The Royals have been kicked around, ignored, and dismissed as an embarrassing poverty franchise time and time again. Even winning a title in 2015 only temporarily brought acclaim as the team quickly sunk back into the depths of despair. The wounds were often self-inflicted by a team that in the past had been unwilling to sign a long-term deal with a star player over $1 million, paid $1,000 bonuses to draft picks, and skimped on scouting so much they didn’t even provide cell phones to scouts.
But things change. This week, the Royals did what fans have been dreaming about but were uncertain would ever happen - they committed major dollars to a star player to keep him in Kansas City.