A New Day for the Royals

There is hope.

For so long, we Royals fans had optimism, but deep down, we knew there was no hope. Every off-season would come, and some big name free agents would dominate the news stories, but we Royals fans knew that we weren’t even close to competing for those players.

But, as Bob Dutton writes in the Star’s Baseball Preview* section, things are different now.

*I know, I’m stealing the Pozterisk from Joe Posnanski, but I did want to take a moment here to point out how outstanding the Kansas City Star’s sport section is. Not only do we get to enjoy the best columnist in the country (Poz), but we also have the pleasure of reading another prominent columnist (Jason Whitlock), and a great up and coming sports writing (Sam Mellinger). Remember some of the other names that came through Kansas City on their way to bigger and better things? Jeff Passan, Wright Thompson, Jason King. The Star’s sports editor, Mike Fannin, is the best in the business. Read more about KC’s fabulous sports journalists here.

This past off-season, the Royals made a play for big time free agent Torii Hunter. Now, I can remember sitting at the “K” last summer with my brother discussing how wonderful it would be to see Hunter in center field for the Royals. At the time, we both believed that there was no chance the Royals would be able to compete for Hunter’s services. That’s just how it is with the Royals. No chance.

Over the winter, we heard Dayton Moore say that the Royals were trying to sign Hunter as well as Andrew Jones, and they did manage to land Jose Guillen. But the scars run deep in Royals fans. We knew that this was just lip service.

But, as Dutton writes, the Royals were in on Hunter. And, according to Dutton, were very, very close to signing the deal. The Angels weren’t even in the picture until the very last minute when the swooped in and grabbed Hunter. But, the Royals were very close to handing Hunter $80 million.

This tells me a couple of things. First, Dayton Moore is serious about improving this team. Second, the Glass family has given Dayton their full approval. They are staying out of the way, and writing the checks when necessary.

This is a huge change in philosophy for the Royals, and one that bodes very well for Royals fans over the next few years.

This is going to get fun.