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The Kansas City Royals Effect

By John Viril

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The Kansas City Royals run to the World Series didn’t just revive their fanbase in Kansas City. The KC Royals post-season party has had an impact throughout the league.

Pretty much every front office in the league thinks they can win. This year.

In the American League, only the Twins and Astros seem more concerned with the future rather than the present. The other 13 teams have little problem dipping into their prospect pool to improve their chances, today.

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This sea change in front office strategy has produced never before seen parity among A.L. teams heading into the 2015 season.

In the National League, only the Phillies and the Diamondbacks seem resigned to the fact that they do not have much of a chance next season. Even the Miami Marlins attacked the offseason, signing Giancarlo Stanton to a record 13-year, $325 million contract.

Along with Stanton, the Marlins brought in win-now free-agent like Mike Morse and traded for right-handed starter Matt Latos, who is in the final year of his contract.

The Marlins win-now philosophy became obvious in the December 11 trade with the Dodgers, in which they did not hesitate to give up top prospect Andrew Heaney and catcher Austin Barnes as part of a package to bring back All-Star 2nd baseman Dee Gordon, Dan Haren, and Miguel Rojas.

Wheeling and dealing was the new normal across major-league baseball, fueled by local TV revenue that helped swell the game’s collective coffers to $9 billion in total revenue. The game is flush with money, and the extra wild card spot added in 2013 makes everyone think they can join the playoff party.

Then we have a 2014 World Series between two teams that qualified as Wild Cards and won less than 90 regular season games.

In particular, it was the Kansas City Royals that shook up the baseball world. Breaking a 29-year post-season drought, which was the longest current absence in any of the four major U.S. sports leagues, the KC Royals caught fire by overcoming a four-run deficit in the 8th inning in their Wild Card victory against the A’s and rolled to eight straight post-season wins.

That run landed the KC Royals in the World Series.

If the Kansas City Royals can do it, so can we seems to be the takeaway among major league executives this year:

Meanwhile, fanbases across baseball hope their team can become “the next Kansas City Royals”, management wunderkind Theo Epstien of the Cubs cites the Royals as a role-model, and Forbes magazine speculates the KC Royals might cause other teams to change the way they allocate resources.

In Kansas City, manager Ned Yost thinks his team is changing the game. He told USA today:

"“Poll a hundred people in the country and ask them if our style of play was enjoyable,” says Royals manager Ned Yost. “And I think they would say, ‘Yeah, it’s different. It’s old-time baseball.’ But it was different because we haven’t seen it. ““Offense is down, and I don’t think that’s the way the game is,” Yost says. “We’re going to get back to more speed and athleticism to manufacture runs. I think it’s back to playing baseball, for the most part, the way baseball was meant to be played.”"

Everyone, so far, is not trying to play Kansas City Royals baseball. But, the Royals have made teams across major league baseball believe they can win.

Next: Top Ten Catchers in Royals History

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