Sports Illustrated - USA (2020 - Spring)

54

IT WAS A difficult winter in Kansas City.

Fans watched manager Ned Yost retire, then

saw David Glass sell the team to Indians

minority owner John Sherman for $1 billion.

Just six weeks after finalizing the sale, Glass

died, at 84. Though longtime GM Dayton

Moore is still in charge, few ties to the 2015

championship team remain, and the Royals

begin the 2020s as they did the ’10s: one of

the game’s worst teams, trying to start over.

Having tried to squeeze one last run from

those champs, the Royals are still on the

downside of their rebuild. They lost 104 and

103 games in the last two years and should

hit triple digits again in ’20. Their ’14 and

’15 teams were built on speed, contact and

defense, but last year they ranked in the

bottom half of the AL in defensive efficiency

and struck out at a league-average clip. They

still steal bases (117, second in the AL), but

not enough to provide much of a boost. The

team’s most productive players were power

hitters: Outfielder Jorge Soler led the AL

with 48 homers, and third baseman Hunter

Dozier swatted 26.

With the team’s best prospects at least

a year away, and in some cases three to

four, Soler and Dozier—both 28—have

more value as trade chips. The same can

be said for Whit Merrifield, the 31-year-old

All-Star second baseman. K.C.’s window

will reopen in ’23, with what could be a

very strong rotation featuring Brady Singer,

Jackson Kowar and Daniel Lynch in front

of a double-play combination of Adalberto

Mondesi (43 steals last season) and Bobby

Witt Jr. (the No. 2 pick in the ’19 draft).

The slow build toward contention will be

an early test of Sherman’s patience. The best

thing the Royals can do now is give infielder

Nicky Lopez, catcher Meibrys Viloria, third

baseman Kelvin Gutiérrez and other young

players the chance to develop into contributors

for that next good team in Kansas City.

More near-term pain is ahead for K.C., which had 2 0 7 losses over the last two seasons.

65.5 It doesn’t help that new manager Mike Matheny has clashed in the past with young talent.

MOVING UP

BRAD

KELLER

4.19 ERA | 2.6 WAR

righty, a

groundball

an effective

out pitch

to become

a bona fide

No. 2 starter.

MOVING DOWN

JAKOB

JUNIS

5.24 ERA | 0.8 WAR

After a solid

first full season

in 2018, the

righty, 27,

regressed in

’19. He doesn’t

miss enough

bats to make

up for up all the

hard contact

he allows.

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2030 PREDICTION

ROYALS

AL CENTRAL

KEITH GILLE T T/ICON SPORTSWIRE/GE T T Y IMAGES

The Royals begin the 20 20 s

as they did the ’10s: one

of the game’s worst teams,

trying to start over.