How quickly, it seems, did the Kansas City Royals fall from World Champions. Just four years removed from the pinnacle of baseball, they are now the third-worst team in the game.

Is the current situation the product of horrible management, the inevitable lapse after a championship, or some acceptable phase in the process of transition from one success to another?

We won’t know the ultimate answer to that question for years to come. But in hosting the New York Mets at Kauffman Stadium this weekend, the Royals can reflect on the rapid demise of other contenders.

When the Royals defeated the Mets in the 2015 World Series, New York fans justifiably took a “wait-‘til-next-year” attitude. After all, the Mets appeared built for a sustained run. Starting pitchers Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard were as talented a 20-somethings trio as you could hope for. Closer Jeurys Familia, just 25 himself, was dominant.

But just two years later, the Mets were an also-ran. They’ve fought their way back to respectability, but are still probably not playoff worthy.

So, you might argue, what does one example of a quick demise prove? Well, take a look at some of the other playoff teams from 2014, the year the Royals reached the World Series:

• The Baltimore Orioles, the second-best team in the American League in 2014, are now one of the worst teams in history. (They are on pace to win just 100 games over a two-year span!)
• The Los Angeles Angels, the best team in the AL that season, have yet to return to the playoffs, and have been sub-.500 for the past four seasons, even with the game’s best player in Mike Trout.
• And the Detroit Tigers, who bested the Royals for the AL Central in 2014, have had just one winning season since, and are currently the worst team in baseball.

Look at 2015 for more evidence of what can happen to contenders:

• The Toronto Blue Jays, second only to the Royals in regular-season wins in 2015, are in their fifth-straight season of decline and are now on pace to lose 96 games.
• The Pittsburg Pirates, Wild Card participants in both 2014 and 2015, are currently on pace to lose 95 games.

Granted, the Royals are on a two-year skid that rivals that of the Orioles, so no one should be patting himself on the back in Kansas City. Still, there is some consolation in knowing that such collapses happen frequently in the era of free-agency.

The Royals chose to try to contend in 2016 and 2017 with the same group intact rather than quickly turn over what they’d built. What resulted was a slow decline leading to the bottom of the heap. So this rebuild may take a while. But they are not alone in their current circumstance. They can look across the diamond at Syndergaard, deGrom, et al, and take solace that at least they won a championship.

Tebow watch on hold:

The Mets come to Kansas City just a few weeks before the annual expansion of big league rosters. The timing seemed unfortunate to the Kauffman crowd, because it was believed the Mets might promote former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow to their big-league roster come September. Just image if Touchdown Timmy had made his big league debut at Kauffman Stadium.

But alas, Tebow won’t reach the big leagues this year, and his chances of ever making the show are taking a serious blow. Tebow suffered a cut on his throwing hand and will be out for the rest of the season.

With Tebow just a step away from his ultimate goal, a rule change poses a serious threat to his future. The former quarterback turned 32 on Wednesday and probably needed the benefit of big September rosters to ever make the big leagues. Under the current rules, anyone on a club’s 40-man roster could be promoted in September.

But starting next year, expansion will only permit 28 players. With fewer spots available, room for Tebow may never exist. His window of opportunity certainly becomes a lot smaller come next season.

Anniversary of pennant race denied:

Through the decades of futility in Kansas City, the Royals looked back to 1994 as the last time they finished above .500, and the last time they chased a playoff spot.

Twenty-five years ago this week, major league players walked out on strike, just as the Royals emerged as the hottest team in baseball. In July and August of 1994, they won 14 in a row to make up 7.5 games in the standings and insert themselves in the playoff hunt. Kansas City boasted one of the best pitching staffs in the game, with starters David Cone, Kevin Appier, Mark Gubicza and Tom Gordon, plus closer Jeff Montgomery.

But on August 12, the players struck. When a resolution proved elusive, the season was eventually scrapped. It was the only time since 1904 that a World Series was not held.

The Royals finished 64-51, with nearly a third of the season left unplayed. Thus fans were denied the thrill of a pennant race, and they would have to wait 19 years for another realistic shot.

But unlike the New York Mess, the Royals did eventually win a championship.

“He could do for the Kansas City Royals what Patrick Mahomes has done for the Kansas City Chiefs.”

Those words, spoken by MLB commentator Jim Callis, were his way of hyping the Royals selection of Bobby Witt, Jr. in the first round of the amateur draft last Monday. Regardless whether Callis’ comment excited, or merely confused, Royals fans, he couldn’t have set the bar much higher.

To elaborate on Callis’ comment, he was essentially saying that Witt, a high school shortstop from Texas, would not just become a great baseball player. He would be lovable and larger than life. He would be must-see TV. He would become not just the face of a franchise, but of a city.

Believe it or not, that wasn’t the only thing that happened in the draft for the Royals. It only seemed like it.

Shortstops aren’t quarterbacks: The comment by Callis is an odd one to say the least. In fact, comparing a player drafted in baseball to one drafted in just about any other sport doesn’t make sense. NFL and NBA players are immediately added to the team’s roster, brought to camp and offered a chance to make a difference immediately. What they do will be observed from day one by the entire fan base. Baseball players are drafted mid-season, and then placed on the roster of some minor league team. In Witt’s case, it will be to a team whose games are watched by just a handful of people in person and a few others on video. It might be three years or longer before Witt is seen in Kauffman Stadium. In fact, there is a chance he will never reach the major leagues. That’s just how baseball works.

Can a baseball position player who bats only four times a game on average have anywhere near the impact on a franchise that a quarterback who touches the ball on every offensive play has? Not likely. But rather than criticize Callis for excessive hyperbole, let’s appreciate that a veteran analyst thinks that highly of Witt.

Where will Witt play?: The question has two responses. What position will he play, and at what level will he start?

It’s taken a little longer than expected, but Adalberto Mondesi is establishing himself as one of the most dynamic shortstops in all of baseball. His combination of speed and power is almost unmatched. He might very well be a fixture at shortstop in Kansas City for the next decade or longer.

So what does drafting a shortstop in Witt mean for the future? Royals fans need not worry about that for quite some time. It will take at least two years before Witt is considered ready for the big leagues. Probably longer.

At that point, there would be options. Mondesi, who is under contract through 2023, has played second base, and could move there. Witt could probably shift to third base pretty seamlessly. There is a chance the Royals would trade Mondesi rather than try to resign him. There are too many possible scenarios to necessitate worrying about the problem now. Besides having too many superstar shortstops is a fine problem to have.

As for where the Royals will place Witt, it will most likely be with one of the short-season teams at Burlington (North Carolina) or Idaho Falls. Both those teams’ seasons begin in mid-June and run for about 10 weeks, leaving a little time for a late-season promotion. Witt will turn 19 next week, so the Royals probably would like to see him move quickly through the lower levels.

Another shortstop?: As if there wasn’t already some concern that Mondesi and Witt will someday compete for the same position, the Royals also used their second pick on a shortstop, Brady McConnell from the University of Florida. McConnell played only one full season at Florida, so the Royals drafted him more based on his tools. Kansas City scouting director Lonnie Goldberg actually likened McConnell’s skills to those of Witt.

McConnell just turned 21, and could probably begin the season at least two levels above Witt, perhaps at high-A. Depending upon how quickly the two move through the system, one shouldn’t impede the other’s progress anytime soon. Again, you can never have too many elite shortstops.

The old college try: The Royals made 41 total selections in the draft. The 15 picks immediately following Witt were all college players. After using their first 11 picks on college players last year, this is definitely a trend. Some have wondered if the Royals are trying to speed up their rebuild by drafting older players. Others have speculated that the Royals believe scouting college players requires less projection and is therefore a more exact science. Some have even called it a mere coincidence. Whatever it is, the Royals seem to be stocking up on players more prepared to play at the higher levels of the farm system.

The Royals are really going heavy on college pitchers specifically. Last year their first 22 pitchers selected were all from colleges. This year, their first 23 pitchers were from the college ranks.

A local product: Four times, the Royals passed on Seaman product Ryan Zeferjahn, who was chosen by the Boston Red Sox with the 107^th pick. But the Royals did take Gardner Edgerton product Jake Means with the 649^th selection. The younger brother of Baltimore Orioles pitcher John Means, Jake is a third baseman at Indiana State.

With a quarter of the race complete, the Great Running Royals are in the lead!

Not where it really matters, i.e. the major league baseball standings. Rather in another, much less meaningful, but nonetheless interesting race – that of stolen bases.

Not that everyone else is really trying to win that race. The stolen base is out of vogue, so much so that last season saw the fewest thefts since 1973.

For the past decade or so, the Kansas City Royals have been trying, with mixed results, to go against the flow. When the rest of the league values one thing, the Royals place value on something else, hoping to capitalize on affordable mismatches. So this year, the Royals hoped they could create an advantage by going all in on speed. They signed proven stolen-base threats in Billy Hamilton and Chris Owings, and they retained Terrence Gore as a pinch runner. Add those three to two-time stolen base champ Whit Merrifield and lightning-fast Adalberto Mondesi, and the Royals look more like a track team than a baseball team.

“We have probably the biggest field in baseball,” said Merrifield. “So homers just aren’t going to be as prevalent as they are in Yankee Stadium, or Houston or Milwaukee. It’s important that we have guys that are fast, to cover all that ground. And when you have guys who are fast, they are probably going to be able to steal bases too.

“And when we are stealing bases, and keeping other teams from hitting home runs, it’s probably going to lead to us winning games.”

(Technically, Coors Field is larger than Kauffman Stadium in terms of fair-territory acreage, but the Royals have the largest in the American League by a long shot.)

Merrifield has proven he can steal a lot of bases. He led the league the past two seasons, with 34 in 2017 and 45 in 2018, a personal accomplishment he takes pride in.

“It was a big honor, for something that’s a big part of my game, to say that I was the best at it in the league,” Merrifield said.

But as for his hope that stolen bases could lead to wins, how is it working?

Well, the Royals aren’t winning a lot of games. But not for a lack of running. After 38 games (entering the weekend series against Philadelphia), the Royals lead all of baseball with 37 stolen bases, 16 percent more than their closest American League competitor, and 46 percent more than the league average.

“Numbers wise, we haven’t set a numerical goal team-wise, but we know what kind of a team that we are, and we know what we’re capable of,” Merrifield said. “We’re going to run when we get on base. So whatever the number turns out to be, hopefully it will be a good one.”

Stealing bases is nothing new in Kansas City. In the 1970s, when the stolen base was much more a part of every team’s strategy, the Royals were among the best. They topped 200 three times in the 1970s – 218 in 1976, 216 in 1978, and 207 in 1979. They led the American League with 185 when they reached their first World Series in 1980.

For perspective on the difference in eras, consider that the American League team average for stolen bases in 2018 was 84. Willie Wilson swiped 83 (the Royals’ individual record) in 1979 by himself.

The Royals slowed down some in the 1980s, falling behind steals-crazy teams like Oakland and St. Louis. When the Royals won the championship in 1985, they were just fifth in the American League with 128 steals.

The mildly competitive Royals teams of the 1990s made the stolen base a priority, leading the American League in 1994 and again in 1996.

More recently, the stolen base has played a part in the rejuvenation of the Royals. They led their league in 2013 and 2014, each time with 153. The World Series winner of 2015 stole just 104 bases, but that total ranked second in the American League.

In terms of sheer speed, this team is equipped to achieve historic numbers, a fact not lost on them.

“It’s going to be interesting to see what we can do,” Gore said. “We have got a lot of speed, for sure, so it’s just a matter of getting the opportunities. When you look at what each guy could do, it adds up pretty fast.

“It would mean a lot to us (to achieve a historic total of stolen bases). It would be something cool to be a part of, but if we’re stealing that many bases, then we’re probably scoring a lot of runs. It would be a real honor to be thought of up there with the best.”

Going into the season, there was talk of stealing 200 bases, a feat accomplished by just one team in the new millennium. But at the quarter mark of 2019, they aren’t anywhere near that pace. They are currently on pace for something more like 160. Mondesi is third in the American League with 10. Hamilton is fourth with ten. Merrifield has seven. Gore has five.

Could it pick up?

Probably so. Hamilton has struggled to get on base, a pre-requisite for stealing bases. The team hasn’t been in enough close games to really exploit Gore’s potential. Owings has been dreadful at the plate, minimizing his effect on the basepaths. Hunter Dozier and Alex Gordon, both capable of contributing to the total, haven’t been running.

Not that the stolen base number will affect the win/loss total. It should be seen only as a means to an end. But still, it’s an interesting experiment the Royals are running, and it’s one thing that makes their games fun to watch.

1) he has a seat dedicated in his memory at Kauffman Stadium, and each Royals game some member of the Kansas City community is invited to sit in this seat to honor their civic contributions

2) he was featured (and rose to national prominence) for his part in the Ken Burns’ documentary Baseball

3) he was called “Nancy” by Satchel Paige to cover one of the pitcher’s many indiscretions

The Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library is sponsoring a community read of The Soul of Baseball, and has dozens of copies available. I will participate in a group discussion of the book on Feb. 16. Then Posnanski will be at the library on Feb. 17 to talk about O’Neil, the book and his experiences.

I’m sure the Nancy story will come up. It seems to be the number one thing people want to discuss about O’Neil, and it was certainly the number one thing people asked him about while he was alive.

A great storyteller from my own life would often say “I’ve told some lies so many times I’ve come to believe they are true myself.” It seems that, in the mind of great storytellers, truth and fiction can be somewhat fluid. The stories take on a life of their own. As long as the story isn’t something too crucial, there’s no problem with this. We appreciate that great storytelling is an art, not a science.

From The Soul of Baseball, one can tell that O’Neil didn’t always tell the truth exactly as it happened. Sometimes he did this to make people feel good. Sometimes he did it because he was great at embellishing for people’s enjoyment. And sometimes he just didn’t remember everything perfectly. One can’t fault a 94-year-old man for that. He’d experienced more than 10 men normally do, and almost none of it was actually documented for posterity. So he had a trove of history to keep track of with nothing but his own memory.

I’ve heard the Nancy story told numerous times, and the details always seem a little different. I trust The Soul of Baseball probably contains them about as close as possible to the way it really happened. I assume this because I’m sure Posnanski heard it told numerous times during his travels with O’Neil and would have been able to glean the consistencies from the many versions.

If you aren’t familiar with the story, you better get a copy of The Soul of Baseball and come discuss it at the Topeka library.

The Kansas City Royals went 71-91 in 2011. While that sounds great in comparison to the current iteration, it was at the time considered by most to be just another rotten season by an inept franchise.

But anyone really paying attention might have noticed that on May 6 of that year, a rookie named Eric Hosmer was promoted to the big leagues at just 21 years of age.

Just a few days later, on May 18, Hosmer was joined by 22-year-old pitcher Danny Duffy. The two knew each other well, having played together at nearly every level of the minor leagues.

On June 11, 22-year-old Mike Moustakas joined the party. Then on August 10, Salvador Perez got called up not long after his 21st birthday. And on Sept. 21, yet another 21 year old, flame-throwing reliever Kelvin Herrera, was promoted to the big leagues.

At the time, hardly anyone noticed the tidal wave of talent crashing upon Kauffman Stadium. To some it might have appeared to be another move of desperation by a team without direction. But that wave had been planned, nurtured and timed with great precision.

Fewer still noticed when pitcher Greg Holland and outfielder Jarrod Dyson debuted in Kansas City at the tail end of 2010. But those seven players were a wave drafted or signed to international free agent deals by General Manager Dayton Moore several years earlier. Moore wasn’t just collecting talented players either. He was uniting them at the lowest levels of the minors, where they could play video games and cards together, go out at night together (years before they could legally buy a drink), sleep on the bus together, and learn the game together.

“In the minor leagues you don’t really have anybody else,” Duffy said. “You spend more time with these guys than with your own family. Hosmer is one of my best friends. Same with Moose. Same with Salvy, and so forth. That’s not only because of what we’ve done here (in Kansas City) but the road we took to get here.”

In a game where it’s hard to find one or two good major leaguers in one year, Moore signed Perez and Herrera as 16-year-olds in 2006, the same year he lucked into Dyson in the 50th round. The 2007 draft brought Moustakas (first round), Duffy (third round) and Holland (tenth round). Hosmer was added in the first round of 2008.

Duffy mentioned several others when recalling the wave of talent that came up around him, including Wil Myers, John Lamb and Mike Montgomery, each of whom was traded for key components of the championship club.

“I wouldn’t say we felt pressure. I think it’s exciting more than anything,” Duffy recalled. “We just had a good time playing. It feels, looking back, like it was one of the best Double-A teams ever. We were like 94-56 when you include the playoffs.”

Coming up together experiencing success is part of the process. Putting that many good players together should foster a winning culture that moves with them as they matriculate up the minor league ladder.

Moore is trying to replicate that wave again, and the ripple is currently building strength at Lexington, Kentucky, home of the Single-A Legends. The 2017 amateur draft brought a highly-regarded cohort that forms the foundation for the wave. First baseman Nick Pratto, catcher M.J. Melendez, pitcher Daniel Tillo and outfielder Michael Gigliotti, drafted in the first through fourth rounds, respectively, gave the farm system an instant boost. After getting their feet wet in rookie ball, the quartet, plus seventh round pick outfielder Brewer Hicklen, moved up to Lexington this spring.

The 2018 draft, heavy on college pitchers, doubled the size of the wave instantly. Added to the group at Lexington during the summer were pitchers Jackson Kowar and Daniel Lynch and outfielder Kyle Isbel.

The prospects from those two drafts are teamed with a handful of international signings including sensational outfielder Seuly Matias, who leads all of minor league baseball in home runs. In all, Lexington served as home to 13 of the Royals’ top 30 prospects, including six of the top 10. They have nearly every position covered, apart from second and third base, with a top 30 prospect. And they have six top 30 pitchers.

As happened with Duffy and friends, the Lexington wave is experiencing winning. The Legends, who finished their regular season schedule on Labor Day, are currently battling in the South Atlantic League playoffs.

“Learning to win together is a big part of it,” said Duffy. “We won in the Midwest League, we won in the Texas League, we won in the Pacific Coast League three times. We were pretty successful in the minor leagues. Fortunately it translated to the big leagues. We won a World Series and almost another one.

“It’s not about the kind of players they are, but how great these guys are, how good these people are off the field. I have no doubt that Dayton is going to put together the same type of clientele as far as character goes.”

Duffy has seen the majority of the players making up his wave depart over the years. Only he and Perez remain. He admits it’s hard to watch players you’ve grown up with go their separate ways.

“My advice to (the Lexington team) would be just to enjoy every moment of it, because it goes by really quick. Once you get here, you start seeing people part ways. So just enjoy your time together because that’s what it’s all about.

“It happened very fast. I had a lot of people telling me it would go by really quick, and yet you don’t see it until it’s gone.”

The Lexington wave will take time to arrive. Most of those players will advance just one rung of the minor league ladder per year. That means you won’t see most of them on your TV any sooner than 2021.

Duffy said he would encourage the next wave to try to soak up each day, while still keeping the end goal in mind and working hard towards it.

“You’re always looking to get to the big leagues. That’s your number one goal and the destination. But there is something to be said for trying to just enjoy where you are each day. I would tell those guys coming up to just enjoy every moment. Enjoy the Arizona days, even though they’re hot. Enjoy the 12-hour bus rides. Because it’s a simple time. It doesn’t seem like it in the moment, but you have a lot of fun in front of you if you just enjoy it.”

Kansas City is a baseball town.

The saying sounded pretty ridiculous during the Royals’ 30 years of futility between the 1985 championship and the one earned in 2015. And it sounds silly now as the current edition of the Royals barrels toward its worst record in history. Yet it was often repeated during those bleak years, as though a reminder that if the product at Kauffman Stadium was ever good, the city would demonstrate uncommon passion.

The city’s reputation dates back at least to the birth of the minor league Kansas City Blues in 1888. In the days before TV, when fans eagerly supported local baseball, the Blues were joined in Kansas City by strong black baseball teams, which developed into the Kansas City Monarchs in 1920.

In 1955, major league baseball finally moved west of the Mississippi River when the Philadelphia A’s relocated to Kansas City. The dreadful A’s were replaced in Kansas City by the Royals in 1969, and the city soon had a winner at the highest level.

So the bleak years of the Royals have dampened, but not quenched, the spirit of the city. And one native son is working hard to bring winning back to Kansas City once again.

Rookie Jason Adam, a product of Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park, is one of a host of rookies the Royals are experimenting with in this rebuilding season.

Adam took a circuitous path to the major league stadium he grew up going to as a child. Drafted by the Royals out of high school in 2010, Adam seemed destined to pitch in Kauffman Stadium. But trades and injuries delayed that destiny for nearly a decade.

“I loved the Royals growing up,” Adam said. “This stadium was special to me, and I always loved to come to the games, even when they would struggle.”

And struggle they did. From the time Adam was born in 1991 until he graduated high school, the Royals lost nearly 60 percent of their games, lost 90 or more games 11 times, and never once reached the playoffs. Yet Adam remained loyal.

“I always had faith,” the right-handed reliever said. “I understood that is kind of how it works in a small market. You kind of go through ups and downs. So it was really fun seeing when this team finally won the World Series. I wish I could have been a part of it. But it was so much fun just being from Kansas City.”

Ironically, Adam not being “part of it” actually helped bring a pennant to his city. Adam was in the low minors when Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez, Danny Duffy and other products of the farm system began matriculating to the big leagues. A starting pitcher making his mark in the minors, Adam had to feel he was going to be a part of that much-anticipated core group in Kansas City.

But in 2014, with a playoff berth finally within reach, the Royals traded Adam for major league first baseman/designated hitter Josh Willingham. The late season acquisition of Willingham helped the Royals earn a wild card slot, and eventually reach the World Series. So, in a sense, Adam played a part.

Once with Minnesota, injuries derailed his progress. Numerous surgeries kept him from pitching in 2015 and 2016. The Twins finally gave up on him. The San Diego Padres gave him a brief look in 2017, but cut him loose before the season was up.

The Royals never stopped following their former draft pick, and they brought him into their system. And in May of 2018, the years of rehab ultimately paid off. Adam finally pitched in the stadium he’d come to so many times to watch his beloved Royals.

Being a member of the Royals makes reaching the majors all the more special, Adam said. And he believes it is making the experience more fun for his family and friends as well.

“It definitely adds another element to the excitement of playing for the Royals,” said the 27-year-old. “I always say that I’m playing for an audience of one, and that’s Jesus. But it’s fun to know that I’ve got my family and my friends here every night, and they can enjoy it even more than they used to enjoy it.”

Adam laughed when asked if he notices familiar faces in the crowd during a game at Kauffman Stadium

“I don’t really see people in the stands while I’m on the field. But when I’m down in the bullpen, guys I know will come down and heckle me a little, and it’s really fun to see people down there. But before and after games, for sure, I try to see the people that I know. Sometimes after a game I’ll hear someone yell my name, and I’m like ‘Is that someone I know?’ That’s really fun.”

Out of uniform, Adam frequently bumps into old friends, schoolmates and high school rivals around Kansas City. Those friendships remain unchanged, he said.

“It’s still the same old, same old. They still treat me just like they did before. I’ve got awesome friends here in Kansas City, and I’m thankful for that.”

Polls of major league players often reveal opponents’ appreciation for Kansas City as one of their favorite places to visit. That fact comes as no surprise to the Overland Park native.

“I’m glad to see Kansas City get that recognition,” Adam said. “Growing up in Kansas I was always like ‘I can’t wait to get out and see everything.’ But once I got out I was like ‘I kinda like it back home.’

“Where visiting teams stay, down by The Plaza, is beautiful. There is tons of good shopping, good restaurants. It’s great for visiting teams. But a lot of guys who play here end up staying here because it’s a great community and a great place to raise a family.”

And so Kansas City remains a baseball town. From the minor league Blues and Negro League Monarchs to the Kansas City A’s and Royals, it’s always been a great place to play, according to one native son.

“We have got awesome fans here,” Adam said. “They have been patient through this year, even though it hasn’t gone how anybody wanted it to go. But they are still coming out, still cheering for us. It makes it a lot of fun to play for them. It gives us even more incentive to keep pushing and get back to winning.”

Rosell Herrera’s 2018 season is a microcosm of the highs and lows of life.

Herrera is seeing regular playing time in the major leagues, and on July 15 he became a father, his wife giving birth to a healthy girl named Roselyne. Life can’t get much better, win-loss record be damned.

“Life just feels awesome right now,” Herrera said. “(The birth of his daughter) changed everything. Right now I’m trying to live in the moment and be the very best father I can be, while also trying to do all I can to take advantage of this opportunity here.”

The opportunity Herrera refers to is the chance to be in the lineup daily for the Kansas City Royals. An eight-year minor leaguer who was bound for unemployment just two months ago, the new father has found the Royals’ collapse to be to his advantage. One he’s trying to make the most of, despite some sleepless nights.

“We didn’t get a lot of sleep when I was there (over the All-Star break),” said Herrera, whose wife isn’t currently living in Kansas City. “My wife is there taking care of her when I’m away, but when I was there we were up a lot.

“It’s hard to leave, because it’s my first experience having a baby. I was very happy when I was there, but I know I have to be here to do my job. I feel blessed and am so excited to try to show what I can do here in the major leagues.”

In spite of the Royals’ dismal record, the 25-year-old feels like he’s sitting on top of the world. But it’s been a roller coaster to get to this point.

There was a time when the Dominican-born Herrera was a hot commodity. He was a Baseball America Top 100 prospect in the Colorado Rockies system prior to the 2014 season. Speed, versatility, and the ability to switch hit made his future appear bright.

But when he failed to hit for power, the Rockies cut their ties with him in 2017. The Cincinnati Reds gave him a brief try this season. He played 23 games in the Reds’ minor leagues, and got an 11-game audition at the big leagues. But when Herrera batted just .154, Cincinnati put him on waivers.

Desperate to accelerate their rebuild, the Royals took a flier on Herrera. He played ten games, primarily in the infield, for the Omaha Storm Chasers. When Jorge Soler went down with an injury in mid-June, Herrera got his chance to play in the Kauffman Stadium outfield.

Herrera has some of the tools that play well in Kansas City, primarily speed. He’s flashy in the outfield, running down fly balls with confidence and flair. His slap-hitting style from both sides of the plate may work well in the spacious stadium. The fact that he can play six positions on the infield and outfield means he’s ready for almost any opportunity.

Thus far with the Royals, Herrera has only played in the outfield. But in his minor league career, Herrera played 307 games at shortstop, 90 at third base, and six at second base.

“I like the infield, but right now they need me in the outfield, and I’m ready for that,” Herrera said. “It’s good to play multiple positions because it gives me a lot more opportunity to get on the field.”

With most of their top prospects a couple of years away from the big leagues, Kansas City is seeking diamonds in the rough to bolster their outfield talent pool.  First they brought in veterans Jon Jay and Tyler Collins during spring training. Then they traded for Abraham Almonte.

And since mid-season, the Royals have picked up Herrera and recently acquired Brian Goodwin via a trade with the Washington Nationals. Both Herrera and Goodwin are former top prospects who lost their shine. Both may benefit from the fresh start offered by a team in full rebuild.

Now the Royals have traded Mike Moustakas for another outfield candidate, the Brewers 24-year-old prospect Brett Phillips.

The presence of Goodwin and Phillips may make the outfield a lot more crowded for Herrera. But thus far, manager Ned Yost has penciled in Herrera’s name nearly every game since he arrived in mid-June. And with the trade of Moustakas now executed, Herrera may find himself manning third base. His bat will ultimately determine if he sticks with the Royals long term.

Regardless, the new dad remains undaunted.

“I just keep working hard. We all have things we can do to get better. I need to keep working on my hitting, and on my defense. I’m just happy to have this opportunity.”

One of the most iconic sounds in the Midwest is the sound of a Royals broadcast on radio. For many, it was the soundtrack of summer, whether while in the car, working in the yard, or drifting off to sleep on a warm evening.

If you were one of the thousands who tuned in, you heard one man’s name mentioned. He was to a large degree responsible for the broadcast. Yet you probably had no idea who he was.

As the announcers, almost always including Denny Matthews, signed off each evening, they noted that Don Free served as “producer/engineer” for the broadcast. That was, from 1986 until last September, when Free retired from his longtime position with the Royals.

The Capital-Journal’s Kevin Haskin described the sendoff Free received from the Royals last September, including throwing out the first pitch on Sept. 29. Free stepped away at the age of 71 with a World Series ring and a world of memories.

Now several months into retirement, one might be tempted to say Don Free is finally a free man, but he prefers to say now he’s “just Sandy Free’s husband.”

For 32 years, Free made the drive from Topeka to Kansas City for Royals home games, and boarded planes to fly with the team all over the country for road trips. But having already worked for 20 years in Topeka, most of it with WIBW, and with a wife and two daughters settled in town, it was important to the Frees that Topeka remain their home base.

Free’s wife served as a nurse in Topeka, while he worked in TV broadcasting prior to joining the Royals. He cut his teeth in radio during the Royals stretch run to the 1985 championship, filling in while longtime producer/engineer Ed Shepherd took some time off. After the season, Shepherd retired.

“When the job came open after the 1985 season, I had been going to Kauffman Stadium for 10 years already, doing TV broadcasts occasionally,” Free said. “So I thought ‘Well, I gotta try.’ I talked it over with the girls, and they said ‘Of course.’ But when I actually got the job, I was really surprised.”

Thus began three decades of tireless travel for Free, and three decades of losing baseball by the Royals.

“We had just won the World Series when I started, so I thought I was going to see a lot of playoff races, and playoff games,” Free said.

Free spent those bleak years seated behind Denny Matthews and the other announcers in the Royals radio suite, running a soundboard and controlling the broadcast. In spite of the losing seasons, he never wavered.

“Don was probably the hardest worker, the most diligent I’ve ever been around,” Matthews said. “He left nothing to chance. He would have all the equipment set up hours before the broadcast, but he wanted to make sure everything was just right. He was like that on the road, too, where things were a little more out of his control. He never let down, and that never changed over all his years.”

Matthews was impressed by Free’s ability, and determination, to fix, correct or improve just about everything he got his hands on.

“He was so helpful. Someone would come in with something wrong, and he would obsess and make sure that it was fixed,” Matthews recalled. “Even engineers from other teams would come to him for help or advice. He was a great employee and always easy to work with because he made sure everything was right every time.”

Free said he ran on adrenaline through the Royals’ two marches to the World Series in 2014 and 2015. He said he got just 10 hours of sleep during one four-day stretch of the 2015 series.

“I was pretty much the first one there and the last to leave for every game,” Free said. “It finally caught up to me after 32 years. I was pretty run down. I just didn’t have the same energy level anymore.”

Free had seen many great players retire during his decades in Kansas City. Now it was his turn to hang it up. He said he’s ready to be Sandy Free’s husband, content to follow the Royals from his living room in Topeka, when he’s not on the road to visit grandchildren.

“I met such great people and made so many memories,” said Free. “It was an unbelievable experience.”