Kansas City Royals 2006 Season and Off Season

The Kansas City Royals 2006 season went the same as the last several years for them. Kansas City played poorly and they have only finished with a winning record one time since 1993. They have not been in the playoffs since 1985.

The Royals did not have too many bright spots on their team during the 2006 season. Emil Brown had just his second full season in the majors, at the age of 31. Brown managed to put up similar numbers in 2006 to the ones he had in 2005. David DeJesus had his third straight consistent season. Veteran Mark Grudzielanek had yet another consistent year for himself. At the age of 36, Grudzielanek hit .297 with 7 home runs and 52 runs batted in. He has played for five teams in 12 big league seasons. Mark Teahan hit .290, 18 home runs, 69 runs batted in, and stole 10 bases in 109 games.

2003 rookie of the year, Angel Berroa, had a terrible season. He only hit .234, 9 home runs, 54 runs batted in, and just 3 stolen bases. Mike Sweeney had an injury plagued season that limited him to just 60 games. The rest of the offense did not perform very well.

Pitching was not much better for the Royals in 2006. Only three starters had at least 20 games started. The three were Mark Redman, Runelvys Hernandez, and Scott Elarton. Elarton had the lowest era of the three and his was 5.34. Hernandez had an era of 6.48, and Redman's was 5.71. Kansas City had no starters with an era under 5.

The lone bright spot in the bullpen was Todd Wellemeyer. He appeared in 28 games for the Royals after starting the season with Florida. His era was 3.63 in 57 innings. The man with the saves was Ambiorix Burgos. He had 18 saves but his era was 5.52. With the exception of Wellemeyer no body in the bullpen had an era lower than 4.40.

Kansas City has not been known for taking on payroll for the last several years. During the off season Ambiorix Burgos was traded to the New York Mets for Brian Bannister. They released starter Runelvys Hernandez. They did make one big signing when they gave a five-year $55 million dollar contract to free agent starter Gil Meche. Meche has always had a lot of potential but has been inconsistent in his starts during his career. Often injured reliever Octavio Dotel signed a one-year deal. David Riske also signed a one-year deal with an option for a second.

While Kansas City made a few changes during the off season and actually signed one of the top free agents, of 2006, it probably will not be enough. The American League Central is one of the toughest divisions in the majors. The Royals still have a lot of holes to fill on their major league roster. They should not lost 100 games in 2007. However, Royals fans should not expect too much of the 2007 season.