Uncustomed Heroes of 2019: Royals

 Four years after the title run, the Royals parted ways with Ned Yost, and finished with only 59 wins. Baseball is a fickle, revolving door of a sport. Dominance is too fleeting.

Just look at Billy Hamilton: The guy was signed in an effort to bring speed and star power back to Kansas City, and by August he's playing for the Braves. Even the temporary solutions aren't permanent.

 Nicky Lopez was brought in around April to be a speedy 2nd-baseman rookie, and he hit .240 with 30 RBIs in 105 games. I equate him to Cole Tucker from the Pirates in the category of 'minors mainstay who underwhelmed'.
Why Him in 2019?: Brought in as a major piece for the rebuilding era of the Royals
2020 Prediction: Will start the whole season at 2nd and do marginally better than this year, but when the big guns get traded (and they will), no one will exactly look to Lopez as a figure of leadership or authority.

 Speaking of leadership and authority, Danny Duffy rounded out his decade of pitching for the Royals with his usual consistency to a point, with a 4.34 ERA and 115 strikeouts in 23 starts. The Royals have him locked up for 2 more years, and I equate him to someone like Kevin Appier who becomes a pitching mainstay solely because he stays in one place and doesn't have many bad seasons.
Why Him in 2019?: Rare veteran starter in KC who had a positive W/L ratio and stayed until September.
2020 Prediction: Will start 30 games, get 10 wins, and not really get much credit for it

 In the place of former rotation giants like Edinson Volquez, Jason Vargas and James Shields, the Royals settled on homegrown guys like Jakob Junis, Brad Keller and Glenn Sparkman, the latter of whom had some amusing starts late in the season but finished with a 6.02 ERA
Why Him in 2019?: His May/June starting numbers gave the team hope.
2020 Prediction: A slightly lower ERA, but a lot of the same mediocrity

After a mid-season trade, Mike Montgomery, the guy who threw the final out of the 2016 World Series for Chicago, found himself in Kansas City, with something he didn't have on the Cubs- an opportunity to start games. In 13 starts he had a 4.64 ERA with 51 strikeouts.
Why Him in 2019?: 31 of those strikeouts came in his scorching August, where he posted a 2.43 ERA.
2020 Prediction: A full season in Kansas City will lead him to an eventual Mike-Minor-esque career reformation post-trade.

Coming Tonight: An equally meek AL Central team, those...hard-to-write-about Detroit Tigers

Uncustomed Heroes of 2017: Cubs

2017 was going to be a step backward for the Cubs. Everyone knew that. The good news is it wasn't particularly far back, as they've still managed to attend their third straight NLCS, even with a team that arguably wasn't as masterful as the 2016 squad. Ben Zobrist knew he was having a down season, but heated up a bit in October, giving them some important RBIs along the way.

I don't know why, but even as Lackey's been wearing blue for two years now, the image still looks really strange, especially on a 91SC card. Maybe it's because he made a career out of playing for red teams. It's kinda like Jack Morris' cards as a red. Jarring.

Anyway, Lackey's year wasn't as strong as his 2016, and he's likely going to retire, but he still did well enough for the Cubs to keep the fans' goodwill.

Mike Montgomery was there for the final out of the World Series last year, and he continued the work in relief, and occasionally in the rotation. He's a nice versatile arm the Cubs have been using (in lieu of Adam Warren's departure), and he'll possibly make a bigger move to the bullpen as the Cubs solidify their 2017 rotation.

In 2015, the Cubs' Bench Player Extraordinaire was Chris Denorfia. In 2016, it was Matt Szczur. In 2017, the bench player that did the most consistent amount of damage was Tommy La Stella, taking some time in the infield as several starters got injured, and keeping his bat close behind.

Alex Avila was a late-season pickup from Detroit, coming in as a replacement for Miguel Montero as the prominent backup, and he did pretty well as a lineup presence, making up for his okay defense. Not sure if the Cubs will keep him around, but he was pretty fun in the clutch.

Coming Tomorrow- They finally made an impact, after years of storing prospects and warming up. Now they're for real, and they might actually clinch the NL West next year.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2016: Cubs

In spite of all the darkness that has inhabited 2016...the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. So...at least something amazing like that happened this year.

There's gonna be a ton of customs in this one, because there were a lot of spare parts and extra players that made this team great this year, so I'm not gonna hold back.

Miguel Montero was supposed to be the starting catcher this year, but thanks to superior performances from David Ross and Willson Contreras, Montero was sidelined to a backup position. He came through with some nice moments in the postseason, but his future with the team is in question.

Albert Almora came up in mid-July, and became one of the many prospects that ended up propelling the Cubs into the postseason. He didn't play as often as Contreras, but did some good things, and may be either a steady backup or somewhere else in 2017.

Jorge Soler didn't have as strong a season as his 2015, but he did a nice enough job as an extra outfielder, and hopefully will improve in the future. The outfield is beginning to look crowded, and Soler needs to secure space before Theo decides he's not needed.

Last year, Chris Denorfia was in the role of Bench Player Extraordinaire. Now it's Matt Szczur, who didn't play every day, but still did his nut to keep the momentum going, especially off the bench. Not sure what this means for his 2017, but he was a crucial part of the team's depth in 2016.

Mike Montgomery is gonna tell his kids that he saved the last inning of the Cubs' first World Series since 1908. Even if he was in a limited relief role for most of the series, he still has that claim to fame.

Didn't think I'd be making a Kyle Schwarber custom this year, to be honest, but he came back to Chicago in October, and brought his power with him, giving some classic moments, and proving that he's crucial to the team, while at the same time showing that the team could be great without him. He'll probably have a great 2017, and it'll be great to see him in a full season.

Speaking of full seasons...Kris Bryant took his first one and brought home an MVP and a World Series title. This season proves that he is definitely here to stay, that he's a talent the Cubs should hold dear to their hearts, and that the NL may have found its Trout-esque figure of absolute talent. Kris Bryant was unbelievable this year, and hopefully he'll continue to be.

Coming Tomorrow- The sadly limp Arizona Diamondbacks.