Royals Pitching Coach: Shields Could Handle New York

Royals' pitching coach Dave Eiland thinks soon-to-be Free Agent Starter James Shields could handle playing for the Yankees. 

Shields, who competed in the AL East as a member of the Rays from 2006-2012, is set to make his next playoff outing tomorrow against the Angels. If Kansas City loses it and two more contests afterwards, Shields' career with the team will end, a fact that seems so certain right now due to KC's financial limits.

“He can, it’s just a matter of ‘Where is he going to want to pitch?’ ” Eiland told The New York Post yesterday. “That, I can’t answer. I’ve never had that conversation with him. I probably won’t. It’s none of my business. But he’s a guy that can pitch on any stage. Obviously, he’s going to have his choices, I would think.”

Eiland is currently in his third year working with Shields, serving as an advisor with the Rays in 2011 before reuniting with him last spring.

“I had a pretty good idea from opposing him all those years with the Yankees,” Eiland said in referance to his time in New York from 2008-2010. “Then I was around him more that year in Tampa Bay and worked with him in spring training."

Basically, Eiland knows what he's talking about when it comes to the right-hander. Nonetheless, considering Shields struggled pretty mightily in the Royals' Wild Card win Tuesday some skepticism here would be healthy for the Yanks, who plan to add some pieces this winter after again failing to reach October this season.