Kansas City Royals: A Look Back At An Exciting 2013
By Joel Wagler
Detroit Tigers second baseman
Omar Infante(4) Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
OCTOBER-DECEMBER
The Hot Stove season has been an active one for the Royals. They signed Jason Vargas, a left handed version of Jeremy Guthrie in November. They traded for Norichika Aoki and signed Omar Infante. They courted former Royal star Carlos Beltran, and they were rumored to be shopping Billy Butler. They even picked up some insurance at third in case Mike Moustakas doesn’t come around when they traded for Danny Valencia.
The offense should be better in 2014 than it was in 2013. The Royals have been waiting for all of their bats to have a good year in the same season. That window is rapidly closing. This season, unless an addition is made before the season starts, the rotation will probably take small step back. On paper, Dayton Moore may have improved the team slightly but it will be hard to win more than the 86 games the Royals did in 2013. It certainly will take more for them to make the playoffs.
Still, it has been as exciting a season as enjoyed by Royals fans as any since the 1980’s.
We are all ready to start hoping again as the Kansas City Royals head into 2014.