Kansas City Royals: Timing of sale is a major win for franchise

Kansas City Royals owner David Glass is in current discussions to sell the team and the sale is expected to be finalized in November.

Kansas City Royals owner David Glass has been in recent discussions to sell the team he took ownership of in 2000. On Thursday, we found out exactly why Glass is deciding to sell the team. Per USA Today, Glass’ health concerns have expedited the sale of the team, specifically to a group led by John Sherman.

Sherman is from Kansas City and I’ve already spoken at length about how good that is for the team’s future. As a fan of the team, he is going to want to see the team win and hopefully break through the small market narratives that have been written about the Royals. However, I personally thought the sale of this team was going to carry well into the offseason and potentially linger into next season.

The problem with that scenario is that the Royals would likely do the bare minimum to their roster and not engage with free agents this offseason to try to improve the roster. It makes sense, Sherman technically wouldn’t be the owner even if a deal had been agreed to. There’s tons of paperwork and not to mention it has to be approved by Major League Baseball as well.

Luckily for the Royals, it would appear that a price has been agreed upon and the sale is expected to completed in November. The Royals are not going to be playing baseball this October, so the main focus, once the regular season is complete, is to actually get this thing finalized. Once John Sherman has full ownership of the team, he can start to make the team his own which unfortunately might be at the expense of current General Manager, Dayton Moore.

Moore has done pretty well for the Royals in terms of drafting players but I’d like to see them be more active in free agency. Right now, the team’s projected opening day payroll in 2020 will be just under $80 million. With the mess that this rotation is, the Royals should explore a decent starter. No, I am not saying go out and give Gerrit Cole a seven-year deal, but somebody better than Glenn Sparkman.

The offense needs some work as well and with Alex Gordon potentially off the books in a month, the Royals should be proactive to improve the roster. Several highly regarded prospects will be arriving next season in Brady Singer and potentially Jackson Kowar with several others in 2021, but the Royals shouldn’t bank of their success. Regardless, the timing of the sale being finalized looks like it’s going to be a major success.