The Cubs -- And Other Teams -- Can Take Lessons From The Royals

By Al Yellon - Editor

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Jun 28, 2011 - I spent last weekend watching the Cubs lose two games out of three to the Royals in Kansas City.

Now, normally for a Cubs fan like myself, that would not be cause for anything but despair. But I left Kauffman Stadium and the city thinking that not only the Cubs, but many teams in the major leagues, could learn some things from the way the Royals do things.

You're thinking I've lost my mind, but I assure you that's not the case (not on this topic, anyway).

The Royals are baseball's forgotten team. They play in MLB's third-smallest market (only Cincinnati and Milwaukee are smaller). Though I follow baseball and all its teams closely, I confess that the Royals used several players against the Cubs who I had never heard of before (Jarrod Dyson? Louis Coleman? Greg Holland? These might as well be the names of my UPS delivery drivers). And though they have a cool scoreboard montage before games begin, showing great moments from Royals history, the triumphs jump from Bo Jackson's appearance in the 1989 All-Star Game to video of this year's team.

That's 22 years of Nothingness. Since KC's only World Series title in 1985, they have had seven winning seasons in the 25 intervening years. Seven, and only one since 1993, and they've lost 100+ games four times in the last nine years. They're the Pirates, only without 100 fewer years of tradition.

They do have a spiffy new stadium; while the outer shell is 38 years old, the interior was completely redone in 2009 and has modern amenities like premium seating, a "private" club that's open to the public before games with reasonably priced waitstaff-serviced food, and an excellent Hall of Fame and museum. The concourses are wide and easy to navigate and the Royals staff members are unfailingly polite and helpful. About the only thing I didn't like was the fact that on Friday night, I got stuck for an hour getting out of the parking lot after the game -- that problem was rectified the other two days with some consulting of local maps, to get to the right area to get out quickly.

Besides treating fans as treasured customers rather than nuisances, the Royals have some very good young players. Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer are top-notch prospects just hitting the major leagues, and holding their own, at ages 22 and 21 respectively. Alex Gordon appears to have at last found a spot, in left field; he'll never be Ryan Braun, but he should be a productive player for years. Pitchers like Danny Duffy, Aaron Crow and Greg Holland could anchor a rotation and bullpen -- and it didn't seem coincidental to me that the Royals assigned Duffy Zack Greinke's old number (23). There are more players like this in the pipeline.

With the lowest payroll in the major leagues, just $36 million in 2011, the Royals could probably afford to add a key free agent or two if they'd actually spend the luxury-tax money they get from high rollers like the Yankees and Red Sox. (You may recall that the Players Association was not happy that the Marlins, for one, did not use this money for player payroll.)

In 2003, the Royals, with young players like Carlos Beltran leading the way, briefly contended in the AL Central before fading. Beltran wound up traded away and it's taken several years' worth of top draft picks to get KC back to the point where maybe, just maybe, they can surprise people in a year's time. They likely won't do it with Ned Yost as their manager, but remember the young players' names I've written above. By 2013 or 2014, the Royals may have new highlights to add to their historical montage... and they'll be doing it in front of loyal fans who have stayed the course, in part due to the way they've been treated by management.

Valuable lessons for all.

Read More: Alex Gordon (LF - KAN), Zack Greinke (P - MIL), Carlos Beltran (RF - STL), Jarrod Dyson (CF - KAN), Aaron Crow (P - KAN), Danny Duffy (P - KAN), Mike Moustakas (3B - KAN), Greg Holland (P - KAN), Louis Coleman (P - KAN), Eric Hosmer (1B - KAN), Kansas City Royals

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