Kansas City Royals: Ranking every season from 2010s

7 of 10

Kansas City Royals first base coach Rusty Kuntz (18) high fives Kansas City Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain (6) on August 20, 2016 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by William Purnell/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

RANKING EVERY ROYALS SEASON FROM 2010-2019

NUMBER 4: 2016

Record: 81-81

The Royals were coming off of their first World Series title since 1985 and the excitement level was through the roof. Ultimately the season didn’t go according to plan with the team finishing with a .500 record.

The Royals wanted to continue building on their success of the past three seasons and brought in some free agents as a result. Ian Kennedy highlighted the free-agent class and the Royals also had a reunion with Joakim Soria, their All-Star closer from the late 2000s and 2010.

Kansas City handed out their largest contract ever when they inked World Series star Alex Gordon to a four-year deal worth $72 million. Gordon didn’t do well in 2016, but he deserved to get paid after everything he did for the organization.

Despite the .500 record, the Royals made it interesting all season long. They had four All-Stars in 2016, including Wade Davis, Kelvin Herrera, Eric Hosmer, and Salvador Perez. Hosmer and Perez both hit home runs in the All-Star game and Hosmer won the MVP. Oh, and fun fact, Perez’s home run was featured on the short-lived FOX show Pitch.

The Royals made a run at the postseason, but fell short and missed out for the first time since 2013. Still, the 2016 season kept the fans engaged enough to follow along until the final game.

Home/Royals All-Time Lists