Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Uncustomed Heroes of 2016: Royals


Good year for the AL Central, not so good year for the Royals.

I'll give them credit for trying, but without Zobrist and Cueto, without a healthy core, without most of the pitching staff and without a real definitive squad focus for the year...the Royals couldn't get it done, and wound up in third, missing out on the playoffs...right where they were three years ago.

Alex Gordon had a down season, which...he has from time to time. He'll probably be back in 2017 when the pressure's off.

Ian Kennedy's first, and only, season in Kansas City went...relatively well. Not his best season, obviously, but he did a considerably better job than the rest of the staff, so well that he's got a contract to help revive the grieving Marlins rotation.

Paulo Orlando had a much bigger 2016 season, after a few partial-season gigs in the championship teams. He was one of the few positive offensive performers, and turned in some nice moments towards the end of the season.

Mike Moustakas was on the way to another really nice season...and then the injury hit and ruined everything. It's sad, because Moose has become a treasure to that squad, and he thankfully didn't miss out on a wonderful season like Kyle Schwarber (almost) did. He'll be back in full force next year.

Coming Tomorrow- The Tigers team that NEARLY cracked the playoffs.

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