Why the Kansas City Royals Suck
If the Royals keep up this hideous pace they will make a run at the 1962 New York Mets’ mark of futility, the Major League record for losses in a season; the Metropolitans went 40-120 in 1962. Forty-five games into the 2006 MLB campaign, the Kansas City Royals were an ugly 10-35; the second worst record to start a season since the 1930’s (in 1988, the Baltimore Orioles were 9-36 and finished 54-107).
The Kansas City Royals have an astonishing team ERA of 6.27, the worst in all of Major League Baseball by far (The Orioles are second to last with a 5.54 mark). Until very recently, they had a lame duck GM whom ownership threatened to fire for months but never did (a few days ago they replaced Allard Baird with Atlanta Braves assistant GM Dayton Moore- a step in the right direction). The fact that ownership let Baird sit for as long as he did while they made offhand remarks about his job security and the horrible work that he’d done is down right disgraceful.
But, for what it’s worth, Baird did do a miserable job. Since Major League Baseball started their revenue sharing programs, the Kansas City Royals had often been criticized for pocketing the shared money coming in and not putting it back out onto the field. Eventually, they took these comments to heart, and in the 2005 off-season they went out signed a bunch of free agents. They did this with no rhyme or reason whatsoever. Here’s a list of their moves:
Mark Grudzielanek – signed for $4 million a year – GRADE: B+
Grudzielanek was probably their best pickup. Though he’s not young, he’s a valuable guy to have any team and he’s hitting over .320 this year.
Scott Elarton – signed for $4 million a year – GRADE: C+
They got Scott Elarton from the Indians. The 30 year old was supposed to be their ace, and he has been. His 4.95 ERA is the best among any of the Royals starters.
Reggie Sanders – signed for $5 million a year – GRADE: F
Despite leading the Royals in homers and RBI (a puny 7 and 24), the aging Sanders is almost 40 years old; not that ideal outfielder for a team in the rebuilding process.
Doug Mientkiewicz – signed for $2 million a year – GRADE: D
At 32, Mientkiewicz is no prospect. A good fielder, but his .250 batting average, one homerun and 14 RBI leaves a lot to be desired.
Joe Mays – signed for $1 million a year – GRADE: F
They got Mays, an aging but decent back of the rotation guy, from the Twins and either he caught the Kansas City flu or somebody missed a scouting report. Mays went 0-4 with an ERA over 10 before the Royals released him.
Mark Redman – picked up in a trade, earning $4.5 million a year – GRADE: D-
When the 32 year old Redman was sent packing from the Pirates he joined his sixth different team in as many years. He’s spent most of the year on the DL but when healthy he’s gone 0-4 with a 6.88 ERA.
So there you have it. The Kansas City Royals increased their payroll by $20 million dollars and they actually, somehow have gotten worse. It’s not that unbelievable when you look at those pickups though. It’s almost like all the heat they took for not spending any money caught up with them and, in a mad rush, they blindly spent as much money as they could without really addressing any long term needs.
The Royals franchise has gotten so bad that they are starting to fall into the category of worst teams of all time, and not just in the realm of Major League Baseball. Their extended period of poor play is now on par with the legendarily bad; teams like the Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Clippers, and Cincinnati Bengals of years and decades past.
I guess this is the nature of sports, though. Teams go in and out of success and failure. Along with the Knicks, however, it’s rare to see two franchises sink as low as this in their particular sport.
The future seems bleak for Kansas City but they do have some options. They need to unload their talent (the little that they have) for as many prospects as they can get. Some team in contention will be willing to give up some young players for a guy like Grudzielanek; even Elarton could get them some minor leaguers. This is the only way to do it. Get rid of as many of these aging guys and possible and put the money into the farm system. It may take years but there is no other way for them to contend in the Major Leagues if they don’t.
I wish it were this simple for my New York Knicks, but nobody wants the horrible players (and salaries) on that team.
