The 2021 Royals stand as tangible proof that the bosses have been serious.
Owner John Sherman has spent the last 11 months telling everyone who works for him to make sure the Royals come out of the pandemic stronger than they went in. General manager Dayton Moore has spent the last year telling anyone who would listen that the rebuild is over.
Here, then, are your 2021 Royals: a front office bolstered as several other organizations pulled back, and a roster that at least on paper is improved in every way but one.
We’ll get to that soon.
The Royals begin to officially gather this week for the first time. It will be their best group in four years, and one that should expect to compete for a playoff spot, particularly if the field is expanded.
We can see that most clearly with the trade for Andrew Benintendi, and everything it represents. But before we dive in there it’s worth inventorying the moves and pieces that put them in this place.
The Royals can realistically expect their lineup to be improved in virtually every way — more power, more on-base, and improved athleticism that should mean they’re above average defensively at every position except third base.
The market worked in their favor, with Carlos Santana and Mike Minor being available for less than they would have cost in a more normal offseason. Michael Taylor needs to be better with the bat, but his athleticism is the prototype of what the Royals’ front office wants in centerfield.
Broad-stroke reasons for optimism: Carlos Santana and Benintendi bring proven track records of success; the lineup is deeper, with diverse skill-sets that can hit opponents from different angles; and this pitching staff has age on its side, with the potential to improve as the season progresses.
Reasons for skepticism: Santana and Benintendi were each ineffective in 2020; Adalberto Mondesi remains an enigma; and an offense that finished third-to-last in runs last year retains potential dead spots at second base and center field.
So you can make whatever case you want, but here’s why a growing group of those in the industry believe the Royals are generally well-positioned.
This is a club on the come. The trade for Benintendi is the franchise saying this group is ready to compete now, a bet that any excess long-term value they might be giving away is a fair price for Benintendi’s right-now talent and what it says to his new teammates.
The Royals tentatively planned on giving Franchy Cordero regular time in left field, so this is the Royals buying increased certainty at the position. This is the Royals believing that their culture and Benintendi will be good for each other, that their coaches will help bring out his best, and that they believe in minor-leaguer Kyle Isbel.
One other interesting part of this trade is the existence of two players to be named later. Those will not come from the Royals’ collection of top-shelf pitching prospects, a source confirmed, but their mere existence is worth noting.
Moore and his assistants generally dislike deals with PTBNLs. It goes against their core beliefs about being driven by what’s best for the players. Because what’s best does not include players wondering whether they’ve already been traded.
So this is a departure from what we’ve seen Moore do, and a transition toward what we’ve talked before about the Royals becoming: more transactional.
This is a balance the Royals will need to be careful with, because every step toward the transactional end of the spectrum is a step away from the brotherhood created by Moore, who was once described by a former player as “the only one of 30 GMs who gives a (crap) about players.”
But nothing stays the same forever, and perhaps this is part of what happens when a family headed by a man who helped a company grow sells a team to a group of 17 investors headed by an entrepreneur.
The 2021 Royals face at least two challenges outside of their control, and have at least one major area of roster concern.
Let’s do the challenges first. The most obvious is that they are in a loaded division. The Twins and White Sox are among the league’s most talented teams, and even in a major transition Cleveland retains enough upside and pitching to be competitive.
The other challenge is more subtle. The minor leagues were wiped out last season and may not start until May this year. All 30 teams are dealing with the same issue, of course, but that lost development is a bigger setback for the Royals than most.
Much of what’s lost is time spent working with those players, but the lack of competitive games also raises the injury risk for young pitchers with increasing workloads.
The biggest remaining area of roster concern is the bullpen. The Royals’ relief corps performed well last year, but relievers are generally volatile and the Royals will be looking to add both depth and quality.
This is particularly important in protecting the young starters from being overused, especially with what we talked about a few paragraphs up with 2020’s lack of competitive games.
So, there are concerns. Holes. Challenges. The Royals have not had a winning season since the parade in 2015 and have not won more than 59 games since 2017. The gap between their current reality and what they believe they can be remains significant.
Here’s a fair expectation: The Royals play well for four months or so, with the last two months a challenge as some of the core plays postseason-picture games for the first time and deeper into a season than ever.
This season, even more than most, will be dictated by unknowns. The Royals have a wide range of potential outcomes.
But at the moment their most noteworthy character trait might be their bosses’ refusal to take the easy path. When so many teams around the league with fewer excuses than the Royals are pulling back — spending less in a sort of soft tank — the Royals are investing money their owners have not made to produce the best team that can be reasonably expected.
That’s a strong way to go into a season, if nothing else.
