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From the cheap seats: Royals playing to win

Looks like the Kansas City Royals are playing to not finish last in their division, and don’t be surprised if they’re able to catch the Chicago White Sox and leapfrog them in the standings.

They are currently 31-69, the 2nd worst team in the major leagues. They are 38 games under .500. However, they play in the worst division of all of baseball. The Cleveland Indians, at 54-46, are the only team in the division with a record over .500. The Twins are 7 games under. The Tigers are 17 games and the White Sox are 28 games under. The Royals are currently 5 games behind the White Sox in the standings so catching them isn’t out of the question.

With the Royals at the beginning of a long rebuild, how much would it help the confidence of their younger players to not finish in last place? I would think that it would help the rebuild quite a bit. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, General Manager Dayton Moore has earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the rebuild. He did it before in Kansas City and if you look at the talent in the lower levels of the Royals minor league system, it appears as though it’s going to happen again.

I love the direction this team is going and I am excited about the future, especially in about 2 or 3 years when all of these players begin to make their way to Kansas City. When they experience winning at the lower levels that will translate to winning at the big level!

Speaking of excitement, I can’t believe how excited everyone seems to be about the Kansas City Chiefs this season. For a team that got rid of its’ starting quarterback in Alex Smith and one of their top defenders in Marcus Peters, it seems to me like they’re ready to take a step back.

A lot of people are excited about the offensive firepower the Chiefs will possess this year, but I can’t wonder if having a 2nd year quarterback will limit them a bit. I saw that someone actually mentioned Patrick Mahomes, who took over for Smith, as an MVP candidate. Really? I hope that he’s as good as advertised but to say that he’s MVP material already is an absolutely ludicrous statement! Let the guy play in a few meaningful games and succeed and then maybe we’ll have that discussion.

The Chiefs schedule is front loaded with 6 difficult games. Four of them are on the road at the Los Angeles Chargers, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots. The other two are at home against the San Francisco 49ers and the Jacksonville Jaguars. If the Chiefs can get through at 3-3, they may be able to hit the 11 or 10-win threshold. However, if they slip up this could be a very long season!

– by Rob Mooney

 

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