Mizzou Baseball in the Majors

■ Could Crow make conversion to starting pitcher? (cbs.com)

GM Dayton Moore told Jim Bowden of ESPN that Aaron Crow will be moved into the rotation for 2012. Not only will that bolster the Royals' starting pitching depth -- which, despite no shortage of pitching prospects in the minors, is always in demand -- but it seemingly keeps Joakim Soria a valuable part of the Royals, as there was speculation Soria could be traded with Crow becoming the new closer.

Is there some use to Crow becoming a starter? Well, as Baseball Prospectus displayed earlier today in discussing Orioles reliever Jim Johnson being shifted to the rotation, you can apply a rule of 17 to relief pitchers to see how well they would fare as a starter.