Day 28: Kansas City Royals

The entire schedule of when team recaps will be.

Team: Kansas City Royals

2007 Regular Season Record: 69-93

Cost per Win: $67,116,500 / 69 = $972,702 per win

2007 Season Recap: The Royals won their only World Series in 1985 and they have failed to reach the playoffs ever since that season. Their 69 wins in 2007 were their most since the 2003 season which was also the last season they had a winning record. They finished the season 27 games behind the Indians in the AL Central, a division they finished last place in for the 4th straight season. The Royals’ problems in 2007 were on both offense and in the pitching staff. On offense the team had a .261 batting average which ranked 11th in the AL. They ranked 13th in the AL with 706 runs scored. Their pitching staff earned a 4.48 ERA as a team which was 7th in the AL but they were 10th or worst in every other major statistical pitching category.

The Royals spend a lot of their money on offense. More specifically $11 million of their salary went to designated hitter Mike Sweeney and another $5.2 million went to catcher Jason LaRue. Sweeney only played in 74 games in 2007 and when he did play he only managed a .260 batting average, 26 runs, and 38 RBIs. Needless to say when a player uses up nearly 1/6 of the payroll the team expects more than that. LaRue had an even worse season where he played in only 66 games, hit for a .148 batting average, scored 14 runs, and had 13 RBIs. Needless to say the Royals aren’t upset that both these guys are now free agents.

The Royals pitching had mixed success in 2007. Their leader in ERA of those who saw regular action was reliever David Riske who had an ERA of 2.45 with 69.2 inning pitched. The best record they had for a starter was Brian Bannister with a 12-9 record and a 3.87 ERA. The Royals highest paid pitcher was Gil Meche who earned a 9-13 record and a 3.67 ERA. The pitchers numbers really aren’t that bad but wins were hard to come by due to the lack of offensive output. This is a common theme in the bottom teams in baseball; they have good pitching but don’t have the offense to support it. Another performance of note was by Luke Hochevar who the Royals drafted first overall in the 2006 draft after some controversy in the 2005 draft. Hochevar only appeared in 4 games and 12.2 innings total but he did perform well keeping his ERA at only 2.13 which makes things look good going into next year where he could be a key part of the pitching rotation

Key Free Agents: SP Odalis Perez, 1B/DH Mike Sweeney, OF Reggie Sanders, C Jason LaRue; I’m really only noting LaRue and Sweeney because their leaving frees up a lot of salary space. Sanders is a good consistent hitter and a veteran on the roster and the Royals will feel the loss of him especially after he hit for a .315 batting average in 2007. The loss of Perez leaves a hole in the starting rotation but Hochevar seems poised to fill that hole so that isn’t too big of a worry for the Royals.

Offseason Needs: The Royals are in a situation a lot like the Orioles are in with their division. It is simply a matter of how competitive do they want to be. If they are satisfied to simply just try and improve their record then they just need to make a few additions on the offensive side of the ball that shouldn’t cost them too much. They could probably find a lot of talent in their own farm system since they do have some quality talent there with some of the trades they have made in past years. If they want to try and make the playoffs in 2008 they need to do a major and expensive overhaul of their whole lineup. They still probably wouldn’t make it with the talent available and the quality of the Indians and the Tigers in their own division. So I think they just need to go looking for a couple good bats, preferably young ones that don’t cost much.

Prediction for the 2008 season: Well I don’t’ know how to put this lightly; the Royals are in trouble in 2008 if their goal is to make any major improvements. They just simply can’t make the improvements to gain much in their division. They might get closer to the White Sox since I’ve already predicted doom for them but besides that I don’t expect much. If things go well in 2008 the Royals could get back above the 70 win mark but the 80 win mark is a serious reach. Someone has to occupy that bottom spot in the division and the Royals seem like the best candidates for that spot in 2008.