The Kansas City Royals, which have been in recession again since winning the World Series in 2015, are making aggressive investments this winter after three 100-loss seasons in the last six years.
Kansas City finished at the bottom of the American League Central with 56 wins and 106 losses this season. Its winning percentage of 0.346 was the second lowest after the Oakland Athletics (0.309).
The team continued to fall from the beginning of the season without any reversal, and has failed to come from the bottom since April 15 (Korea Standard Time) except for one day (April 30). Notably, it suffered 20 losses (six wins) in June alone, driving the team to a wedge. Although the team has recorded 15 wins and 12 losses (winning rate of 0.556) since September, it is too late at the latest.
Teams that continue to lose like this often continue their rebuilding stance. It is to build a team step by step by taking a high turn in the rookie draft based on their poor performance. In fact, Oakland, which recorded a 30% win rate with Kansas City, did not have a noticeable reinforcement this winter.
However, Kansas City is different. It has recruited six players in the last 10 days or so. On Monday, it signed a one-year contract worth 5 million U.S. dollars with veteran left-hander Will Smith (34) and brought him back to the team for the first time in 11 years. Two days later, the team agreed to a three-year deal worth 45 million dollars with starting pitcher Seth Lugo (34) and a two-year deal worth 8 million dollars with bullpen pitcher Chris Stratton (33).
The deal did not end there. On Tuesday, he acquired right-handed batter Hunter Renfroe (31) for 13 million dollars for two years and veteran starter Michael Waka (32) for 32 million dollars for two years. He also acquired right-handed pitcher Kyle Wright (28) from Atlanta through a trade.
They are not as valuable as Shohei Ohtani (29) of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cody Bellinger (28) or Blake Snell (31), who are among the top-ranked players in the free agent (FA) market this year. However, the value of their names is sufficient to support their performance in weak teams. Most of the players have displayed outstanding performances this year. 바카라사이트
Lugona Waka, former San Diego teammate of Kim Ha-sung (28), is expected to deepen the depth of his starting lineup. In his 11th year in the big league, Waka won 11 games at the Boston Red Sox last year after overcoming years of slump, and this year, he also posted 14 wins, 4 losses and an ERA of 3.22 in 134 ⅓ innings in 24 games. Lugo, who has recorded 26 starts, the most in his eight-year career, also recorded eight wins, seven losses and an ERA of 3.57 in 146 ⅓ innings. Waka can keep a spot in the rotation, and Lugo has a variety of uses as a swing man.
Renfroe has outstanding slugging capability. Since 2017, when he played in big leagues, he has hit more than 20 home runs every year except for the COVID-19 shortened season (60 games) in 2020. Two years ago, he had 31 home runs and 96 RBIs, marking a career high. This year was not a noticeable season with a batting average of 0.233 and an OPS of 0.713 but he nevertheless managed to hit 20 home runs.
In addition, Stratton pitched 82 ⅔ in 64 games this year, and is capable of playing many innings as a relief pitcher and even starting in case of emergency. In 2018, he had 10 wins while playing full-time. Wright, who lost his entire 2024 season due to shoulder surgery, is also an excellent starting resource as he became the most prolific winner of the National League with 21 wins last year. Having won the World Series title for three consecutive years (2021 Atlanta, 2022 Houston, 2023 Texas), Smith made 113 saves and 115 holds overall.
Numbers show Kansas City’s bold investment this winter. According to Bob Nightingale of USA Today, Kansas City was the eighth-lowest paid player in the Major League this season with 92 million U.S. dollars. However, the total amount of the five players who were hired as free agents this year alone has surpassed the mark of 103 million dollars.
Veteran catcher Salvador Perez (33) and rookie shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (23), who joined the 30-30 (homer) club this year, are playing as core players for the Kansas City Royals. Brady Singer (27), the 2018 first-rounder, is taking the mound. If the recruited players do their part, there is plenty of room for rebound.
Kansas City, which was considered one of the major leaguers in the early 2000s, endured hardships, made its way to the postseason in 29 years in 2014 and then to the World Series. In 2015, it strengthened its resources through bold trade and won the district championship with 95 wins, before topping the World Series for the first time in 30 years.
However, he failed to catch other key players such as Eric Hosmer (34), Mike Moustakus (35), Lorenzo Cain (37), and Wade Davis (38), and has entered the rebuilding mode. He has been playing a roughening season since his jaw-dropping .500 winning percentage (81 wins, 81 losses, 0.500) in 2016. He lost 100 games three times in 2018 (104), 2019 (103), and this year.
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