Late Tuesday night, in the moments after another loss, in a clubhouse that had turned introspective and quiet, Jarrod Dyson stopped near a table in the middle of the room. He slipped a brown Louis Vuitton backpack over his shoulders and wore frustrated look on his face. He pondered a season that suddenly appeared in free fall.
The Royals had dropped to 48-51, a season-low three games under .500 after being trounced 13-0 by the Los Angeles Angels. The trade deadline loomed less than six days way. The specter of change hung in the clubhouse of the defending World Series champions.
Dyson, a 31-year-old outfielder, is not a leading voice inside the clubhouse. But in turbulent times he is often an unvarnished truth-teller. So as a group of players braced for the possibility of their front office selling before the trade deadline, Dyson offered a blunt response:
"We don't give a (darn) about that," Dyson said. "That's probably the last thing we're worried about. You can't worry about deadline trades when you're a player. It's not in your control. So there's no sense in worrying about it."
As the Royals entered the final day of a nine-game homestand on Wednesday, they sat in fourth place in the American League Central, 9 { games behind first-place Cleveland. They looked up at seven teams in the American League wild-card race, 7 { games out of a playoff spot.
A year ago, Kansas City won 95 games and claimed its first World Series championship in three decades. Nine months later, Royals manager Dayton Moore will be forced to consider selling off a list of pending free agents, including right-hander Edinson Volquez, designated hitter/first baseman Kendrys Morales and reliever Luke Hochevar.
All three have mutual options in their contracts for 2017. All three will likely end up as free agents following the season. In an interview earlier this week, Moore said he would not "dismember" the team simply because certain players would be free agents. But in recent days, Royals players have braced for any possibility _ including a metaphorical white flag.
"I have no idea," Royals backup catcher Drew Butera said. "I wouldn't be surprised if we did (sell). I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't. I know the front office still believes in us and still believes we can get out of this and still come back and win."
In the moments after Tuesday's loss, first baseman Eric Hosmer said he would not worry about the possibility of selling. Dyson was adamant that his teammates believe they can still make a push during the second half. But others have grudgingly accepted that teammates and friends may be headed elsewhere before the deadline.
"If they end up selling some guys, we can't complain," Alex Gordon said earlier this home stand. "Because we've put ourselves in this situation."
In recent days, the frustration has been palpable inside the Royals' clubhouse. The offense has averaged just 2.4 runs per game while losing six of seven. Center fielder Lorenzo Cain remains sidelined with a hamstring strain while third baseman Mike Moustakas rehabs a season-ending knee injury. As of Wednesday morning, Baseball Prospectus put the Royals' chances of making the playoffs at 1.8 percent.
"It's frustrating," Hosmer said. "Extremely frustrating. We just can't really get anything going."
By now, of course, the comparison to the 2014 Royals has become a common trope. Two years ago, Kansas City plummeted to 48-50 in mid July before winning five straight and 16 of 19. They would claim a wild-card spot and race to Game 7 of the World Series. The breakthrough laid the groundwork for another run in 2015.
So here it was on Tuesday. The Royals began the day at 48-50 and faced Angels starter Tyler Skaggs, who was returning from Tommy John surgery and making his first big-league start since 2014. This time, they managed just three hits and suffered a 13-0 beating to a team in last place. Inside the clubhouse, players milled about in quiet. Dyson maintained the loss was not a season-ender.
"If you got doubt, you might as well pack it up," Dyson said. "No doubt. You'll never see a team win with doubt in their head."
There are signs, of course, that the Royals could simply stand pat. In addition, the front office has shown little inclination to trade any piece that would be central to another run in 2017. In the end, the decision will likely be dictated by what is offered for Volquez, Morales or Hochevar.
"We're not going to make any deal that doesn't improve our team for the short term and the long term," Moore said this week. "We think winning games is important."
On Monday, Volquez expressed a willingness to sign another contract extension in Kansas City, saying the city felt like a second hometown. But trading Volquez before the deadline would not preclude the team from bidding for his services in the offseason. The same goes for Morales or Hochevar. For now, Moore has only indicated this: The Royals will listen.
Earlier this week, he recalled a story from 2006, his first season in Kansas City. On the final weekend of the series, the Royals headed to Detroit with a 59-100 record. They needed just one loss to guarantee themselves the No. 1 pick in the next year's draft. The Tigers were battling the Minnesota Twins for the American League Central title. Somehow, the Royals ended up sweeping the series. The idea of tanking, Moore says, never crossed his mind.
"I can honestly say, we were living and dying on every pitch," Moore said.
In some ways, perhaps the story is instructive. As the trade deadline approaches, the Royals have pieces to sell. But inside the clubhouse, a group of players still believes it can win.
"The season is not over," Butera said. "It's not where we want to be right now. But I still think we have an attitude where we know we can get out of this."
