KC Royals Wish List: A decade without another rebuild

It was exciting to watch a group of young stars blossom into a great team in the early 2010s, but after that KC Royals fans were made to suffer again.

Happy Holidays and welcome back to Kings of Kauffman’s “KC Royals Wish List” series. For the 12 days leading up to Christmas, our writers will share their holiday wishes for the Royals. Whether they’re more offseason improvements, success in 2021, or hope for the future, anything could be in store. Today, our wish is for all of you—the fans.

It is hard to remember but the KC Royals were one of the top teams in payroll spent during the early 1990s. What soon followed, though, is one of the worst eras of professional baseball by a team.

For us long-suffering fans the winning record in 2013 was exciting, it gave us true hope for the first time in years. Then the “Wild Card Game” and the chance to win the World Series until the last out in 2014 set the stage for the Royals bringing home the championship trophy the next season.

Even the next two years were fun as the team signed free agents and made deals that at least showed it was interested in getting back to the playoffs. Then we lost many core players due to free agency and the dreaded rebuild word was back in play.

What followed was two more seasons of 100-loss baseball and free agent moves that made you sick to your stomach. The only thing keeping us sane was the draft class of 2018 that provided hope the KC Royals would have plenty of strong arms soon.

While 2020 still resulted in a losing record and a frustrating lack of ability to get on base, there is promise this team will be a force to be reckoned with next summer. The club is actually active in the market, and not just for players trying to hang on to their careers.

To gain credibility with Royals fans, we need to see this commitment played out over several years. We deserve more than a playoff run or two before losing key players and starting all over in 2025.

The Royals need to lock up key players before they hit the market or have the money available to re-sign them when they hit free agency. Do not let Kansas City be an afterthought when big names from other teams are available. Let us go through the 2020s as a team that can compete every year.