Royals owner calls turning baseball product around a ‘painful process right now’
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Less than 12 hours after the Kansas City Royals were drubbed 14-1 by the Cleveland Guardians, Royals Chairman and CEO John Sherman began a press conference aimed to discuss the team’s future stadium plans with a discussion about the failing product.
Sherman said he continues to have three primary objectives, the first of which is to win more baseball games and put a better product on the field.
“I think we all know that has been a painful process right now,” Sherman said Thursday morning. “As we’ve said before, this is a real year of evaluation and that evaluation right now is painful in that we’ve committed to a young group, we obviously have some pieces of the puzzle that need to be added and I look forward to the second half of the year for further evaluation, for further development of our team.”
The Royals, at 22-58 with a game to be played Thursday afternoon before the official midpoint of the 2023 season, are on pace for the lowest single-season win total in franchise history. Kansas City has won just one game more than the purposefully imploding Oakland Athletics. In an AL Central division that is led by the 39-40 Guardians, Kansas City is 17.5 games behind first place before the calendar has turned to July.
“I have great empathy for our fans,” Sherman said. “I have to separate a couple of parts of my brain as a fan and as an owner with ability for the results on the field. We have great fans here in Kansas City, we just need to give them something to cheer about.”
On Sept. 21, 2022, Sherman and the Royals announced that Dayton Moore would no longer be the head of baseball operations and J.J. Picollo would take over duties. After the 2022 season, Kansas City fired manager Mike Matheny, later hiring Tampa Bay Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro as the team’s new manager. Sherman said he remains confident in that duo despite the struggles this season.
“I have total confidence in both of them,” Sherman said. “This is a challenging year for them. It’s a challenging year for our players, but Q and J.J. knew what they were taking on here, and what I appreciate about their approach, particularly with a young group like we have here today is really the growth mindset and keeping these players even, focusing on their processes.
“Although it’s challenging for them, I’m very pleased with the way that J.J. and Q are handling themselves.”
While the Royals continue to fail on the field at the Major League level, signs of life in the minor leagues aren’t strong either. According to MLB.com’s prospect rankings, Kansas City does not have a top-100 prospect in its farm system. Still, Sherman compared the Royals’ struggles to that of other organizations that eventually turned things around while also pushing back on the idea that the Royals are tanking.
“We’re going to do what it takes to improve this team over the next several years,” Sherman said. “I’m not comparing us to anyone else, but this is exactly what the Chicago Cubs did. This is what the Houston Astros did. This is what the Baltimore Orioles went through.
“We call it evaluation and it is a deep evaluation. Sometimes to rebuild something you’ve got to tear it down a little bit. Sometimes, you’ve gotta get worse before you get better.”
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