15 years of KC Royals franchise futility: 1996-2010

For many years the KC Royals were seen as a franchise to model teams around with consistent winning records and playoff berths.  What happened?

From player development to building a team built to play 81 games in the open spaces of Royals Stadium, the KC Royals were an exceptional organization.  Between 1976 and 1985 they qualified for the postseason seven times, went to two World Series’, and won the Commissioner’s Trophy in 1985.

Despite not appearing in the playoffs from 1986-1995 they were competitive many seasons finishing second in their division three times and producing a winning record six times.  Bad times fell upon the franchise beginning in 1996, however, with only one winning season achieved in the next fifteen years.

2003 still feels out of place calling it successful despite the 83-79.  Despite winning their first nine games that season the ended up placing third in the American League Central, seven games out of first.  Still, they did spend 93 days at the top of the division that year but it was a big anomaly considering they won 62 and 58 games before and after that season.

The best news about 2003 is that it kept Mike Sweeney in town longer than most would have anticipated.  He had signed a large extension for five years that included a clause that if the team did not have a winning record in 2003 or 2004 he was free to opt-out if he chose.

There are many areas to examine while trying to dissect how the Royals became so bad for so long.  The blame and bad luck can be spread to many different decision-makers and players who underperformed.

The KC Royals have carried the small-market label for so long it is hard to believe they once had the highest payroll in baseball.

As shocking as it sounds, it is true that in 1990 the franchise led the majors with a total payroll of nearly $24 million.  More surprisingly, the team never had the lowest overall salary total during this fifteen-year period we are reviewing (they did have the lowest in 2011 but that is out of our scope).

They still had the fourth-highest payroll in 1994 but after the death of owner Ewing Kauffman and no full-time owner again until 2000 when David Glass purchased the team, the payroll was sliced drastically.  To the point, it dropped by over $20 million from ’94 to just under $19 million in 1996.  Hard to be competitive with the money cut off.

Kansas City has spent the last twenty-plus years being in the bottom third of payroll dollars, only rising to a middle point during the World Series season in 2015 and the following two years.

Glass was notorious for keeping his wallet shut ensuring he could turn a profit even if it kept the fans away in droves.  And stay away the fans did.  From 1996-2010 the Royals finished 10th or worse in American League attendance each season.  They were 13th six times and dead last in 2008.

This meant that despite having a wealth of talent go through the organization they were often unable to resign them or trades that usually resulted in poor return. Some of the players who slipped through the KC Royals’ fingers include Johnny Damon, Carlos Beltran, Jermaine Dye, Jeff Suppan,  J.P. Howell, and eventually Zack Greinke.

Some teams did find success with smaller payrolls like the Oakland A’s and Tampa Bay Rays.  There was more than one component to the downfall of Kansas City.

While the Royals were going through five skippers during the time period, only two people were at the helm as general manager.

Taking over for John Schuerholz in 1990, Robinson worked to keep the Royals competitive and in 1994 he had a high payroll to work with allowing the team nearly win the division. Topps named the franchise the Organization of the Year. After the 1995 season, the payroll cuts began to sink in, and stars Gary Gaetti, Greg Gagne, Wally Joyner, and Tom Gordon were no longer on the team.

Veterans like Tim Belcher, Jose Offerman, Dean Palmer, Bell, and King were brought in and despite decent performances, the team never gelled to produce a winning record.  A real sore spot was during the drafts.  Out of the first-round picks in the ’90s, only two players saw significant playing time with the KC Royals.

Dan Reichert and Michael Tucker were the best of this lot but not all-stars. Other picks Joe Vitiello, Jeff Granger, Matt Smith, Juan LeBron, Dee Brown, and Jeff Austin never panned out.  After the 2000 season, Robinson stepped down from the GM role.

In came Allard Baird.  Hamstrung by the tight payroll which makes every move critical, Baird pulled off a couple of trades that drew the ire of fans.

https://twitter.com/jazayerli/status/783483544563650560

The Royals could obviously not afford Beltran but the return on the sought-after player was not great.  Mark Teahan and John Buck put in some serviceable years with the team but nothing spectacular.  Another player in the deal, Mike Wood, was downright bad.

Johnny Damon was flipped for Roberto Hernandez, AJ Hinch, and Angel Berroa.  Hernandez and Hinch stayed around for a couple of years with ho-hum results.  Berroa was the cornerstone of the deal and it appeared to pay off with his Rookie Of The Year season in 2003.  His production fell the next three years and was soon off the roster though.

Another deal brought the bad marriage of Neifi Perez and the Royals in exchange for Dye.  Perez brought lackadaisical effort and zero passion to the club. Glass became frustrated with the team’s performance in 2006 and soon Baird was let go. It is worth noting that Baird is still active in baseball in front office roles and his respected by many in the game.

Not long after the era of Dayton Moore began.  While many are still unsure about the legacy of Moore, he did rebuild the minors and developed young stars.  His hiring of Ned Yost was widely panned by Royals’ fans but eventually, two consecutive trips to the World Series followed.

The water is still muddy on where the blame rests on the long drought of competitive KC Royals teams between 1996-2010.  Obviously having a minimal payroll was a big part of it.  Gametime decisions and player personal choices also contributed as well.  The hope is we are not at the beginning of another long slide.