lohse is older, but he’s coming off an equally good season. The 34-year-old has a 2.86 ERA and a 3.51 FIP in 211 innings pitched. Lohse’s career numbers seem to indicate a middle-of-the-road pitcher, but he has been very good with the Cardinals the past two seasons.
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