Determining the New Face of the Royals

Last night, during the ESPN broadcast of the Royals/Yankees game, George Brett joined the broadcast team of Aaron Boone and Dave O’Brien in the booth during the bottom of the third. There, it was mentioned that Brett is still thought of as the face of the Kansas City Royals, despite having retired over two decades ago. He is, after all, the only player in the Hall of Fame wearing a Royals hat, and is easily the greatest Royal of all-time.

It certainly makes sense. Over that time frame, not many players really stayed with the Royals, as most players were typically traded when they started to get expensive. Mike Sweeney was the one who remained, and as solid of a player he was, he just was not close to being the type of player to really be a face of the franchise, aside from being one by default.

Now, the Royals no longer seem to have that problem. While George Brett may still be the face of the franchise, and his presence certainly looms large over Kansas City, there are other players ready to take over as the Face of the Royals. With all the young talent that the Royals have in the majors, and several long term players, Brett’s run may be coming to an end.

Let us take a look at several possible contenders for the title of Face of the Royals. We will look at five different candidates, in no particular order, as well as  the reasons for and the arguments against each candidate. As always, let us know if we missed anyone.