The KC Royals should have moved to National League in 1997

In order to have an even number of teams in each league, MLB gave the KC Royals the first option to decide to move to the NL Central.

As the then-named Tampa Bay Devil Rays were joining the ranks of Major League Baseball in 1998, they were originally slated to join the American League West to keep the number of teams in a division the same.  Looking at a map tells you this would be a more difficult travel schedule for the new franchise as their division opponents were the Texas Rangers, Oakland A’s, Seattle Mariners, and then-Anaheim Angels.  The solution presented the KC Royals with a golden opportunity.

At least baseball was more on top of this than the National Football League.  During the same year, the NFC West consisted of exactly one team west of the Central Standard time zone, the San Francisco 49ers.  The rest of the division were the Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, and the St. Louis Rams.  Yeesh.

Major League Baseball proposed a plan that the owners agreed to that was to change the landscape for a few teams.  It was a big deal as it was the first time a team would change league affiliation.

Also joining the big leagues were the Arizona Diamondbacks who were slotted – geographically correct – into the National League West.  MLB did not want odd number of teams in each league so the decision was to move one franchise to the NL creating a 16-to-14 team split.

Kansas City was granted the option to move first. If they declined, then the Milwaukee Brewers would have the choice.  If they turned it down, the Minnesota Twins were next.

There were many reasons it would have been a positive move for the franchise but the Royals were a ship without a rudder.  David Glass was the leader of the Board of Directors because no owner replacement had stepped in place for Ewing Kauffman yet.  It was a missed opportunity.

While over the years the teams from the AL Central have provided a nice rivalry for the KC Royals, imagine what could have developed in the NL.

I enjoy our battles with current division rivals, the Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, and Cleveland Indians.  The White Sox and Twins are holdovers from the old AL West after all.  But imagine the rush of playing teams steeped in history like the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, and of course, the St. Louis Cardinals on a routine basis.

Not only would Royals fans get to make pleasure trips to Chicago and St. Louis with plenty to offer besides baseball, but they could see the beautiful stadiums in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.  And you know their fans would make the trip to Kansas City as well, which would pump crowd totals.

Frequently, the Royals have trouble drawing fans due to poor play. The attraction of the new rivals would be a boon to the turnstiles and revenue.  When the Cardinals came to Kauffman last August, attendance increased by nearly 25 percent over the average for 2019.

It was an off-year for that match up as it was two mid-week games in August right when school was starting for many. The prior year a weekend three-game series against the I-70 rivals saw an average attendance of 30,417.

Of course, one cool aspect of his hiring (Mike Matheny) is it infused the Cardinals-Royals rivalry. It could use the jolt. – stltoday.com

The last time the Cubs came to visit, the three-game total was 100,066 fans for a 33,355 average.  If you think who you play does not matter to drive ticket sales you are wrong.  Especially with these two franchises who tend to compete for division titles more often than not and have a strong Midwest following.

The lack of an owner at the time was a detriment to making this important decision. Any sensible person in charge would have seen the potential to make more money on jumped at it.

At the end of the day, it comes down to scoreboards and standings.  The KC Royals could have taken advantage of a weakened NL Central occasionally.

Save for the 2003 and 2013-2016 years the Royals have struggled to be competitive. There were a few windows of opportunity if they would have changed leagues to stay in the race longer and kept fans engaged. Not suggesting they could have won their division or played in the wild card game, but the chance to play meaningful games is big.

In 2000, the Royals finished 77-85 while two teams in their division won 90 or more games.  In the NL Central, they would had better records than three other teams.  If they would have played those teams more often it could have bumped up their win total enough to at least produce a winning record.

That 2003 season with Tony Pena and the Miracles?  They were 83-79 while the Cubs won the NL Central with just an 88-74 record.  The Los Angeles Dodgers were an NL wild card team with only 85 wins.

As Kansas City was putting the pieces together for their playoff teams they went 72-90 in 2012.  The Cubs and Astros were faltering to 61 and 55 win seasons.  The Cardinals entered the wild card game with an 88-74 record.  Had the Royals been able to beat up on the bottom of the division, it is reasonable to think they could have been in the mix.

The Royals’ 86 wins in 2013 would have been two games closer to the wild card game had they been in the NL.  The 2016 season would see the NL have four more teams with worse records than the AL.  If they could have feasted on those teams more often, the opportunity to make the playoffs increases.

Some juicy irony with the health crisis is that we may get a twisted picture of what would have happened if the team would have changed leagues when they had the opportunity.  A potential solution being batted around is to have three divisions aligned geographically with no concerns about American or National.  This would put the Royals with their usual AL Central foes plus the Reds, Cards, Cubs, Brewers and Braves.

The Royals have a ton of history in playing in the AL, which includes two World Series trophies. That simply cannot be dismissed.  However, they have always been built as an NL team and that would be a better fit year after year.  Unless a major realignment happens in MLB, leadership back in 1997 let that slip through our fingers.