Kansas City Royals — You Read That Right — Beef Up For Stretch Drive

By Dan Schlossberg

In the nine years that passed since the Kansas City Royals defeated the New York Mets to win their second World Series, fans have suffered through payroll slashing, deals predicated on salary dumps, and a parade of pilots unable to save the sinking ship.

Until now.

The Royals, more than any team in the majors, capitalized on the Sept. 1 roster expansion to 28 players by adding veteran outfielders Tommy Pham and Robbie Grossman and even trading for former batting champion Yuli Gurriel.

For a team that finished dead last with a 56-106 mark last year, that’s heady stuff.

But this year’s Royals are radically different.

They have an aggressive general manager in J.J. Picollo — no relation to the musical instrument — and an underrated second-year manager in Matt Quatraro, whose name is hardly known outside of Kansas City.

There’s even talk of a new downtown ballpark.

Predicted to finish last again in Lindy’s Sports Baseball 2024 annual, the Royals spent the winter stocking up on low-priced, high-performance players.

Among those added were veteran lefty reliever Will Smith, who has won World Series rings two years in a row — with different teams yet — and aims to make it 3-for-3, a major-league first.

The team also added Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha, who became dependable front-line starters, plus outfielder Hunter Renfroe and others.

It also resisted an urge to re-sign 40-year-old local hero Zack Greinke, a past Cy Young Award winner and future Hall of Famer who stood just 17 strikeouts shy of 3,000. A kid named Cole Ragans got his spot after Greinke went 2-15 in 2023.

Bobby Witt, Jr. hopes to parlay his pending 30/30 season and batting title into an American League MVP award.Photo byDan Schlossberg

But the biggest reason the Royals have become royalty again is Bobby Witt, Jr., an All-Star shortstop about to win a batting title and possibly even wrest the MVP trophy from all-world slugger Aaron Judge of the Yankees.

As the calendar turned to September, Witt led the American League in hits, runs, and average while ranking second in doubles, triples, total bases, and slugging. Both he and Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez were even candidates to finish as 40/40 players.

On Labor Day, the Royals were locked in a three-way race with the Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins for the AL Central lead. Cleveland led both rivals by three-and-a-half games.

Pham, a right-handed batter on the field but an edgy clubhouse presence behind closed doors, is expected to help — despite his poor performance with the White Sox before they waived him.

Grossman, a switch-hitter, will also help the Royals as a jack-of-all-trades who can play all three outfield positions, play solid defense, and poke occasional pinch-hits.

Gurriel is a just-in-time addition in the wake of the thumb injury that sidelined first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, now on the IL along with Renfroe.

Don’t be surprised if the Royals make a September rush that leaves them first in one of the game’s most unlikely 2024 scenarios.

Even a wild-card showing would be wild.

You heard it here first.

Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is the author of 42 books, including this year’s Home Run King: the Remarkable Record of Hank Aaron [Skyhorse, May 2024]. He covers the game for forbes.com, USA TODAY Sports Weekly, Sports Collectors Digest, Memories & Dreams and many other outlets. Email him via ballauthor@gmail.com.