Kansas City Royals: Time to Look in the Mirror

The Kansas City Royals did an excellent job at hiding it this season. The team that projections never believed in and fans never doubted. At some point, though, every team finds out who it truly is.

For the Kansas City Royals, it is simple. They are a team with just enough talent to do more harm than good. This is not me playing the jaded fan. I will be here navigating wild emotional swings until I can no longer see a keyboard.

What the Kansas City Royals organization and their fans need to do is look in the mirror. When they see what is there they need to do one more thing … BE OKAY WITH IT.

At the beginning of the season there was a strong belief that the Cleveland Indians would run away with the American League Central division. After all they are the defending League Champions. Heading into August, it was not clear that they were the best team in the division, let alone the AL.

The Kansas City Royals looked to have a little bit more magic left in them. You have to give the team credit, despite a rough go since the trade deadline, they were finding ways to hang around in the division race. Something that seemed like a pipe dream back in May.

As the month is coming to a close, it appears the truth is making itself known.

Joakim Soria and Danny Duffy both find themselves on the disabled list. Salvador Perez is back from a DL trip of his own, but neither Salvy or Mike Moustakas look healthy. Eric Hosmer has done a great job turning his early season struggles around to help secure a big payday this offseason.

Kansas City Royals

The reality is that the Kansas City Royals find themselves sitting at .500 once again after being shut out by the Tribe on Saturday. The team is 64-64 and eight games behind Cleveland in the standings. While that may not sound like a lot, the trouble is that Minnesota is also a game and a half ahead of Kansas City.

The offense is struggling to score runs. The pitching staff is being criticized on a similar level as the POTUS. To top it off, Cleveland is four games away from being 20 games above .500 for the season. The Tribe are putting it together, and the wheels are spinning off in KC.

I believe that the Kansas City Royals are not going to simply fall on their face the last month of the season. I do not believe that they have any real shot at a division title. Honestly, I feel like the only way they secure a Wild Card spot would be because no other AL team steps up to claim it. So yeah, they may luck into a one-game postseason where a team from the East quickly sends them back to the Midwest.

Maybe I’ll eat crow on that, but it feels like a safe bet.

At this point there is nothing Ned Yost or even Dayton Moore could do to change things. Like I said, at some point every team comes to grips with exactly who it is. The best scenario at this point is that the team calls up some of the young guys who they need to succeed for the long-term.

When rosters expand next week, Yost needs to be able to find ways to get playing time for guys such as Jorge Soler, Raul Mondesi and Ryan O’Hearn. It won’t be easy, because players like Hos and Moose have placed themselves in the discussion of all-time great Royals. The team is only a few short pages away from the next chapter though. They need to be ready to continue the story.

Next: Who is the Team's Most Irreplaceable Player?

We all knew that this was coming. The Kansas City Royals knew it was coming. I’m not happy that time went as quickly as it has. Enjoy the good moments the rest of this season, and don’t take the disappointing too seriously.