The Kansas City Royals Are Not Making the Playoffs

The Kansas City Royals are not making the playoffs. It is as simple as that. Coming out of the gate slow in April is one thing; falling on your face in August is another.

For the Kansas City Royals there are a lot of reasons that one can point the finger at why postseason baseball will not happen in 2017. April and August did the team no favors. The pitching staff struggled to find their way the majority of the season. The team’s offense would go into witness protection for stretches (let’s not talk about the events of the past week).

Trips to the disabled list left Ned Yost without key contributors. While it gave young guys a chance to step up, they did so with mixed results.  

2017 always felt like it was destined to be a season where no outcome would be perfect. Even if the team captured another World Series trophy, it would immediately be faced with several player departures. The fact that the team battled its way into playoff contention in June and July makes things even harder.

Dayton Moore pushed his chips to the center of the table. He believed his team could return again to October baseball. While one could understand his reasoning for being a buyer at the trade deadline, there was always the feeling that the future needed to be the priority.

Now the Kansas City Royals are looking at no postseason, a thin farm system, and a rebuild at the major league level. Not the most envious situation to be in.

There is one way that the team could do something positive for their future and provide a scapegoat for missing out on the playoffs.

With rosters set to expand in September, the smart thing the Kansas City Royals could do would be to call up the next wave. Players like Jorge Soler, Raul Mondesi, Ryan O’Hearn, Richard Lovelady and Jake Newberry all need to be in KC getting their cups of coffee.

All of these players have an above-average chance (some like Soler and Mondesi are virtual locks) to crack the roster of the big league club next season. Finding playing time over the next month will happen as a result of tough decisions. Those decisions need to be made though.

Next: Why the Royals Will Make the Playoffs

The young guys are not going to ride in and magically carry the Kansas City Royals into the postseason. They will be the ones to give the organization their next opportunity to reach the playoffs though. The more experience now, the quicker they can hopefully return to October.