The Kansas City Royals are still rebuilding but are making a greater effort to invest and develop their talent. This year, Kansas City remains a baseball betting odds pariah on the future market. However, the Royals may attract some betting action with good value and enhanced prices as the season progresses. Since winning the 2015 World Series, the Kansas City Royals have not had a winning season. And they have spent the past few years in a painful rebuild. The Royals are under new ownership. But owners have spent the past few years concentrating on getting a downtown stadium.
2024 Kansas City Royals
| Kansas City Royals World Series Championship | Odds |
|---|---|
| 2024 Kansas City Royals World Series Championship Odds | +10000 |
2024 Kansas City Royals Manager
Manager Matt Quatraro will be in his second offshore betting season at the helm in KC. Previously, he was a coach with the Cleveland Indians and Tampa Bay Rays.
2024 Kansas City Royals Key Players
LHP Cole Ragans is the number-one pitcher in the Kansas City rotation. Last year, he pitched for the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals. In sum, he had a combined MLB odds record of 7-5 with a 3.47 ERA and 1.16 WHIP.
LHP Will Smith is the Royals closer. Correlate, he saved 22 games in 27 opportunities with a record of 2-7 with a 4.40 ERA and 1.06 WHIP. He was with the Rangers last year.
Meanwhile, SS Bobby Witt produced 97 runs, 28 doubles, 30 home runs, 96 runs batted in with a .814 OPS in 2024.
2024 Royals Moves
Key offseason acquisitions: RHP Seth Lugo, RHP Michael Wacha, LHP Will Smith, RHP Chris Stratton, RHP Nick Anderson, OF Hunter Renfroe, UTIL Garrett Hampson, 2B/OF Adam Frazier.
Key offseason departures: RHP Zack Greinke and INF Matt Duffy
Kansas City was surprisingly active for a still-rebuilding team coming off an ugly 106-loss season. To illustrate, the Royals spent $77 million to add Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo to the rotation. Also, they added another $13 million on corner outfielder Hunter Renfroe.
Certainly, there’s no problem with investing “too early” in some veteran reinforcements. KC upping their payroll from $90 million to $115 million will undoubtedly lead to more wins and a better fan experience. That is important for a franchise lacking success. Still, it probably won’t be enough to push for more than .500 unless the AL Central is even worse than expected.
Overall, it is encouraging to see the Royals among the offseason’s biggest free-agent spenders. KC’s $288.7 million extension with Bobby Witt Jr. was even better. Rebuilding doesn’t have to mean not spending.
Kansas City ranks 20th for MLB payroll.
2024 Kansas City Royals Recap
Last season, the Kansas City Royals had a record of 56-106 and finished 5th in the American League Central Division. Offensively, Kansas City ranked 23rd for runs scored, 19th for batting average, 25th for OPS, 26th for home runs, and 3rd for stolen bases. While defensively, Kansas City ranked 28th for earned run average, 23rd for WHIP, 15th for strikeouts, 29th for quality starts, 12th for fewest errors, and 29th for bullpen ERA. Kansas City was -610 on the moneyline and -3073 on the run line.
Last season, the Royals had nothing to offer to gamblers except opposition. Kansas City was one of the most opposed teams in the betting window. That may soon change as the Royals had a solid offseason and have crept up the payroll rankings.