Tonight, the Kansas City Royals snapped an 11-game losing streak against the Cleveland Indians. In the past 2 years, the Royals have forced their remaining fans to suffer through losing streaks of 19 games, 9 games, and 8 games (three times!). Ah, the woes of a small market team; they just can't afford to pay major league salaries.Or is it that they just don't want to?
According to a Forbes story, the woeful Kansas City Royals made over $20 million last year; their payroll for this year is just over $47 million.
It sure looks like Royals owner David Glass is running the Royals like he ran Wal-Mart. While keeping costs low may be good for business, it's bad baseball. We saw this last summer when the Royals tightwad ways kept former Husker Alex Gordon in Lincoln last summer instead of in the minor leagues.
A lot of frustrated baseball fans in Kansas City blame Allard Baird, and while he probably hasn't helped things any, the blame belongs higher. Dick Howser and Ewing Kauffman must be rolling in their graves, wondering what has happened to their franchise.
The situation is very unfortunate. Regardless of how good the ORoyals are, the public image of the KC Royals will still haunt them.
ReplyDeleteAs a competitor, I don't see how someone can stand to be bad. I guess that's why I didn't make $20 million last year.