The team that wants to win now is giving regular at-bats to a man they know is overmatched against most big-league pitchers, because that team also wants to build for the future and thinks he will soon be a star.
This is the Royals’ 2017 dilemma, neatly wrapped in a 21-year-old who was born two weeks after his father played in an All-Star Game, and made his big-league debut in the World Series.
Raul Mondesi is not just wildly talented, a natural shortstop with some power and loads of speed. He is also a symbol of this team’s attempt to juggle today with tomorrow, to serve two masters simultaneously (three, if you count payroll management) and keep this franchise revival going into the future.