Kansas City Royals Dream Team

 

Every sport evolves with each passing generation -- from the

size and athleticism of players to game strategy. 

Baseball’s evolution, however, is both historic and unique given

the pre-integration and dead ball eras. For the former, full

segregation took place from 1887-1947. Full integration, which

was a gradual process, came in 1959. The Deadball Era was a

period in the early 20th century when baseball was

characterized by low scoring and emphasis on pitching. 

There was the Steroid Era, which has no definite start time though

it is generally assumed that the era ran from the late 1980s until the

late 2000s. This era was defined by shattered home run records

leading to exorbitant salaries. 

The Kansas City Royals came into Major League Baseball in 1969

as an expansion team. The franchise has seen many seasons that

were a clunker but have also played in four World Series, losing in

1980 to the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants

respectively. They also won the 1985 and 2015 editions over the

St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets respectively. The Royals

have won seven division titles. 

Today, I formed a Royals Dream Team in a 26-man roster format.

For openers, to make this roster, four years as a Royal are required.

No exceptions. With the free agency era, I’m not going to cheapen

this roster with 1-3 year rentals. 

I’m forming a 12 man pitching staff, five starters and seven relievers.

For the latter, I want at least one lefthander in the bullpen. For position

players, I am taking what I believe is the best of the best regardless

of era. For the bench players, it’s the best of the rest with versatility

being heavily considered. Merit achievements such as Hall of Fame,

All-Star appearances and Gold Gloves are considered but not

guaranteed. General impactfulness on the franchise is also

considered.

Generational reminders

If you played on a playoff team, there is no guarantee of landing on

this roster. If you played during a bad season, that does not deter

you from being on this roster. Off-the-field baggage is not a deterrent

to landing on this team, nor is any Steroid Era affiliation. This is

baseball, not the Boys Scouts. We don’t do morality clauses. 

Starting pitchers

Brett Saberhagen, Kevin Appier, Dennis Leonard, Paul Splittorff,

Charlie Leibrandt

Saberhagen burst onto the scene and pitched eight seasons with

the Royals. He was a three-time All-Star and two-time American

League Cy Young Award winner. In addition to Saberhagen’s 1989

Cy Young, he also won a Gold Glove that year, led the Major

Leagues in wins and the American League in ERA. To go along

with his 1985 Cy Young, he was the World Series MVP in leading

the Royals to a World Series title.  Leonard and Appier defined the

term workhorse. Appier was particularly dominant from 1990-1993.

He threw 200 or more Innings six times during his career in Kansas

City. Appier was an All-Star in 1985 and led the American League

in ERA in 1993. Leonard may lack All-Star recognition but pitched

over 200 Innings on seven occasions during his career and

approached the 300 mark on two occasions. Leonard led the

American League in victories of 1977. 

Similar to Leonard, Spilttorff and Leibrandt never earned any All-

Star recognition but durability, consistency and reliability were

their longsuits. Spilttorff is the franchise leader with 166 career

victories. He pitched a total of 15 Seasons with the Royals and

pitched the first game in the history of Kauffman Stadium. 

Leibrandt was an underrated figure during his six-year career

with the Royals, during which time he also helped the franchise

win their 1985 World Series. Leibrandt recorded 76 wins in six

seasons with the Royals. 

Bullpen

Closer -- Dan Quisenberry

Greg Holland, Wade Davis, Kelvin Herrera, Jeff Montgomery, 

Joakim Soria, Steve Farr

Montgomery may have more saves in franchise history but

Quisenberry as the closer is a no-brainer. The submarine-

throwing Quisenberry has the fewest walks per nine innings

pitched for any pitcher in the Major Leagues since the 1920s.

Quisenberry was a three-time All-Star and led the American

League in saves five times and was a member of the Royals

1985 World Series team. Montgomery pitched all but one of

his 13 Major League seasons with the Royals. He is the

franchise leader with 304 saves and was a three-time All-Star.

Soria pitched five seasons with the Royals and was an All-Star

on two occasions. Farr was a versatile picture who saved 49

games and had an ERA of 3.05 as a member of the Royals.

He also played on the 1985 World Series champions. 

The bullpen threesome of Davis, Herrera and Holland was a

deadly combination for the franchise in 2014 and 2015 on

the way to back-to-back World Series appearances and a title

in the latter year. Holland made back-to-back All-Star

appearances in 2013 and 2014. Davis had a microscopic

0.36 ERA in the postseason. He was also an All-Star in back-

to-back seasons in 2015 and 2016. Herrera was outstanding

in his role as a setup man. Herrera was an All Star in back-to-

back seasons in 2015 and 2016. 

Infield

Catcher -- Salvador Perez; First base -- Mike Sweeney;

Second base -- Frank White; Third base -- George Brett;

Shortstop -- Freddie Patek

Perez is a slam-dunk choice for starting catcher. Perez has

spent all 11 seasons with the Royals and is a six-time All-Star,

five-time Gold Glove Award winner and three-time Silver Slugger

Award winner. He was also World Series MVP on the way to

helping the Royals beat the Mets. He was also Comeback Player

of the Year in the American League in 2020. Sweeney made a

seamless transition from catcher to first baseman and in his 13

years with the Royals he was a five-time All-Star. White was the

epitome of steadiness and consistency throughout his 18-year

career with the Royals. He was an eight-time Gold Glove Award

winner and five-time All Star. He was also a pivotal piece in the

Royals 1985 World Series championship team and the ALCS

MVP in 1980.

There is not a player more synonymous with the Royals than

Brett -- and it's not even close. On the way to a Hall of Fame

career, Brett put together a resume that could cover every

square mile of the state of Missouri. He was the only player to

win three batting titles in three different decades. Brett was also

a 13-time All Star along with being the first player with career

totals exceeding 3,000 hits, 300 home runs, 600 doubles, 100

triples and 200 stolen bases. He was also a vital member of the

1985 World Series and the 1980 MVP. Patek was small in

stature at 5-foot-5 but played a towering role in helping the

expansion Royals become a viable franchise. Patek was a

three-time All-Star and American League leader in stolen bases

in 1977. 

Outfield

Leftfield -- Alex Gordon; Centerfield -- Amos Otis; Rightfield --

Danny Tartabull

Gordon was known as a stellar defensive player as evidenced by

his eight Gold Glove Awards and 98 outfield assists, but he was

also an accomplished offensive player as well recording 749

career RBIs. Gordon was a three-time All-Star from 2013-2015

playing on back-to-back pennant-winning teams along with the

2015 World Series champions. Center field is a tough call but

the longevity of Otis wins out. Otis played 14 seasons with the

Royals and accumulated 365 doubles, 193 home runs and 340

stolen bases. He also compiled 1977 of his career 2020 career

hits in a Royals uniform. Otis was a five-time All-Star, 3 time

Gold Glove Award winner and led the American League in

stolen bases in 1971. Tartabull was acquired in a trade from

the Seattle Mariners in 1987 and spent five impactful seasons

as a member of the Royals. Tartabull transitioned from being a

middle infielder to a right fielder. His best season with the

Royals was 1991 when he compiled a .593 slugging percentage.

Bench

Darrell Porter, John Mayberry, Alcides Escobar, Mike Moustakas,

Bo Jackson, Hal McRae

Porter spent four seasons with the Royals and was an All-Star

in three consecutive seasons. Mayberry was a disciplined hitter

and also an outstanding power threat. He hit 143 home runs over

the course of six seasons and drove in 100 or more runs in three

of those years. Having Moustakas on this list may appear to be

recency bias but it's hard to argue with a club-record five home

runs in the 2014 postseason. In his eight seasons as a Royal,

Moustakas was also a three-time All-Star, crucial member of the

2015 World Series champions an American League Comeback

Player of the Year in 2017. 

Escobar was acquired in a trade that sent Zack Greinke to the

Milwaukee Brewers and provided a steadying presence at

shortstop for eight seasons. Escobar's most defining season

was 2015 when he was an All-Star, ALCS MVP, Gold Glove

Award winner and member of the World Series champions.

Much of Jackson's legacy is “what could have been” but he

delivered many jaw-dropping moments. It's a shame that

Jackson's athletic career ended prematurely because of the

hip injury. In his five seasons with the Royals, Jackson was

an All-Star in 1989. That season he hit 32 home runs and

drove in 105 runs and added 26 stolen bases. If this team

had a category for designated hitter, McRae would be a no-

brainer but nonetheless he deserves a spot on this team after

having spent 15 years with the franchise as an outfielder and

DH. McRae was a three-time All-Star and was a member of

the 1985 World Series champions. In 1982, he was a Silver

Slugger Award winner and American League RBI leader. 

Manager

Ned Yost

On the surface, the optics of Yost’s 746-839 career regular-

season record don't look impressive but that mark is

misleading by the fact that he guided two rebuilding projects.

What ultimately puts Yost number one is his postseason

record of 22-9 that included back-to-back American League

pennant-winning seasons in 2014 and 2015, the former ended

\with a seven-game loss to the Giants in the World Series and

the latter ended with a 4-1 win over the Mets in the World Series. 

Team

1985

On the surface, the resume may not look overly impressive with

the Royals going 91-71 during the regular season. To appreciate

this team's accomplishments, you must appreciate the journey.

On July 18th, the Royals were 44-43 and 7 1/2 games behind

the California Angels. They had the ninth-best record in the

American League out of 14 teams. From that point, the Royals

went 47-27 to win the American League West by one game over

the Angels. In the postseason, the Royals fell behind 3-1 to the

Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Championship Series

and won the last three games including the final two in Toronto to

advance the World Series. Against the St. Louis Cardinals, the

Royals once again fell behind 3-1 including losing the first two

games at home. The Royals won the last three to win the World

Series.