MLB Hot Stove: Kansas City Royals preview
By Jason Evans
The Kansas City Royals had a really nice team last year. Their team was so nice last year that they are going to get some real big rings as they won their first World Series championship since 1985. They were 90 feet away from tying Game seven of the 2014 series, but then Madison Bumgarner intervened.
The Royals were a team on a mission and with a little mid-season help of deals for Johnny Cueto and Ben Zobrist on top of the core they already have. Their bullpen was again stacked and even though they lost Greg Holland to injury, they still had Wade Davis, Kelvim Herrera and added Luke Hochevar and Ryan Madson to the mix.
In the starting rotation, after adding Cueto, Yordano Ventura rebounded and looked more like the pitcher he was in the 2014 playoffs as opposed to the pitcher at the beginning of 2015.
For the Royals, the challenge is sustaining that success. They don’t have the payroll that the New York Yankees or the Los Angeles Dodgers have. Zobrist and Cueto are definitely goners in free agency. Alex Rios was brought in on a one year deal last off-season and will look to capitalize in free agency.
Alex Gordon was supposed to be the face of the franchise and replace George Brett at third base. It didn’t exactly happen that way, but Gordon became one of the best left fielders in the game, both offensively and defensively.
Can the Royals stay at the top of MLB? This off-season will have a lot to say.
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