Kansas City Royals 2017 Payroll Still Extremely High
By Joel Wagler
The Kansas City Royals and general manager Dayton Moore were in a tight spot this offseason. They wanted to trim payroll yet stay competitive.
The Kansas City Royals put together back-to-back World Series appearances in 2014 and 2015 and brought home the crown in 2015. This was an investment that paid off for the franchise.
Long-suffering fans came out in droves to watch their home team, and the Royals found a whole new generation of people who were wanted excited to see their team win ball games.
According to Spotrac.com, the Royals’ payroll was just north of $52 million. From there, it steadily climbed, as did the Royal’s win totals.
- 2011 – $52,193,273 – 71 wins
- 2012 – $73,894,235 – 72 wins
- 2013 – $87,998,434 – 86 wins
- 2014 – $105,833,900 – 89 wins, lost in game seven of the World Series
- 2015 – $132,090,935 – 95 wins, won the AL Central, won the World Series
- 2016 – $145,220,358 – 81 wins, missed the postseason
For a franchise like Kansas City, management went out on a limb by massively increasing their payroll, setting new highs several years in a row. That trust was rewarded by great performances on the field, and new banners fluttering in the wind in Kauffman Stadium.
The freight train stalled a bit in 2016. Injuries and regression hit this ball club hard. Dayton Moore had to get spending back under control. While the fans have been very supportive in recent seasons, the Royals do have to mind their payroll carefully.
After the 2016 season, Dayton Moore was clear he needed to trim payroll. He had a tough task, though. Many players that formed the core of this team, many of whom grew up in the organization, are approaching the end of their contracts. Moore is not going to be able to re-sign all, or even very many, of these players.