They spent the offseason searching for more punch, the Royals’ brain trust assessing, and then massaging, a roster that finished the 2016 season with just 675 runs. The number ranked 13th in the American League, 49 fewer than the World Series champions scored in 2015, and that was not enough.
So Royals general manager Dayton Moore sent closer Wade Davis to Chicago for outfielder Jorge Soler, and he waited out the market before signing designated hitter Bradon Moss. It was a frugal strategy, to be sure, a front office working at the margins. But it represented just the tip of the offseason calculus.