Why the Royals Are Doomed to Be a One-Hit Wonder

In the early part of this decade, the Kansas City Royals were one of the most patient teams in baseball. Having assembled a core of talented prospects, they had to stand by biting at the bit while the talent developed itself on the field.

In 2014, there was a near miss. And then finally in 2015, all of the pieces came together and the Royals got that championship they had worked so hard for. But just two years later, the core of the team is in jeopardy and they may have to start all over again. The answer to why this could happen lies in a change made in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement that will hit the Royals particularly hard.

If Hall of Fame third baseman George Brett had begun his career in 2010 instead of 1973, chances are slim to none that he would have played his entire 20-year career (as he did) for the Kansas City Royals. And that’s because the Royals, as a small market team, would not have been able to hold on to him.

Assuming, too, that Brett would have the same mindset that players have today, which is not necessarily a slam dunk, any number of things would be arising in his career that would hinder his desire to stay with the Royals, even if the team did not want to part ways with him. For instance, he might have been Wade Davis, who was just dealt to the Cubs for a return (Jorge Soler) that is questionable from the Royals’ standpoint.

But it was either that or lose Davis at the end of the 2017 season when he would become a free agent. And there is also another way that George Brett would have been gone, and it stems from the clause in the new CBA that removes the loss of a first round draft pick for a team that signs a player who elected free agency after refusing his team’s qualifying offer.

The Royals Lose Big Time in the New CBA

This was something that players fought hard for because it was seen as a giant hurdle that hurt the player electing free agency in the pocketbook when teams had to think twice before signing him and losing that pick. In 2014, for example, Kendrys Morales found himself in this predicament, and the same scenario is underway now with Justin Turner.

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Specifically for the Royals, though, the new rule impacts them significantly because it’s just their luck to have Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, and Danny Duffy all reaching the stage in their career where the Royals will be forced to either make them a qualifying offer at the end of the upcoming season, or to not extend the offer and watch them flee directly to free agency anyway.

Pick any one (or at the most two) of these players and the Royals might be able to sign them to a contract extension now, or re-sign them later when they reach free agency status. But even that scenario is unlikely, especially if they all have seasons that increase their value even more than it is now.

Among Teams, Whoever Said the Playing Field Was Level?

On the other hand, there are the Chicago White Sox, who are resembling the Royals of a few years ago by stockpiling a slew of young talent that they hope will bloom for them the same way the Royals’ talent did. Except that the White Sox play in Chicago and not Kansas City in a market that seems to have no end to its thirst for baseball. And if they play their cards right, the White Sox can have the pick(s) of the litter when the time comes for them to make these same decisions.

So all of this probably means that the trade of Wade Davis was just the first salvo in a series of trades that the Royals will be forced to make sooner rather than later. By trading these players now, at least they are guaranteed to get something back and the process of rebuilding can start all over again.

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Quite a difference from the euphoria of just one season ago when George Brett was front and center at the World Series and the celebration that came afterward. But then again, no one ever said that life as a franchise in baseball would be fair.

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