Kansas City Royals: World Series Or Bust

By Leigh Oleszczak | Jul 29, 2015

After making two huge trades within the past few days, the Kansas City Royals have made it known that they’re all in in 2015.

The Kansas City Royals had a few options before this past weekend with the MLB Trade Deadline quickly approaching. They could:

A) Make a big move
B) Make a minor move
C) Stand pat

The Royals, surprisingly, chose option A… Twice, in fact.

This is not an option that Royals fans are used to see happening with our small ball club. I guess that just goes to show how much Dayton Moore wants to get this team back to the World Series in 2015.

There were two big moves by the way, in case you’ve been living under a rock, one that saw the Kansas City Royals acquiring starting pitcher Johnny Cueto from the Cincinnati Reds. In exchange, the Reds received pitchers Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb, and Cody Reed.

Simply put, if the Kansas City Royals win the World Series in November, then these trades were all but worth it. If the Royals don’t win the World Series, however, it’ll be a whole other story.

The other big trade came on Tuesday afternoon when the Royals acquired utility player Ben Zobrist from the Oakland Athletics for minor league pitchers Sean Manaea and Aaron Brooks.

I made people mad over the weekend by writing a post about how I didn’t think the Royals should make a huge move such as the Cueto one. My reasoning I felt was pretty simple: It wasn’t worth depleting the farm system for a guy we’d only have for three months.

The Royals had been playing very good baseball without a true ace, and I didn’t see the need to give up a ton of prospects for a guy like Cueto, who again… The Royals would only have until the end of the season. There’s no way that the Royals will pay Cueto the type of money that he’ll be wanting once the season is over.

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The Zobrist move makes a little more sense, and I even touched on how he’d be an option I’d like to see the Royals make in the link that I posted above. Zobrist will fit in with the Royals perfectly due to his ability to play almost every position. He not only can fill in for Alex Gordon while he’s injured, but he can sub in for Omar Infante, Alex Rios, and even Alcides Escobar should he need a day off.

These moves signify one thing, which is that these Kansas City Royals are willing to do whatever it takes to make it to and ultimately win the World Series. This a goal that the Royals came so close to accomplishing in 2014, but came up just short of winning the title.

Now with the stance I had on not wanting the Royals to make a big move, I told myself that if a big move was made, I’d try to be excited about it.

When the Royals went out and got Cueto, I was more excited about it than I thought I would be. My thought process was that it’s a move that shows the Royals are in the running to win it all, and that’s huge, especially for someone my age who hasn’t seen a lot of success with the local sports teams.

The Zobrist move didn’t surprise me much because once the Royals acquired Cueto, it was a message from Dayton Moore basically saying, “All right, game on. Let’s go all out and win this thing.”

The Royals did give up five minor league pitchers in these two deals, which certainly makes one wonder about the future of the franchise, especially when it comes to pitching. Five prospects for two guys who will only be on the team for a few months… It’s a huge risk for Dayton Moore to take.

I mean, hey, I get it.

We live in a “Win now” type of society these days, and with all of the talent surrounding the Royals this season, why not go all in? With Alex Gordon potentially leaving next season via free agency, and others to follow the next few years, it seems obvious that the Royals’ time to win it all is now in 2015.

Simply put, if the Kansas City Royals win the World Series in November, then these trades were all but worth it. If the Royals don’t win the World Series, however, it’ll be a whole other story.

It’s World Series or bust in 2015 for the Kansas City Royals, and I for one, can’t wait to see how the adventure pans out for our boys in blue.

Next: What the Royals Gave Up for Johnny Cueto

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