Kansas City Royals ranked as worst AL Central team heading into 2021

The Kansas City Royals have their work cut out for them in the AL Central.

Dayton Moore is being aggressive this winter and that’s because he knows how tough the American League Central is going to be in 2021. The White Sox showed they’ve rounded the corner and are ready to compete, the Twins have been good the past few years, and Cleveland always has pitching that can go toe-to-toe with anyone. Throw in that the Tigers are looking to improve this year and it’ll be tough sledding for the Kansas City Royals in 2021 and beyond.

Alyson Footer of MLB.com released the first MLB power rankings of 2021 and not only had the Royals as the No. 25 team in the league but had them in the basement of the AL Central. She had the Tigers literally one spot ahead of Kansas City, but this is still a tough pill to swallow for the organization.

It’s going to be incredibly difficult for the Royals to make waves in the league this year if their division is this loaded. Footer and MLB.com had the Twins in the No. 5 spot, the White Sox at No. 6, and Cleveland at No. 11. Three teams from KC’s division are considered in the top half of the league.

The Kansas City Royals will have an uphill battle in 2021 because of their stacked division.

When the Royals won the division in 2015, the AL Central was in the dumps for the most part. That hasn’t been the case in the last year and a half and all five teams are improving. Moore knew how tough of a task contending in this division would be and that’s why he’s gone and brought in players like Carlos Santana and Mike Minor to help this team compete in 2021.

Royals fans aren’t expecting a World Series title or anything like that this year, but being competitive and vying for a playoff spot wouldn’t be an outrageous wish for this organization. Their pitching has a chance to be quite good and they also could have future superstar Bobby Witt Jr. making his debut this year.

The American League Central could be what the National League Central was in 2018 when all five teams entered the season as potential contenders. When that season finished up, four of the five teams in that division had over 80 wins (the Reds finished in last with 68 wins). Maybe that’s what we see with the AL Central this year where they all fight really hard against each other and keep it close.

The Kansas City Royals can use this as motivation. No one believes in them in 2021 but Dayton Moore showed he believed in them by providing them with free agents who can absolutely help this team win games.

What do you think, Royals fans? Is KC the worst team in the AL Central in 2021?