The 2010 Kansas City Royals won 67 games. The 2011 Kansas City Royals won 71 games. A four game improvement doesn't seem like a huge deal, but look at it this way. The Royals slashed payroll from $74 million in 2010 to $38 million in 2011, a nearly 50% decrease. The average age of their hitters went from 28.8 in 2010 to 25.8 in 2011. The average age of their pitchers went from 27.5 in 2010 to 26.4 in 2011. They subtracted the 2009 Cy Young winner in Zack Greinke. And yet, despite all that...the Royals won more games than they did last year. The team was more successful, cheaper, and younger. These things usually don't go hand in hand, but for the 2011 Royals, they did. Don't get me wrong, this wasn't a great team by any means. The Royals finished tied for the fifth worst record in baseball, and will pick anywhere between fifth and seventh in the upcoming draft to even further bolster their farm system. But there were massive improvments from a year ago.
WHAT WE...
Found November 02, 2011 on
The Outside Corner:
PLAYERS:
Zack Greinke,
Jeff Francoeur,
Dayton Moore,
Melky Cabrera,
Alex Gordon,
Eric Hosmer,
Jeff Francis,
Luke Hochevar,
Kyle Davies,
Danny Duffy,
Yuniesky Betancourt,
Alcides Escobar,
Mike Moustakas,
Chris Getz,
Bruce Chen,
Felipe Paulino,
Aaron Crow,
Greg Holland,
Joakim Soria,
Jason Kendall,
Salvador Perez,
Johnny Giavotella,
Mike Montgomery
TEAMS: Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays
TEAMS: Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays
Original Story:
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