The Kansas Royals are no longer World Series contenders. They had a nice run with homegrown talent. They saw some of those guys leave for big money deals, but they still have a competitive squad coming into the season…but could look different by season’s end.
The Royals were able to keep one of their core homegrown talents that led them to a World Series title a few seasons ago. Mike Moustakas was hoping to land a huge contract after belting 38 homers last season. He turned down a qualifying offer, but found the landscape barren. Teams are saving their money for a talented free agent class next offseason. Moose came back for a deal that’s about half of the qualifying offer he turned down.
Will the Royals make any more moves towards a full rebuild?
Here is the 2018 MLB season preview for the Kansas City Royals.
2017 Win/Loss Record: 80-82
Key Additions: 1B Lucas Duda, OF Michael Saunders, SP Ricky Nolasco, OF Jon Jay, SP Jesse Hahn, RP Heath Fillmyer, SP Wily Peralta, SP Burch Smith, 3B Cody Asche, RP Blaine Boyer, RP Mike Broadway, OF Tyler Collins & 3B Ryan Goins
Key Losses: 1B Eric Hosmer, OF Lorenzo Cain, SP Jason Vargas, OF Melky Cabrera, OF Brandon Moss, RP Peter Moylan, RP Mike Minor, RP Joakim Soria, RP Scott Alexander, RP Ryan Buchter,
Interleague Schedule: NL Central
Projected Starters: Salvador Perez, Lucas Duda, Whit Merrifield, Mike Moustakas, Alcides Escobar, Alex Gordon, Jon Jay, Jorge Soler & Michael Saunders
Projected Starting Rotation: Danny Duffy, Ian Kennedy, Jason Hammel, Nate Karns & Ricky Nolasco
Closer: Kelvin Herrera
Fantasy Sleeper: OF Jorge Soler – Soler injured his oblique early last season, gained some weight and played like ass in the Majors. He was sent down to Triple-A for some time and he destroyed pitching. I don’t think he’s a Four-A player as he had success in Cuba before coming over and receiving a big contract. He lost some weight and with Jorge Bonifacio failing a PED test, Soler should receive more at-bats. I think there’s a chance he could start hitting Major League pitching better this season.
Prospect To Keep Your Eye On: RP Richard Lovelady– This is a deep, deep cut as many of the Royals top prospects are still in the lower levels of their farm system. Lovelady has closer stuff and could be a guy they call up if they move Kelvin Herrera at some point this season. He’s a flamethrower and has more than one pitch. He can get lefties and righties out, so his abilities scream a future setup man or closer.
Team Analysis: The Royals were adequate last year, but clearly decided that they should move on from their World Series roster as they were priced out of the Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain sweepstakes. They were able to retain slugger Mike Moustakas on a fairly cheap deal, but they were mostly just jumping on a good deal.
I look for the Royals to seek out some trades this season. They still have plenty of talent for contending teams to grab for a price. As I said earlier, the Royals do have some talent in their farm system, but they are still years away from sniffing the Majors. It would be nice if they could get some Double-A or Triple-A talent in deals this season. Starters appear to be thin in their minor leagues.
The AL Central took a hit this offseason with players leaving to sign elsewhere and the Tigers deciding to go all-in on their rebuild. The Royals should be a little better than expected as Vegas had their over/under win total at a meager 68.5. Their recent signings of Ricky Nolasco, Jon Jay and Moose should bump them over that mark.
2018 Wins Over/Under Betting Line: 68.5 (Prediction: OVER)
2018 Projected Win/Loss Record: 71-91 (4th AL Central)
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About the Author…
Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.