This has been the Royals worst season by far and yet they only seem to get worse every year. Even with young talent that seemed promising at once this team has fallen from grace and is now the worst team in the MLB. Let's recap how we got to this point.
What Happened Post World Series?
When the Royals lost the World Series to the Giants in 2014, they made big moves in the offseason to return back to contending. In addition to already having multiple great hitters and fielders they added Ben Zobrist in a trade during the season. They also pursued Johnny Cueto to add to their starting rotation due to losing Jason Vargas to Injury. This combined with the roster that had been proven in 2014 made for a great 2015 World Series run in which they looked rather dominant against a hot New York Mets squad that had some of the best starting pitching at the time. The Royals lost a couple pieces including Zobrist and Cueto in offseason, but the core remained relatively the same, so they were expected to continue the success or at least make the playoffs for 2016 and possibly win the division as well. With the core of Hosmer, Moustakas, Perez, Cain, Escobar, Gordon, and Ventura the team looked like it had all the makings. There was also young talent in Whit Merrifield, Hunter Dozier, and Adalberto Mondesi. Whether it was the team not being as motivated or just age a catching up to everyone the team finished 3rd in the division and were 8 games out of a wildcard spot going 81-81 for 2016.
Prior to the 2017 season the Royals young star pitcher Yordano Ventura was killed in a car accident in the Dominican Republic which immediately was a significant loss to all of Kansas City as well as to the Royals pitching. The rest of 2017 was similar to 2016, the team lost Wade Davis in exchange for young talent Jorge Soler and also traded away fan favorite Jarrod Dyson, but the core was still together. Maybe they feel more motivated after a rough season? No, the team had nearly the exact same record as the prior season losing one extra game for a record of 80-82. For 2018. the core was depleted. Hosmer, Moustakas, Cain, Escobar, and even Jason Vargas had left the squad. Long time pinch-runner and outfielder Terrance Gore also parted ways with the team. The team would take a very dramatic turn for the worse and would have a record of 58-104. 2019 would be the final season of Ned Yost managing as the team went 59-105 with a lot of young prospects attempting to make it in the big leagues. Whit Merrifield clearly had talent, but the rest of the team had hardly any. The bullpen was now gutted with Danny Duffy being the only well-known arm remaining. Royal's fans were hopeful that a new face at manager and some of the young talent could put together a decent year soon.
The Draft Picks
The Royals having a bad record would at least allow them to look towards the future within the draft at this point. Dayton Moore took this team to a world series by drafting and trading key pieces so fans still had some hope that he could repeat the process again. In 2015 the Royals selected a pitcher by the name Nolan Watson in the first round who would never make it out of single a in the minors and posted horrific stats while doing so. The Padres would eventually pick him up where he has spent his time at the bottom of minors with them ever since. In 2017 the Royals drafted Nick Pratto a talented first baseman who managed to eventually get onto the MLB roster where he batted .222 and was sent back down to the minors for a decent while.
In 2018 the Royals had 3 first round picks. They drafted Brady Singer with the 18th overall pick. Singer has shown flashes of good pitching but is wildly inconsistent. They brought in Singer's Florida teammate Jackson Kowar who has an ERA of 9.53 and lost in every game he pitched. Their other pick was pitcher Daniel Lynch out of Virginia who has sported an ERA of 5.18 and a losing record as he remains in Omaha as of now. All of this was in attempt to fix the starting pitching problem the team faced yet every player drafted has had yet to be worthy of their first-round pick. The following year they drafted exciting prospect Bobby Witt Jr. who has become the focal point of the team in recent years, but still puts up pedestrian numbers. The following year in 2020 they drafted Asa Lacy out of Texas A&M, who has yet to make it out of the minors. The following year they drafted Frank Mozzicato who is also stuck in the minors as of now. In 2022 they drafted Gavin Cross an outfielder who has done decent in the low levels of the minors. In 2023 they selected catcher Blake Mitchell in hopes that he could replace Salvador Perez the final remaining piece of the World Series roster.
Management Trouble
At first following Ned Yost retirement the Royals gave control over to Mike Matheny who had just come off of a couple mediocre seasons with a Cardinals team that fans thought were underperforming due to management. Matheny had done a decent job managing the Cards for the years he was with the team including taking the team to the World Series back in 2013. Matheny always seemed to keep the Cards in contention at least, which made him sound perfect to help a Royals team that couldn't find any footing for the last few of Ned Yost years. Matheny took the reins in 2020 and led the team through 2022 where he was fired. He had an overall record of 165-219 and had improved the team in his second year before they dropped down to the bottom in 2022. In 2023 Royals hired new manager Matt Quatraro so far in 2023 the royals have now sported a record of 28-70 through 98 games.
The famed general manager of the Royals Dayton Moore was also fired in 2022 marking the end of his rollercoaster era with KC. Moore was a big reason that the Royals won a World series, but for every good thing he did, he would do one bad.
Overview
All of the points I just listed above about 1st round draft picks and overall mismanagement of the team are just scratching the surface of things that have gone wrong. There are numerous other trades and free agency signings that have also led to the downfall. Regardless the Royals are now in one of the worst spots they've ever been in. Surely things can only go up from here, but you never know with this team. This team is by far the worst team in the league as of now. Hopefully the new first round pick Blake Mitchell can give the team some signs of life.
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