Back to Back AL pennants and this years World Series Winners. They are the biggest favorite to win their respective division so far on the board. The KC franchise has most of the core nucleus all heading for Free Agency before the 2018 season. If I were a fan of this club – I would be okay with the team rebuilding after this, but for now to throw all chips in and try to cash in on a chance for a small dynasty. Dayton Moore and the Brass should use any one of their Minor League Players to acquire the next piece or 2 to make that happen in 2016 and 2017.

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The Royals are back to back AL Pennant winners and the reigning World Series Champions right now.  Furthermore, they are playing in the most winnable Division in the Majors right now.

Kansas City were the 1st real small market club to win the World Series since the 2003 Marlins club took home the Fall Classic that year.

Just like the 2014 winter, the club will sustain losses between the end of the year to Spring Training the following year.

The door is not closed on Alex Gordon yet, however I don’t think it is in the clubs best interest to pay a 9 figure salary to a guy who is already 30.

KC has already seen Ben Zobrist sign with the Cubs, Johnny Cueto with the Giants, and Greg Holland will not pitch at all in the 2016 season with Tommy John Surgery recovery, and certainly not for the Royals.

Dayton Moore has done a decent job acquiring talent though.  The team resigned Starter Chris Young, and they added one time Royals Closer Joakim Soria.

The window is not just for 2016 – as the club only stands to lose back up Catcher Drew Butera following next year, but also for 2017.

With the way contracts are being doled out for top players in the game right now, KC will be hard pressed to sign either Eric Hosmer or Lorenzo Cain when they are eligible for Free Agency.

The real maneuvering for the franchise will come before the 2018 season when Eric Hosmer, Wade Davis, Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, Kendrys Morales, Edinson Volquez, Jason Vargas, Danny Duffy, Luke Hochevar and Kris Medlen all hit the open market at the same time.

Lets face it.  Hosmer and Cain will command 9 figure salaries by then, and potentially price themselves out of the Kansas City area.  Perhaps the club can sign one of them right now to one of those extension that includes an opt-out clause after 2 years or something.

But back to next year.  The team is still in a perfect situation to contend for the AL Central.

With Cain, Hosmer, Morales, Moustakas, Perez, Escobar and Morales all coming back, the offense should be sufficient enough when combined with a dominant Bullpen and decent rotation.

Omar Infante, Paulo Orlando and Jarrod Dyson round out the Lineup Starters.  While the tail end is not sexy for power or Walks, they could definitely live with what they have in accordance to the rest of the Division’s back end of their 1 – 9 hitters.

I think the philosophy Dayton Moore should carry out was the same one he used in 2015. Wait till the deadline – and trade for another Starter, and look to upgrade on the back end of your lineup.  They could take on some more salary if it only costs them for 2 months.

As an organization, they should be willing to part with anyone not on their big league Roster in order to bring in some more help for the playoffs again.

I would not oppose to trading Raul Alberto Mondesi, Bubba Starling or Jorge Bonifacio in order to gain another player for another October run.

I would try not to trade the pitching prospects like Kyle Zimmer, Ashe Russell or Miguel Almonte.  The only way that would be acceptable is to land a pitcher that had 3 years of team control left on the board – or land a top 10 offensive player in the Majors.

Maybe the Royals could package everyone and their grandmother for a Jose Fernandez or Sonny Gray deal. That would be the only way to see the club acquire a #1 Starter for many more years of service.

KC would probably not entertain that notion, as they will need some players to take over at the back end of this decade.

The core of this team is strong enough to win 90+ Games and capture the Division for the 2nd straight campaign in 2016.  The club will be judged on their ability to win in the playoffs again.

Losing Ben Zobrist and Johnny Cueto hurts more in the playoffs than the regular season as KC was cruising last year prior to their arrivals.

Also you have to factor in Alex Gordon wasn’t best at the plate in 2015 and he also spent lots of time on the shelf.  Heck, even Jarrod Dyson might match the same kind of offensive WAR Alex Rios was only able to muster.

Why not give Dyson a shot either.  The man has blazing speed and could steal 70+ bags if given a full season worth of Plate Appearances.  Maybe by being in the lineup everyday he could also improve on his Batting Average and OBP.

If he can give you a .260 BA with a .325 OBP, you take that all day long with the speed that guy possesses.

Kauffman Stadium has seen a nice renaissance of fans attending over the last few years. They finished with 2.7 Million fans going through the turnstiles in 2015. If they have another Division winning season they could potentially crack the 3 Million barrier in 2016.

Another idea would be for the Royals to go for broke, and trade a lot of prospects in order to acquire Carlos Gonzalez.  I would also be in favor of this kind of move.  Adding a bat like that – with just a price tag of 2 YRs/$37 MIL would be brilliant.

This would be okay to trade one of their Starting Pitchers and potentially a kid like Mondesi in order for this to happen.

CARGO would be perfect for KC financially. He would be aligned with the 2 Year window.  It would be a hell of a risk with his injury history, but if I were in Kansas City – go for the dynasty and make this happen.

Gonzalez would be a perfect trade piece to bring into the Royals. At entering his age 30 year the Rockies OF is coming off a 40 HR season and only makes $37 MIL or the next 2 campaigns. Trading for a guy like him would be way easier than using the route of Free Agency for the Royals.  KC cant afford to head into the 2016 postseason with the current roster of Outfielders.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com and their partners***

A Big thanks goes out to our chief writer Hunter Stokes for preparing today’s feature post.

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