Kansas City Royals: Has the Window of Opportunity Closed?

The Kansas City Royals finished the 2016 season with a decidedly pedestrian record of 81-81 after winning a World Championship the year before. Their third place finish behind the Indians and Tigers was marked by a series of false starts that ruined the hopes of fans, as well as themselves, that “the Royals are coming”. The question now of course is whether that was merely a hiccup or the beginning of the end of a run that never fully materialized.

In 2014, the Kansas City Royals came this close to defeating the San Francisco Giants , and if not for the one man show put on by Madison Bumgarner , probably would have claimed the title that year.

Then in spring of 2015, they were the talk of baseball as the heir apparent to the throne that had been denied the year before. And it didn’t come across as arrogance when they said it themselves. They were simply a good team and they knew it. And they had 162 games to prove it, plus a handful more in the postseason.

The team was characterized as “loose” with everyone pulling together. And if your memory fails you, just think of the Cleveland Indians this year. A different hero every day and a bunch of kids having the time of their lives.

The Royals didn’t set any records with their poor finish this year. In fact, those same Giants who had beaten them finished in last place following their World Series win in 2012, as did the Miami Marlins after their win in 1997. Still, the Royals performance this season has to at least be a little unsettling, especially since they had basically the same personnel as the year before.

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

Writing for MLB.com, Jeffrey Flannigan took a look back at their season and spoke to the Royals General Manager Dayton Moore who claimed that “injuries and fatigue” took their toll on the team.

"“I think health will certainly dictate that going forward, especially with Alex (Gordon) and Chris,” Moore said. “Of course, Chris (Young) was fighting through some [injuries] all season, and he had a huge workload for us in 2015 in a variety of roles.“I believe because they are competitors, they will be prepared going into 2017 to come back and perform well.”"

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And that’s something you don’t hear much of anymore (blaming injuries for failure). And you don’t hear it because not only is it a lame rationalization, but it ignores the fact that every team has injuries to key players. The Indians, for instance, went the entire season without the services of Michael Brantley , the face of their team for the entire season. And the hapless New York Mets endured the one by one decimation of their starting staff.

When a General Manager starts talking like Moore did, that should be a red flag going up signaling that something may not be quite right in Royals Land. Because you don’t begin talking about next season by making excuses for last season. Or at least, you shouldn’t.

And besides praying for a healthy return of Alex Gordon, he might also be concerned about the disappearance of Eric Hosmer in the second half of the season after his MVP first half. Or the fact that the Indians and Tigers are still in the league and very much stand in the way of the Royals who can’t afford to play catch up again next season.

What’s Next For The Kansas City Royals?

Kansas City is not New York and things generally stay quiet in the media. And if there’s more than meets the eye here with trouble lurking beneath what we can see, it’s likely no one will know about it until someone leaves the organization with a few unkind words as he walks out the door.

Next: Royals Player of the Year: Danny Duffy

Until then, Kansas City Royals fans can only hope that Dayton Moore will stop explaining and blaming and do something to help the team bounce back.

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