All-Time MLB Teams Pt. 4: Kansas City Royals
Today we have the Kansas City Royals, the first club I’m covering that was founded after 1901. Despite this, they still have a very solid all-time team that features a good mix of older and modern players.
Rotation
Bret Saberhagen
Kevin Appier
Zack Greinke
Mark Gubicza
Dennis Leonard
To start, their rotation is made up of a handful of really underrated guys. It’s led by Bret Saberhagen, who is truly one of the most under-appreciated pitchers of his era. The ace of the 1985 World Series team, he put up two Cy Young seasons and will be the number one guy for this staff. Kevin Appier also put up some elite seasons for the Royals, and Zack Greinke was a no-brainer for his early work in Kansas City. Mark Gubicza and Dennis Leonard are two really solid back-end guys that I imagine will pitch a lot of quality innings for KC.
Lineup/Bench
Willie Wilson, RF
Carlos Beltran, CF
George Brett, 3B
Hal McRae, DH
Mike Sweeney, 1B
Salvador Perez, C
Alex Gordon, LF
Frank White, 2B
Alcides Escobar, SS
Bench:
INF: Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas
OF: Lorenzo Cain, Amos Otis
C: Darrell Porter
I wouldn’t be surprised to see this Royals offense hold their own amongst the other franchises in their division. It starts with Willie Wilson, one of the greatest Royals of all time and perhaps the fastest player on any all-time team. A young Carlos Beltran hits second, followed by the legendary George Brett. That top of the order is as good as any team’s, if you ask me. A sort of unconventional but highly underrated DH in Hal McRae follows, and two fairly powerful hitters in Sweeney and Perez back him up. Finally, Gordon, White, and Escobar are all guys that can get on base and manufacture runs in an elite way. As for the bench, there might be some recency bias at play here. I had to go with Hosmer and Moustakas over guys like Joe Randa and John Mayberry simply for their clutch ability in the postseason. The center field position is also incredibly stacked, which is why Otis and Cain are coming off the bench over a guy like Jermaine Dye (this is also why I moved Wilson over to right and kept Beltran in center). The last thing worth mentioning is that this might be the best defensive team I’ve covered so far, with Gordon, Brett, Wilson, Perez, and White being the standouts on that side of the ball.
Bullpen
Dan Quisenberry, CL
Jeff Montgomery
Greg Holland
Wade Davis
Joakim Soria
Kelvin Herrera
Steve Farr
Doug Bird
The bullpen might be the strongest unit of the entire team, and that’s saying a lot. The closer spot belongs to one of the greatest relievers of all time, Dan Quisenberry, and he is immediately followed by Jeff Montgomery, who was a three-time All Star during his tenure with the Royals. Holland, Davis, and Herrera were easy additions from the 2015 World Series team, and Joakim Soria spent his best years with the Royals. Steve Farr and Doug Bird were never as elite as the rest of these guys were, but they still put up some great seasons and spent a while in Kansas City.