Royals
MLB American League Central Kansas City Royals 2022
While the recent performance of the Kansas City Royals has been bleak, there is still optimism with this club.
Part of that optimism stems from an excellent farm system. In fact, during their mid-season rankings, MLB.com ranks the Royals as having the fifth-best farm system in all of baseball.
In fact, they have several prospects that sit inside of the top-100 in the game, led by Bobby Witt Jr. As the third-best prospect in all of baseball, the 21-year-old prospect is knocking on the door of superstardom and could be up as soon as the 2022 season.
Other top prospects include first baseman Nick Pratto, pitcher Asa Lacy, catcher MJ Melendez, and outfielder Kyle Isbel.
As for the big league club, they struggled in 2021. They finished the season 77-85, good for fourth in the AL Central and 19 games back of the Chicago White Sox.
Things aren’t expected to be too much better in 2022 either. They currently have the 24th-best odds of winning the upcoming season’s World Series.
Still, with so much talent down in the farm, it is only a matter of time until the Royals rise to relevancy and once again compete for the AL Central crown.
MLB American League Central Kansas City Royals History
Since 1883, Kansas City had always been home to a major league team. However, in 1967, when the Athletics moved to Oakland, Kansas City all of the sudden felt abandoned.
At the urgence of Senator Stuart Symington, MLB awarded Kansas City an expansion team in 1967, and with that, the Kansas City Royals were born and officially played ball starting in 1969.
From their start, the Royals have always played in the American League, starting in the AL West. In 1994, when the leagues were realigned, the Royals joined the newly developed AL Central. They have been there ever since.
The club was first founded by Ewing Kauffman, a pharmaceutical executive in the Kansas City area at the time. After playing for four seasons at Municipal Stadium, the Royals have played their home games at Kauffman Stadium since 1973.
In their very first game, on April 8, 1969, the Royals were able to win 4-3 in 12 innings over the Minnesota Twins.
Since that very first game in 1969, the Kansas City Royals have a record of 4,001 – 4,344, good for a .479 winning percentage.