Serving 8-10

Royals fans put up with a lot of shit. Really, you have to give them credit for going to Kauffman Stadium year after year, subjecting themselves to the pains of loving a horrible team. Unlike a lot of fan bases, Royals fans are very informed of their minor league affiliates, mostly because that's the only place they can find some optimism. They understand the realities of a small-market baseball team and why it is that their beloved team sucks.

However, they are now pass the point of frustration. Nobody wants to wait anymore. Can you blame them?

It's not just that the Royals haven't been to the postseason since they won the World Series in 1985, or that they've only had one winning season since 1994. It's not that the team isn't winning, it's that they are embarrassing themselves while losing.

From the front office, you have bad signings, failure to build up the minors and failure to keep the studs that you have (Damon, Dye, Beltran). On the field, the players routinely drop infield fly balls, seemingly have no idea how to run the bases or work the counts, and think OBP is a type of doctor. After twenty-plus years of enduring this type of pathetic ball play, it's no wonder why Royals fans are fed up.

And then you add this: GM Dayton Moore has publicly announced that it will take 8-10 years (from 2007, when he was hired) to build this team into any kind of contender. Well, the fans aren't liking that. Not. One. Bit.

I understand them, I really do. But the fact is that Moore is right. When you have an organization that is as depleted as the Royals were, it takes a lot of work to get them rolling again, especially when they're owned by David Glass, who extends slashing prices from one of his many Wal-Mart stores all the way to the Royals' payroll. You can't just cash out on veteran free agents for a one year run - two years at the MOST - and then be bankrupt for the next decade. You have to build from the ground up. And that takes time.

What makes it hard for Royals fans to swallow can be summed up in two words: Zack Greinke. Here you have a bona fide Ace, a top-5 pitcher and Cy Young winner, a guy you can build around. Unfortunately, the Royals aren't in any position to build a contender right now. Don't blame Dayton Moore, blame the prior administration.

Really, it's just bad luck. What this team needs is to freeze Greinke, à la Austin Powers, so we can thaw him out when he's really needed. There's no use for a Cy Young winner right now. As much as it pains me to say it, the Royals need to trade him. Get some young, can't miss talent, and just stockpile as much as you can. The plan is for everyone to come up at the same time. It's what Tampa Bay did, and right now they are the best team in baseball.

I know the fans deserve a winning team right now, but it is just not happening. We have to trust that Moore knows what he's doing. Yes, it's like being proposed to right after you got out of a relationship where you were beaten severely for twenty years. I never said it would be easy. There's still a few really tough years to endure. But if the Royals' fan base pressures this team into making stupid, win-now decisions, then they deserve all the losing that they are getting.