Royals 2014 Fansided Faux-Winter Meetings Recap

Dayton Moore is amused that a blogger thinks he can do his job. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Well, the 2014 FanSided Faux-Winter Meetings are done. For one week, I was able to pretend to be Dayton Moore, making moves and trying to build the Kansas City Royals roster in a way that may be able to compete next season. There were trades, there were free agent signings and there were tough decisions to be made as I attempted to keep the Royals as close to my approximation of what their payroll would look like next season.

With the departures of James Shields, Billy Butler, Jason Frasor and Josh Willingham all free agents, or retired, the Royals had approximately $23 Million to spend. I made a trade (part of the recap of previous moves)  to move that amount up to $25 Million. Even though the Royals said they could spend up to $100 Million this offseason, it is logical to think that a good part of that extra money will go towards arbitration eligible players and pay raises for players under contract.

While bidding wars broke out amongst the other GMs for top talent, I tried to locate bargains that could fit with the Royals holes and team building philosophy. Yes, Pablo Sandoval, Max Scherzer and Hanley Ramirez would have looked nice in powder blue, but let’s be honest – that is not realistic.

And so, as much as can be done in such a fantasy world, here is the realistic looking Kansas City Royals roster that I was able to put together.