| The Rebuilding Royals |
| By Sally Haase April 26, 2011 It has been 26 years since the Kansas City Royals have been to the World Series, dubbed the “I-70” Series, the Royals defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. Since the 1985 series the Royals have had some amazing talents play in Kauffman Stadium, George Brett, Bo Jackson, Tom Gordon, David Cone, Johnny Damon, Jermaine Dye, Carlos Beltran, and Cy Young winner Zach Greinke. If all of these players had a chance to all play for the same Royals team, they could have been the dominate force in the American League Central. But unfortunately for the Royals, the need to keep the payroll down forced the team to trade away great players for draft picks. Greinke being the most recent payroll reducing move from the Royals. It’s not that the Royals always keep their purse strings closed, they won the bidding war for free agent pitcher Gil Meche giving him a five year 55 million dollar contract. Meche never really lived up to the big contract, but he did give some stability to the Royals pitching rotation. There is a glimmer of hope for Royals fans for the 2011 season. As of April 25, the Royals have the fifth best record in the American League at 12-10. It is only two games above .500, but for a team known for its futility, a winning record is a success. The Royals do have some talented young players on the roster and solid veterans who can guide the young players along. Melky Cabrera adds speed in the outfield and pop in the line up, Billy Butler is a dangerous batter in the middle of the line up, and Alex Gordon is due for a breakout season. The starting rotation is full of veterans who are still pitching today because they can find a way to get people out. And out in the bullpen sits Joakim Soria, one of the best closers in the game. Soria had 43 saves last season, something that is usually seen with playoff teams, but the Royals were 67-95 in 2010. Soria saved 65% of the teams wins. A big thing for the Royals during these lean years is that the managers never want to see his players give up on the game. If he that his players were still giving their all in a losing effort, he can take comfort in knowing that they battled back. |
Search this site
Leave A Comment