Let's actually start this article off with some good news before we get into the boneheaded decision making of John Sherman, shall we? The Royals hired former Braves scouting director Brian Bridges to be their scouting director. Bridges was the Braves scouting director from 2015 to 2018 before being relieved and was working with the Giants organization before this, per Royals insider Anne Rogers on X (Twitter...) Bridges scouted many of the pieces that went into the Braves' World Series run in 2021 and worked with current Royals advisor to baseball operations Roy Clark while in Atlanta. Not all bad news on the Royals front, plus they swept the Guardians today after a 6-2 win!
You know me though if you've read this blog for a while now, gotta make sure I cover the bad news too regarding the Royals, and folks, there's a lot of it these days. The most recent of these blunders comes once again from Royals owner John Sherman. Sherman had previously promised a decision on where he wanted his half-baked, downright odd pipe dream ballpark district to break ground by the end of this month. According to the most recent statement by the Royals, however, plans have changed once again. See below:
I only just now took a look at the number of replies to this and what exactly those entailed. They're what you expect, and rightfully so. John Sherman breaks yet another promise to the Kansas City faithful in his latest press release. If you don't know what you're doing John, it's okay to admit it. Don't continue to lead on this city and this fanbase, it will only come back to bite you. A reminder that Kansas City is quickly becoming one of the premier sports cities in America, and we have little time for incompetent ownership to fumble their way through an idea that doesn't even need to exist in the first place. The K is one of the most famous venues in baseball, it still makes zero sense to relocate. If Sherman knows what's good for him, he decides to scrap this plan altogether and instead put his efforts toward actually improving the baseball team that resides here...and will stay here so help the Kansas City natives. I've been hearing talk about how if Sherman does not get his way, we will look to other cities to move the Royals. Plain and simple, there is no way Kansas City is going to let that happen, and there is no way they are going to bend the knee to Sherman. There still needs to be a vote on this, mind you, a vote that if Sherman thinks will go his way, he's dreaming. If he threatens to relocate the team out of KC (in which he shouldn't given his roots in Ottawa, Kansas and meeting his wife at the K, though he was a Guardians minority owner before this so anything can happen) don't expect Kansas City to do the same thing as Oakland is doing. It will be much worse, I promise you, mind you people still go to Royals games even with the copious amounts of apathy surrounding the team. Attendance numbers improved from 2022 to 2023 even with everything going on and the Royals still playing terrible. This team isn't going anywhere other than KC, and there will be Hell to pay if Sherman thinks he can pull that. Trust me.
As for the decision itself, as much as this press release wants to make it look like Clay and Jackson County are just as complicit with this delay in decision, I think Mayor Quinton Lucas's recent, rather frank post on X (Twitter...) sums up the general feeling of Kansas Citians and the Royals.
Straightforward, uncharacteristically bland, and short, but speaks volumes. No one is going to leave here with a "win-win" feeling, John. People are upset and it's time you legitimately paid attention to the general public's opinion on this matter. This whole "We'll be transparent and honest when we feel like it." schtick has gotten old already, and it's going to make people angrier and angrier the more you continue it. It's time to be honest and frank with the Royals fanbase, and it's time to listen. Not for you to continue to shove this pipe dream down our throats. We want a better baseball team first, our economy will be far more positively impacted with the upcoming events like the World Cup and Big 12 tournaments, among others. Take ownership in this team before the city and fanbase demands you sell the team, believe me, people are already calling for it.
Burn Notice: 0/10 Nothing's happening, no news here folks. Move along.
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