30 Teams In 30 Days: The Kansas City Royals Got Better, But They're Far From Good

I have to give the Royals credit. It does feel like they're trying again. Time really flies, but man, it's now been a minute since they've been competitive at all. Their initial rebuild failed, and they brought in some new, much-needed voices to the front office. I said before that the 2015 Royals were a miracle, and that's because Kansas City is a very difficult market to win in. They took some steps forward this offseason. I like the signings of Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo. But I actually have seen some people who have this Royals team as something of a dark horse this year, and I just can't vibe with that at all. 

This was a terrible baseball team a year ago. That was to be expected. Kansas City Royals have recently found themselves in the worst place possible for a baseball organization. They've had very little hope to sell to their fans as their farm system hasn't been much to write home about, and they've been abysmal at the major league level. This will take a long time to get off the ground, but last year, they traded Aroldis Chapman for Cole Ragans at the deadline. That was a positive move for them. They signed Bobby Witt to a long-term extension. He's going to be their shortstop for the future. Despite playing for a bad team a year ago, he finished in the top 10 MVP voting. 

I think one of the issues that the Royals have run into since 2015 is that they've consistently tried to build teams with a similar identity to what the 2015 team had. That's not how baseball teams win games in the modern age. They're still a group that is severely lacking in power bats. I think the starting rotation should improve, but this was one of the worst bullpens in all of baseball last year, and I see that group losing a lot of games in 2024. They've made improvements, but they're a long way away from good.