Kansas City Royals: Big Contracts Have Disappointed

This past offseason saw the Kansas City Royals give out the two biggest contracts in team history. One was to a beloved member of the team for his entire career and the other went to a newcomer.

The Kansas City Royals never used to be the type of team to “overspend” on talent. The strategy was to build up the farm system and when they were all ready to contribute, it’d be a unit that could strongly compete down the stretch.

Dayton Moore proved that theory could work, when the Royals went to back-to-back World Series in 2014 and 2015, winning the latter.

After the Royals reigned victorious against the New York Mets, the funds were higher than they had been in a long time. That led to the team handing out the two biggest contracts in team history: One to long-time Royal Alex Gordon, and the other to former San Diego Padres pitcher Ian Kennedy.

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Despite both guys having the two biggest contracts in the Royals history, neither is living up to the hype in the least bit.

Gordon is slashing .204/.310/.336 with seven home runs in 61 games and 211 at bats. He missed close to two months due to fracturing his hand when going for a foul ball in Chicago.

While I love Alex Gordon, he’s been a huge disappointment this year. He very well could turn things around, but unfortunately, if he doesn’t, fans might start to turn on him.

Ian Kennedy, on the other hand, has had an “okay” year. He’s probably the second best pitcher in the starting rotation yet received the number one spot coming out of the All-Star break.

Kennedy has managed a 3.86 ERA in 18 games. He has a record of 6-7 and has allowed 22 home runs (he allowed 31 total last year with the Padres).

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Kennedy has not been terrible, but his production has not been worth what the Royals are paying him for. Unfortunately, that was the going rate for mediocre pitchers during the offseason, and it does appear that the Royals got one of the better mediocre starters.

It’s also worth noting that Joakim Soria, who the team signed to a three-year deal this offseason, has also not been reliable. He has a 3.60 ERA, which isn’t bad, but he’s blown several games for the Royals and anytime he trots out from the bullpen sends a wave of panic throughout Royals nation.

I guess the point of this article is to say that the way the Royals used to do business might have been more difficult, with saying good-bye to fan favorites and all, but the Royals didn’t overspend on guys. It made it easier to sign lower key guys like Ryan Madson,who got his own big contract this offseason) and Kendrys Morales, who has gone on to have a nice two years in Kansas City.

Next: Alex Gordon's Five Biggest Moments

This will be the topic of conversation this time next year when Eric Hosmer is getting ready to hit free agency, and it might actually be wise for the Royals to avoid shelling out the next biggest contract ever to the former first rounder. We love Hosmer, but if he really is worth a ten-year deal worth $200 million as Jon Heyman suggests he is, the Royals won’t have much money left to do anything else.

What do you think, Royals fans? Is it worth dropping a boatload of cash on one player?