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Kansas City Royals: How to ‘Moneyball’ this winter to remain competitive

By Alex Duvall

KANSAS CITY, MO - SEPTEMBER 05: Dayton Moore, left, general manager of the Kansas City Royals talks with owner and Chief Executive Officer David Glass during batting practice at Kauffman Stadium on September 5, 2015 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Reed Hoffmann/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MO - SEPTEMBER 05: Dayton Moore, left, general manager of the Kansas City Royals talks with owner and Chief Executive Officer David Glass during batting practice at Kauffman Stadium on September 5, 2015 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Reed Hoffmann/Getty Images) /
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(FILE PHOTO) In this composite image a comparison has been made between Billy Beane (L) and Actor Brad Pitt. Oscar hype continues this week with the announcement of the nominations for the 84th Academy Awards. Luise Rainer became the first actress to receive an Academy Award for her role in the 1936 biopic ‘The Great Ziegfeld,’ playing stage performer Anna Held. Over half of the last ten Oscars for best actor or actress have been for performances in a biopic. ***LEFT IMAGE***PHOENIX – MARCH 7: General Manager Billy Beane of the Oakland Athletics looks on during the MLB spring training game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 7, 2005 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona. The A’s defeated the Diamondbacks 5-0. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)***RIGHT IMAGE***NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 06: Actor Brad Pitt attends the World premiere of ‘The Tourist’ at Ziegfeld Theatre on December 6, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)
(FILE PHOTO) In this composite image a comparison has been made between Billy Beane (L) and Actor Brad Pitt. Oscar hype continues this week with the announcement of the nominations for the 84th Academy Awards. Luise Rainer became the first actress to receive an Academy Award for her role in the 1936 biopic ‘The Great Ziegfeld,’ playing stage performer Anna Held. Over half of the last ten Oscars for best actor or actress have been for performances in a biopic. ***LEFT IMAGE***PHOENIX – MARCH 7: General Manager Billy Beane of the Oakland Athletics looks on during the MLB spring training game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 7, 2005 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona. The A’s defeated the Diamondbacks 5-0. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)***RIGHT IMAGE***NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 06: Actor Brad Pitt attends the World premiere of ‘The Tourist’ at Ziegfeld Theatre on December 6, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images) /

The Theory

Essentially what Beane and the Oakland A’s front office decided to do in the movie was to combine certain stats of their three big free agents. The Kansas City Royals have a very similar situation on their hands heading into 2018. They don’t have enough money to bring back Lorenzo Cain, Hosmer and Mike Moustakas. Instead, they will have to get creative in order to replace their offensive production.

The best way that I can think to do this is to “Moneyball” the heck out of it. The Kansas City Royals are going to need to find some offense for the 2018 season, and they’re going to have to do it on a budget.

In 2017, the combined on-base percentage of Cain, Hosmer and Moose was 1.062. Divide that among the three of them and you get .354. Ideally then, according to the movie, the Kansas City Royals would look to find three players whose average OBP is .354.

To be fair, this is going to be really tough. With the value that is currently placed on guys who can get on base, it’s difficult to find them for cheap. Luckily for KC and Moore, they might be able to fill one of the three positions with someone who’s already in their system.

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